Chasing Kangaroos

Chasing Kangaroos covers rugby league as a global habit, a stubborn culture, and a sport still trying to work out where it can grow next. Its centre of gravity is international rugby league, especially the parts that sit outside the regular NRL and Super League spotlight. One episode may celebrate the Vrklabi Mad Squirrels stepping into the Balkan Super League. Another may ask what England, France, Super League, the RFL, European Rugby League, the IRL, and the NRL should actually do to make international fixtures matter again. The show is not detached. It cares, loudly. Michael Carboni’s solo episodes often sound like a fan trying to shake the sport awake while still taking time to name the people and clubs doing the work. The recurring interest is growth: new clubs, junior systems, touring nations, Vegas events, American competitions, and expansion bids. That gives the show a wider field of vision than most rugby league coverage. Bedford Tigers can sit beside Wigan and Warrington. Czech Rugby League can sit beside Red Star Belgrade and Partisan Belgrade. U.S. youth rugby league can sit beside NRL Vegas strategy. Rugby League in America episodes bring a live, looser companion strand, with Dustin Zare and guests talking through the American scene, tournament history, and the practical reality of building momentum in a small sport. The show’s best moments come when it ties grand strategy to ground-level persistence. Club culture, junior pathways, travel costs, broadcast ambition, and supporter communities all matter here. Guests such as Rob Ashton, Steve Mascord, and Dave Hunter appear in conversations that are more pub-table debate than formal interview. That informality is part of the texture. The show can be repetitive, blunt, and occasionally chaotic, especially in live formats. It is also unusually attentive to rugby league’s edges. For listeners who want more than scores and transfer talk, Chasing Kangaroos offers a map of the game’s fragile, funny, hopeful outer limits.