Rugby League European Cup.

kellco88

Tallaght RL wrote: »

Great result. Looked like five irish born players in the team? Ireland had to many professional class players for Serbia to handle, good line breaks, although for a squad made up of Serbian nationals they didnt do to bad, just couldnt get any go forward, so were defending all the time.

More Irish home games with more irish born players in the side would be good to see.

RLI need to pick up their game. No signs for the game from Naas to Tullamore or in Tullamore itself. Saw the three new RLI 4x4's in the Car Park at Tullamore RU when they should of been out & about before the game in Tullamore etc. If they cant sort themselves out maybe its time for RL in Ireland to join GAA as one of their sports.

The jeeps were parked out in the Tullamore court hotel before they went to the game as far as i know. I agree they had no signs up and should have had some in Tullamore at least

Tallaght RL

Was anyone else surprised that less than 200 turned up to watch?

toomevara

Tallaght RL wrote: »

Was anyone else surprised that less than 200 turned up to watch?

In a word, and alas,...no.

Tallaght RL

toomevara wrote: »

In a word, and alas,...no.

What have the attendances been like at previous games played in Dublin?

toomevara

Unfortunately the precedent is there. In the, admittedly appallingly run, 2000 WC, in which Ireland made the quarters..a number of games were held in Ireland. We beat Scotland in Tolka park, the attendance was a miserable 1,732. we beat samoa in Windor park belfast where 3,000 turned up and when we beat the NZ Maori, again in Tolka park only 3,000 turned up. Paradoxically the best attended Irish game was the England/Ireland quarter final here in Leeds with over 15,000 showing up.

When we played the lebanon in the qualifying for the 2008 RLWC a grand total of 140 people came along.

kellco88

not suprised so few turned up given the location. plus the fact that the result was more or less decided when the draw was made.

Given that the sport is a minority here i think 200 isnt too bad could've been a lot worse.

It would be nice to see more games played here to build up the profile a bit.

drzhivago

Tallaght RL wrote: »

Great result. Looked like five irish born players in the team? Ireland had to many professional class players for Serbia to handle, good line breaks, although for a squad made up of Serbian nationals they didnt do to bad, just couldnt get any go forward, so were defending all the time.

More Irish home games with more irish born players in the side would be good to see.

RLI need to pick up their game. No signs for the game from Naas to Tullamore or in Tullamore itself. Saw the three new RLI 4x4's in the Car Park at Tullamore RU when they should of been out & about before the game in Tullamore etc. If they cant sort themselves out maybe its time for RL in Ireland to join GAA as one of their sports.

Few points here
7 Born by my reckoning on the squad
one of the 4X4 was one of the players also development officer so hard for him to br drumming up before hand
They went out to local schools to drum up interest handed out 700 free tickets and schools rang them to say kids were going to county hurling or football final that day as local teams in it

RLI dont pick the dates here

Instead of picking holes better to help
If we fight with each other when we are 3 men and a dog the dog is gonna get a hammering very time

drzhivago

kellco88 wrote: »

not suprised so few turned up given the location. plus the fact that the result was more or less decided when the draw was made.

Given that the sport is a minority here i think 200 isnt too bad could've been a lot worse.

It would be nice to see more games played here to build up the profile a bit.

bear in mind its the same day that thousands turned up locally to watch a GAA final, some of those are sports people who would have watched a sports event, any event if marketed when nothing else was on

Tallaght RL

drzhivago wrote: »

Few points here
7 Born by my reckoning on the squad
one of the 4X4 was one of the players also development officer so hard for him to br drumming up before hand
They went out to local schools to drum up interest handed out 700 free tickets and schools rang them to say kids were going to county hurling or football final that day as local teams in it

RLI dont pick the dates here

Instead of picking holes better to help
If we fight with each other when we are 3 men and a dog the dog is gonna get a hammering very time

Had a feeling there were a couple i had missed!

RLI I assume picked the venue & KO time.

I think you will find that most of the too few RL clubs in Ireland spend a lot of time promoting the game previously in Tallaght's case without any help from the RLI. The introduction of the Development Manager has changed that, Tallaght RL having been contacted in the last few weeks. Its the first time in three years of trying to keep Tallaght RL going as a club that I have been contacted by anyone from the RLI in a positive way. There is a lot of animosity towards the RLI in Ireland hopefully that can change, it wont happen over night!

Tallaght RL

toomevara wrote: »

Unfortunately the precedent is there. In the, admittedly appallingly run, 2000 WC, in which Ireland made the quarters..a number of games were held in Ireland. We beat Scotland in Tolka park, the attendance was a miserable 1,732. we beat samoa in Windor park belfast where 3,000 turned up and when we beat the NZ Maori, again in Tolka park only 3,000 turned up. Paradoxically the best attended Irish game was the England/Ireland quarter final here in Leeds with over 15,000 showing up.

When we played the lebanon in the qualifying for the 2008 RLWC a grand total of 140 people came along.

1700 against a team like Scotland I would of said wasnt too bad. So it looks like the venue location was to blame for the low attendance?

What would the attendance have been if the game had been played at Tallaght Stadium assuming RLI could afford to rent it?

kellco88

Tallaght RL wrote: »

1700 against a team like Scotland I would of said wasnt too bad. So it looks like the venue location was to blame for the low attendance?

What would the attendance have been if the game had been played at Tallaght Stadium assuming RLI could afford to rent it?

Tallaght stadium is simpoly too big at the moment. and too expensive. There was nothing wrong with the crowd that showed up in tullamore. Tallaght isnt a rugby area. its a soccer area

drzhivago

Tallaght RL wrote: »

Had a feeling there were a couple i had missed!

RLI I assume picked the venue & KO time.

I think you will find that most of the too few RL clubs in Ireland spend a lot of time promoting the game previously in Tallaght's case without any help from the RLI. The introduction of the Development Manager has changed that, Tallaght RL having been contacted in the last few weeks. Its the first time in three years of trying to keep Tallaght RL going as a club that I have been contacted by anyone from the RLI in a positive way. There is a lot of animosity towards the RLI in Ireland hopefully that can change, it wont happen over night!

I presume the time would have been picked alright
As for venue not a lot of choice as far as I understand
The demands of clubs in Dublin for cash are massive, money RLI doesnt have to pay to rent a ground, even the likes of Tolka PArk when no guarantee of any significant crowd coming to pay expenses

I think the decision was made to go to one of the areas where clubs are actually playing rugby league and try and boost development that way

There are a number of teams in midlands, Portlaois, Tullamore, Carlow, Kilkenny to name a few

Having an international there may not draw the crowd from Dublin but may solidify development in one area for some time and attract people

Unfortunately even if all the players in the league turned out to watch that would be a start

cant comment on TAllaght RL as know nothing about it but have ever seen the name on list of teams for RLI league, do remember Tallaght tigers in mid 90's but thats it

drzhivago

Tallaght RL wrote: »

1700 against a team like Scotland I would of said wasnt too bad. So it looks like the venue location was to blame for the low attendance?

What would the attendance have been if the game had been played at Tallaght Stadium assuming RLI could afford to rent it?

That last quote is the best bit, assuming

A few years ago the game was played in Dalymount PArk
At the time supporters and alickadoos of individual clubs were asked to give a personal guarantee of financial support if the gate receipts did not cover the costs

Hard lessons learned that day

couerdelion

There was a severe lack of marketing for the event, not only by the RLI, but also by the organising committee. This meant the was very little profile for the game and thus the paying public were not aware of the event.

This will probably change as the next round games are going to be televised and shown on Sky.

It's always going to be difficult to get players down to watch an international during the RU season as most play both codes. The whole RU playing pool should be a target audience and the games should be planned around their top level fixtures.

From my point of view paying to watch SL players represent an international team that seems to be being used as a stepping stone to play for England is a joke. Until the International board introduce rules to stop players switching nationalities then international RL can't be taken seriously. If they want to represent Ireland then I have no problem, but don't run away when England come knocking.

drzhivago

couerdelion wrote: »

From my point of view paying to watch SL players represent an international team that seems to be being used as a stepping stone to play for England is a joke. Until the International board introduce rules to stop players switching nationalities then international RL can't be taken seriously. If they want to represent Ireland then I have no problem, but don't run away when England come knocking.

Think you have to look a bit beyond the obvious here

What club do they play for
Who is their club coach
Who is the england coach

How do you refuse in such situations?

kellco88

Wales beat serbia 88-8 would be hard to guess a winner next week from this result

couerdelion

drzhivago wrote: »

Think you have to look a bit beyond the obvious here

What club do they play for
Who is their club coach
Who is the england coach

How do you refuse in such situations?

So we can expect Tyrone McCarthy to leave and play for England if Smith thinks he is good enough and fulfilling his promise?

I can't say that I wouldn't do the same but the option should not be there in the first place.

Fingers crossed Ireland beat Wales next weekend. If its a close as the A match at the end of the season it should be a cracker!

toomevara

couerdelion wrote: »

From my point of view paying to watch SL players represent an international team that seems to be being used as a stepping stone to play for England is a joke. Until the International board introduce rules to stop players switching nationalities then international RL can't be taken seriously. If they want to represent Ireland then I have no problem, but don't run away when England come knocking.

QFT. Couldn't agree more. Makes a mockery of international representative RL, and does little to endear the game to prospective fans.

amacachi

What date is the final on? Wikipedia says Friday the 14th but the 14th is a Saturday, and I can't find it on BBC or elsewhere. Would be nice to know so I could keep an eye out for cheap flights.

toomevara

Finals Day, 8th Nov, Brewery Field, Bridgend

amacachi

toomevara wrote: »

Finals Day, 8th Nov, Brewery Field, Bridgend

Gah! Meant to put that post in the 4 nations thread!

drzhivago

couerdelion wrote: »

So we can expect Tyrone McCarthy to leave and play for England if Smith thinks he is good enough and fulfilling his promise?

I can't say that I wouldn't do the same but the option should not be there in the first place.

Fingers crossed Ireland beat Wales next weekend. If its a close as the A match at the end of the season it should be a cracker!

That is what I would be afraid of exactly regarding the player you mention

The international rules allow switching but is not working in Irelands favour now, wonder if it ever did really

kellco88

what are the expectations for sunday? win or lose? scot grix is out of the squad

toomevara

Going to be a really tough game. Wales had the advantage of a good and confidence inspiring warm-up against an underperforming English team and of course they've got home advantage to boot. I think we can shade it....but it's going to be a tough game. I also reckon it's going to be a high quality game given that its a winner takes all encounter.

amacachi

toomevara wrote: »

Going to be a really tough game. Wales had the advantage of a good and confidence inspiring warm-up against an underperforming English team and of course they've got home advantage to boot. I think we can shade it....but it's going to be a tough game. I also reckon it's going to be a high quality game given that its a winner takes all encounter.

Gah! Why does it have to on at that time!?

kellco88

Pat Richards is going to start. This is a major boost for Ireland. This is the only news thats coming from the camp apart from Scott Grix being out.

cruiserweight

Ireland 12-0 up after 20 minutes, looking good so far in atrocious conditions

amacachi

Only seen bits and pieces but two beautiful tries for Ireland.

couerdelion

Good first half, Ireland looking the better side for me, but Wales have come back strongly.

Is it just me or does Richards look disinterested?
Get involved Pat!

amacachi

****sake, switched it on surprised enough to see 24-12, and now 30-12, can't see this getting turned around.