When I look back on 2012 I will think of a time when the game of Rugby League finally had its destiny in its own hands again.
With new leaders taking over the game in Australia and a massive broadcasting deal putting hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank each year, Rugby League now has no excuses for not getting things right.
Australian administrators now need to lead the game. They need to realize that they have a responsibility to drive the game world wide. They need to look at other countries where the game is struggling and come up with plans to make the game strong again.
In Australia and New Zealand, Rugby League now has the funding to do amazing things and kick on. That is going to happen. The Pacific Islands however need hands on help and funding while the game in Europe and North America needs some guidance too.
I would say to the Australian Rugby League Commission and National Rugby League clubs that if they don’t see the rest of the world as important in terms of international Rugby League, see it as important to cultivate new players bases to draw upon. We are already seeing NRL clubs looking overseas for raw athletic talent. What better way to draw great athletes from around the world than to make sure Rugby League competitions around the world are strong, have good coaching, are played at a high standard and are financially sustainable.
Where the game ends up in 20 years from now…it will all happen because of the events that occurred this year. Lets hope the games administrators get it right.
The support everyone has given the web site this year has been amazing and humbling.
Matt from ZeroTackle.com offered to host the web site and give me any technical help I needed. He convinced me to ditch the old software I was using and it is probably one of the best changes that has ever happened to the site. He has been super helpful the whole way through, even a few weeks ago I had to email him with one of my “I think I broke something” emails and he had the problem sorted out in minutes. None of the changes you’ve seen to the web site this year would have been possible without Matts help, so visit his web site as a thank you!
The support people have given the site through Twitter and Facebook has been amazing. I don’t spend a single dollar on advertising and I don’t run around to a bunch of forums spamming them with my articles or links. My entire readership is driven by readers and word of mouth. I can’t thank you all enough for the way you lot help promote my site.
I also want to thank guest writers who have contributed to the web site this season. They have given us some great reads and hopefully next year they all continue to submit articles and give different perspectives on the game.
One cool thing that has happened this year is that I’ve made some great contacts in the game through Twitter. I have some really good conversations with people involved in the game about some really interesting subjects. One things all of the people I talk to find out is that I don’t run off and write about things…I don’t even mention it to anyone. It is great to know that people I talk to have confidence to tell me things happening in the game.
So what does 2013 hold for The Glorious League Freak?
Well, if you lot keep coming here and reading the site, I promise to keep calling out people within the game for their double standards and bullshit. While the mainstream media is trying to convince you to drink the kool aid, I’ll try to give you a different perspective, one you are unlikely to find anywhere else.
The World Cup is on next year in Great Britain and I have a feeling it is going to be a bit of a disaster. It will make next year a long year of covering the game and if I can get the funding together to go over, I’ll report on the World Cup from the land of bad teeth and rarely used bath tubs.
If you don’t want to miss any of this, bookmark the site and keep telling people about it!
Anyway, have a great New Years Eve, get pissed like I will be getting, and I’ll see you back here bright and early on….the 3rd of January? Yeah? Good!
