The New 2000 Millennium
With the professionalism of rugby union, several high-profile league players changed codes, with varying degrees of success. Australian RU administrators appeared to be targeting league internationals when in 2001/02 Kangaroos Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers and Lote Tuqiri all switched and soon represented the Wallabies. Other high profile players, such as Jason Robinson, Iestyn Harris and Henry Paul followed. However press claims at the time that the "flood-gates" had opened proved to be more sensational than portentous. By the end of the decade, the flow of league players moving on big-money contracts to union seemed to have stabilised, and in fact in many cases this actually proved to be positive for rugby league, with the money gained from transfer fees being used to fund expansion and additional youth development in Britain and with many of the star crossover players returning to rugby league in Australia.
The game needs to be aware of it and take steps to ensure that it doesn't become a flood. We need to ensure we can pay our senior players as much as we can and we need to make sure our international football is up to scratch.
— Australian national coach Chris Anderson following the news of Wendell Sailor becoming the first current Australian test player to be lured to rugby union in 2001.
After the 1997 season in Australia the Super League war came to an end, with News International and the Australian Rugby League agreeing to merge their competitions to create the National Rugby League, which commenced in 1998. The first ever team from Victoria, the Melbourne Storm entered the competition. Several clubs were either forced to merge (e.g. St. George Dragons and Illawarra Steelers became St George Illawarra Dragons), or folded. The omission of South Sydney Rabbitohs, one of the founding members of the original NSWRL, led to mass protests. Although Souths did not participate in the NRL during 2000 and 2001, a Federal Court decision in July 2001 paved the way for them to return to the league in 2002.
In Britain, the ending of discrimination against rugby league resulting from professionalism in rugby union led to an increase in numbers in the amateur game, with many rugby union amateurs keen to try out the other code. In 2004 the Rugby Football League was able to report a return to profitability, a reunified structure and a 94% increase in registered players in just two years .
In 2008, rugby league held its first World Cup since the disastrous 2000 tournament. The 2008 competition was heralded as a great success, turning a significant profit, and was generally seen as a major step forwards in the development of the international game. In addition, the Rugby League European Federation was set up during the decade and as a result the game saw massive advances in both the quality and quantity of international competition. The game in France saw a renaissance, largely as a result of the Catalans Dragons entry into Super League, while large advances were made in other countries such as Wales and New Zealand, who finished the decade as World Champions.
In Australia in 2009, rugby league's popularity was confirmed as it had the highest television ratings of any sporting event.
Read more about this topic: History Of Rugby League
Famous quotes containing the word millennium:
“The millennium will not come as soon as women vote, but it will not come until they do vote.”
—Anna Howard Shaw (1847–1919)