Jump to content

Denver NZ v England test is "certain" to go ahead


Scubby

Recommended Posts

4 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

There's no reason why it would.  The two matches could well draw totally different crowds with no overlap to speak of.

There's every reason why it would. A dull boring union game won't inspire speccies to return no matter what form of rugby is being played. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 743
  • Created
  • Last Reply
2 minutes ago, Chanter said:

There's every reason why it would. A dull boring union game won't inspire speccies to return no matter what form of rugby is being played. 

The marketing material already shows signs of targetting gridiron fans, who likely won't be attracted to watch the RU match in any case.  The video refers to the game as Rugby League Football and the poster refers to 6 downs, so clearly they're using the parallels to gridiron as a selling point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Chanter said:

There's every reason why it would. A dull boring union game won't inspire speccies to return no matter what form of rugby is being played. 

Yeah Houston is about the same distance from Denver as Manchester from Athens, Greece. Not sure a RU match being played there will have too much impact TBH.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Evil Homer said:

Yeah Houston is about the same distance from Denver as Manchester from Athens, Greece. Not sure a RU match being played there will have too much impact TBH.

There are two RU matches, the other one is in Denver the week before the RL one but if the organizers target gridiron fans as they seem to be doing from the promotional material which is out so far, there might not be any overlap at all between the two crowds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

The marketing material already shows signs of targetting gridiron fans, who likely won't be attracted to watch the RU match in any case.  The video refers to the game as Rugby League Football and the poster refers to 6 downs, so clearly they're using the parallels to gridiron as a selling point.

Yes, they'e promoting it on the angle to attract grid iron fans it seems, but the the bigger picture is that most don' know there is a difference between both rugby codes. That's my point. A boring RU game won't inspire neutral fans to come to watch another Rugby game no matter what form it is. Educating the non Rugby aficionados that there is a different type of sport but that's similar to gridiron, can maybe bring the neutral and the curious to watch this RL international.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Chanter said:

Yes, they'e promoting it on the angle to attract grid iron fans it seems, but the the bigger picture is that most don' know there is a difference between both rugby codes. That's my point. A boring RU game won't inspire neutral fans to come to watch another Rugby game no matter what form it is. Educating the non Rugby aficionados that there is a different type of sport but that's similar to gridiron, can maybe bring the neutral and the curious to watch this RL international.

The neutral and curious (AKA the general sports fans) are exactly who they want to get to come and watch.  If they can get enough Colorado, Colorado State and Denver Bronco fans interested they could fill the stadium on that basis alone.  Then the great game which is "just like football" as a lady friend of mine remarked when I showed her some RL a few years back combined with a professional presentation of the event will have them wanting more of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

Then the great game which is "just like football" as a lady friend of mine remarked when I showed her some RL a few years back combined with a professional presentation of the event will have them wanting more of it.

I was chatting to a guy the other day who moved to Australia last year from the US. His son plays college football in Texas.

After a whole life of zero exposure to any form of rugby he has now been to a few Raiders and Brumbies (Super Rugby) matches. He said he much prefers the NRL as it’s “much more like football” and easier to understand. Hopefully that attitude will be found in a lot more people during these rugby league forays into the US.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Copa said:

I was chatting to a guy the other day who moved to Australia last year from the US. His son plays college football in Texas.

After a whole life of zero exposure to any form of rugby he has now been to a few Raiders and Brumbies (Super Rugby) matches. He said he much prefers the NRL as it’s “much more like football” and easier to understand. Hopefully that attitude will be found in a lot more people during these rugby league forays into the US.

It would be interesting to know where his son plays, and what position.  If his dad already likes RL, he might conceivably become one of the first North American players to play pro RL.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Strange choice of location, but great news nonetheless.

 

Why Denver? It's one of our greatest sporting cities, the #1 attraction is the Denver Broncos, and we have a friendly deal with the incredible Mile High stadium - not to mention its nearly half-way between England and NZ, and a 2pm local start will allow the game to be viewed live in both home markets.

As several folks have rightly said, we're not targeting rugby fans or even expats; we're after the American football fan - avid and casual - who is looking for something fun and interesting during the NFL offseason. If we can excite and motivate that fan to take a look under the hood, we think they'll love Rugby League FOOTBALL.

 

1 hour ago, Copa said:

Coming soon - Code Wars: episode 327

Watch with amazement as rugby union fans from the UK, Australia and their local US affiliates bombard every social media mention of the match with variations of “Be warned! That’s not real rugby!”. 

Let's hope. The best thing that can happen is that more Americans pay attention and educate themselves on the differences. 

And the answer is: "that's right. Its Rugby League - faster, harder-hitting, and easier to understand."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, RLWC2025 said:

Hi, I'm with Moore Sports Int'l who's behind the RLWC 2025 and the upcoming International Challenge in Denver. Happy to answer any questions...

Please make sure that your fields are always marked with gridiron-style equidistant numbered lines like they always are in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.  I know from personal experience that those markings underscore the parallels with gridiron and in so doing make the game more recognizable to anyone who grew up watching that game.  I take it that gridiron fans in Colorado are your primary target market?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, RLWC2025 said:

Why Denver? It's one of our greatest sporting cities, the #1 attraction is the Denver Broncos, and we have a friendly deal with the incredible Mile High stadium - not to mention its nearly half-way between England and NZ, and a 2pm local start will allow the game to be viewed live in both home markets.

As several folks have rightly said, we're not targeting rugby fans or even expats; we're after the American football fan - avid and casual - who is looking for something fun and interesting during the NFL offseason. If we can excite and motivate that fan to take a look under the hood, we think they'll love Rugby League FOOTBALL.

 

Let's hope. The best thing that can happen is that more Americans pay attention and educate themselves on the differences. 

And the answer is: "that's right. Its Rugby League - faster, harder-hitting, and easier to understand."

It's also "football with real touchdowns", "football without the brain damage", etc. etc. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Big Picture said:

Please make sure that your fields are always marked with gridiron-style equidistant numbered lines like they always are in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.  I know from personal experience that those markings underscore the parallels with gridiron and in so doing make the game more recognizable to anyone who grew up watching that game.  I take it that gridiron fans in Colorado are your primary target market?

I second that 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, RLWC2025 said:

Hi, I'm with Moore Sports Int'l who's behind the RLWC 2025 and the upcoming International Challenge in Denver. Happy to answer any questions...

No questions yet.... just want to wish you all the best.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, RLWC2025 said:

Let's hope. The best thing that can happen is that more Americans pay attention and educate themselves on the differences. 

And the answer is: "that's right. Its Rugby League - faster, harder-hitting, and easier to understand."

I posted on LU that this isn't really important and if anything could be counter-productive. Going on in the usual RL way about how there are actually two different types of rugby and how we're different but better than the rugby they know is only likely to confuse and alienate first-time viewers. The main thing is that people come out, enjoy what they see and want to come back for more. If the people who come to the match think RL is what 'rugby' is then great, and if they become fans then in time they will figure out the difference for themselves, as the Toronto fans have. Trying to force it down their throats from day one really isn't the right approach, let them become engaged with the product first.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, RLWC2025 said:

Hi, I'm with Moore Sports Int'l who's behind the RLWC 2025 and the upcoming International Challenge in Denver. Happy to answer any questions...

I know you've said you're not even targeting ex-pats so much, but thinking about the recent SL deal with the NSW govt, are there opportunities for you to link up with local govt on activities, promotions, travel deals etc? There's a lot of poms, kiwis and Aussies in the US who I'm sure would love injecting their money into the local economy over a weekend of proper footy! 

My other question is about whether you intend to look at further games, beyond the annual Denver game? Whether it's SL, NRL, WCC or test matches?

Thanks a lot - I wish you well!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Big Picture said:

It's also "football with real touchdowns", "football without the brain damage", etc. etc. ;)

I don't think we should be getting too cocky about the issue of brain damage... That's an issue starting to come up a bit in Australia. Besides, you only need to read some of the comments on these boards to see that there's a link between rugby league and cognitive impairment!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, ghost crayfish said:

I don't think we should be getting too cocky about the issue of brain damage... That's an issue starting to come up a bit in Australia. Besides, you only need to read some of the comments on these boards to see that there's a link between rugby league and cognitive impairment!

Considering how former NFL players have killed themselves as their brains began to deteriorate, it's a much greater issue in gridiron than any other sport.  I have yet to hear about even one former player of any other sport doing that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

Considering how former NFL players have killed themselves as their brains began to deteriorate, it's a much greater issue in gridiron than any other sport.  I have yet to hear about even one former player of any other sport doing that.

Just because you are yet to hear of it doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. Because of the profile of the NFL there is a huge amount of scrutiny of this issue in that sport.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

Considering how former NFL players have killed themselves as their brains began to deteriorate, it's a much greater issue in gridiron than any other sport.  I have yet to hear about even one former player of any other sport doing that.

You serious??

Ex players,pro & amateur,doing themselves in is really worrying..how do you think state of mind started?

Obviously we can't blame CTE on all these suicides but it would be silly to rule it out completely..

 

Anyway..back to rugby league

OLDHAM RLFC

the 8TH most successful team in british RL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, roughyedspud said:

You serious??

Ex players,pro & amateur,doing themselves in is really worrying..how do you think state of mind started?

Obviously we can't blame CTE on all these suicides but it would be silly to rule it out completely..

 

Anyway..back to rugby league

Yes, very serious.  Watch this and see for yourself:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Big Picture said:

Yes, very serious.  Watch this and see for yourself:

 

I know all about the CTE issue in american football! But you said...

3 hours ago, Big Picture said:

  I have yet to hear about even one former player of any other sport doing that.

And that's simply not true..CTE is increasingly being discovered in numerous sports..rugby,boxing even football from heading the ball! And we can all name athletes from them sports who have killed themselves.

OLDHAM RLFC

the 8TH most successful team in british RL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.