| National Rugby League USA | |
|---|---|
National Rugby League |
|
| Sport | Rugby league football |
| Instituted | 2009 |
| Inaugural season | early 2011 |
| Chair | David Niu |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Country | United States |
The National Rugby League USA (NRL US) is a proposed professional rugby league football competition to be based in the United States. The league was first announced in 2009, with an intended kickoff date of 2010. By 2010, however, the league had not gotten off the ground; officials expressed hope that play might begin in 2011.[1]
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The league was originally announced in 2009, and expected a kickoff for 2010. However, little progress was made. In January 2010, officials confirmed that the league would kick off in early 2011, and released details about the competitions structure.[2] Another announcement would have given a launch date, and the league's promotional activities were planned to begin on July 4, 2010 with a launch event and an international match featuring the United States team.[2] In February 2010, however, David Niu, the league's proposed commissioner, announced that plans would be held off until 2011, citing the late-2000s recession as a factor in the league's lack of progress.[1]
Initially, the NRL USA is intended to be a "Single Entity League".[3] The owners will invest in a financial stake in the league, not just their individual team.[3] Many areas such as stadium rental and player compensation will be handled centrally.[3] The League and team operators plan to work together to spread best practice throughout the NRL USA.[3]
It has been reported that NRL USA are in talks with NBC and SpikeTV about broadcasting the NRL US games but no other networks have been named officially. The price to see rugby league games in the United States will be about $15(US).[4][5] It is understood that someone has offered to broadcast the games but no decision has been made yet.[6]
The competition will include eight teams from across the United States, including Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Jacksonville and Boston.[7] Two more teams are to be named later. One current American National Rugby League (AMNRL) team, the Jacksonville Axemen, have been invited to operate the Jacksonville franchise and are currently reviewing this.[8]
Each team will have a twenty-two man playing roster made up of professional players taken from open tryouts. David Niu, the commissioner, has suggested that teams would attempt to lure over a few big name players from other countries, even "players who have maybe been internationals." It has been suggested that the league would "target" Australian players such as Nathan Hindmarsh, Anthony Minichiello, Petero Civoniceva and Craig Fitzgibbon.[9] However, Niu has made it clear that "it's exciting to be linked with people like Brett Kimmorley but the reality is that we can't compete with the Super League and the NRL... So it's not like we're going to go out and recruit players actively."[10] Players that would be targeted are professional players from Australia and Europe who would be out of form recovering from injury and coaches would be up and coming or out of favour professional coaches from Australia or Europe.[6] Private negotiations mean that unannounced overseas coaches and players are available to join the enterprise once the final decisions on timings are taken.[6]
David Niu named former Parramatta Eels utility and Australian international Daniel Wagon and former New Zealand international and New Zealand Warriors halfback Stacey Jones as two possible recruits to the new league, though did not state whether their involvement would be as players or in coaching roles.[2]
Originally it had been planned for the regular season to be 14 rounds starting 12 March until 4 July, with each team hosting seven home games and playing in seven away games. Post-season competition would include two weeks of playoffs and a championship final.[11]
In January 2010 it was revealed that a "carnival"-type schedule would be employed. For six weeks, the teams would move to a new city where they would play a whole round of fixtures at a single venue.[6] Private negotiations mean that unannounced overseas coaches and players are available to join the enterprise once the final decisions on timings are taken.[6]
Games will be played in quarters, use American football goalposts and the kick-off to re-start play after a team scores will be made by the scoring team.[6] This variation of the kick-off has previously and briefly been used in Australasia and Europe.[6]