Australian Rugby League | |
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Developer(s) | I-Space Interactive |
Publisher(s) | EA Sports |
Platform(s) | Mega Drive |
Release | 1995 |
Genre(s) | Sports |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Australian Rugby League is a 1995 rugby league video game developed by I-Space Interactive and published by EA's EA Sports label for the Mega Drive only in European and Australian markets. It is based on Rugby World Cup '95 by Creative Assembly, but using the rugby league rules instead of rugby union.
In addition to the league that names the game, the Australian Rugby League, the game also includes the State of Origin, Super League (eleven English teams plus one French) and international mode. While the ARL has all correct team names, player names are fictitious.
Due to the limitations of the console, ARL presents a simplified version of the game, yet allowing a wide variety of moves. Running is done with the C button, and while holding allows a player to accelerate, while it is mashed, it allows to break a tackle. Passing is done by pressing the B button with a direction; if no direction is entered, the player fakes a pass. the A button, if pressed inside the try area (or in jump distance), grounds the ball, if far and pressed in combination of the direction of the attack attempts a drop goal or kicks for touch, if pressed in combination with a direction against the attack, performs a grubber kick. The A and B buttons pressed at the same time perform a bomb kick (referred as "Up and Under" in the manual), and an A plus C combination is mostly a defensive kick, which clears the ball as far away as possible into touch. Without the ball, controls are simpler: the A button tackles, the B changes player and C increases player speed.
The game has a few criticisms; it is very undisciplined as far as tactics go, it is very hard to pull good kicks during play (which forces players to, and the lack of a difficulty level slider makes the game too easy for expert players. There are also some bugs regarding ball possession (occasionally, the ball can change from one team to another in the middle of a play for no reason at all) and the engine often flickers players when there are too many of them in an area. The lack of physical difference between forwards and backs is also often mentioned.
ARL allows several options to be tweaked, such as half length (from two minutes to 40), temperature (hot temperatures wear out the players quicker, while colder affects ball handling) and pitch condition (a dry pitch hurts tackled players more and bounces the ball more, while drenched affects running).
All game modes output a Password which allows the player to play a league in several sittings. Each player is individualized, and is rated in each key aspect of the game.
The Australian Rugby league is a 20 team competition composed by a 20 team league, then followed by an eight team playoff, which is far from being straight forward. There are two sets of quarter finals, where the winners of the "major" quarterfinals go through the semi-finals, while the winners of the "minor" quarterfinals have to play against the losers of the "majors", and only then the remaining two semi-finalists are known. It is also possible to start from the playoffs.
State of Origin is a three match series between New South Wales Rugby League and Queensland Rugby League, where the winner is the first team to win two matches. Even if a team beats the other in the first two matches, the third is always played.
European leagues are unlicensed, which means they only carry the city name and a patterned flag, which in most cases fits the actual equipments of the teams. After the all vs all league, the best four teams enter a playoff to determine the champions.
The International tournament is a one-legged eight team knockout competition. While the focus of RWC'95 was on national teams, ARL downplays it to the point of only including eight teams.
Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling are to dispossess an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend.
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes rugby, football, footy or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 m (74 yd) wide and 112–122 m (122–133 yd) long with H shaped posts at both ends. It is one of the two codes of rugby football, the other being rugby union. It originated in 1895 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, as the result of a split from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) over the issue of payments to players. The rules of the game governed by the new Northern Rugby Football Union progressively changed from those of the RFU with the specific aim of producing a faster and more entertaining game to appeal to spectators, on whose income the new organisation and its members depended.
In rugby football, the penalty is the main disciplinary sanction available to the referee to penalise players who commit deliberate infringements. The team who did not commit the infringement are given possession of the ball and may either kick it towards touch, attempt a place kick at goal, or tap the ball with their foot and run it. It is also sometimes used as shorthand for penalty goal.
American and Canadian football are gridiron codes of football that are very similar; both have their origins partly in rugby football, but some key differences exist between the two codes.
Touch rugby refers to games derived from rugby football in which players do not tackle each other but instead touch their opponents using their hands on any part of the body, clothing, or the ball.
Like most forms of modern football, rugby league football is played outdoors on a rectangular grass field with goals at each end that are attacked and defended by two opposing teams. The rules of rugby league have changed significantly over the decades since rugby football split into the league and union codes. This article details the modern form of the game and how it is generally played today, although rules do vary slightly between specific competitions.
A comparison of American football and rugby union is possible because of the games' shared origins, despite their dissimilarities.
A comparison between American football and rugby league is possible because of their shared origins and similar game concepts. Rugby league is arguably the most similar sport to American football after Canadian football: both sports involve the concept of a limited number of downs/tackles and scoring touchdowns/tries takes clear precedence over goal-kicking.
The team sports rugby union and rugby league have shared origins and thus many similarities.
The 1997 Australian Rugby League season was the 90th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the third season run by the Australian Rugby League. While several clubs had left the League to compete in the 1997 Super League season, twelve ARL-loyal teams – eight from across Sydney, two from greater New South Wales and two from Queensland – competed for the Optus Cup Trophy. The top seven teams then played a series of knock-out finals which culminated in a September grand final played in Sydney between the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Newcastle Knights. The fairytale came true for thousands of Novocastrians when the Newcastle club won their first ever premiership, staging a comeback from 8–16 to shatter Manly's hopes.
The 1997 Super League season was a breakaway professional rugby league football competition in Australia and the only one to be run by the News Limited-controlled Super League organisation. Eight teams which had broken away from the existing Australian Rugby League, in addition to the newly created Adelaide Rams and Hunter Mariners, competed over eighteen weekly rounds of the regular season. The top five teams then played a series of knock-out finals which culminated in a September grand final played in Brisbane between the Brisbane Broncos and Cronulla.
The 1996 ARL premiership was the 89th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be administered by the Australian Rugby League (ARL). Twenty teams contested the premiership, including five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, two from greater New South Wales, four from Queensland, and one each from New Zealand, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia. Ultimately two Sydney clubs, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and St. George Dragons contested the grand final.
Rugby union is a contact sport that consists of two teams of fifteen players. The objective is to obtain more points than the opposition through scoring tries or kicking goals over eighty minutes of playing time. The play is started with one team drop-kicking the ball from the halfway line towards the opposition. The rugby ball can be moved up the field by either carrying it or kicking it. However, when passing the ball it can only be thrown laterally or backward. The opposition can stop players moving up the field by tackling them. Only players carrying the ball can be tackled and once a tackle is completed the opposition can compete for the ball. Play continues until a try is scored, the ball crosses the side line or dead-ball line, or an infringement occurs. After a team scores points, the non-scoring team restarts the game at the halfway with a drop kick toward the opposition. The team with the most points at the end wins the game.
Rugby league football has accrued considerable jargon to describe aspects of the game. Many terms originate in the Laws of the Game. Some aspects of the game have more than one term referring to them. Different terms have become popularly used to describe an aspect of the game in different places, with notable differences between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
League Tag is the name of two distinct modified version of rugby league football. Both versions of League Tag maintain the basic structure of rugby league, and replace physical tackling with an alternate means to end each play.
A comparison of Canadian football and rugby union is possible because of the games' shared origins, despite their dissimilarities.
In rugby league football, the Laws of the Game are the rules governing how the sport is played. The Laws are the responsibility of the Rugby League International Federation, and cover the play, officiating, equipment and procedures of the game.
The laws of Rugby Union are defined by World Rugby and dictate how the game should be played. They are enforced by a referee, generally with the help of two assistant referees.
A comparison of Gaelic football and rugby union is possible because of certain similarities between the codes, as well as the numerous dissimilarities.
The 1995 Rugby League World Cup final was the conclusive game of the 1995 Centenary World Cup tournament and was played between England and Australia on 28 October 1995 at the Wembley Stadium in London, England. Australia won the final by 16 points to 8 in front of 66,540 fans. Australia, the defending champions, won the Rugby League World Cup for the 8th time.