NRL Thread

[NU13]

Their in lies the problem for rugby league. League is the only sport (according to sum) that doesn't place national honors at the highest level. That said i think you'll find that that problem for a small minority of players. The likes of Fittler, Sterling, Johns, Cam Smith, Cooper Cronk and lots more all put high significance on the national jumper. It tends to be a NSW problem where it is devalued. And that is one of the main reasons why union has surged ahead internationally while league is struggling....the Sydney centric attitude.

 

[NU13]

Obviously someone in Australia cares about the 4 nations Caliber. Australia cheated there way to a win.

In the attached picture. Evidence of cheating.

 

[Calaber]

Obviously someone in Australia cares about the 4 nations Caliber. Australia cheated there way to a win.

In the attached picture. Evidence of cheating.

I have to confess that I too am suffering from a complete lack of interest in this completion, so I haven't wasted my time watching any of it. That pic of yours is so blurred, I can't make out what "cheating" is taking place, but, hey, it happens in every sport and can be seen every week in the NRL - it isn't just the international games.

Regarding your comments about the 'Sydney-centric" mentality, I don't think you could be more wrong. The game is strongly supported in Queensland and support in Victoria has grown as a result of the success that Melbourne has enjoyed over recent years. The NRL is suffering badly from a loss of faith by fans in the administration and some of the penalties imposed recently against teams, coaches and players have raised the hackles of many fans. The head of the NRL tribunal resigned suddenly last week in protest against the penalty, and the manner in which it was imposed, against Paul Gallen for criticising the NRL in a tweet. The video ref is being badly operated and many incomprehensible decisions have been made to award or disallow tries despite glaring evidence to the contrary. The obstruction rule is so obscure and so easy to interpret in different ways that even the players don't know when they have committed an obstruction infringement or not. Entry fees to certain grounds are too high and food prices are exhorbitant. To put it bluntly, fans are turning away and only the highest calibre games or very strongly supported local matches (such as Souths, NQ and Newcastle home games attract great crowds. The success of the Sydney Swans AFL team has also seen a dramatic increase in the popularity of that game in Sydney, at the expense of the NRL.

The game needs a complete overhaul from the top and is losing out to other codes because it is becoming a bad joke.

 

[mpower]

To the above comment, yes the league is sydney centric - it started as the NSWRL and the bulk of clubs are from NSW.

QLD has a strong supporter base - but then we had the QRL before the NRL.

Poor old Storm though, Vic has a very tiny supporter base.

 

[Grennan]

. And that is one of the main reasons why union has surged ahead internationally while league is struggling....the Sydney centric attitude.

I think the international appeal is certainly one of the big drawing points of their game. Those games are big money. Whereas here, Origin is the pay day. I honestly dont blame half the players for bailing on the 4 Nations.

Most of them are tired. Theyve played Origin, tests throughout the year and a very hard finals series. They cant be ####ed.

Union holds all of its rep matches OUTSIDE of regular season. I think this is how League should do it. Having Origin at the end of the year to reduce this burnout mid season.

To the above comment, yes the league is sydney centric - it started as the NSWRL and the bulk of clubs are from NSW.

QLD has a strong supporter base - but then we had the QRL before the NRL.

Poor old Storm though, Vic has a very tiny supporter base.

I agree, the NRL is extremely NSW Centric. I would love a Sunshine Coast team to be introduced to the NRL. However, I honestly dont know if Queensland would make them thrive. I think the NRL is really hitting a road block with expansion. Because of the way the clubs are spread, attendance is hard sometimes.

Queensland even more. Brisbane to Townsville for a Qld Derby. Yeaaaah pass.

I think the NRL is also hesitant to put another club in Queensland with how poorly the Titans have both performed and been received. But Sunshine Coast is prime for the next club.

Storm. The storm arent struggling. We have a pretty decent supporter base here. We actually have one of the highest membership counts in the league and our attendances for games is decent by NRL standards - typically drawing somewhere in the 18,000 region. However, I suspect that in the coming years the Storm might be struggling to make the ladder position we have become accustomed to. Our salary cap has no room whatsoever and with players getting older and moving on I think we need to start building some new players quick.

The refereeing is letting this game down. Fans dont want to see the video ref have a hand in everything and the extremes on both ends of the spectrum from referees this year has pissed everyone off.

 

[NU13]

Personally on the expansion issue i think a second NZ club is the way to go, probably Wellington but maybe Christchurch. Both have well over 100 years of producing international quality players and both have a hard core of support already in place. Perth is a good idea for another club as well. Go into both Perth and Wellington and you have ticked both national and international coverage.

 

[lowandslow]

I think the time difference would kill any Perth based team because lets face it, Ch9 are the deciding factor in all of this.
They'd have to be playing games at 430/530pm so Sydney can get their Friday night footy fix.

 

[Calaber]

If those of you who feel that the game is Sydney-centric causes a problem, (I happen to disagree but perhaps it's a case of understanding what "Sydney-centric" means), consider this.

There are really only two States in Australia where rugby league is the most popular football code. NSW has by far the larger population, Sydney is by far a larger city than Brisbane and the game as we know it originated with the Sydney competition. Whilst additional Queensland teams have operated in the past, Brisbane club has resisted spreading the game to a second Brisbane team (hardly Sydney-centric) and the South Queensland Crushers folded years ago. The Gold Coast Titans have had more lives and names than Nellie Melba and continue to struggle. Only the Cowboys really present a persistent, strong presence in the competition. So, how viable, really, is another Queensland team at this stage?

Melbourne have been very successful in their short history and their following is pretty strong within league circles, but their following pales into insignificance compared to the AFL teams. Read any Melbourne newspaper on the weekend during the football season and you will find page after page of AFL reports and hidden away somewhere in the back pages will be brief coverages of the NRL. Even the Storm's coverage is tiny compared to the AFL. Sydney-centric again? Nup. Victorians just don't go for the game like the two other states do.

A second kiwi team? Well, the Warriors are too inconsistent and their track record over the years as Auckland, then NZ, doesn't really support the idea of a second team. Get the first one running consistently first.

Sydney's teams have been reduced over the years and there are now two amalgamations instead of four separate teams, and one team dropped out after an unsuccessful amalgamation. (Norths). That means there are three less Sydney teams now than prior to the NRL forming.

IMO, as long as only Queensland and NSW are the really strong supporters of the game in Australia, and NSW has the larger population (ie viewing audience) and the game is contracted to Channel 9 (Sydney again), there will always be a bias towards a stronger presence, and greater team numbers, from Sydney. And that's hardly the fault of Sydney. It's just the way the individual States prefer their football codes.

 

[Grennan]

But thats also bad for the game. Youre never going to get NEW fans by pushing out new Sydney clubs.

Sure, you might have a case for the North Sydney Bears to come back or a club in that Gosford area. But for the most part, youre just splitting existing club memberships and attendances.

Queensland has a large untapped void and id look at getting into WA or something before another AFL club.

 

[mpower]

While the game is only big in NSW and QLD I don't see that as a "problem".

I'll probably get crucified for this but I reckon Superleague would have taken Rugby League to the next level - the entrenched backwards thinking executive of the day resisted it and made out like it was going to ruin the game when imo nothing was further from the truth. I feel that SL would have brought a bigger and international audience and more money into the game (a huge problem to this day).

Perth are very heavily into AFL. Dunno if they are a place to expand into, a second Brisbane team has been tried in the past - the Crushers, they were the poor cousins - but hey at least the got a League's club out of it.

I reckon maybe even an Ipswich or other regional team would be a good move, but then you'd be stepping on feeder clubs and the QRL. It's a fine line that's for sure, but one that needs to happen for the long term future of the game.