NRL on the small screen - TV or PC?

Anybody been able to watch much NRL lately? Anybody aware the domestic season in Australia has even started?

Didn't think so.

Ever since the collapse of Setanta Sports a day before a crucial State of Origin game last year, the NRL has been shown on live streams via the Telstra owned Australian internet giant, Bigpond. It was very kind of them to allow us international based fans a chance to watch the greatest domestic league this sport has to offer.

Towards the back end of the season ESPN showed coverage of both elimination semi finals, and broadcast the Grand Final live in the early hours of the morning in the UK. That was the last time any NRL action was shown of British television screens. We are two rounds into the new season and there is no television deal that allows NRL matches to be broadcast of British television. It is a situation that should worry the NRL, as without good international figures it is another hurdle David Gallop must overcome if he is to negotiate a better domestic television deal with Australian broadcasters on behalf of all 16 clubs.

So far British fans of the NRL have had to settle for live streams via the internet, on either Bigpond or Bet365, who last weekend streamed live coverage for its account holders. Ladbrokes also did the same apparently for its own users. Their aim is to get its users betting during the match, but you can sign up and view via Bet365 without registering a credit or debit card. They do ask you to log in or register, but your account can be cancelled once a TV channel picks up the coverage. Not all games were shown on both websites, but there was a nice split with Bet365 showing Friday and Monday night games, while Bigpond showed every Saturday and Sunday games last weekend.

So while there is a legal way of viewing the NRL, this is a temporary measure. IMG Media have struck a deal with the NRL. IMG Media act as agent in order to try and sell broadcasters the rights to matches. It was IMG who sold the 2008 World Cup television pictures to broadcasters including Sky Sports in the UK and to the New Zealand sports channel by the same name. According to reports on another website, a deal in the UK is imminent.

I should stress a deal has been imminent for quite a few months now, so how imminent it will be before the pictures are shown on our screens remains to be seen.

Welsh union legend joins Crusaders.

Is this a publicity stunt?

Well it could be. The Crusaders have had a terrific off field start to Super League, with all the doom and gloom merchants being asked very kindly to leave for a few months while the club basks in its new found success.

The club which hired players with suspicious visas and upped sticks moving to Wrexham from Bridgend has become a creditable rugby club all within a few months.And now they have pulled off their biggest coup yet with the signing of Welsh rugby union legend Gareth Thomas.

The openly gay union star wants to try a proper sport before his body gives up on him. At 35, he has a big challenge ahead of him to be able to make the starting 13 on a regular basis. But at the same time, I can't help but think this is nothing more than an attempt to keep spectators at the Racecourse Ground visiting on a regualr basis. And if it is, good luck to the club, because if Thomas is no good at the sport the attendances will start to subside. The Welsh fans will want Thomas to make a success of it and if he doesn't, it could drop Crusaders into a similar situation less than six months ago with poor attendance figures and once again the club will be struggling to survive.