Quote Originally Posted by Sandvan79 View Post
How good was Allan Mcindoe. A favourite. Commentators on TV and radio refer to St George Illawarra as St George only and most players do. I think it is insulting to the joint venture. If it wasn't for Illawarra (one of the strongest areas for juniors in the NRL ) St George wouldn't exist anymore. Imagine commentators referring to St George Illawarra as only 'Illawarra' the sky would fall !! Anyway regardless of what Dragan's fans will tell you St George Illawarra has won only one premiership.
Macca in full flight was an awesome sight and it happened pretty often. I was there the day he got 5 tries against the Gold Coast. Another awesome one was a length of the field with Rod Wishart. Two wingers on the same side of the field in full flight! Macca would be in an ice bath straight after every match as his knees were shot.
I hear you on the St George thing. I attempted to once join a Dragons forum as a Steelers supporter and was boo'd out of the place with comments like St George jumper Illawarra socks etc.

Quote Originally Posted by HK1837 View Post
As Mauser says Fiji or PNG oe Samoa are both massive development areas for League, a lot of current and past players have heritage from such countries, like Jarryd Hayne, Adrian Lam, Petro Civenaceva (spelling?), Uate, Foi Foi just to name a few. It wouldn't be hard to achieve the same thing with a team there. If a relatively lowly supported game like Union can have a tri-nations League should be able to achieve it.
I'm all for a an Islander team even if mixed Islands to start with. Not so sure about Australian born players (even with Islander heritage) representing other countries although I understand the reason for growth.
Funny how Manoa Thompson rarely rates a mention when Jarrad Hayne is talked about. Surely Brisbane needs a second team. Western Australia has been ripped off. When I was there in the late seventies it was a Rugby League city with some AFL and the reverse is true. The Central West could easily support a team but the issue would always be where they played out of. If it was Orange they would claim the team, same for Dubbo, Mudgee, Bathurst etc.

Bathurst hosts NRL next week with the Panthers vs Titans match at Carrington Oval. Phil Gould knows the benefits of supporting country league and gave a 5 year commitment to the Panthers playing once a year in Bathurst. The Panthers having a local club here was what likely got it over the line along with Bathurst City Council support.