u/CaptainLipto

The mainstream hype around Mark Nawaqanitawase is currently at fever pitch, and NRL commentators and supporters are going on about how they're going to miss watching him play each week.

So can 9/Stan please do whatever they can to broadcast the 2026/27 season of Japan Rugby League One?

The timezones align, it injects rugby into our summer months, there's also Perevi, Paisami, Gill, and Petaia headlining the Aussie contingent, and 9 can advertise it relentlessly all summer as "Missing Marky Mark? See him here on Stan" or words to that effect.

Please 9/Stan, strap in and ride the Nawaqanitawase hype train for as long as possible.

Looking at the clubs competing in this Champ season got me thinking about the viability of expanding the Prem to more than the current 10 teams.

The most obvious roadblock (other than club finances in general) is their stadiums. It previously prevented Ealing from being promoted, and will likely continue to be the biggest hurdle for clubs hoping for inclusion in an expanded Prem.

And yet, a number of this season's Champ clubs have bigger and better stadiums nearby, usually owned by their neighbouring football clubs. Blackheath and The Valley, Ealing and Brentford Stadium, Rotherham and New York Stadium, and Nottingham and Meadow Lane spring to mind.

So will ground sharing bigger stadiums be explicitly encouraged by the RFU for prospective expansion teams when expanding the Prem in a couple of seasons' time? And why is this not being pursued more already in preparation for this expansion process (Ie signing MoUs to help clubs' cases for future entry)?

Since its announcement, I have been very skeptical of the expansion of the finals system to include the Wildcard Round concept.

It epitomes the commercialism, Americanisation, and mutable way in which this AFL administration runs the game, not to mention rewarding over 50% of competing teams with finals.

Having said that, in the aftermath of the cracking Dogs-Pies game with a packed 'G and great TV ratings, I can see what they were aiming for.

So I've been wondering how different the AFL's PR battle would be if this additional round of finals wasn't given such a blatantly American-style name with no precedent in Aussie Rules.

Obviously this is a very cosmetic thing that doesn't nullify any of the issues that I have with it, but would it be more digestible if it was referred to as the "First Elimination Finals" or something to that effect?

In case anyone is interested, the museum in honour of Socceroos legend Rale Rasic is auctioning off a bunch of memorabilia items from its collection.

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Disclaimer, I am not associated with the Rasic family, museum or auctioneers in any way. Just thought people in this sub would find it interesting.