NZ Rugby league relocates Anzac test from Christchurch...

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NZ Rugby League relocates Anzac test from Christchurch..






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The New Zealand Rugby League have decided to relocate the annual Anzac test due to the mounting death toll from Christchurch EQ...


Earthquake-ravaged Christchurch has lost out on hosting the Anzac rugby league test between New Zealand and Australia.

The test was scheduled to be played in the city on May 5 but the New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) today decided to relocate the international due to the mounting death toll, which has risen to 163, and the serious damage inflicted on Christchurch's infrastructure by last week's magnitude 6.3 earthquake.

The match will instead be played at Skilled Park on Queensland's Gold Coast.

The NZRL said both it and the Australian Rugby League were committed to returning the Anzac test to Christchurch in 2012.

"The priority for them now is to somehow get their lives back together and the valuable resources they have on call need to be focused on trying to rebuild their city," NZRL chief executive Jim Doyle.

"By next year, hopefully, they will be looking for the tourism and the international exposure that this match can deliver, and we will be there to do everything we can to deliver that outcome.

"We remain committed to giving the people of Canterbury the chance to see the world champion Kiwis but unfortunately it is in everyone's interest that we wait for the right time.

"We are conscious that there are a lot of people hurting at the moment in Christchurch, as well as many in Queensland who are still coming to terms with the devastation of recent floods, and the test will certainly include a number of fundraising efforts."

To accommodate the venue change, the New Zealand Warriors' round nine National Rugby League (NRL) match against the Gold Coast Titans, which was scheduled to be played in Auckland, has been moved to Skilled Park. The corresponding match between the two teams in round 18 will move from Skilled Park to Auckland.

"The move has been agreed to by both clubs and reduces the impact of the venue change on the Warriors, players," said NRL chief executive David Gallop said today.

"There is tremendous sympathy for the people of Christchurch and we accept that the city is simply not in a position to host the match."

Acknowledgements: NZPA

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Melbourne Storm stripped of NRL premierships for breaching salary cap...

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Melbourne Storm stripped of their NRL Premierships for breaching the salary cap to the tune of $1.7 million

 Article from www.rugbyleague.co.nz



The Melbourne Storm have been stripped of their NRL Premierships, won in 2007 and 2009, for breaching the salary cap.



The club admits it secretly paid its players $1.7 million over the past five years, including $700,000 this year, without telling the NRL. The Storm have lost all of their eight competition points won this season and will not be awarded any more. They will have to hand back $1.1 million in prize money, as well as pay a $500,000 fine. The lost prize money will be split among the other 15 clubs.



NRL boss David Gallop says Melbourne has been operating two sets of financial books. Several people from the Storm have also been stood down from their administrative positions. Melbourne chairman Rob Moodie says he is not making any excuses. Former chief executive Brian Waldron has been named as the architect of the scam. He is now in charge of the Melbourne Rebels Super 15 team.

http://www.nzrugby/ league.com









Ackowledgements: © 2010 NZCity, NewsTalkZB

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Three Kiwi boys on a big jetplane over the Tasman...

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Three Kiwi boys on a big jetplane over the Tasman...



At 9am New Zealand time today three young Kiwi boys, two from the Hutt Valley and one from Taranaki, set out from Wellington International Airport for Melbourne in Australia.



From Melbourne Airport they were whisked away to the Melbourne Storm NRL Club headquarters to be welcomed and informed about what will be happening over the next six days. The boys will be staying in a flash hotel and receive three meals a day there.



One of the boys is my very talented young sportsman and rugby league playing grandson, 14 year old Pride Petterson-Ropati. Pride already has a six year contract withe the Storm, while the other two boys get their dream partially realised - a trial with the top rugby league club in Australia... and the world!



Pride will be put through some training programs to test him physically and mentally, and be given a training regime to follow back in New Zealand. He will return to Melbourne during each school holidays and be tested for his progress. He will move to Melbourne next year and will stay with a foster family and be schooled there.



Prides's future is now in his own extremely young and capable hands. It is planned for him to play under 16 year Grade football, and then progress to the Under 18 Grade. Eventually he will get the opportunity to play Under 20's and First Grade football. His contract covers a rising scale of payment during each grade.



The Melbourne Storm club will pay for all his living expenses and schooling and a weekly payment for expenses and pocket money.



The two boys who accompanied him to Melbourne will trial for similar contracts to Pride's. One of the boys is an older clubmate of his.


Acknowledgements: Peter Petterson

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Well the contract has been signed...

Well the contract has been signed for five years, and my 14 year old grandson knows the terms.

There is a sort of grading scale depending on the level he plays at. He will receive free schooling at Brisbane Grammar, a rugby league boarding school, or in Melbourne if he prefers that, and lives with a family there. I won't release the financial details, apart from saying its pretty good for his age.

To me it is like beginning an apprenticeshop that may last five years. If he is in the Melbourne Storm first grade team permanently by the end of this contract, and would be about 19 years old, they could rip up the old contract and offer him one at top rates. He has a great future in the NRL in Australia. In his contract he is asked to state what country he would like to play for eventually. Bit premature, I would have thought?

Its a long journey for a young boy and hopefully he will have the mental maturity to handle it all the way. I could never have done that. I don't think there is another boy of his age in this little country of 4.3 million people who has been given such an opportunity. Pride Petterson-Robati is his name. Good luck Pride!

Three youngsters take first step towards NRL careers...

Three promising youngsters have taken the first step towards fulfilling their rugby league dreams, gaining scholarships to train with the NRL champions Melbourne Storm.

The trio will travel to Melbourne in April for a week's training after being picked out by Storm coach Craig Bellamy and scout Darren Bell during a camp in Wainuiomata at the weekend.

Upper Hutt pair Pride Petterson-Robati (Wellington under-14) and Frederick Lika Pule (Wellington under-16) and New Plymouth's Isaac Robinson (Taranaki under-16) all have one foot in the door at a club widely regarded as the NRL's most professional.

Wellington Rugby League general manager Jason Hemson said the relationship with the Storm was going from strength to strength.

"It was very good," Hemson said.

"We had nearly 105 kids and about 30-odd coaches. The Melbourne guys are very keen to keep things moving and come back again, so it's a good opportunity for us to formalise something a little bit stronger over the next year or so with them."

Hemson said the Storm were targeting young New Zealand talent because their under-18 and under-20 squads were strong but Melbourne lacked younger, home-grown talent.

"Being down in Melbourne, it's a little bit more difficult for them to get the numbers in those younger age groups."

Hemson said Bellamy's coaching forum, in which he fielded questions from local mentors, was invaluable.

"For us, it's more about our coaches than the kids. Because once our coaches can see the type of things that those guys are looking at, then they can start training for it.

"If we can get kids at 10, 11, 12 and start coaching them the things those NRL clubs are looking for, then what it means is we can keep them here a little bit longer because we know they're getting trained well.

"And when it comes time for the NRL clubs to be looking at them, they can see where the kids are at in terms of their development along the NRL lines."



Acknowledgements: Stuff, Dominion Post.