NRL 2011

The NRL can today unveil the biggest advertising coup in Australian sport with super group Bon Jovi coming to 'Our House' in a sensational new Telstra Premiership marketing campaign.

The National Rugby League can today unveil the biggest advertising coup in Australian sport with super group Bon Jovi coming to 'Our House' in a sensational new Telstra Premiership marketing campaign.

Rated the world’s number one touring act after playing to 1.5million fans in 2010 and having amassed 125million album sales in a career that has produced major hits in each of the past three decades, Bon Jovi agreed to license a song, 'This Is Our House', to the NRL. The song was written with international sports marketing in mind and has already been used successfully in the US in association with the NFL.

Today's signing follows months of careful planning to secure a theme that captures the energy, excitement and scale of the most thrilling competition in world sport.

Having identified the track last year, the NRL and its advertising agency MJW commenced discussions during the band's phenomenally successful Australian tour which included sell-out shows at the Sydney Football Stadium, Suncorp Stadium and Etihad Stadium, and this week those negotiations resulted in Bon Jovi's management agreeing to a three-year deal with the NRL for the exclusive Australian Rights to 'This Is Our House'.

"It is an exciting win for the game and a clear statement about the scale of year ahead,” National Rugby League Chief Executive, Mr David Gallop said.

"This is a watershed year for Rugby League in a number of ways and on the field the opportunities have never been more thrilling. We can genuinely talk of sixteen teams going into the year believing they can win and the closeness of the competition breeds thrills at every turn.

“People are signing up to join their clubs in record numbers and boys and girls are signing up to play in record numbers. There is a real buzz in the air around the Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars and the interest in the game has never been higher."

Jon Bon Jovi witnessed first-hand during his recent tour the passion of Rugby League people like South Sydney owner, Russell Crowe and adoring fan, Wests Tiger skipper Robbie Farrah, who presented him with a jersey last year and who has his own autographed Bon Jovi guitar:

"Having led an American Arena League football team from inception to championship and as a lifelong sports fan, I know the intensity and dedication that goes into cheering on your team.

“We wrote ‘This Is Our House’ to be a sports anthem and ‘House’ has found a home in the US on the playing fields of the New York Rangers, the New England Patriots, and the NFL.

“This new partnership with the National Rugby League to bring the song to Australian Rugby League gives me great satisfaction. Having played countless stadium shows in your country, I know for a fact that your fans know a thing or two about marking your turf and staking your claim."

The track 'This Is Our House' is a ‘home-ground anthem’ that will be echoed by fans at every NRL venue. It will feature in sixty second commercials from March 2 and will be integrated into a range of NRL activities.

The Nine network has already committee to incorporating the theme into its telecasts of the Telstra Premiership.

"This is a great opportunity for the game," NRL Director of Marketing and Commercial Paul Kind said today.

"Rugby League advertising has featured some amazing names from Tina Turner to Tom Jones and the Hoodoo Gurus and it has always looked for anthems that capture the game’s unrivalled passion and excitement - ‘This Is Our House’ will do just that.

“Its chorus 'This is our house, these are our people and this is our town' captures the feelings of every fan at a home venue.

“It does so in a way that is a celebration of how people feel about their team rather than with any sense of hostility. This song takes people on an emotional ride and that is what the Telstra premiership is all about.

A free preview of the track is available through the following link

The full track will be available on www.nrl.com in early March.


Bon Jovi Notes:
Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres together form one of Rock and Roll’s all time ‘Super Groups’.

Their 1986 Album Slippery When Wet launched them into the big time with standards ‘Livin' on a Prayer’ and ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’.

They have produced world-wide hits in the eighties, nineties and ‘two-thousands’ playing to over 34million fans in live concerts and selling 125million albums.

Billboard has recently confirmed them as the number one touring band in the world as of December 2010 with gross sales of $146m world-wide. It is the second time in three years Bon Jovi have claimed the title.

http://www.nrl.com/news/latestnews/newsarticle/tabid/10874/newsid/61300/bon-jovis-our-house-to-be-new-anthem-for-the-nrl/default.aspx

Sneak Peak: http://www.nrl.com/nrl-tvc-teaser/tabid/10959/contentid/335987/default.aspx

"Todd Carney was this morning charged with low range drink driving," the statement said.
"He was on his way to a business meeting this morning and was pulled up by a road side random breath test.
"Whilst the matter is set to go before the courts, the club will discuss an appropriate action with Todd in due course."


The incident is a huge blow to Carney who turned his life around in the 2010 NRL season with the Roosters.

Carney spent four seasons at Canberra before being sacked by the Raiders on August 7, 2008. Carney was later deregistered by the NRL, with David Gallop ruling the bad boy could not play in the competition until 2010.
It's not the first drink-driving incident for the NRL star; Carney was charged with drink driving and reckless driving after an incident Goulburn, in 2006, and his license was suspended for five years.
In 2007, Carney was banned from driving until 2012 after being pleading guilty to the charges of failing to stop when directed by police, negligent driving and driving while disqualified.
The Roosters play West Tigers in a pre-season trial match at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday night

http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/nrl-premiership/sydney-roosters-reveal-dally-m-medallist-todd-carney-was-caught-drink-driving-in-sydney/story-fn2mcuj6-1226012385987

Roosters stand by Carney

Sydney Roosters have vowed to stick with reformed badboy Todd Carney despite a lapse back to his old ways with a drink driving charge on Saturday.

While yet to announce any formal action against Carney, the Roosters intend to keep working with the 24-year-old, who enjoyed an outstanding regeneration in 2010.

Sacked in disgrace by Canberra in 2008 after a string of disciplinary breaches, Carney spent 2009 regathering himself and was rewarded with the Dally M Medal at the end of last season.

Having shown Carney so much faith, Roosters chief executive Steve Noyce said the club would stay the course, though he admitted Carney had shredded plenty of goodwill by being so careless.

"The timing is far from perfect and I know Todd's beside himself, he knows he's let a lot of people down," Noyce told Triple M.

"But it's happened now and it's how you come out the other side, from Todd and the club's point of view, that's the most important thing.

"To the kid's credit he did a lot last year to turn his image around.

"It doesn't justify in any way shape or form what's happened, but the amount of work and the spotlight that young man was under last year, he played some brilliant football and did some amazing community things.

"He's got some credit points but unfortunately he soon got rid of those this morning."

Carney was caught via a random breath test about 7am AEDT on Coogee Bay Rd on his way to a meeting with his manager.

He blew a reading of 0.052, but is not permitted any alcohol in his system as a P-Plate driver, forcing a visit to the police station and subsequent charge.

Noyce said it would be impractical to impose a blanket alcohol ban, preferring the club concentrated on educating Carney in the benefits of clean living - as proven by his 2010 exploits.

"When you make rules you've got to be sure you can actually enforce them," he said.

"You can put maybe some clauses that people can't drink, but I doubt that prohibition has ever really worked, it's a matter of working with people, and being honest.

"We'll make sure Todd's okay, because he's an intelligent young man and knows a lot of people have gone in to bat for him and he's really been disrespectful in so many ways to them and the game.

"But in saying that he's a young man who's made a mistake and in the next 24 hours we make sure he's okay and that will do."

There was no indication from Noyce that the Roosters intended to do anything but stick by Carney, even as the episode provided an unwelcome distraction from Saturday night's trial match against West Tigers.

"I think it is important to keep working with him, he accepted the culture that we wanted within the club last year and he was very public," said Noyce.

"He didn't duck or weave, people in the media had a job to do and he understood that and accepted that.

"We certainly don't condone in any way shape or form what has happened this morning, but we'll continue to work with him."

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/todd-carney-on-drink-driving-charge-20110226-1b8zk.html

Membership numbers:

2011 Draw: http://www.nrl.com/TelstraPremiership/2011Draw/tabid/10978/Default.aspx

and

http://www.nrl.com/Portals/NRL/RadEditor/Documents/draw/2011TelstraPremiershipDraw.pdf