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Scotland - All in or All out?


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3 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

When has that ever happened before?

That requires money, which there is not a lot of. It’s all well and good saying what could happen but it’s easier said than done. 

But what countries do have money? How much do Serbia or Jamaica have? They're better run as they haven't waited around expecting RFL handouts, they've done it all themselves. 

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12 minutes ago, BladeHearts said:

I live in Glasgow, love Rugby League and travelled to Old Trafford a fortnight ago... I didn’t even know Scotland were playing!!

Are you on social media?

like and follow all of the Scottish RL pages on the big three platforms. You’re highly unlikely to miss anything then.

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28 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Outside of the posh schools no one in Scotland really cares about kick and clap either 

The ones I've known care about soccer and nothing else 

To be fair a lot of the Borders towns are RU towns. There was a feature on BBC Scotland last week about the struggles of Hawick to raise a football team in the face of competition from RU. 

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14 minutes ago, welshmagpie said:

Are you on social media?

like and follow all of the Scottish RL pages on the big three platforms. You’re highly unlikely to miss anything then.

In fairness, the average organic reach of a social post on Facebook these days is less than 5%... Most brands get around 1.8% - 2.4% for a non-promoted post, as such you can follow a brand and completely miss their stuff.

Twitter is of course has such a volume and is very time specific, again it is very easy for people to miss, whilst Instagram isn't quite the platform for pushing event attendance.

For me, all Saturday's crowd shows, is what is true for so many many many Leagues... They have no budget to market and of what little funds they generally have, they don't know how to maximise it or effectively use it.

Beyond the NRL, RFL/SL, FFRXIII and PNGRFL, none of the other leagues run regular events each year that draw crowds of 5K or more... NZ when they do get a Test, often get a promoter or the NRL to help, simply because they don't have the resources to effectively promote, yet they have a TV deal, multiple FT staff in place and are in a country that follows League a lot more than Scotland.

As such, why did we expect there to be big crowds in Glasgow? I'm sure if most people on this forum had to promote a League match in their own town, with just some social pages and word of mouth, they wouldn't get much more than 300-odd... 

Anyway as for whether we should be sticking with Scotland from an international perspective... Whilst it has frustrated me in the past the 'favourable' decisions the SRL has had over some other leagues, the reality is today, they are self-funding, able to attract professional players and also are growing their domestic structures, so they deserve to be in the mix as much as anyone else really.

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4 hours ago, Mumby Magic said:

Less than 300 watching a qualifier in Glasgow. Is there the interest? Have we done enough? How many questions can I ask? I believe their league is about 10 teams if that. We see what were once alien areas to the sport having a good amateur set up now (London and Newcastle), but should we invest more time and effort or sadly pull out of any more investment?

Expansion is very very difficult. Great discussion on a Tony Collins podcast on this with RL writer. Exactly 7 minutes in:

It makes you realise just how hard it is to achieve. They add that the footprint of football and the two rugby codes in the UK is essentially the same as it was in 1914. The RL writer from St Helens mentions RL being unknown only a few miles outside St Helens (so it’s difficult to garner interest even somewhere in close proximity). He also says RL flatters itself by saying it’s a northern England sport, stating it’s a sport in certain pockets of the north of England. It’s very hard to instil interest in a sport where there is no history of it. That goes for any sport.

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21 minutes ago, Leyther_Matt said:

To be fair a lot of the Borders towns are RU towns. There was a feature on BBC Scotland last week about the struggles of Hawick to raise a football team in the face of competition from RU. 

Union is dying in the Borders. It’s nowhere near as strong or vibrant as it used to be

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7 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

Union is dying in the Borders. It’s nowhere near as strong or vibrant as it used to be

Would be interesting to see some stats as to how it compares to RL participation in the heartlands.

The worry I have is that RL’s natural breeding ground would be in the central belt, but in my experience there is quite significant resentment in some quarters to RU. The poor behaviour of fans in Edinburgh during the 6 Nations in particular means that means any sort of oval ball game is already facing a struggle to be accepted, purely by association. 

That said, from a grassroots perspective, the Scottish participation in the NE England league seems to have gone down well this season, but there needs to be significant resources invested in to developing a decent player pathway if things are going to progress. 

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55 minutes ago, Leyther_Matt said:

That said, from a grassroots perspective, the Scottish participation in the NE England league seems to have gone down well this season, but there needs to be significant resources invested in to developing a decent player pathway if things are going to progress. 

Indeed, Edinburgh Eagles won the NERL Grand Final.

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I am going to take the positive approach on this one. Well done Scotland for beating Serbia 86 - 0 and for staging the game in Glasgow and in Scotland and drawing a crowd of couple of hundred. Things have to be put into perspective there would probably only be about 300 people who currently participate in Rugby League in Scotland as players, coaches, refs and administrators. So looks like most of them showed up to watch the game. Serbia are an unknown team and doubt they brought many fans along way from home to travel for them. Honestly if Scotland could get 500+ people to a game like this in Scotland they would be doing very well. A game in Scotland against more recognizable Rugby League nations like Wales or France with some Super League and maybe NRL players playing you expect about 500 - 1000 people to show so well done on getting a couple hundred against Serbia and winning convincingly. 

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Crazy that Scotland drew with a New Zealand team full of talent a few years back and nothing was done to capitalise on it. The general public of any country will always get behind a competitive team if it’s thrown in their faces.

England went nuts for netball a year ago just because we had a winning team. 

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3 hours ago, DC77 said:

Expansion is very very difficult. Great discussion on a Tony Collins podcast on this with RL writer. Exactly 7 minutes in:

It’s very hard to instil interest in a sport where there is no history of it. That goes for any sport.

It's difficult to instill interest to the point where it overtakes the incumbent sport. It is not difficult to grow interest in areas that have little history.

What exactly are Toronto if not a prime example of that? Or Melbourne?

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I haven't been following the game in Scotland recently but by the time the RLWC 2017 kicked off Scotland no longer met the minimum standards required for a RLWC place. If that's still the case - and I believe it is - then they shouldn't even be in the competition, no matter how many RL players have Scottish grandmothers. 

"Just as we had been Cathars, we were treizistes, men apart."

Jean Roque, Calendrier-revue du Racing-Club Albigeois, 1958-1959

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Please excuse my ignorance or correct me about anything (I'm an Aussie with Irish, Scotia and English heritage (god help me)) but I've always thought RL is missing a trick with Scotland and Ireland.

With the history those countries have had with England and the rivalry (possible hatred) of the wealthy English elite, I always have thought Union was a weird fit.

Surely if you were Irish or Scottish you'd want to play a sport that has thumbed its nose at those that traditionally have played union? 

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5 hours ago, Mr Wind Up said:

It's difficult to instill interest to the point where it overtakes the incumbent sport. It is not difficult to grow interest in areas that have little history.

What exactly are Toronto if not a prime example of that? Or Melbourne?

They have had millions thrown at them. If you have millions to start a team in Scotland please do. 

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15 minutes ago, Eddie said:

They have had millions thrown at them. If you have millions to start a team in Scotland please do. 

Where did I say that you can grow interest in areas that have little history with no money? The original comment I replied to was insinuating that growth for minor sports is difficult in areas that have an entrenched sport of choice. In RL, there is evidence that you can do exactly that. In other sports, there is even more evidence of it. 

Everything takes effort and resources. It doesn't change that fact that relatively unknown sports can go to new pastures and build a solid following. The amount of money required is irrelevant to the point that was being made.

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22 minutes ago, Mr Wind Up said:

Where did I say that you can grow interest in areas that have little history with no money? The original comment I replied to was insinuating that growth for minor sports is difficult in areas that have an entrenched sport of choice. In RL, there is evidence that you can do exactly that. In other sports, there is even more evidence of it. 

Everything takes effort and resources. It doesn't change that fact that relatively unknown sports can go to new pastures and build a solid following. The amount of money required is irrelevant to the point that was being made.

No it isn't , that is the point 

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