Andrew Alderson: Turkish test could be more than a game

The NZRL work under the motto "more than just a game".

The latest initiative to play the 2015 Anzac test in Turkey - marking the centenary of the New Zealand and Australian soldiers landing at Gallipoli - is one that encapsulates this motto, but is not without some risk.

Some might argue the Anzac test has regularly been a victim of commercialism since its inception in 1997, with sponsors wanting to capitalise on revenue opportunities from the name association.

There is little doubt the test has generally been played in the right spirit, albeit just once (in 1997) on April 25, but linking the sport with such a sacrosanct and defining moment in both nations' histories can be perilous.

Regardless of trite advertising gimmicks and media hype linking the test to its own version of "war", it generates camaraderie between the two countries, reinforcing the concept of mateship.

That was evident on Friday night with the good-natured banter between the two sets of fans on the Gold Coast; a welcome improvement on the behaviour of a boorish minority at the Four Nations test at Eden Park last year.

However, this is where the NZRL needs to exercise caution. "More than just a game" is a fine slogan; if it can be backed up with respectful physical combat between players and verbal combat between fans. Trouble lurks when this spills over.

Many New Zealanders have had the poignant privilege of attending the site where 11,421 New Zealand and Australian soldiers lost their lives in World War I. It would be incomprehensible to look up from the stony beach of Anzac Cove and not be daunted by the prospect of machine gun bullets raining down on arrival.

Similarly, many of us have seen footage of the site being desecrated over the years as intoxicated Kiwis and Aussies on their OEs stagger across from Europe to pay their 'respects' and, in doing so, helping to destroy the bond that established the Anzacs with the site and the Turkish people since that flawed eight-month campaign.

The NZRL is taking a bold risk. Nothing could be worse than a small pocket of boozy fans sullying New Zealand's image in such a sacred place.

That is not to question the NZRL's motives - they are honourable. Chief executive Jim Doyle - and officials from the ARL and NRL - have understandably given the operation MI6-type secrecy lest rugby union tries to shoulder in. If the concept continues to be treated with respect, it could be a league coup.

However, there are a number of obstacles. Not least of these is marketing. The NZRL is talking about occupying a Turkish football stadium like that of Fenerbache (capacity 52,000) or Galatasaray (22,500). Filling such venues would be a push, given it's a struggle for many today just to get to their local dawn service.

Other problems include negotiating what will presumably be players missing a fortnight of NRL action and the prospect of the match purely being used to create a legacy rather than a profit.

They are also faced with the difficulty of getting players and fans to the dawn service and then two-and-a-half hours up the peninsula by bus to Istanbul for kick-off. Fortunately, the time frame for the television networks could work.

A late morning/early afternoon kick-off would see the match broadcast on the Australian eastern seaboard in the early evening and New Zealand two hours later.

If all those factors meld, it could be a financial and historical success and "more than just a game".