One reason might be to give rusted on loig followers in this country a reason to have a look at our game.
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We need to find ways to attract rugby league supporters to our game, they should be an easier target than AFL or soccer followers, and playing some exhibition games under hybrid rules is one way to achieve that.
Finally, no publicity is bad publicity. The hybrid initiative generates a bit of media coverage that we would not otherwise be getting.
You keep making your point about attracting league followers, including Law changes, and I keep saying words to the effect of:
"Rusted on" league followers will watch 5 minutes of rugby, say "too much kicking, can't tackle" and go de-glove their own penis thrashing over an Origin game with an 11-10 scoreline.
They. Don't. Give. A. Fuck.
Their media has had blanket coverage telling them how fucking great their game is, to the point that anything else will not be considered. There are large swathes of the league heartland who are incapable of appreciating the skill and physical attributes of a proper scrum, lineout, or maul, and never will because they get force-fed the "toughness" or the NRL as the summit of human achievement.
The hybrid game is a waste of time for leaguies, except as a vehicle to bash rugby. Its a waste of time for us because its not anywhere near the skill set required besides rucking in one half of the field - the league guys can't pack proper scrums or lift at lineouts because its not safe to do so, and I can't blame them.
Its a fucking gimmick. It won't get anyone watching rugby.
You'd actually get more return for your money as the ARU if you went to each of the idiotically structured school systems and said "right, no matter how fucking painful this will be for the first 10 years, you're all playing each other on a regular basis". League has this, and even some tiny little school from the back of nowhere can win the big prize on NRL Grand Final day.
Sean Maloney's The Cup Runneth Over is a perfect example of how Union
should work in this country: stop being up yourself about it, and have some fun instead of just a dick-measuring contest about who has more money.
Create proper competitions while you're at it. Make it appealing to a broader audience, and then put grassroots structures in place to help get parents involved through a broader base at school and club level.
Yes, we have challenges in this country that pretty much no-one else does. But if you can't appreciate Japan over South Africa, Wallabies kicking a last-minute penalty over a passionate Scotland or tackling themselves 2 men down against Wales, Uruguay amateurs scoring tries, or Georgian players putting it up the All Blacks scrum, then you're not going to fucking appreciate the game anyway.
This is what a REAL World Cup looks like. League - well, let's face it: the NRL have abso-fucking-lutely zero like this. And if we have to accept they've got the billions of $$$ while we have the millions of $$$ then its part of the challenge the game needs to address to sustain its future.
