In this episode we talk about the complete mess the Wests Tigers have turned into, and ask if there is any hope left for this club to turn things around. We chat about the top of the Premiership and the contenders, why Papua New Guinea is looking like it will get the next NRL expansion…
There is a big, and dedicated supporters following of Rugby and is branches out around the world. You can find major tournaments on television and the Rugby League World Cup in 2021 broke records for being the biggest, best, and most inclusive tournament in rugby leagues history. In the UK every minute of the 2021…
Rugby Union clubs in England are dying. It turns out spending yourself into oblivion isn’t a smart way to ensure your survival. With English Rugby Union now openly talking about the need for major changes to the structure of their sport, the business model, and rationalisation of clubs, it begs the question, could the RFL…
In what is clearly a pet project of ARL Chairman Peter V’landys, the NRL is looking to play up to 10 games in Las Vegas from 2024 as part of supposed “Australia Week extravaganza”. If it sounds like a who lot of bullshit, thats because it is. There doesn’t seem to be any real strategic…
In recent days the NRL has been pushing out media releases stating that the game has been making a record profit and the NRL itself has now got quite a bit of money in the bank which can be used to invest in the game. We have also seen NRL clubs, and the players association…
Presented by Palmerbet In this episode Freaky is joined by Guy Wilson, a Rugby League volunteer for the South Australian Rugby League to tell us about Rugby League in the city of churches. We chat about junior Rugby League in Adelaide, playing big NRL events there, the funding of juniors, the sentimentality over the Adelaide…
In this episode League Freak chats with Elliott Richardson of Rugby League Monthly. Elliott put a post up on Twitter last week asking for the most contraversial Rugby League opinions people had, and his tweet went off! There were so many great talking points and opinions that we had to have a discussion about them….
It’s finally offical! Wayne Bennett will be the first coat h for the NRL’s newest club the Brisbane based Dolphins after signing a 4 year deal with the club. Bennett gives the club a respected coach, someone who players will want to go and play for, and signals the clout the club expects to have…
Brent Read of Triple M radio in Sydney has The Rush Hour that the NRL has decided to expand to 17 teams in 2023 and the announcement will be made after the 2021 NRL Grand Final which will be held in Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. The Redcliffe Dolphins are said to be the front runners…
First off, this a huge pipe dream and the most pub napkin idea that you have ever heard. It would require money, favouritism, and a bit of a gamble but not as big as you may think. Everyone in Australia is fighting over who the 17th team and potentially 18th team will be, but this…
It has been a tough couple of years for the NRL. With Covid taking its toll on the competition, fans locked out of stadiums, very team in the competition having to relocate at certain points, and a set of rules that make the game really hard to watch, the NRL competition has been through a…
In this episode League Freak breaks down the new rule change the NRL is trying to push through before the finals series that is designed to discourage teams from kicking for touch. Theres some news on the NRL Brisbane expansion bids looking to merge, another postponement for the NRLW competition, a couple of huge fines…
Goto manscaped.com and get 20% off + free shipping with the code: NRL In this episode we chat about moved to continue down the road of investment from a private equity firm in the NRL. We then talk about Super League and have a debate about Rugby Union investment (Plant the virus!) We then talk about what Thylacine…
In this episode League Freak has a chat with York City Knights media manager Gavin Wilson about the clubs bid to enter Super League in 2021. They talk about the clubs history, its stable growth, how it would be a good stepping stone in changing the geographical spread of the Super League competition and…
Goto manscaped.com and get 20% off + free shipping with the code: NRL In this episode we talk about reports that the NRL has engaged a investment firm to look at the possibility of buying into the Super League competition. We talk about what changes the NRL would likely want to see, where they would want…
News keeps filtering out of the UK that Super League is finding every single possible reason not to re-admit the Toronto Wolfpack into Super League. Despite 2020 being impacted by COVID 19, with the Super League competition turning into a shambles of unfulfilled fixtures and a draw that is being thrown together on a week…
Goto manscaped.com and get 20% off + free shipping with the code: NRL In this episode League Freak chats with Sher and Lil who are massive Rugby League supporters in Canada who have been on board since the early days of the Toronto Wolfpack. We chat about how they got into Rugby League, their experiences supporting the…
In this episode we speak to the CEO of the Brisbane Bombers NRL expansion bid, Nick Livermore. We talk about the clubs name and logo, co-existing with the Brisbane Broncos, player recruitment, financing at the new club, and the overall vision that the Brisbane Bombers have as they look to become the NRL’s 17th…
The worldwide lockdown that has occurred because of Covid19 has been fast, brutal, and unexpectedly stopped the momentum of many things in life we take for granted. One of those things has been our sporting competitions, and among those Super League has found itself shutdown mid season. A government bailout in the form of a…
The Rugby League calendar is a busy one. With the NRL 9’s, the NRL All Star Game, pre season trial matches, the World Club Challenge, the NRL season proper, the State Of Origin series, end of season test matches, and that’s not even taking into account the European Challenge Cup, the Rugby League season is…
In some amazing news for Rugby League a team from Fiji has finally be admitted into the Ron Massey Cup for the 2020 season with an eye on promotion to the Century Cup. The Fijian NSWRL bid team has been working for a number of years for entry into one of the NSWRL competitions. Looking…
The Catalan Dragons have asked Super League to consider playing Magic Weekend in France beyond the 2021 according to the BBC. The move would see a complete round of Super League games played in France for the first time ever, and see Super Leagues Magic Round move outside of Great Britain for the first time…
As the NRL looks to expand the competition ahead of the next broadcasting deal a number of locations are being looked at across Australia. The problem is, I think we need another team in New Zealand sooner rather than later. The New Zealand Warriors would benefit from having a little bit of competition in New…
In episode 2 of Fergo and The Freak Andrew and League Freak talk about the history of Rugby League expansion in Australia, the loss of clubs, what clubs could be relocated to new areas and which areas are ripe for expansion. You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Spotify, otherwise you can…
English Rugby League is dying. If you have been reading my web site for any length of time you knew that years ago. I was the first to write about the financial implosion and mass death of clubs that sadly eventuated. I wrote about Rugby Union swamping the game in its so called heartlands when…
The Gold Coast Titans joined the NRL in 2007 at a time when Rugby League was still recovering from the Super League War. At the time the game was terribly underfunded with terrible broadcasting deals in place and a lack of corporate infrastructure holding the game back in a big way. As we head into…
A couple of years ago a great idea was put forward to enter a Fijian team into the NSW Cup lower grade competition. The basic idea was to have a Fijian club in the NSW state cup competition that mirrors the PNG Hunters involvement in the Queensland Cup. The depth of talent Fiji produces in…
As a rabid Rugby League expansionist I was very interested in news that came out this week that the Chairman of the Canadian Rugby League Eric Perez would lead a bid to have a Toronto based club play in the RFL’s National League One. The team will be called the Toronto Wolfpack. They will be…
Lets not get too far ahead of ourselves just now. Jarryd Hayne did very well in his first pre season match for the San Francisco 49ers but he still has a long way to go. It was important for him to show the club he had raw athletic talent, and he more than did that….
It would be very easy to look at the NRL’s newly announced broadcasting deal with Channel 9 and be blinded by the figures. Channel 9 currently pays $90 million per year to broadcast 3 NRL matches per round, as well as the finals series, and representative fixtures. The newly announced deal that kicks off in…
