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Auckland- a league town?


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31 minutes ago, kiwis 13 6 said:

Auckland is NZ biggest city Rugby League has always had the highest % people of any NZ city who are involved in the sport and people with an awareness and interest in the sport. Auckland club competition The "Fox Memorial" is the last NZ based club comp were good players can play the game semi professionally. With Maori people in Auckland id say League is the most popular sport, Pacific Islanders id say its about 50/50 between union and league, Pakeha(Caucasian/European) lots of people have casual interest but there is a niche loyal following and Pakeha people participate in pockets in West Auckland, Central Auckland,North Shore and Howick in South Auckland. Other ethnic groups Indians/Asians/Africans/Arabs/immigrants from UK and Europe tend to prefer soccer but Auckland Rugby League has set up a program to attract new immigrant groups to play the sport.  Regardless of ethnicity overall with working class people in Auckland the Favorite game would be Rugby League, middle and upper class more into union. The problem is Working class Areas of Auckland are shrinking as it costs about a million dollars for house in most parts of Auckland these days.

In Wellington Rugby League participation and profile has shrunk dramatically over the last 20 years. in the 90's Rugby League would have been number 1 sport with Maori and Pacific Island communites thats not the case anymore, since the 80's only been a very small % of Pakeha/Europeans who participate in the sport in Wellington. There is a decent amount of causal fans of the Warriors in the region from all types of communities.  In Wellington city itself these days there is only one local club Victoria University Hunters. Rugby League is mostly Played in the regions outer satellite towns and suburbs in the Hutt Valley, Wainuiomata, Porrirua, Otaki. Wainuiomata was famous for Rugby League in 1990's it had NZ champion grassroots club and the sport had a huge following in the Suburb but these days its probly 50/50 split with union in Wainuomata.

Christchurch and Canterbury Region in recent decades has had better organisation for the sport than Wellington they are currently Top region in the country outside Auckland in playing numbers and strength of Rep teams. The local council has built a new facility Nga Puna Wai Sports complex as the home of Rugby League in the Region. Christchurch has a smaller % of Maori and Pacific Island population than Auckland and Wellington but league probly about 50/50 with union in Maori and Pacific Island communities. Canterbury has traditionally had higher percentage of Pakeha participate in Rugby league than Wellington but id estimate Pakeha in Christchurch overwhelming support union 90% to League 10%. Theres a reasonable size Asian community in Christchurch but very few are interested in Rugby League id say Golf is probly the favorite game for the Asian communities in that region. Overall in Canterbury out of those that like rugby codes id estimate it would be 80% Union 20% League split.

 I dont know much about Rugby League in Hamilton & Tauranga NZ 4th & 5th largest largest Cities rugby league is played in those cities and there are people there whose favorite sport is rugby League but Union would be the most popular sport in those cities. Whangarei in north of country and the Northland region has decent participation rate for Rugby League but again Union overall would be more popular there.

In deep south Island NZ 6th largest City Dunedin in the Otago region has 3 local league clubs and together with neighboring Southland region run a combined Competition. League has a niche following but Union would easily be the #1 game of 90% of people who like any kind of sport in those regions.

There are some small provincial towns that Rugby League is the #1 game in town

Huntly is a former coal mining town between Auckland and Hamilton has a large Maori population and Leagues more popular than union but now the mines are closing down and new people moving in due to cost of living in Auckland who knows what the future holds? Lance Hohaia & Tawera Nikau both come from Huntly.

Ngaruawhahia 13kms down the road  from Huntly is a predominately Maori town and home of the Maori King and Rugby League is the most popular game in town and the local Maori tribe Tanui once owned the NZ Warriors.

Tokoroa is a Central North Island Forestry town unique in that it is the only small provincial town in NZ with a high percentage of Pacific Islanders, there is also a large Maori community. Rugby League is either #1 code or 50/50 with union. Zane Tetevano and Joey Manu come from there as well ex Australian Union player & potential Toronto signing Quade Cooper.

Greymouth on the West Coast of the South Island is an old coal mining town and once famous in NZ for rugby league, West Coast Representative sides once used to beat Auckland rep sides and beat International touring sides! Greymouth and the West Coast is predominatley Pakeha/European town and Rugby League is more popular than Union but in other west coast towns Hokitika and Westport Union is more Popular than League.  Coal mines have all closed down now and there was a Mine explosion and NZ warriors and Newcastle Knights played a pre season benefit game in the town to raise funds for families of local miners. Melbourne and Newcastle player Slade Griffin is the most recent Kiwi Representative in a long tradition of Kiwis players coming from the West Coast.

Super comprehensive answer, cheers Kiwi

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1 hour ago, kiwis 13 6 said:

Auckland is NZ biggest city Rugby League has always had the highest % people of any NZ city who are involved in the sport and people with an awareness and interest in the sport. Auckland club competition The "Fox Memorial" is the last NZ based club comp were good players can play the game semi professionally. With Maori people in Auckland id say League is the most popular sport, Pacific Islanders id say its about 50/50 between union and league, Pakeha(Caucasian/European) lots of people have casual interest but there is a niche loyal following and Pakeha people participate in pockets in West Auckland, Central Auckland,North Shore and Howick in South Auckland. Other ethnic groups Indians/Asians/Africans/Arabs/immigrants from UK and Europe tend to prefer soccer but Auckland Rugby League has set up a program to attract new immigrant groups to play the sport.  Regardless of ethnicity overall with working class people in Auckland the Favorite game would be Rugby League, middle and upper class more into union. The problem is Working class Areas of Auckland are shrinking as it costs about a million dollars for house in most parts of Auckland these days.

Wellington Rugby League participation has shrunk dramatically over the last 20 years. in the 90's Rugby League was probly #1 sport with Maori and Pacific Island communites, thats not the case anymore, since the 80's only been a very small % of Pakeha/Europeans who participate in the sport in Wellington. There is a decent amount of causal fans of the Warriors in the region from all backgrounds.  In Wellington city itself these days there is only one local club Victoria University Hunters. Rugby League is mostly Played in the regions outer satellite towns and suburbs in the Hutt Valley, Wainuiomata, Porrirua, Otaki. Wainuiomata was famous for Rugby League in 1990's it had NZ champion grassroots club and the sport had a huge following in the Suburb but these days its probly 50/50 split with union in Wainuomata.

Christchurch/Canterbury Region has had better organisation for the sport than Wellington they are currently Top region in the country outside Auckland based on the strength of Rep teams. The local council has built a new facility Nga Puna Wai Sports complex as the home of Rugby League in the Region. Christchurch has a smaller % of Maori and Pacific Island population than Auckland and Wellington but league probly about 50/50 with union in Maori and Pacific Island communities. Canterbury has traditionally had higher percentage of Pakeha participate in Rugby league than Wellington but overall id estimate Pakeha in Christchurch overwhelming support union 90% to League 10%. Theres a reasonable size Asian community in Christchurch but very few are interested in Rugby League id say Golf is probly the favorite game for the Asian communities in that region. Overall in Canterbury out of those that like rugby codes id estimate it would be 80% Union 20% League split.

 I dont know much about Rugby League in Hamilton & Tauranga NZ 4th & 5th largest largest Cities rugby league is played in those cities and there is definitley fans of the sport in those cites but Union is the most popular sport. Whangarei in north of country and the Northland region has decent participation rate for Rugby League but again Union overall would be more popular.

In deep south Island NZ 6th largest City Dunedin in the Otago region has 3 local league clubs and together with neighboring Southland region run a combined Competition. League has a small niche following but Union would easily be the #1 game of most people who like any kind of sport.

There are some small provincial towns that Rugby League is the #1 game in town

Huntly is a former coal mining town between Auckland and Hamilton has a large Maori population and Leagues more popular than union but now the mines are closing down and new people moving in due to cost of living in Auckland who knows what the future holds? Lance Hohaia & Tawera Nikau both come from Huntly.

Ngaruawhahia 13kms down the road  from Huntly is a predominately Maori town and home of the Maori King and Rugby League is the most popular game in town and the local Maori tribe Tanui once owned the NZ Warriors.

Tokoroa is a Central North Island Forestry town unique in that it is the only small provincial town in NZ with a high percentage of Pacific Islanders, there is also a large Maori community. Rugby League is either #1 code or 50/50 with union. Zane Tetevano and Joey Manu come from there as well ex Australian Union player & potential Toronto signing Quade Cooper.

Greymouth on the West Coast of the South Island is an old coal mining town and once famous in NZ for rugby league, West Coast Representative sides once used to beat Auckland rep sides and beat International touring sides! Greymouth and the West Coast is predominatley Pakeha/European town and Rugby League is more popular than Union but in other west coast towns Hokitika and Westport Union is more Popular than League.  Coal mines have all closed down now and there was a Mine explosion and NZ warriors and Newcastle Knights played a pre season benefit game in the town to raise funds for families of local miners. Melbourne and Newcastle player Slade Griffin is the most recent Kiwi Representative in a long tradition of Kiwis players coming from the West Coast.

do you think the success of the tongan rugby league team will help the game over there given there are good numbers of tongans over there as evidenced by the fantastic crowds they get?

surely a lot of islanders who end up in the all blacks or union in general will now see league more positively after what taumalomo has done, and hopefully SBW in the next world cup

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2 hours ago, aj1908 said:

do you think the success of the tongan rugby league team will help the game over there given there are good numbers of tongans over there as evidenced by the fantastic crowds they get?

surely a lot of islanders who end up in the all blacks or union in general will now see league more positively after what taumalomo has done, and hopefully SBW in the next world cup

There is 5 million people in NZ and 60 000 Tongan people in NZ 80% live in Auckland. So yeah might help the game in Auckland a bit but will have a very small impact elsewhere in NZ. League is popular and played where its always been played since i got into the game in the 80's. In Maori and Pacific Island communities around NZ, Working class suburbs of Auckland and to lesser extent Christchurch and Wellington, Coal mining towns of Huntly, Greymouth and north Island towns of Ngaruawahia and Tokoroa. Other than that its niche sport everywhere else but has a decent amount of casual fans who follow the Warriors and Kiwis national side when times are good. 

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10 minutes ago, kiwis 13 6 said:

There is about 5 million people in NZ and 60 000 Tongan people in NZ 80% live in Auckland so yeah might help the game in Auckland but will have a very small impact anywhere else in NZ.

oh so its not a lot thanks

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3 hours ago, kiwis 13 6 said:

Auckland is NZ biggest city Rugby League has always had the highest % people of any NZ city who are involved in the sport and people with an awareness and interest in the sport. Auckland club competition The "Fox Memorial" is the last NZ based club comp were good players can play the game semi professionally. With Maori people in Auckland id say League is the most popular sport, Pacific Islanders id say its about 50/50 between union and league, Pakeha(Caucasian/European) lots of people have casual interest but there is a niche loyal following and Pakeha people participate in pockets in West Auckland, Central Auckland,North Shore and Howick in South Auckland. Other ethnic groups Indians/Asians/Africans/Arabs/immigrants from UK and Europe tend to prefer soccer but Auckland Rugby League has set up a program to attract new immigrant groups to play the sport.  Regardless of ethnicity overall with working class people in Auckland the Favorite game would be Rugby League, middle and upper class more into union. The problem is Working class Areas of Auckland are shrinking as it costs about a million dollars for house in most parts of Auckland these days.

Wellington Rugby League participation has shrunk dramatically over the last 20 years. in the 90's Rugby League was probly #1 sport with Maori and Pacific Island communites, thats not the case anymore, since the 80's only been a very small % of Pakeha/Europeans who participate in the sport in Wellington. There is a decent amount of causal fans of the Warriors in the region from all backgrounds.  In Wellington city itself these days there is only one local club Victoria University Hunters. Rugby League is mostly Played in the regions outer satellite towns and suburbs in the Hutt Valley, Wainuiomata, Porrirua, Otaki. Wainuiomata was famous for Rugby League in 1990's it had NZ champion grassroots club and the sport had a huge following in the Suburb but these days its probly 50/50 split with union in Wainuomata.

Christchurch/Canterbury Region has had better organisation for the sport than Wellington they are currently Top region in the country outside Auckland based on the strength of Rep teams. The local council has built a new facility Nga Puna Wai Sports complex as the home of Rugby League in the Region. Christchurch has a smaller % of Maori and Pacific Island population than Auckland and Wellington but league probly about 50/50 with union in Maori and Pacific Island communities. Canterbury has traditionally had higher percentage of Pakeha participate in Rugby league than Wellington but overall id estimate Pakeha in Christchurch overwhelming support union 90% to League 10%. Theres a reasonable size Asian community in Christchurch but very few are interested in Rugby League id say Golf is probly the favorite game for the Asian communities in that region. Overall in Canterbury out of those that like rugby codes id estimate it would be 80% Union 20% League split.

 I dont know much about Rugby League in Hamilton & Tauranga NZ 4th & 5th largest largest Cities rugby league is played in those cities and there is definitley fans of the sport in those cites but Union is the most popular sport. Whangarei in north of country and the Northland region has decent participation rate for Rugby League but again Union overall would be more popular.

In deep south Island NZ 6th largest City Dunedin in the Otago region has 3 local league clubs and together with neighboring Southland region run a combined Competition. League has a small niche following but Union would easily be the #1 game of most people who like any kind of sport.

There are some small provincial towns that Rugby League is the #1 game in town

Huntly is a former coal mining town between Auckland and Hamilton has a large Maori population and Leagues more popular than union but now the mines are closing down and new people moving in due to cost of living in Auckland who knows what the future holds? Lance Hohaia & Tawera Nikau both come from Huntly.

Ngaruawhahia 13kms down the road  from Huntly is a predominately Maori town and home of the Maori King and Rugby League is the most popular game in town and the local Maori tribe Tanui once owned the NZ Warriors.

Tokoroa is a Central North Island Forestry town unique in that it is the only small provincial town in NZ with a high percentage of Pacific Islanders, there is also a large Maori community. Rugby League is either #1 code or 50/50 with union. Zane Tetevano and Joey Manu come from there as well ex Australian Union player & potential Toronto signing Quade Cooper.

Greymouth on the West Coast of the South Island is an old coal mining town and once famous in NZ for rugby league, West Coast Representative sides once used to beat Auckland rep sides and beat International touring sides! Greymouth and the West Coast is predominatley Pakeha/European town and Rugby League is more popular than Union but in other west coast towns Hokitika and Westport Union is more Popular than League.  Coal mines have all closed down now and there was a Mine explosion and NZ warriors and Newcastle Knights played a pre season benefit game in the town to raise funds for families of local miners. Melbourne and Newcastle player Slade Griffin is the most recent Kiwi Representative in a long tradition of Kiwis players coming from the West Coast.

Great post, thanks for all the info. Isn’t/wasn’t league pretty strong in some of the working class suburbs of Christchurch like Hornby?

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13 hours ago, aj1908 said:

yeh the future for super rugby is going to be interesting.  i agree that in the future new zealand will lose most of their players to european rugby or even rugby league.  the all blacks will then have less to pick from.  or the NZRU will admit defeat and pick all blacks from european union.

new zealand can sustain the teams it has but  i doubt australia can handle three teams (i think theyll end up with two).  they needed the large australian rugby market to watch games.  that happened in the past, not so much now.

 

They will simply have to, if they want to remain top dogs. It’s ok having the rule as it is now when all the best NZ players are playing in NZ, but that will change when the money from club rugby down there dries up.

The worst thing club rugby did was water down the competition by bringing in teams from outside NZ/Aus/SA. In attempting to ‘spread the game’, they diluted the product, fewer people watched, losses piled up, and now SA clubs are pulling out, and with it SA TV money. The Six Nations has just about got away with having Italy in it, adding another makeweight  (let’s say Georgia) would see it suffer as an attraction. The tri-nation’s of NZ, SA and Aus (when Aus were strong, and the Aussie public gave a damn about RU) was a great event, but the introduction of Argentina (and the demise of Aus) has seen it become a non event...Sky barely publicise it.

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54 minutes ago, DC77 said:

They will simply have to, if they want to remain top dogs. It’s ok having the rule as it is now when all the best NZ players are playing in NZ, but that will change when the money from club rugby down there dries up.

The worst thing club rugby did was water down the competition by bringing in teams from outside NZ/Aus/SA. In attempting to ‘spread the game’, they diluted the product, fewer people watched, losses piled up, and now SA clubs are pulling out, and with it SA TV money. The Six Nations has just about got away with having Italy in it, adding another makeweight  (let’s say Georgia) would see it suffer as an attraction. The tri-nation’s of NZ, SA and Aus (when Aus were strong, and the Aussie public gave a damn about RU) was a great event, but the introduction of Argentina (and the demise of Aus) has seen it become a non event...Sky barely publicise it.

Personally I like the Super Rugby. I'd rather watch it than the Prem in England. Less pick and go, less kicking etc

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On 12/12/2019 at 22:13, DC77 said:

RU will always be king in NZ due to the national team being their pride and joy, but there’s no question the sport is in trouble at club level. Super Rugby looks doomed with South African teams pulling out and looking towards the riches of England and France. Two clubs have already joined that Pro 14 league thingy. South Africa puts in a substantial amount of tv money..with that gone that just leaves Aus and NZ, and RU in Aus being on its knees that spells bad news for NZ clubs. With the gulf in finances The best NZ players will then look towards England and France to ply their trade, and fielding weaker teams without the best NZ players interest in the NZ clubs will decline. 

One solution for NZ (and Aussie) clubs that I’ve seen mentioned is to look toward Asia (specifically Japan), but how strong is the interest in RU there? Yes the recent RUWC was a success, but I think it was fleeting. Prior to the event there was hardly a word about it, all the talk in Japan was about next year’s Olympics. The club RU games in Japan get paltry crowds. If you look at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan, both countries came to a standstill during it, and today we are seeing the legacy of that tournament with Koreans and Japanese who were kids then now starting to play for top clubs (Son at Spurs being the most notable, and Minamino who will sign for Liverpool). I don’t see any such legacy or interest in rugby from Japan, so the club game in NZ is out on it’s own. This is where Rl club teams can capitalise. 

From the article though, this caught my eye;

Polynesians in particular loved the clean and open confrontations that league offered as opposed to rugby's messier, wrestling-style nature.

 

This is where I think RL is missing a trick. RL has introduced wrestling. It’s nowhere near as clean and open as it was, and is becoming attritional like RU (albeit not as far down the path). The RL games at Wembley that I watched on YouTube from the era of Schofield were far more attractive than today’s game, and I think if RL was able to get back to that open style of running, attacking rugby, not bogged down by wrestling and risk averse tactics (advocated by the ilk of Shaun Wane), the gulf between the two codes would be vast, and would see swathes of RU fans ditch that for RL.

 

To respond to my own question about Japanese interest in RU and the talked about possibility of NZ clubs looking towards the Japanese market to secure their future, just read that the Japanese club team the Sunwolves are being turfed out of Super Rugby.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/03/22/rugby/sunwolves-kicked-super-rugby-2020-season/#.XfRs_sqnyhA

Looks like they are not financially viable.

With the Perth team having pulled out that sees the competion drop to 14 teams, and that number will drop further when (as has been reported) South African teams pull out and head north. Aussie RU doesn’t have a pot to pee in, so it doesn’t look good at all for the club scene in NZ.

Ultimately the main issue is the product is not appealing enough to pull in new followers, as the more attritional RU has become the less popular it is. 

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57 minutes ago, DC77 said:

To respond to my own question about Japanese interest in RU and the talked about possibility of NZ clubs looking towards the Japanese market to secure their future, just read that the Japanese club team the Sunwolves are being turfed out of Super Rugby.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/03/22/rugby/sunwolves-kicked-super-rugby-2020-season/#.XfRs_sqnyhA

Looks like they are not financially viable.

With the Perth team having pulled out that sees the competion drop to 14 teams, and that number will drop further when (as has been reported) South African teams pull out and head north. Aussie RU doesn’t have a pot to pee in, so it doesn’t look good at all for the club scene in NZ.

Ultimately the main issue is the product is not appealing enough to pull in new followers, as the more attritional RU has become the less popular it is. 

They weren't given any tv money (sound familiar) and were funded by the Japanese ru who pulled the pin

Their on field performances were getting.better along with axing the force shows the stupid moves super rugby is doing and how bad it is going 

I can see Australia cutting teams too.  Probably the rebels they aren't financially viable.  

When Australia had three teams is when they did best.  They don't have the talent for more teams diluting the talent and making them cannon fodder for the nz teams 

I doubt the sa teams will pull out.  The two that left were kicked out and they joined top 14 as they had no other choice

I think the remaining three sa teams are happy to stay in super 14 for now 

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1 hour ago, DC77 said:

To respond to my own question about Japanese interest in RU and the talked about possibility of NZ clubs looking towards the Japanese market to secure their future, just read that the Japanese club team the Sunwolves are being turfed out of Super Rugby.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/03/22/rugby/sunwolves-kicked-super-rugby-2020-season/#.XfRs_sqnyhA

Looks like they are not financially viable.

With the Perth team having pulled out that sees the competion drop to 14 teams, and that number will drop further when (as has been reported) South African teams pull out and head north. Aussie RU doesn’t have a pot to pee in, so it doesn’t look good at all for the club scene in NZ.

Ultimately the main issue is the product is not appealing enough to pull in new followers, as the more attritional RU has become the less popular it is. 

The Sunwolves are joining Japan's new domestic league which is supposed to be kicking of next season. If the rumours are correct it will be one of the richest leagues in world rugby. Japan seems desperate to capitalise on the incredible success of the last RWC.

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21 hours ago, aj1908 said:

Yes absolutely 

Also the warriors not being a perennial basket case would also help 

They've sunk in a hole.since 2002 

They didn't even want to keep shaun johnson for some reason 

Yeh team full if islanders lol major success 

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10 hours ago, Taniwha Warriors said:

That's way off the mark. Auckland in rugby league terms isn't the same as Auckland in union when it comes to borders, competitions, schools and clubs.

A bit difficult to be in terms of things like schools when many schools don't allow League to be played.

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4 hours ago, DC77 said:

To respond to my own question about Japanese interest in RU and the talked about possibility of NZ clubs looking towards the Japanese market to secure their future, just read that the Japanese club team the Sunwolves are being turfed out of Super Rugby.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/03/22/rugby/sunwolves-kicked-super-rugby-2020-season/#.XfRs_sqnyhA

Looks like they are not financially viable.

With the Perth team having pulled out that sees the competion drop to 14 teams, and that number will drop further when (as has been reported) South African teams pull out and head north. Aussie RU doesn’t have a pot to pee in, so it doesn’t look good at all for the club scene in NZ.

Ultimately the main issue is the product is not appealing enough to pull in new followers, as the more attritional RU has become the less popular it is. 

Weird that the Sunwolves are carrying on for the last season, seems fairly pointless to waste all that money when they’ll fold at the end of the year anyway. 

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9 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Not allowed as in actively banned or just not supported? 

I have never come across any Kiwi who was actually allowed to play it at school. I remember in particular speaking to two ex-Kiwi internationals and they both said even though all the kids where Leaguies they had to play Union at school. A decent article on it is here:

If you go by the media coverage, rugby league – along with rugby union, netball and cricket – is among the most popular of New Zealand sports.

So you might assume that it receives a fair bit of attention and support at our high schools. Not so. Most of our schools don’t offer the game at all.

https://e-tangata.co.nz/sport/too-posh-for-league/

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22 minutes ago, Damien said:

I have never come across any Kiwi who was actually allowed to play it at school. I remember in particular speaking to two ex-Kiwi internationals and they both said even though all the kids where Leaguies they had to play Union at school. A decent article on it is here:

If you go by the media coverage, rugby league – along with rugby union, netball and cricket – is among the most popular of New Zealand sports.

So you might assume that it receives a fair bit of attention and support at our high schools. Not so. Most of our schools don’t offer the game at all.

https://e-tangata.co.nz/sport/too-posh-for-league/

same in all the private schools in nsw and queensland (except catholic ones)

but they do allow AFL lol

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6 hours ago, Damien said:

I have never come across any Kiwi who was actually allowed to play it at school. I remember in particular speaking to two ex-Kiwi internationals and they both said even though all the kids where Leaguies they had to play Union at school. A decent article on it is here:

If you go by the media coverage, rugby league – along with rugby union, netball and cricket – is among the most popular of New Zealand sports.

So you might assume that it receives a fair bit of attention and support at our high schools. Not so. Most of our schools don’t offer the game at all.

https://e-tangata.co.nz/sport/too-posh-for-league/

An utter disgrace.... Nazi type behaviour

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10 hours ago, Damien said:

I have never come across any Kiwi who was actually allowed to play it at school. I remember in particular speaking to two ex-Kiwi internationals and they both said even though all the kids where Leaguies they had to play Union at school. A decent article on it is here:

If you go by the media coverage, rugby league – along with rugby union, netball and cricket – is among the most popular of New Zealand sports.

So you might assume that it receives a fair bit of attention and support at our high schools. Not so. Most of our schools don’t offer the game at all.

https://e-tangata.co.nz/sport/too-posh-for-league/

Its not banned at all, most schools welcome any sports but its really up to each organisation to develop and organize their competitions. I played league when I was at school because one of the boys dad coached our team and that was after one of the local rugby league club refused to help out. The local clubs aren't fans of school rugby league and I don't blame them because their junior players will end up playing league on Wednesday and union on Saturday for their high school. That's one of the main reasons junior rugby league in Auckland is in decline at club level. 

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On 14/12/2019 at 12:13, Damien said:

I have never come across any Kiwi who was actually allowed to play it at school. I remember in particular speaking to two ex-Kiwi internationals and they both said even though all the kids where Leaguies they had to play Union at school. A decent article on it is here:

If you go by the media coverage, rugby league – along with rugby union, netball and cricket – is among the most popular of New Zealand sports.

So you might assume that it receives a fair bit of attention and support at our high schools. Not so. Most of our schools don’t offer the game at all.

https://e-tangata.co.nz/sport/too-posh-for-league/

They’re are still at it. Union up to its dirty tricks. 

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14 minutes ago, Themusician_2 said:

They’re are still at it. Union up to its dirty tricks. 

new zealand seems quite open to rugby league unlike other areas.  they seem to appreciate the game the most amongst union fans.  the way the all blacks like to play is more like league anyway unlike northern hemisphere teams

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On 12/12/2019 at 20:59, Blackpool rl said:

Anyone know if league is bigger in places like perpignan, Perth, Adelaide, Tonga and Melbourne? 

edit: In comparison to RU. 

Union dominates all over France. League has like 9000 players and no clubs in the north of France also no tv deal. Dark times there at the moment.I think there’s more union in Perth well at least for now unions dying in Australia. Adelaide from a rough google search theres  more union but don’t take my word for it. Tonga is now rugby league territory RIP union. Melbourne there’s more league.

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4 minutes ago, Themusician_2 said:

Union dominates all over France. League has like 9000 players and no clubs in the north of France also no tv deal. Dark times there at the moment.I think there’s more union in Perth well at least for now unions dying in Australia. Adelaide from a rough google search theres  more union but don’t take my word for it. Tonga is now rugby league territory RIP union. Melbourne there’s more league.

fiji samoa and cook islands are next for TGG

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2 hours ago, Themusician_2 said:

Union dominates all over France. League has like 9000 players and no clubs in the north of France also no tv deal. Dark times there at the moment.I think there’s more union in Perth well at least for now unions dying in Australia. Adelaide from a rough google search theres  more union but don’t take my word for it. Tonga is now rugby league territory RIP union. Melbourne there’s more league.

Doesn't union still dominate in the actual island of Tonga itself? 

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