{"id":198597,"date":"2025-10-08T20:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T20:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/198597\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T20:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T20:19:07","slug":"why-the-ashes-series-is-the-most-important-rugby-league-event-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/198597\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Ashes Series is the most important rugby league event in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By historic standards the 2025 Kangaroo Tour is about as lean as it gets. Kangaroo Tour lite, if you like.<\/p>\n<p>But make no mistake\u2014no rugby league event carries greater weight or global importance this year.<\/p>\n<p>Far more than just a nostalgic throwback, the three-match series between Kevin Walters\u2019 and Shaun Wane\u2019s sides signals the return of one of the game\u2019s greatest traditions; a moment powerbrokers on both sides of the planet will he hoping is a catalyst for the resurgence of rugby league in the northern hemisphere.<\/p>\n<p>First held way back in 1908, Kangaroo Tours were long considered the pinnacle of rugby league\u2014a gruelling two-month challenge that tested the finest Australian players against the pride of the English game at both club and international level.<\/p>\n<p>MORE:\u00a0<a target=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/au\/rugby-league\/news\/kevin-walters-slams-rfl-giving-kangaroos-worst-flight-possible\/2a4e2e0c3a0c28279d423ca2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Kevin Walters slams RFL for giving Kangaroos &#8216;worst flight possible&#8217; ahead of Ashes<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now after a 22-year absence, it&#8217;s back\u2014and it couldn\u2019t have come at a more crucial time.<\/p>\n<p>Rugby league has spent much of the past decade focused on domestic competitions, especially the all-conquering NRL which by almost every metric has never been stronger.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Yet while this has driven strong commercial growth across Australia and the Pacific, the northern hemisphere game and Super League have struggled to keep pace.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The ARLC believes in the international game\u2019 says Peter V\u2019landys<\/p>\n<p>The return of the Ashes Series, albeit it in a highly condensed format, is a chance to reignite interest in English rugby league, something even ARLC chairman Peter V\u2019landys has acknowledged is essential to the continued health and prosperity of the game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are proud to revive one of the great Rugby League traditions with the first Ashes series and Kangaroo Tour of England in 22 years,\u201d <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.intrl.sport\/article\/411\/australia-to-tour-england-for-first-ashes-series-in-22-years?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">V\u2019landys said<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ARLC believes in the international game and the Commission was behind this historic tour to support the growth of the game in the North.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Few would argue it isn\u2019t growth that\u2019s well needed.<\/p>\n<p>Not so long ago the Super League was a reasonably close rival to the NRL. But since the late 1990s and early 2000s it\u2019s faced declining crowds, reduced media coverage, administrative in-fighting and, recently, genuine questions over its long-term viability.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Coupled with major domestic reforms set to be introduced by the RFL in 2026, the upcoming Ashes series gives the English game a chance to stop the bleeding and reset, win or lose against the heavily-favoured Kangaroos.<\/p>\n<p>It isn\u2019t just a tour. It\u2019s a lifeline, and easily the most important thing happening in rugby league in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Question is, can it be harnessed?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By historic standards the 2025 Kangaroo Tour is about as lean as it gets. Kangaroo Tour lite, if&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-198597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}