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

[bakakumon]

The NRFL ‏@TheNRFL 19 hours

Clubs that will be represented at the NRFL Combine: Saracens, Harlequins, Munster, Grenoble, Ulster, Bayonne, La Rochelle, Ospreys, Beziers

The NRFL ‏@TheNRFL 18hours

Ten professional rugby teams from four different leagues in Europe will be represented this weekend in Minneapolis for the NRFL Combine

more to come

 

[ratsapprentice]

more to come

Are you part of NRFL/RugbyLaw?

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

if these athletes on the borderline start to realise that rugby is a good bet, the game could explode in the U.S.

I think your drastically over estimating the effect this will have on rugby. They will be lucky to find 1 or 2 guys that will make a good transition to rugby and I am with Littleguy on this one, this is being run by some guy who is looking for a cash grab and it's not affiliated with any existing North American rugby structure.

 

[jonny24]

I have to agree with you. These guys seem a little blind, they're coming at this (and the whole USA Selects V Irish thing) all wrong.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

This weekend will tell a lot as to how seriously the NRFL can be taken. If a couple of combine participants gain contracts in Europe, it'll lend a lot of credibility to the startup venture. The caliber of athlete attracted is important. Are they for the most part failed gridiron and basketball prospects who think rugby will be an easy ride or do they genuinely want to test themselves in a new environment?

 

[ratsapprentice]

I think they are going to run into some issues in getting games against foreign clubs... they don't want anything to do with a Union.

 

[Groundhog]

I think your drastically over estimating the effect this will have on rugby. They will be lucky to find 1 or 2 guys that will make a good transition to rugby and I am with Littleguy on this one, this is being run by some guy who is looking for a cash grab and it's not affiliated with any existing North American rugby structure.

Big emphasis on the IF. I'm talking hypothetically. There's no way this batch will be of much use bar one or two, but IF the American team could identify the guys who won't make the cut in football at a younger age and teach them the skillset before they're out of date (like the majority of these guys) they may be on to something. What excites me is that a high calibre of athlete in the U.S is seeing rugby as a legitimate option, and I'm interested to see how that develops.

 

[LittleGuy]

NRFL is not letting several accredited rugby journalists into their combine, honestly guys, this whole thing is a bit of a lark. Here's Pat Clifton from rugbymag discussing it.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en data-scribe-reduced-action-queue="><p>And while we're rebuffing BS, y would <a href="https://twitter.com/TheNRFL">@TheNRFL</a> deny RM a credential or access 2 observe combine this wknd if everything was on the up &amp; up?</p>&mdash; Pat Clifton (@Pat_Clifton) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pat_Clifton/statuses/451391321039597569">April 2, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en data-scribe-reduced-action-queue="><p>Letting a reputable site tell every1 ur not just the nxt fancy logo w/ promising press releases &amp; no substance wld make sense no? <a href="https://twitter.com/TheNRFL">@TheNRFL</a></p>&mdash; Pat Clifton (@Pat_Clifton) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pat_Clifton/statuses/451391939439390720">April 2, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Groundhog]

Yeah actually that rings a few alarms. There are guaranteed to be some appalling skills on show and I imagine that's the reason

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Interview with one of the founders here:
http://www.arugbylife.com/2014/04/the-state-of-play-podcast-episode-4-nrfl.html

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

NRFL is not letting several accredited rugby journalists into their combine, honestly guys, this whole thing is a bit of a lark. Here's Pat Clifton from rugbymag discussing it.

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It's a big joke if you ask me, hence why none of the national unions are interested at all in this thing.

<iframe id="rufous-sandbox" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" style="display: none;"></iframe>

 

[TRF_Olyy]

So how is this thing even going to work?
In the NFL it makes sense as they can think "Yeah, this guy is fast/strong/agile....let's now look over the hours of tapes of him playing college football" - in this they're gonna watch them play touch for two days or what?

 

[bakakumon]

combine starts

 

[LittleGuy]

I urge anyone with an interest in the combine to follow James Walker on twitter at @Tiger_Rugby IMMEDIATELY!!! This is even worse than I had thought....


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en data-scribe-reduced-action-queue="><p>NFRL combine making athletes sign contracts before first exercise. Tell me why this isn't a scam? I'm all ears <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23greed&amp;src=hash">#greed</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Shenanigans&amp;src=hash">#Shenanigans</a></p>&mdash; James Walker (@Tiger_Rugby) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tiger_Rugby/statuses/452490805014315008">April 5, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[jonny24]

What on earth is happening? Contracts? Very odd.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Dodgy.

I just hope no-one gets ****ed over.

Any back-handed legal work will probably get reported back to the clubs that sent over scouts - can't be good for fostering relations.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Dodgy.

I just hope no-one gets ****ed over.

Any back-handed legal work will probably get reported back to the clubs that sent over scouts - can't be good for fostering relations.

This.

We can't let the fact that most people want to see rugby take off in the US cloud our judgement if something untoward is going on.

Without seeing the contracts, it's hard to speculate as to what's in them. Is it a release so that the players can be used in a reality TV show (as Mac Robertson has intimated)? Does it mean the NRFL "owns" the player as long as they're in rugby? I'm assuming it's the latter. From an NRFL perspective, they may feel they uncovered the players potential so anyone else who picks them up will have to fork out.

 

[LittleGuy]

They just threatened that James Walker guy with legal action......I'm done talking about this "league"myself, it dosen't need anymore attention.

 

[lynam1104]

This thing has gone from sounding a little misguided to full on scammy.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

This thing has gone from sounding a little misguided to full on scammy.

It doesn't look good seeing Mac Robertson (@GMRobertson) threatening James Walker (@Tiger_Rugby) with legal action so publicly on twitter. Walker is aggrieved at the contracts put in front of his players. It should be noted that a few athletes participating in the combine are also posting on twitter. Not one of them has mentioned issues over contracts or a NRFL scam.

Personally I can't see Sarries, Quins, Munster, Ulster, Ospreys, Grenoble, Scarlets or Beziers supporting the combine (which in effect is what they're doing by attending) if there was something fishy about it. The posts by @Tigers_Rugby are concerning but I'd like to see the full facts emerge before labelling the startup venture a scam or success.