Each week we will add the transcripts from the interviews with our special guests. We hope you enjoy!
Week 4 - Friday 25 May 2012
This weeks podcast featured Darryl "Spinner" Howland, co-owner and co-founder of the Jacksonville Axemen.
Week 3 - Friday 18 May 2012
This weeks podcast featured Lawrence Almagno, CEO of the Rhode Island Rebellion.
Lawrence speaks about the USARL 9's, the RIR's imports, the New England Immortals, the RIR's youth program and the upcoming USARL season.
Lawrence is also joined by some of the RIR players.
Take a listen and see what all the talk is about!
Week 2 - Friday 11 May 2012
This weeks podcast featured Ryan McGough, CEO of the Philadelphia Fight and Board Member of the USA Rugby League.
Question 1: How is the Fight's junior development programme going? What is the overall objective?
Answer: We ran two clinics in the past month and have enough interest to now start a league, it will be called the Fight Junior Crusaders Youth Rugby League. Kind of a play on the Fight name with Crusaders so they fit together well. We will begin the 10 week league on May 24 and run till about August. We have about 16 kids now, and have alot of other kids interested since the word is getting around. Things go pretty quick in our community so I expect it to grow by leaps and bounds. I am working on sponsors for it now and hope to eventually get all the surrounding communities involved to have an expanded league. Then within 2 years we can approach the school district to make it a varsity sport in our school and in the state of PA.
Question 2: Are the teams going to be selling merchandise this season? I know some did last year (picked up a awesome Fight jersey!!!!)
Answer: The Fight will be making 2 orders this season for gear and will advertise it on our team site and facebook. All our gear with have the 2011 USA Rugby League National Champions logo on it. The technical tee shirts are really cool along with the hoodies, but the best item is the the Drill Top. Costs have gone up slightly without a league wide deal, but Akuma still has top shelf merchandise so it is well worth it. The Fight are committed to their quality and delivery, no other apparell company can do what Akuma do in such a short time turnaround. We got our full kits at my front door this year 3 weeks to the day from initial order. That includes, design, production and deliver to the states. We will also sell our new team championship ball from Vanguard Rugby.
Question 3: How many teams will the Fight be entering in to the USARL 9’s?
Answer: The Fight will only be entering one side in the 9's. We would like to do 2 but the three union feeder clubs our guys play for all made the regional and national playoffs, so they conflict for training leading up to it so many are unavailable for the 9s.
Question 4: What are the medium to long term goals of the fight and the USARL?
Answer: The Fight obviously are focusing on winning another title in 2012. We have brought in some top level imports from the Bundaberg Cup competition to help guide our now experienced core of players and stay at a top level of performance. We have tremendous speed outside with Mike Timpano and Jared Frymoyer at wings, solid at centers in John Evangelista and Martwain Johnston, very good size in our pack with James Coleman, Larry Madden and Joe Henson, along with imports Kane Fuller and captain Johnny Weber leading at Prop and 2nd Row. A very good halfback in Rich Henson and our new import Chase Mason at 5/8 to lead us around and exceptional speed and fitness at fullback with Patrick Quirk. This combined with our team superstars tackling machine Dave (PFC) Wilmore at hooker and our intimidating #13 and 2011 MVP Kevin Wiggins on offense and especially defense we should be a force again this season.
Long term the Fight want to start up secondary teams much like the Axemen, and we have a good base of players in the the eastern part of PA to go after but in the state capital of Harrisburg where I work, there are tons of union squads just waiting to be tapped and learn league. Plus their is alot of sponsorship potential out where all the lawmakers are, and also near Hershey PA where all the candy plants are. Hershey has a ton of great fields available as well.
The USARL wants to
make the game national and spread the game to the youth of america so that we
can have an impact like American Gridiron has now. The kids need to
learn it early here or there are too many options with other sports for them as
they get older. There is all kinds of potential for our game and
Rugby is the 3rd fastest growing sport in the USA right now behind lacrosse and
soccer. With the speed and collisions in league, it is just a matter of
time until the USA embrace the game. League is so similar to Gridiron and
people just cannot understand union with all the kicking.
It confuses them and they lose interest quickly so that is where we have
an advantage. The USA likes big hits and lots of scoring, that is why I
think if we can tap into the TV market like Canada has, we can beat Rugby
Union to the punch and be the brand that everyone will want to play here and
especially watch.
Question 5: Do the fight have any plans to create a regional reserve grade system, similar to the Jacksonville Axemen?
Answer: We would love to do this and think we could make this happen, but the economy in the USA is hindering any plans we might want to pursue as sponsorships are harder to come by then ever. It is hard enough to make one team work in this environment let alone 2 or 3. We certainly have the player pool base in the Philadelphia and Suburbs region to accomodate other squads in the future. The other issue is drawing players against the AMNRL (Aston Bull) in our area, they have ties to alot of the other union teams we don't work with yet. Obviously if the AMNRL start working with us we won't be fighting for some of the same players all the time and we could make a bigger impact into the union players in Philadelphia and have them switch codes full time ideally not just to the Fight but League as a whole.
Question 6: Are you confident in taking the USARL championship final to Boston?
Answer: Absolutely, there is no more committed man than Mik Shammas and his Boston 13s team to growing the game here in the states and Mik doesn't do things half crocked, all first class. He has a huge passion for the game and he is tranferring that to the New England market and I am sure the Grand Final will be a great event for not only the USARL, but for his clubs as well.
Question 7: Main rival for the championship this season?
Answer: The Axemen are and have always been the Fight's biggest rival. Each game is played at a higher level than all our others whether we are at home or down there, and the passion both teams exude comes out in great matches. There are always some huge hits and great creating by both sides. The Fight have modeled everything we do as a club off of the Axemen and it has worked wonders for us coming from three straight seasons of 0-8 before we took over, and then 4 years later we are champions. There is no better example of how to run a team or compete for a title than the Axemen. Spinner and Drew continue to do a great job down there, and I love seeing them succeed. Plus their guys work as hard as anyone on their game and fitness and set the standard that our guys need to achieve to get past them. We have had some nice success against them lately after being dominated for years, but the guys know they can't relax for a second or they will get ahead of us. I am confident in our coaching staff and the hearts of our players to be able to do it all again this year.
Question 8: Are there any moves to have a partnership with any NRL clubs to share marketing, resources or ideas to further that game in the USA?
Answer: We have been trying for years to form relationships with the NRL teams with no success. The closest we got was a set of gear from the titans in 2008, but that was it.
Question 9: What player would you say best personifies the Philly fight as a club?
Answer: Without
question Dave (PFC) Wilmore. Toughest guy for his size I have ever seen. He is
the fittest guy in the league and plays way above his stature. No one likes to
get hit by him and he is relentless from marker, often making many sets of
triples per game, and always injecting himself in the play the ball by helping
out the forwards with endless hit ups.
Question 10: What team would you most like to play from the AMNRL?
Answer: New York Knights, we always had good games with them, wish we could have squared off for a champions clash last year.
Question 11: Are there any plans for a USARL rep team?
Answer: We have already done this with the immortals, but will continue whenever we have the opportunity. Looking forward to the nines next week to have a chance to play the nz police, the fight didn't match up with them last year.
Question 12: Will the USARL make any advancement toward the RLIF in regards to uniting the American game and allowing all American players to be selected for their national side in the 2013 world cup?
Answer: AMNRL President, David Niu and Peter Illfield, Chairman of the USARL, are committed to begin a process that will ensure the successful development of Rugby League in the United States of America. The AMNRL and the USARL are agreed that there are more things that unite than divide us. The parties are prepared to hold discussions in an open and honest fashion in order to find solutions to our collective problems in the development of the game. Whilst undergoing this process we are committed to ensuring that there are no interruptions to the currently scheduled domestic and international programs in this country. All involved would like to see top-class Rugby League administered successfully in the United States of America for the benefit of players, supporters, sponsors and other partners. Both parties have agreed to work out a timetable for RLIF review and discussion, after which the parties intend to jointly present a plan to the RLIF for their approval and support.
Question 13: Has the USARL had any contact with the AMNRL, particularly David Niu, this year? If so, was this constructive?
Answer: Discussions between AMNRL President, David Niu and USARL Chairman, Peter Illfield, are a work in progress. They met in early April this year to exchange ideas & strategies to improve the current environment of Rugby League in the USA. They have continued to exchange correspondence & are due to meet again in late May for further discussions.
Week 1 - Friday 4 May 2012
This weeks podcast did not feature a special guest.
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