New to Rugby League?

Although rugby union is not widely understood in many parts of the world, including the United States, rugby league is extremely less so. Considering that we're smack in the middle of the world's major rugby league competitions' seasons (the National Rugby League and the Engage Super League), as well as the United States' American National Rugby League season, and we've got a Rugby League World Cup around the corner, it might be a good time for you to give it a look if you haven't before. To get you started, here are some resources for the basics.

To get an idea of the fundamental basics in terms of laws, positions, etc., have a look at the useful BBC Sport Rugby League Laws and Equipment site.

For a brief overview of where rugby league came from, see the RL1908 site's discussion of The Birth of Rugby League and other articles on Rugby League History.

To read about the upcoming Rugby League World Cup, which will begin in October, see the official 2008 Rugby League World Cup site.

If you prefer watching to reading, you can also get at least a few basics from the brief video below, which was used to familiarize an American audience with rugby league before this past February's Australia Day Challenge exhibition match in Jacksonville, Florida. It's unfortunate that the "no pads," etc. lines appear antagonistic toward American Football, as it seems like a better strategy to promote the rugby codes in the United States would be to accept that American football is a good game and so are the rugby codes instead of trying to pit them against each other. That aside, though, have a look for some rugby league basics:



Considering that film star Russell Crowe was part of the impetus behind that Florida exhibition match(see our earlier posts on the trip here and here), you may as well have a look at the Gladiator himself enjoying a quick run of his own with a few legends of the game while we're on the topic:



To see Rugby League played in the United States, have a look at this clip of highlights from the AMNRL's Jacksonville Axemen:



Or, if you really want to keep it simple, you can just have a look at this famous and well-traveled clip of gruesome (and not all legit) rugby league hits:



Those ought to be enough resources for a good start. There's no reason one can't keep up with two rugby codes!

Got your own resources to share? Please post a comment!