NRFL Combine in United States Ready to Roll on April 5-6th

[Grant A Cole]

Thanks for the reply. 
There were go. So they held thw combine at the coliseum because the nfl (with they are associated with) has rented the stadium for a commercial and the "sub"-lease might be a bargain.

The NRFL is not in any way, shape, or form associated with the NFL. Believing such nonsense is the height of folly.

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Links for your edification (if such is possible)

NRFL 2015 Combine: Coliseum Interview

A fledgling rugby league hunts for athletes NFL might have overlooked (this guy doesn't get all the facts about the NRFL straight, but he is a noted and accomplished sports writer in SoCal).

 

[Draggs]

Article on NRFL in a large US publication:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/01/nrfl-rugby-usa

 

[ORothlain]

It seems the NRFL or whatever has failed to materialize. I get that everyone here in the US wants some professional rugby, but we just aren't there yet. We have a difficult time managing expectations and creating healthy benchmarks for rugby in the US. All this non-sense of thinking that we can poach the NFL's waste and then compete with the All Blacks is nothing short of Horse s***.
I've played all over the US (including your Texas division [Dallas RFC]) and can say we are a ways off. I'm not doom and gloom about American Rugby, it is indeed getting better every year. However we must practice patience.
It reminds me of this song my parents would sing to me:
[video=youtube_share;9kn6Z2Mop5I]http://youtu.be/9kn6Z2Mop5I[/video]

 

[norcalbuff]

ORothlain,

I don't disagree but there is a ton of undiscovered, untapped talent in this country. Look at how Samu Manoa has gone from basically a good American club player to a superstar at Northampton and soon Toulon. Or perhaps even more dramatically, Ahmad Harajly who just managed to make the USA 7s squad after going to a recruitment camp 2 weeks ago, having only previously played D2 club rugby and very little 7s. If he didn't have some money saved up for the plane ticket or couldn't get work off, he'd probably be toiling away in obscurity for the foreseeable future. Who knows who else like him is out there? So while we definitely have a ways to go in developing the game here, we also can improve quite a bit by creating better aligned structures for elite rugby. The regional ODAs for 7s are a good step, but we need similar things for 15s.

 

[welshglory]

The sheer population size means there will be talent, plus the athleticism of the sporting landscape in the USA.

Obviously developing the technical positions is the challenge.

Let's be honest in the club structures at the moment most of the guys are just amateur guys playing for fun and having a drink. Same can be said for most countries There's a sprinkle of ambitious young guys with genuine talent who don't have a pathway to pro, even if they make the Eagles

As you say advancing the structures will help this, as well as a pro league.

 

[Grant A Cole]

Gifttime Rugby visited the NRFL Combine in January and gives his take on what will happen.

 

[ORothlain]

ORothlain,
I don't disagree but there is a ton of undiscovered, untapped talent in this country. Look at how Samu Manoa has gone from basically a good American club player to a superstar at Northampton and soon Toulon. Or perhaps even more dramatically, Ahmad Harajly who just managed to make the USA 7s squad after going to a recruitment camp 2 weeks ago, having only previously played D2 club rugby and very little 7s. If he didn't have some money saved up for the plane ticket or couldn't get work off, he'd probably be toiling away in obscurity for the foreseeable future. Who knows who else like him is out there? So while we definitely have a ways to go in developing the game here, we also can improve quite a bit by creating better aligned structures for elite rugby. The regional ODAs for 7s are a good step, but we need similar things for 15s.

Here's my take. We can produce the random standout 7's player. I don't give a toss about 7's. Yes, it's tied to the Olympics, and I will watch and enjoy, just like I do the IRB (ehm, World Rugby) 7's. Honestly, though, it's all about the 15's. We cannot take a random athlete, and then expect them to compete with pros that have been playing the sport their whole life.
Let's just analyze for a moment the struggle that many Rugby League players have had making the code switch. The sports are more similar than RU & NFL.
I'm not saying that we don't have talent. I'm not saying that there aren't some rugby playing gems to be discovered.
What I am saying is that we cannot expect to take the NFL's scraps (which has been part of the premise of the NFRL) and have some awesome team. We (and now I'm agreeing with you) have to get the structure in place. We have to convince HS Football coaches that kids can play both sports.
What's the difference between Samu Manoa and Carlin Isles? Manoa can play actual rugby.
I hope that the NRFL proves me wrong. Sincerely I do. We need sponsorship dollars in rugby here in the US.

 

[Grant A Cole]

What I am saying is that we cannot expect to take the NFL's scraps (which has been part of the premise of the NFRL) and have some awesome team.

What percent of the NRFL premise do you honestly think this will entail? My guess (and I stress that this is a guess) is less than 10%.

We (and now I'm agreeing with you) have to get the structure in place. I hope that the NRFL proves me wrong. Sincerely I do. We need sponsorship dollars in rugby here in the US.

From some information I've received lately, I think the NRFL will exceed our expectations. I am beginning to think that they will exceed their expectations...

 

[jonny24]

From some information I've received lately, I think the NRFL will exceed our expectations. I am beginning to think that they will exceed their expectations...

Don't you go getting my hopes up!

 

[Grant A Cole]

Don't you go getting my hopes up!

Jonny, I have to take the information with a grain of salt, because only some of what I've been told has been confirmed by outside sources. However, I haven't caught them in a lie and several pieces of rather detailed tidbits have panned out as true. I'm not really looking for them to be lying, per se, but rugby in the USA since 2006 has been a cauldron of broken promises, unaccomplished goals, half-truths, and general omission of facts altogether. So, until there's a match, I'm hovering at 75% convinced it's a go.

This is the old SMG report. I've crunched some numbers from it (on my own, because I was bored). France is not a dissimilar sports market from the US as far as rugby is concerned (it ain't exactly like the US, but's it not RSA different). Compare the numbers of the two nations, especially the numbers of those that are neutral on pages 30 & 62. Those are the numbers that get my attention, because 40% of 238mm are neutral toward rugby. Not indifferent. not disinterested. Neutral. That is the market. That market wants a high quality product to entertain them. That is a market that can be swayed given the right product anbd the right marketing.

Man, I could be wrong about this. I've been wrong about tons of rugby news before. I was WAY wrong about Melville being a good leader for USAR. I was wrong about Tolkin being the coach we needed. So, I'll allow that I could be wrong about this. But man, I have a hard time convincing myself that I am wrong about it and I've spent months trying to prove exactly that to myself.

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Even my boss is skeptical!

Don't know why he won't use the contact information I gave him to get answers...

 

[Jcb411]

i wonder what's the hold up on the roster announcement?

 

[Grant A Cole]

i wonder what's the hold up on the roster announcement?

Unknown. I've confirmed at least eight different combine attendees that have been notified that they either made the training camp (and they received the details on that issue) or did not make the training camp.

 

[Jcb411]

Unknown. I've confirmed at least eight different combine attendees that have been notified that they either made the training camp (and they received the details on that issue) or did not make the training camp.

i have seen one on twitter who got conformation that he wasn't on the training camp roster for the tigers game, so they have obviously made some decisions regarding selection already. just wish they would get the roster up and actually meet a deadline that they set themselves just for once.

 

[Grant A Cole]

i have seen one on twitter who got conformation that he wasn't on the training camp roster for the tigers game, so they have obviously made some decisions regarding selection already. just wish they would get the roster up and actually meet a deadline that they set themselves just for once.

Their investors drive their deadline. If the investors think that deadline is fluid, who are we to say otherwise?

 

[Jcb411]

Their investors drive their deadline. If the investors think that deadline is fluid, who are we to say otherwise?

well they can have as many investors as they want but without fans this league is as good as dead, and if fans can't trust the organisation to deliver then they won't follow them. i know it may seem small but they have lost 40 facebook likes in the last couple of hours when you only have about 3000 you don't want to be losing any exposure at all.

my mistake they gained five

 

[Grant A Cole]

http://www.nationalrugbyfootballleague.com/news/roster.html

 

[Draggs]

What is RuXV? I noticed it used in lieu of 'Rugby Union'.

 

[Feicarsinn]

If we're being proper, none of them have any professional experience.

Nice to see Ahman Green is still floating about.

 

[Grant A Cole]

What is RuXV? I noticed it used in lieu of 'Rugby Union'.

It's the compromise. Americans understand the word League as a League of teams (not Rugby League with XIII players on the field). RuXV designates the difference for the Rugby purists who will never cease to cry and moan about the use of the word League, even though they do not care to understand the nuance of the word in American English.

 

[Draggs]

It's the compromise. Americans understand the word League as a League of teams (not Rugby League with XIII players on the field). RuXV designates the difference for the Rugby purists who will never cease to cry and moan about the use of the word League, even though they do not care to understand the nuance of the word in American English.

OK, but I mean what is RuXV? Why use it over 'rugby union'?