21 Jun 2018

Kiwis vs England match in Denver 'gigantic' for US game

4:26 pm on 21 June 2018

Opinion - The much-talked about Kiwis versus England test match will take place this weekend, against the early predictions of many pundits.

England training at the University of Denver.

England training at the University of Denver. Photo: Photosport

Kickoff is scheduled for 8am Sunday New Zealand time, which is 2pm Saturday over in Denver, the controversial choice of venue.

Coverage of the game from Down Under has been overwhelmingly negative. It's been widely derided as a gimmick, waste of time and that league here would be better served by ensuring another edition of the pulsating Tonga versus Kiwis match from last year's World Cup.

Add in the fact that there's a new Kiwis coach having to select a team from a bunch of players who haven't said much in the way of promotion of the fixture, and have had their ranks thinned by NRL clubs jealously guarding their injury-prone assets - all on one week of training together in a different country.

But, there is another side to this. There's a strong belief that rugby league can take off in the US, not least because it's already had a pretty successful start north of the border in Canada. As well as the primary intention of this match to make money, it is seen by US rugby league enthusiasts as a vital way of broadening the game's appeal in the country that will host the 2025 World Cup.

New Zealand Kiwis Rugby League team and management photo ahead of the New Zealand v England test match in Denver, Colorado, USA. 18 June 2018.

New Zealand Kiwis Rugby League team and management photo ahead of the New Zealand v England test match in Denver, Colorado, USA. 18 June 2018. Photo: Photosport

One of them is Nate Gladdin, who hosts the rugby league In America Podcast out of Washington DC. He fell in love with league while serving in the Middle East with US Air Force, through spending time with Australian servicemen who introduced him to the game.

He says that the Denver fixture is "gigantic" for the code in the US.

"The sport is incredibly exciting on the field and if Americans have the opportunity to see it in person it will go a long way in bringing awareness. I think it also benefits the teams playing because it opens up their brand and their players to a completely untapped market."

Those teams he refers to are the ones playing in the USARL local competition, which has 11 teams concentrated on the east coast.

"Rugby league doesn't exist here in the States anywhere other than the east coast currently. So if you can draw a crowd to Denver, which is the heartland of rugby union in America, then you can prove its worth."

That crossover with union has been an interesting point of the marketing, with promoters seemingly happy not to draw too much attention to the fact that it's actually a different sport than what the vast majority of Americans associate with the word 'rugby'.

However, the feeling is that due to the game's fundamental similarities with American football, it has the power to capture the imagination much faster than union - as well as the skillsets of American athletes. A few weeks ago an American golf journalist made a now-infamous tweet about how dominant the US would be if they took rugby seriously, if he'd said league perhaps the reaction might have been a bit more understanding.

Gladdin said the crowd at Mile High stadium this weekend will be a "majority of new faces to the sport".

"A large Pacific Island population exists in Utah and California so I can see them traveling [to Denver]. I would say that 85-90 percent of the Americans that will be there will have almost no understanding of the game."

He's optimistic about the growth of the game following this test match - provided it's done right.

"The USARL will without question continue to grow throughout the southern part of the United States."

"If North America can have three professional clubs by 2025, plus at least one yearly event between foreign sides played around the country it will set up the RLWC for success. It cannot lie dormant until the year the tournament comes here, I think this is where it will be smart to have Americans working with them to be able to understand the target audience."

As for the bad press from these parts, Gladdin had this simple message:

"Negativity kills, so looking at the code pessimistically does nothing to grow the game."

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