Campaign for an Anzac DAY Test Match!

[DIEHARD]

For years I have wanted a return to the Anzac DAY Test Match. I thought it was a battle lost but it seems to me that there is growing support for it. Especially as we get out house in order under an independent commission.

We need to maximise our product and this can truly be an amazing jewel in the crown. Of national and international significance. Celebrating Anzac Day in a unique and amazing way that no other sport can.

Something that everyone around the Australian nation would be interested in.

I can imagine crowds of 50,000 plus at these games.

And of course the ARL/NRL are planning of having a Test in Gallipoli to celebrate 100 of the Anzac legend in 2015. So why not start now?

[DIEHARD]

Give the Australia-New Zealand Test stand-alone status

LISTEN up, independent commission, the Australian Test skipper has something to say. Now it's your job to listen and act.

Record-breaking Kangaroo Darren Lockyer spoke with wisdom and foresight last week when he endorsed the push to make the annual trans-Tasman Test a true Anzac Test.

It must become a jewel in the NRL crown when the much-touted TV rights deal is finally placed up for auction.

It has the potential to sit alongside State of Origin and grand final day as a truly special day on the NRL calendar.

Rival TV networks, having settled on their slice of the AFL's $1.25 billion pie, are at present finalising their strategy to buy into free-to-air NRL.

It's rugby league's worst-kept secret it will offer up the crown jewel, the three-match Origin series, as a separate package and it's the 13-man code's responsibility to ensure there is another blue-chip product to put on the negotiating table.

The Anzac Day Test, with the Australia-New Zealand rugby league rivalry never stronger, must join the annual pre-season All-Stars fixture as another central bargaining chip.

If the NRL wants top dollar, it must offer a top product, and as opposed to the Australian Rugby League's current track record, it must get all the elements right.

Fix the NRL scheduling, end the barbaric abuse of elite player welfare and play a stand-alone Anzac Day Test fixture each year given true marketing punch.

Every year, the AFL is given a free kick with the annual Collingwood-Essendon blockbuster. It is played at a packed MCG, live-to-air, after very polished and respectful Anzac Day tributes that leave the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end.

But pitched against an Australia-New Zealand rugby league Test live on a rival free-to-air network and showcasing the raw elements of trans-Tasman mateship and rivalry the AFL's product would suddenly look very suburban by comparison.

The Gallipoli clash touted for the 100th anniversary of the Anzac landing in 2015 is a great concept. But let's honour our Anzac heroes, from each side of the Tasman, with an annual Test.

The Kangaroos and Kiwis, side by side at SFS, SCG, Suncorp Stadium or Skilled Park as the Last Post is played you get tingles just thinking about it.

Advance Australia Fair, God Defend New Zealand, the haka . . . it's time to bring together all the elements of Test football which a suburban game cannot muster.

Anyone who has been to the Dragons-Roosters clash on Anzac Day regards it as one of the best experiences rugby league can offer. It's that good.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/

[DIEHARD]

Lockyer calls for Anzac Day Test

Australian skipper Darren Lockyer has called for the mid-year Test against New Zealand to be shifted to Anzac Day to add gravitas to a concept struggling for significance in a crowded rugby league calendar.

Responding to calls that the annual clash should be moved to after the State of Origin series or even scrapped altogether for fear of player burnout, Lockyer said the match should instead be put on a pedestal.

"It's a great concept and one we should persevere with, but we all know as players (NRL officials have) their hands tied at the moment with the scheduling.

"But moving forward it can be done a little bit different.

"The Dragons play the Roosters - that was an Anzac Day game - there's no reason why you can't schedule this game in to be that game."

While St George Illawarra and the Sydney Roosters will not be keen to give up their annual blockbuster, Lockyer said something had to give to ensure international rugby league continued to thrive.

The Kangaroos veteran - playing his final mid-year international - suggested the City-Country game and the Test match could be held on a stand alone weekend, negating the need for NRL clubs to be shortchanged.

Lockyer's Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin has decided to rest all six of his representative players rather than have them back-up against Melbourne on Saturday night, while the Dragons will play on Sunday having had 10 players involved in a game less than 48 hours earlier.

"City-Country - it loses a bit of effect because of (the Test on the same night)," Lockyer said.

"It's one of those games in the calender that should remain there and make it more of a Friday night game and let's go and play some Test footy at daytime which as a kid growing up I used to love watching.

"At the moment the NRL's contracted to certain companies that dictate where they can schedule this and that ... we're going to the negotiating table soon and that's something that the players need to have a voice about."

Kiwi coach Stephen Kearney said he would love the opportunity to have a 10-day build-up to the Test like they do for Origin matches, but any attempt to move the game until after the Origin series will be met with stiff resistance by the New Zealand Rugby League, fearing Australia's squad will be match-hardened by the three-game interstate battle.

"It's hard enough playing Australia without them also going through the Origin process," NZRL chief executive Jim Doyle told NZPA.

Doyle said if the Test was moved to later in the year, the Kiwis should be given the same opportunity to prepare by playing against a composite side of Fijian, Samoan, Cook Islander and Tongan representatives.

http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/