can sbw attract the muslim community to play/ watch our game?

[RobertAM]

hope so. seen a number of women in muslim dress attend Wolfpack games at Lamport which is brilliant..if the game brings people together thats a good thing. 

[Farmduck]

In answer to the original question, no, SBW won't have much effect. In Sydney, it's Lebanese who follow RL, not Muslims. They follow the Dogs and the Eels because they are their local teams. A lot of the more-established Lebanese in Sydney are Christians who follow RL because they grew up in South Sydney.

The sub-continental Muslims are in a different situation, related more to class than religion. A lot of the Lebanese came here as refugees and lived in working-class areas and did blue-collar jobs. Most of the sub-continental Muslims came here as skilled migrants and have much more middle-class lives and aspirations. A lot of the African Muslims are refugees and are Denka people from Sudan. Because of their height, basketball seems to be their favourite sport. (Of course this is a bit odd because basketball seems to be the most popular sport among Filipinos too, and they aren't tall.)

Payne Haas is a Muslim but I can't see him attracting too many Muslims to games in Brisbane since most Muslims live in Sydney and Melbourne.

[GUBRATS]

6 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Hold the phone...

Mike Tyson's a Muslim?!

I really don't pay attention to people's religion it seems.

And neither should you , or anybody else 

[HKR AWAY DAYS]

7 hours ago, SL17 said:

Didn’t Cory Paterson follow the faith? Seem to remember Ramadan being mentioned for his excuse not to play at times.

Yes, he is (was) a follower of Islam. I don't recall him ever missing games because of his fasting; he did leave us citing homesickness before returning to the UK a short time later. That did my Eid in when that happened...

[The Hallucinating Goose]

12 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Won't lie; I didn't know he was Muslim.

 

8 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Hold the phone...

Mike Tyson's a Muslim?!

I really don't pay attention to people's religion it seems.

I think religion must completely bypass Hull cos I didn't know these things either. 

[Number 16]

14 hours ago, Copa said:

You can’t be what you can’t see so hopefully it will have an impact.

The Bulldogs in Sydney have lots of Muslim fans. I wonder how much Hazem El Masri contributed to that?

 

Was that popularity because he was muslim or because he was Lebanese playing for a club in an area with a sizeable Lebanese population? 

Did George Peponis help attract the Greek community because he was Greek, or because he was Greek Orthodox?

Do Guler and Sezer bring in Canberra's muslims?

It's all very Victorian, "let's show these blighters one of their own playing rugger..."

[Copa]

39 minutes ago, Number 16 said:

It's all very Victorian, "let's show these blighters one of their own playing rugger..."

If you want to sell something to a new community do you use someone they can relate to or do you use someone else?

[Cheshire Setter]

6 hours ago, Copa said:

If you’ve ever been part of a minority group for a long time, you tend to notice when someone with similarities to you becomes famous in a particular field.

I can see where you’re heading but I honestly don’t see (in the UK) why the people who follow Islam in RL hotbeds (mainly South Asian ethnicities) would see similarities between themselves and SBW.  He’s a Kiwi who plays what is a minority sport in the UK, but also happens to have converted religion.   I don’t think UK Muslim communities in RL hotspots will even be aware nor care, unfortunately.

Please understand I’m not criticising what you are postulating, which would be a great thing to happen.   I just can’t see it coming to fruition based on the demographics. 

[Number 16]

SBW might be an A List personality Down Under, but up here, even given his All Black status, he's a C List, at best. Amongst the muslim 'community' (if it exists as an homogenous group) he is probably closer to an X, Y, or Z Lister.