Giving PNG some home Ws to keep China on its side of the Philippine Sea
Haha yeah I'll bet. Anyway, better get back to it!
I feel that I spend a lot of time on this platform being critical and fail to radiate sufficient joy when good things happen, so here we go: the QRL confirms BMD Premiership expansion.
The QRLW, which kicks off in March, will go from eight to ten teams, and the Sunshine Coast Falcons and the unapproved Western Clydesdales have already made marquee signings ahead of their debuts. Maddick and Studdon are headlining at Bokarina and Brigginshaw and Ciesiolka in Toowoomba. We also know when the rest of the competition is coming with the Jets and Pride joining in 2025, followed by the Dolphins and Blackhawks in 2026 to complete the set of 14 Australian QRL clubs. Great news all round.
While the expansion is rapid, it opens up a lot more territory to players who might not otherwise be able to commit to the competition if, for example, they lived in Atherton and the nearest state team is in Mackay. It’s also probably worth remembering that the number of people actually watching the BMD is pretty small, so there will be few complaints about the quality of play dipping, if that does indeed happen. 2024 will be two weeks longer than previous premierships with nine regular season rounds.
Then there was other good news: women's Origin is going to three games in 2024. Given the NRL has Suncorp for the whole weekend for Magic Round, as if it were a 52,000 seat Airbnb, chucking in the extra game in the Thursday night slot, which has been empty since Titans and Sharks played in front of 17,000 in 2019, seemed like a cheap way to do it, so naturally the NRL made it happen. We can retire the dogshit two matches decided on aggregate format and move forward with a real series.
Just one problem: the NRLW clubs are set to field reserve grade teams after changes to the NSW comp. This is (probably) great news for the seven NRLW clubs based south of the Tweed. It is absolutely not clear what the Broncos, Cowboys or Titans - that is, 30% of the professional league - are doing and no one seems to know.
The Queensland model, of playing state cup, then Origin, then NRLW with no reserve grade, has the advantage of making star players available for state clubs and provides some heavier reps prior to Origin (the regular season finishes the week before game 1, which could stall out the likes of Burleigh and Wynnum in the finals) but there’s no support during the pro season. The NSW model, where state cup will overlap with NRLW, reverses the pros and cons.
One way is not necessarily right or wrong. In the immediate term, we’ll get a direct comparison of which works better. In Queensland, this seems to hand the Maroons an advantage at the expense of the Titans’ (and perhaps an outside chance, the Broncos’) premiership aspirations1. The NSW model is a bit more logical and maybe they think they can forgo a half dozen state games for their best players without losing too much ground, given the natural disparity in talent. In the long run, it becomes irrelevant as both the pro and semi-pro competitions stretch in length to match their male counterparts.
It is too late to enact any changes for 2024 but let’s look a little further ahead. There’s a couple of moving parts to consider:
Top players are generally contracted to one NRLW club, and possibly a second state club. Adding a third club to that mix, i.e. having an agreement with QRL, NSWRL and NRLW clubs for different parts of the season (never mind rep obligations on top of that) seems possible but convoluted and prone to conflicts of interest.
Alignment of state comps with the NRLW would allow for a flow of players between the major and minor leagues, which would likely improve the quality of both levels of competition, making better prepared replacement players available for the NRLW and making more experienced players available for state comps.
The dates for women’s Origin are set by the men’s Origin, which has a different set of commercial imperatives. Last year’s Origin series was marred by a relatively poor quality of play due to an insufficient amount of prior game time available to the elite players in the game.
The lengths of all competitions are likely to vary a lot over the next decade. The QRLW has been 7 rounds, is now 9, will likely be 11 next year and then 13, while the men’s comp is 23. The NRLW has been 3, then 5, then 9 and will probably be 11 next year if the NRL adds two more teams. Fixing dates in stone doesn't seem especially feasible when the competition structure is still fluid and once both levels are 10+ weeks, it will be increasingly difficult to find time to do both.
This is not easy to resolve but there are band-aids available:
Allow NSW players to come up for tune-ups in the BMD before Origin2, especially as the competition is expanding and has more roles to fill.
Allow the Titans, Broncos and Cowboys to either partner with NSW clubs during NRLW season or enter their own teams into the NSW competition3. The Titans could throw the Tweed Seagulls at it without causing too much cultural disruption.
The QRLW competition aligns with the NRLW and NSWRL and we find an alternative way to prepare pre-Origin.
That alignment could allow us to get a bit funky for a few years. How’s a women’s challenge cup of the state level clubs, with a three game group stage leading into a knock-out tournament, sound? There are 10 BMD clubs this year, with 12 next year, and there will be 12 HNWP clubs this year, so that’s six groups of four to play a round robin with each group winner and two wild cards qualifying for the knock-out phase and have the final the weekend before Origin camp. Everyone gets at least three games, brings back the mid-week cup for boomer nostalgia, geographical groups would keep travel costs under control, and so on. If the format proved popular, it would be a far better option for the pre-season than the Pre-Season Challenge™️ for both men and women4.
While that may be too radical, let’s be thankful that the women’s game is moving forward as fast as it is, which is probably despite, as much as because, of the NRL’s leadership’s determination to make the women’s game as cheap and convenient as possible for the broadcasters. And while this strategy has succeeded in overcoming what is likely an entrenched patriarchy in the Nine boardroom, as epitomised by the lack of professionalism with which one-time NRL belligerent-turned-consultant Hugh Marks acted, it is still slow going to get to where we should be.
An intermission to enjoy the magic of the 1997 World Club Challenge
Full time: Leeds Rhinos 22 d Adelaide Rams 14
Anecdotally, the Pacific Championships didn’t seem turn many people on to international football. I confess that I didn’t watch much of it. Australia crushing Samoa got tedious quickly. The Kangaroos didn’t feature in week 2 and both the Cup and the Bowl had their final fixtures decided after week 2, played those same match-ups in week 3, only to then stage rematches for the actual final in the week after.
The women’s competition didn’t even have a final. According to NRLdotcom’s standings, New Zealand won the Cup by playing three matches, over Australia’s two (both against New Zealand) and Tonga’s one. That Tonga were in the Cup and not the Bowl is questionable, given PNG and Cook Islands both considerably outrank Mate Ma'a Tonga but then the point of the Bowl on both sides seems to be giving Papua New Guinea some home Ws to keep China on its side of the Philippine Sea.
The only saving grace was the reversal of both results in the men’s competition. New Zealand staged an historic bloodbath in front of an empty stand in Hamilton to win the Cup, 30-0, over Australia, and Papua New Guinea stood firm over Fiji at home, 32-12. In the women’s, the Kiwi Ferns upset the Jillaroos in a low-scoring not-a-final, 12-6. Does that give the Championships enough juice to make the 2024 edition more enticing? We’ll see. I’d prefer a straight knock-out tournament with a first round bye to last year’s finalists but that might be too dicey (read: too close to actual sport) for broadcasters and DFAT.
In the northern hemisphere, Tonga barely turned up to their three game series in England, getting swept and losing by a combined score of 62-26. None of the games cracked 16,000 in attendance, which is an average of about two-thirds capacity across St Helens, Huddersfield and Leeds. It was at least proof of concept that someone other than Australia or New Zealand could go on tour and sell some tickets, even if it wasn’t a box office smash. Samoa was scheduled to tour at the end of this year but also decided to completely overhaul its rugby league administration in 2023, so surprise: the British game was rocked on Thursday when the RFL announced Toa Samoa had declined a tour which had been widely foreshadowed by English officials.
Samoa’s new board wanted to play in the 2024 Pacific Championships but it seems the IRL, NRL and RFL are all in agreement that Samoa should be playing in England. Steve Mascord has suggested, “The financial terms for Samoa playing in the Pacific Championships are much better than they were for Tonga when the Mate Ma’a toured England last month. Players are paid more per match (by the NRL), all travel is covered and the NRL pays an appearance fee to the federation. It’s understood the head honchos at League Central want Samoa coming to the Northern Hemisphere next year, not playing in the Pacific Championships. They’ll have to pay for it - and I reckon they will.” No one can force Samoa to come to an arrangement but if the Pacific Championships only has six slots, then either Samoa are sitting down in November, the Cook Islands are getting bumped, or Samoa are going to England.
While the Pac Championships were lacklustre, it was still an improvement over the Oceania Cup, which had no finals at all and no women’s games, and Rugby League Samoa are just doing what are pretty standard rugby league things. I’m still extremely frustrated with the machinations behind the 2026 World Cup, which still does not have an official host and won’t until after March this year, and I’m not the only one:
The block of disappointed nations, which included likes of Brazil, Spain, the United States, Malta, Canada and Macedonia, in a letter had called for a revamp of the IRL board to ensure greater diversity and wider representation, following the reduction of spots at the 2026 World Cup.
Troy Grant wrote a letter in response that can be best summarised as “sit down and shut up” but basically, there is no money, especially as the last two World Cups have not been particularly lucrative, with a pandemic wedged in between, and “there is little empirical evidence to support the idea that a world cup boosts sustainable participation or other aspects of organisational growth“. There also seems to be some question marks about who is a full member and so eligible for the World Cup.
Fine, I guess, but it still begs the question why France was allowed to get out over its skis with three 16 team tournaments if the commercial logic dictates smaller, more streamlined, more competitive, elite competitions. France might have been able to deliver 10+8, rather than 3x16, if that’s what the IRL knew it wanted but that presumes too much on their part.
But it’s time to move on. 2025 will have a men’s and women’s World Series, with one nation from each continent (Americas, APAC, MEA, Europe) represented. The top two from the men and the winner of the women’s will compete in 2026 World Cup. We then get World Cups for women in 2028, wheelchair in 2029 and men in 2030, with the tender process for hosts apparently open.
If you ignore that the formats are all a bit suspect, the qualifiers for the 17 nations competing for one spot in the women’s World Cup is a bit all over the shop and should be under some tournament brand, and the NRL seems to be the only rugby league body in the world with the money and power to make any international rugby league happen, there are the bare bones of an international game there. It’s going to take all the way to 2030 to see if the rugby league establishment is capable of sticking with it and letting it build into something meaningful, or if they'll try it for six months and then give up.
This week’s Notes / Nic Darveniza doing the Lord’s work in Townsville
Ex-Cowboy Jake Bourke ditches French club after 10 days to sign with Blackhawks - “I haven’t seen a half play it to the line the way he does in our opposed sessions so I’m glad he didn’t like France. He didn’t get jet lag because he wasn’t over there long enough.”
Cowboys sign ‘most skilful big guy’ in Ignatius Park College’s recent history, Henry Teutau
The Dolphins Fan Fest is this Saturday at 8.30 in Nundah, which keen observers will note is not in Redcliffe.
To quote the League Scene podcast, “Titans coach Des Hasler has confirmed that AJ Brimson will move to centre this season. This opens up a fullback battle between Jayden Campbell and Keano Kini.” This change has generated a bit of copy, most of it originating in Parkwood, all loudly proclaiming their unity and agreement with the decision. For what it’s worth, I think Campbell at fullback is the right move, Brimson does not fit in well in the three-quarter line but it would also be a waste to send him to the Jets.
The facts in Brisbane's paper of record: “The Roosters have signed the younger brother of rising halfback Sam Walker…” The hyperbole added by Messrs Badel and Meyn: “…one of Queensland’s hottest prospects which could deliver the NRL a new version of the famous Johns siblings.” While I'm no fan of the Johns brothers, neither for their football, varying scandals, TV work nor McDonalds ads, I'm pretty sure they both had more in their kit bag than one long, looping pass. Still, with their goal complete, the Roosters can now decamp from Ipswich and leave it to the Titans.
Jack Campagnolo: London Broncos sign Italy half-back. Not sure if this is related to the next item, although Campagnolo would appear to be too old to qualify via this change and it may just be a coincidence that the Broncos have a network of Italian Cup guys. Still, big (second tier) news. The Falcons had signed Campagnolo for 2024, after playing for the Magpies in 2023, but appear to be left in the lurch. Unless there is some sort of miracle with the IMG gradings, the Broncos will almost certainly be relegated back to the second division next year, so this could be a one-year stint to get into the pros unless he pulls a Corey Norman (his seeming teammate at the Broncos) and manages to snag a gig with the newly promoted team. It’s also weird that BBC gets stories like this that no one else has but also has basic rugby league errors in it (e.g. “the 25-year-old helped the South Logan Magpies finish as runners-up in Australia's Queensland Cup last year”).
Tarryn Aiken signs for the Tweed Seagulls.
Kayo Sports is launching 4K* for fans in 2024. Can’t wait for my internet to absolutely shit itself under the strain. Note this is only available on a Kayo Basic subscription, which for some reason is the more expensive of the two options.
QRL announce new platform for Qplus when?
Off-season Notes from the Rest of the World
RFL confirms visa changes for southern hemisphere talent - "A further amendment had been secured for players aged 26 or under who had played in the NRL, and now that has been extended to players aged 24 and under who have been playing in the NSW or Queensland Cup competitions.” I’d wondered why SL clubs didn’t poach more Cup players without clocking to the visa situation. The SL clubs will be able to outbid the QCup clubs, where max salary was set at $32k in 2023 for non-NRL players (down from $40k in 2019, up from $30k in 2021), but whether there is a significant enough number of relatively young players, that already aren’t tied to NRL clubs (presuming most would prefer to stay home and pursue the NRL than go to England) but are good enough to compete in the first or second division over there to reshape the market remains to be seen.
NRL stars back calls for inclusion of Pasifika All Stars team - A Pasifika All-Stars team feels like it would be better outlet, coupled with traditional international matches, for the engagement with the Pacific that’s being pushed but who would they play? Are one of the Indigenous or Maori teams expected to miss out or do we have to assemble a Settlers All-Star team? The current NRL administration have shown themselves to be very reluctant around the All-Stars concept in the past, so expansion seems unlikely, although I think it has too much momentum to be put to bed now.
The RFL agrees to lower tackle height for all levels from 2025 - given that the RFL’s hand is being forced because of factors specific to their situation (their size relative to union in England, union’s mixed results in trying to address this problem and the the RFL’s inability to defend themselves from their insurers or litigants), it would be a mistake to assume the NRL will follow suit. If the NRL does not follow suit, it seems unlikely that the IRL would also get on board.
South Island’s NRL bid to be launched in Las Vegas (also on LinkedIn for some reason)
Australian Rugby League Commission urged to make Townsville a permanent home for Jillaroos
Gold Coast’s own Georgia Hale wins the 2023 Golden Boot, and some other guy
Shock, anger and happiness: How the clubs responded to the IMG grades
Newcastle Thunder relegated to League 1 folds and then un-folds - pro-rel, how good is the stability?
Carcassonne is supposedly aiming to enter the RFL pyramid in 2026, except nothing has been submitted to the RFL
Programming notes
Last week’s second post is closing in on being the second most viewed thing on The Maroon Observer. While this is likely down to the good promotional work of Mr Onion, I’m not sure why this went around to so many inboxes but thank you to those that shared and welcome to new readers. Hopefully, this signals a big year ahead. We’re only a half dozen subs away from cracking 300.
But firstly, don’t get too comfortable yet with this pace of news. We're still in the training down the house phase of the season and I've squeezed three months of off season content into three posts. Meanwhile, I've had nearly three months on dad leave and this is my first week back at work, so let's see how the old brain responds to the rat race first.
During the season, you'll probably get two posts a week. The main one will be a merger of The Weekly and The Weekendly, which will no longer have a special title, but will cover headlines, recaps, previews, notes and the watch guide and will hit your inbox on Wednesday. The other will be a Stats Drop or longform match report or a feature or a mailbag or whatever I get to when I get to it.
Until kickoff, I’m planning to do some one off features - the history of the QCup in graphical form, redoing the rivalry survey and an examination of sponsors - before we get into season previews for the Q4, the QCup and QRLW. I haven't got to retooling WARG yet but it's on the to do list.
Also, unrelated to rugby league but possibly of interest, Substack has a Nazi problem. Ryan Broderick went hard, Ed Zitron went harder. I do not love this. This wouldn't be the first time I've had an active account on a website that Nazis also use, and we’re fairly well separated here, and the social stuff is turned off, and this publication is microscopic in the grand scheme, and a lot of this seems a lot like very boring internet writer drama but man:
It’d be nice if I didn’t have to give up on what is a very useful platform out of a moral obligation to dissociate myself from a company that reaps profits from Nazis5 and doesn’t seem to think that’s bad. I get that it's inherently more lucrative than catering to normal people because fascists are creepy, little, insane goblins, but a whole, very decisive war was fought over this and they lost. It's about as firm a judgement as history has rendered on anything.
If there is a change of platform for The Maroon Observer, you probably won’t notice who sends the emails. For now, I'm staying put because it will be painful to move and it's not clear if the alternatives are less Nazified or that the same thing won't happen elsewhere or if this will blow over at some point because people manage to justify it to themselves (tbh I'm halfway there), as they have seemed to when a bunch of earlier writers decamped from Substack for allowing transphobic content. The last few years on the internet has basically just been this, running away from unpleasant people once they infest the good websites.
In the meantime, I will continue not charging for this good-ass content, so no money goes to Substack and, like Marshal Zhukov, that makes you the real winner here.
I’ll be annoyed if the Maroons lose Origin and none of the Q3 NRLW clubs make the grand final.
Which could have been done this year but very few Blues, if any, seem to have made the move north. Depending on the aforementioned contract arrangements, it might just not have been possible. The players also have outside lives that probably doesn't suit a three month stint in Rockhampton.
The irony is not lost on me but the motivations are quite different, which is the important bit, and it would be temporary.
Too many games for a pre-season comp? Just have the men play one half and the women the other. Halved the loading and mixed the genders together into one WOKE competition. Still too much? Make the halves 30 minutes long and we can scrap half time for a full hour of non-stop entertainment. Boom, problem solved.
Unlike Facebook or Twitter, whose white supremacist profiteering is - or was - more marginal.