Talking RL: Why play in Oz? The bottom line is the, erm, bottom line

Wigan have stolen the march on their NRL counterparts by staging a ‘home’ game on their doorstep.

In doing so, they have followed the major American competitions – and rugby union’s Premiership – in playing a regular season match in another country.

This is the first Super League fixture to be staged outside of Europe (not ‘the UK’, as the Kenny-Sterling Shield wrongly states).

I’m glad it’s Wigan who are making history, rather than another club.

Their trip has strengthened their presence, their brand, their name and colours, among fans Down Under.

It will strengthen their ties with their former Australian players – about 50 are expected at a legends event next week.

It gives the fans who have travelled, and the ex-pats, a great trip.
And and it gives their players great experiences, which shouldn’t be understated from a recruitment and retention viewpoint.

But of course, let’s not pretend the motivation is to make history. To push the boundaries. To put Super League in the spotlight. It isn’t.

Why are they really there? The bottom line is the, erm, bottom line.

It’s about making money.

Major sponsors have come on board because they are playing Down Under and Wigan’s shirt deal is the most lucrative in their history, in terms of the logos emblazoned across it.

They hope more are attracted, too.

It sounds almost cold to reveal they want to make cash, but professional sport is business, and Wigan’s last reported accounts showed a £600,000 loss.

Sure, owner Ian Lenagan can fill the void, but I think most fans recognise clubs are healthier when they are self-sufficient.

Shaun Wane says he isn’t fazed about the prospect of losing players to the NRL.

Cue outrage that Super League can’t retain it’s biggest stars.

Look, of course the NRL is a threat. But it’s not as big as some seem to think.

Alex Walmsley was wanted by several clubs, but stayed. Micky McIlorum turned down Canberra.

George Williams resisted lucrative offers from Down Under, to stay with Wigan.

In fact, by my reckoning, the only English player to switch Super League for the NRL this winter was Warrington’s Andre Savelio!

And I’d take a guess Warrington sold more season tickets on the basis that stars Tyrone Roberts and Bryson Goodwin have arrived from Down Under, than they lost because of Andre’s giant move.

The reality is there are only a handful of English players in Australia.

Even fewer genuine stars who put ‘bums on seats’.

Plenty have gone and returned, either because of a lack of success or a failure to settle, and others will continue to do so.

Will John Bateman leave later this year? Maybe. Will Ryan Sutton, Joe Burgess and Williams try their luck Down Under? Maybe.

But will the trickle become a torrent? I honestly don’t think so.

Ian Lenagan has talked about playing games in New York or Perth.

Of course, we’ve heard such exciting talk before – about taking the World Club Challenge to Dubai or Hong Kong or America – and it’s never happened.

So it would be easy to dismiss his remarks as fanciful.

But there are two reasons why I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some movement this time around.

Firstly, Toronto have pushed the envelope and shown what can be achieved: A club in New York or even Perth (soon with direct flights from London) is no less left-field than a Canadian outfit playing in the English second-tier.

Secondly, Wigan’s mini-tour of Australia has not been organised by the governing bodies, but by the club.

And while the World Club relies on enthusiasm from the participating NRL club – it takes two to dance, and all that – and so can not be planned in advance, Wigan have not had the same restriction.

They took the initiative themselves. If this trip pays off – and the indications are it will – don’t be surprised to see them look to repeat the venture, maybe somewhere new.

A week ago, addressing the off-field mess Super League has created for itself, I said you can rely on the players.

And how that proved to be the case.

Look around the round one fixtures, and there was plenty to enjoy.

On the opening night at Warrington, elder statesman Jamie Jones-Buchanan opened the scoring but youngster Jack Walker finished the night with the most plaudits after a mature, brave full-back display. In between, we had Ryan Atkins’ comical attempt to go aerial!

Wigan and Salford didn’t disappoint, in that the first-half was an enjoyable tussle and in the second Wigan cut loose with some sizzling tries.

I watched Saints’ destruction of Castleford on catch-up (forget Ben Barba, for a second; how good was Mark Percival?) and Wakefield winger Tom Johnstone made a stunning comeback from an injury lay-off.

The finish for his hat-trick try was incredible.

We may not know how many teams will be in Super League next year or if there’ll be relegation at the end of this season.

But we can close-to guarantee the players will deliver this weekend.