By PETER WILLIAMS
OH!! Summer!
The heat, cicadas singing on a balmy daylight savings night. Put the kids to bed, grab a beer settle in to your favourite comfy chair turn on the tele it’s time to watch the big game. Balmain are playing North Sydney at Leichhardt tonight Live on Foxtel. What??
If you are like me, the time between the grand final and the opening round of the new season is far too long. Cricket is good as long as we are smashing the poms! Sri Lanka, South Africa .. it’s OK but I’m not going to chuck a sickie to watch it. The BBL is awesome but I just can’t get into it to put my jersey on and to paint my face magenta.
The Rugby League World Cup was great. The PNG crowds , watching Tonga smash the Kiwis – you don’t have a pulse if the pre game didn’t move you. Even Wayne Bennett might have shown some sign of emotion. What about the poms? Wayne was a converted try away from being Sir Wayne. As good as it was, it still wasn’t enough.
As an old Magpie fan, it got me thinking. What if?? What if there was a Summer League? Now before you call the white van, let me explain. Now we can’t ask Cameron Smith to saddle up for another 10 or 12 more games each year although he probably would. No, what about a comp with all of the old traditional clubs? Western Suburbs Magpies, Balmain Tigers, North Sydney Bears, even the Newtown Jets!! Got your attention? Good!!. Now a comp needs more than four teams. What about the New South Wales Central Coast? Keep a watch on Singo he might have a stroke … Newtown and the Central Coast!!! Yes and what about Queensland? There is nothing better than beating Queensland in any sport. Brisbane has been crying out for a second team for years. Can you hear the sirens? No, it’s not the white van coming for me. It’s the Brisbane Bombers! I’m not sure about the name, to be honest, but they are desperate to gain entry to the NRL. What a better way to prove yourself? Ok ,we’ve got Queensland, we still don’t have enough teams. PNG, it’s a religion for them they also are the Queensland Cup premiers. World Cup crowds showed what sort of support they will get. Tony Sage, what is your mobile number friend? I want to call to let you and Benny Elias get the West Coast Pirates jerseys made and get your chequebook out, rugby league is coming west. Wake up the old Perth Western Reds fans, give Mark Geyer a ticket on the red eye. Perthites, there is life after the Western Force. Fiji get on board – the Summer League Express is about to leave the station you’re in, too. Just one more stop. Illawarra, dig out your old Rod Wishart jersey, you’re in!! You can be the Cutters or the Steelers or the Steel Cutters. Either way. your team will get more than just a pair of socks that you were given when you merged.
So, we have our teams just need some players. As I said earlier, we can’t ask NRL players to back up or risk injury. So who? We use the BBL model – a few retired superstars. a sprinkling of known players and a bunch of unknowns. In rugby league terms, that would be just retired and recently-retired NRL and Super League players. And players released from NRL and Super League clubs. And players who are forced to playing in UK as they have no other option. And players in limbo – Carney, Earl even Quade Cooper. You fill the rest with non-contracted NSW and Queensland Cup players and those from the country, Pacific islands and rugby union. For a player on the fringes, he could get paid and play near all year round as a professional.
Ok, we have our players how does the competition work?
1. Played between October and January;
2. 10 to 12 teams play each other once;
3. 60 minutes of play in four quarters to combat the heat;
4. Games to be played at night to combat heat;
5. 13-a-side, four replacements. no interchange, blood/head bins as per NRL;
6. Games played at traditional grounds Leichhardt, North Sydney Oval , Henson Park, etc;
7. No scrums!!! To also speed up the game.
So we have our teams, our players, our grounds and our comp outline. Now, will Summer League work?
Yes, not only does it fill the void between NRL seasons, it brings back life the old traditional clubs and their fans so you have a supporter base to start with. Brisbane fans will get into it not only will they have another team that’s not the Broncos we will also throw in the premier and runner up of the Queensand Cup each year so you are not left out. We know the fans of the Pacific islands and the Central Coast teams will come out in their thousands. We will need to win the west but there would be a base to start with. Most importantly it runs outside of the NRL schedule and is totally independent from the NRL, of clubs and players.
This all sounds great but how will we fund it? TV deal, that’s how. All networks are looking for quality sports for their platforms. Examples, Foxtel has a dedicated rugby league channel that plays nothing but replays for six months. Now, I’m all for watching Tommy Raudonikis throw coat hangers and a few sneaky uppercuts but would prefer watching fresh new games. They also have a struggling A League and FFA to contend with.
Channel Seven has the Australian Open tennis each year for a week, a bit of golf but nothing that competes with BBL. They have shown an appetite for rugby league by broadcasting the RLWC. Then we have the Nine Network. Apart from one day/night Test we have re runs of McLeods Daughters! Anyone say Optus? Just paid a gazillion for the EPL.
I am not delusional enough to think a Summer League will knock off the BBL for ratings, at-ground attendances or its growing popularity. Summer League will attract a loyal, rusted-on rugby league fan and the neutral, if produced and marketed well. Apart from a struggling A League I do not believe there is another product that could compete against the BBL other than a potential Summer League.
So , Foxtel and Nine decide to fund and broadcast the competition, the old teams and fans are back. So grab yourself a beer, sit in your comfy chair, the Tigers are playing the Bears. Leichhardt is full. Summer League is here.
It’s still ok to keep an eye on the BBL!!
So, there you have it. Maybe in time we can add St George Dragons or the Wellington Orcas, Adelaide Rams … just don’t say the Hunter Mariners or Newcastle may secede from NSW.
What do you think?
Hello
sounds like the old AMCO cup format interesting but why no scrums lets have a proper scrum & see how it goes I will be interested in seeing how it goes
Not bad, I would love to see the Bears back. I think having it as a national competition would be a bit much, mainly because of the travelling over that time of the year. Maybe having a comp as per the old NSWRL: Norths, Souths,Easts, Wests, Balmain, Manly, Parra, Saints, Canterbury. Play the games at their old grounds and I think you may get a start. If it does get a start, I would have some of the old rules. Scrums, stripping, play the ball backwards or forwards, one referee.
I don’t know if you are aware but they used to have a summer touch football competition involving all the Sydney clubs.
Please you say no scrums!!
If scrums were set as in the past. That is forwards packing in and being made to lock in propery it would actually open up the game to give opportunities for the backs.Also bring back the 5 metre rule and you will see more expansive football.