New Zealand and Australia want to mark the centenary of the Gallipoli landings with an audacious plan to take the 2015 Anzac test to Turkey.
Both teams would attend the traditional dawn service to mark 100 years since the Gallipoli campaign commenced on April 25th, 1915, before playing their annual mid-year test in Istanbul.
Rugby league has never been played in Turkey, but an approach is planned to leading Turkish football clubs Galatasaray and Fenerbahce about hosting a test match, and to the New Zealand and Australian governments about financially backing the fixture. The NRL's support may help overcome the biggest obstacle – getting the clubs to agree to release players for the game.
NZRL chief executive Jim Doyle said the chance of the game happening was "pretty high" after extended talks with NRL officials David Gallop and Paul Kind.
"It does depend on the NRL clubs releasing players – obviously , there is a lot more travel involved – but the centenary only comes around every 100 years so I would hope we could try and make it happen," he said.
"We've got four years to make it work."
Wayne Scurrah, chief executive for the Warriors, said: "I think it's a great initiative and good on the NZRL and ARL for coming up with an initiative to give rugby league a higher profile."
A full announcement is likely today at a press conference at Robina, on the Gold Coast, ahead of tomorrow's Anzac test at Skilled Park.
Meanwhile, the Kiwis have renewed calls for the fixture to be played on a standalone weekend, and a chance for their players to play representative football during the Origin period, in response to Australian suggestions the mid-year test be moved.
Doyle said no decisions were imminent on the long-term position of the test in the calendar after Gallop hinted it could shift to post-Origin.
But Doyle said choosing a timeframe would give his players a "significant disadvantage" as they would face an Australian team battle-hardened by Origin – unless a similar three-match series based on island allegiances could be played simultaneously.
Doyle said the Anzac test situation "wasn't a simple one" but said the NZRL had always been concerned about players backing up from a Friday test in club football the same weekend.
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Thoughts ??? upon 1st mention of it, I liked the idea
Both teams would attend the traditional dawn service to mark 100 years since the Gallipoli campaign commenced on April 25th, 1915, before playing their annual mid-year test in Istanbul.
Rugby league has never been played in Turkey, but an approach is planned to leading Turkish football clubs Galatasaray and Fenerbahce about hosting a test match, and to the New Zealand and Australian governments about financially backing the fixture. The NRL's support may help overcome the biggest obstacle – getting the clubs to agree to release players for the game.
NZRL chief executive Jim Doyle said the chance of the game happening was "pretty high" after extended talks with NRL officials David Gallop and Paul Kind.
"It does depend on the NRL clubs releasing players – obviously , there is a lot more travel involved – but the centenary only comes around every 100 years so I would hope we could try and make it happen," he said.
"We've got four years to make it work."
Wayne Scurrah, chief executive for the Warriors, said: "I think it's a great initiative and good on the NZRL and ARL for coming up with an initiative to give rugby league a higher profile."
A full announcement is likely today at a press conference at Robina, on the Gold Coast, ahead of tomorrow's Anzac test at Skilled Park.
Meanwhile, the Kiwis have renewed calls for the fixture to be played on a standalone weekend, and a chance for their players to play representative football during the Origin period, in response to Australian suggestions the mid-year test be moved.
Doyle said no decisions were imminent on the long-term position of the test in the calendar after Gallop hinted it could shift to post-Origin.
But Doyle said choosing a timeframe would give his players a "significant disadvantage" as they would face an Australian team battle-hardened by Origin – unless a similar three-match series based on island allegiances could be played simultaneously.
Doyle said the Anzac test situation "wasn't a simple one" but said the NZRL had always been concerned about players backing up from a Friday test in club football the same weekend.
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Thoughts ??? upon 1st mention of it, I liked the idea
soccer combined aust nz team playing turkey`s international side.. then it will grab world headlines.. not league ,sorry.. as much as i love the game...
