Keith989

Break even would be completely fine, the event and exposure then makes the whole thing worth it.

Yeah RU is getting very serious in Japan, just a couple of weeks ago Osaka got almost 10k in attendance (in the 2nd division!). They are actually hoovering up the best SH talent, so much so, it's now incredible rare an All Black joins Europe instead of Japan. I wonder if Joey is doing his "apprenticeship" in Japan first, then joining a super rugby franchise in order to try become an AB? Otherwise it's just purely money driven.

13k for Gold Coast seems very generous.

It would require quality and regular coaching to get a union/GAA convert upto to any sort of decent standard, which again brings us back to the budget restraints. A high performance center is needed but I can't see them ever getting the funding for that unfortunately. Even League of Ireland clubs are struggling to get substantial backing.

You could argue that playing in the summer is when the Premier league clubs are on pre season. Which is more of the same demographic.

I'm recent times, Shamrock Rovers have qualified for both the Europa and the conference league and Dundalk have qualified for the Europa league.

Why is that dumb? I'm not saying your wrong, genuine question. As far as I know a big reason was to help teams compete in European qualifiers, where the big money is.

Yeah attendances here are going through a bit of a boom at the moment. It started at such a low base though, so still a long way to go. Investment in infrastructure will be key to keep the attendances growing.

Don't a lot of Aussies support Premiership clubs? Is it a similar situation to Ireland where domestic attendances aren't great but the general interest in soccer is very high?

I think it's a great idea and fair play to the NRL who are doing a lot of things right at the minute. The NRL signing an Irish rugby union international would certainly put the sport in the spotlight here, I can only imagine the articles and the amount of discussion on forums it would create.

A needless headline though, should be focusing on the game and performance of the kiwis to build the competition up and then maybe reflecting on attendances at a later stage. If you could get some sort of consistancy with fixtures you should see attendances rise. Besides can the Aussies really talk about attendances? The Kangaroos have their own struggles in that regard.

I really think NZs love for rugby is over stated. They struggle with attendances for the national sides in both codes, always have.

Once it's taken away, it's very hard to get back too. Should've never been allowed happen... the mid season pacific tests were fantastic. Much more interesting than this comp. Is there a chance that Australia are setting this comp up to fail in order to justify having less international matches? I.e. They know the Pacific nations will be woefully under prepared and the resulting blowouts will be uninteresting. Thus justifying have less internationals a year.

On the attendances, the 11k at the Sharks will probably be worth more than a sell out in Port Morseby due to ticket pricing. I can't believe that people think they're aren't going to be quirks (such as basing in Cairns and playing some home games elsewhere) when having a PI side in a pro competition. I really don't think people are quite grasping the economic realities in PNG. I remember seeing an article before the Drua's first game where it was mentioned that the price of some tickets were equivalent to a month's wage for most of the country. The situation is supposedly even worse in PNG.

You'd also be surprised what people will do to achieve/keep alive their dreams. I remember watching a documentary about USA basketball players going to Iraq to play pro basketball. I really don't think it's crazy to think that this team will be attractive to foreign players.

Wtf?? How am I being negative when I'm trying to point out why they might be talking about moving SOME home games abroad? I could be completely wrong (hopefully) and they could sell out every game with ease, but I think they know the economic challenges of that. The comparison isn't between RL and RU ffs, it's a comparison between Fiji and PNG. Getting a PNG team into NRL would be an astonishing achievement. Having a PNG team play 75-80% of its games in Port Moresby will be one of the greatest things to ever happen to rugby league.

Like the 7800 (that looks generous) that turned up against the cook islands?

C'mon you can't seriously be saying this. You know right well the economic and social problems the majority of PNG's face. As if there's going to be thousands travelling from outside the capital to games.

Can you type Tonga into Google maps, then come back and explain how you expect them to field a homegrown side?

If you think the Druas crowds in Fiji are poor, then I'm not sure what chance PNG have? Unless you think PNG fans are going to shell out for every home game?

Who let the fans into the commentary box?

Please let this game be close. Another blowout would be heartbreaking.

Drua's crowds have been good in Fiji. There's no chance that the PNG team will play in Tonga and Samoa would only be able to host at most one game a season. I think it's more likely that a couple of games will be in in Aus and the rest in PNG.

I think you'd be surprised what players are willing to do. Beggars can't be choosers so to speak.

Again, that isn't a issue IMO and makes it more attractive for players to sign for the side. We need to remember how everyone (including myself) thought it would be near impossible to have PI sides in top level professional competitions. You're going to have quirks in order to make them work.