SBW can bring union fans to Super League says Maloney

[The Future is League]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/sonny-bill-williams-can-attract-21230442

[Eddie]

I hope he’s right. A few people here in Norfolk who know nowt about RL will certainly be tuning in to TWP games, at the start of the season at least. 

[aj1908]

what would maloney know.  it will attract fans in toronto and more league fans will come to games in england.  i dont see many union fans making that much effort tbh

[Eddie]

4 minutes ago, aj1908 said:

what would maloney know.  it will attract fans in toronto and more league fans will come to games in england.  i dont see many union fans making that much effort tbh

Making the effort to turn their tv on and watch a TWP game on sky?

Also there will definitely be Union fans from for example the York area going to see him when TWP play there. 

[RP London]

10 minutes ago, aj1908 said:

what would maloney know.  it will attract fans in toronto and more league fans will come to games in england.  i dont see many union fans making that much effort tbh

i would say that if the advertising is done right (as memories will have faded since his signing) that you will get some tuning into the first games of TWP aired on tv.. what then happens is very much down to the person watching and the game itself (professionalism of coverage will help that)... either to keep them tuning in or get them to go to a local game. 

My son plays Union here in sheffield and there are plenty of the kids who travel to leicester or coventry to watch union games (not regularly but they do go off and on) why not people getting interested and travelling around every so often to watch SBW for Toronto? 

first step though is to get them to engage with the tv set for the opening couple of rounds.. its a good opportunity but will Super League/Sky/TWP take advantage of it (i'll stick my neck out and say this is all on TWP and sky as anyone involved in domestic RL seems hell bent on doing little to promote the sport!)

[Eddie]

2 minutes ago, RP London said:

i would say that if the advertising is done right (as memories will have faded since his signing) that you will get some tuning into the first games of TWP aired on tv.. what then happens is very much down to the person watching and the game itself (professionalism of coverage will help that)... either to keep them tuning in or get them to go to a local game. 

My son plays Union here in sheffield and there are plenty of the kids who travel to leicester or coventry to watch union games (not regularly but they do go off and on) why not people getting interested and travelling around every so often to watch SBW for Toronto? 

first step though is to get them to engage with the tv set for the opening couple of rounds.. its a good opportunity but will Super League/Sky/TWP take advantage of it (i'll stick my neck out and say this is all on TWP and sky as anyone involved in domestic RL seems hell bent on doing little to promote the sport!)

Yeah agreed TWP will do it themselves but S.L. themselves should be chomping at the bit to promote the first TWP games. 

[aj1908]

id get sonny bill down to the launch of the super league season.  host it in london and try and get as many journalsts as possible to attend.  that would be massive.

his best value to the sport is marketing.  super league should use him as well as much as they can.  

when wendall sailor went to rugby union it did get a lot more league fans watching so dunno.  

[The Future is League]

I would suggest as well that if the London Broncos were still in Super League they would have had to move the TWP game away from the trailfinders stadium to cope with the demand for tickets.

[Copa]

-1 for not calling them “onion fans”

[Marty Funkhouser]

As Sky have only scheduled 4 TW games in the first 21 rounds somebody might need to tell them about all these members of Joe Public who will be rearranging their lives dropping everything to gather round their sets in an attempt get a glimpse of SBW. They could be missing out on millions in advertising and subscriptions.

And it might well only be a glimpse, at 34 and  6 years out of the game.

[RP London]

it might not be many... but its more than will tune in without him playing i would say (just out of curiosity or wanting to watch him fail if nothing else).

[Boomer Bang Wool]

This may be true but how many league fans have started watching union after league players went to play union? 

[Kayakman]

5 minutes ago, Boomer Bang Wool said:

This may be true but how many league fans have started watching union after league players went to play union? 

It has garnered lots of attention over here in the colonies...many Union people will be introduced to a 'look/see' at League because of Sonny Bill.

[GUBRATS]

Storm in a teacup 

[Man of Kent]

I guess we'll find out how much this is true, to some extent, when Toronto play at Saracens on Feb 29.

Shame about the dead link to ticket sales, though.....https://www.torontowolfpack.com/londonseries/

...and no sales on the Saracens website despite the link here https://www.torontowolfpack.com/toronto-wolfpack-in-the-uk-ticketing-information/)

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, Marty Funkhouser said:

As Sky have only scheduled 4 TW games in the first 21 rounds somebody might need to tell them about all these members of Joe Public who will be rearranging their lives dropping everything to gather round their sets in an attempt get a glimpse of SBW. They could be missing out on millions in advertising and subscriptions.

And it might well only be a glimpse, at 34 and  6 years out of the game.

I take it you’re expecting the early TWP games to get low viewing figures then Mart?

[Oliver Clothesoff]

2 hours ago, aj1908 said:

what would maloney know.  it will attract fans in toronto and more league fans will come to games in england.  i dont see many union fans making that much effort tbh

Maloney? Probably a lot. 

Brother in law is from Cambridgeshire and played RU for 25 years. His mates all mentioned Rugby League/TWP/SBW at a wedding in December. How many will choose to tune in/attend a game is another matter. 

[Click]

55 minutes ago, Boomer Bang Wool said:

This may be true but how many league fans have started watching union after league players went to play union? 

I watched Tomkins play for the Barbarians years ago - I think I watched it longer in that sitting than the rest of these fixtures put together. Does this count?

I also tried to watch quite a few of Burgess's games when he was playing at Bath - or at least the highlights of their games.

[aj1908]

18 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

Maloney? Probably a lot. 

Brother in law is from Cambridgeshire and played RU for 25 years. His mates all mentioned Rugby League/TWP/SBW at a wedding in December. How many will choose to tune in/attend a game is another matter. 

Didn't know that 

[DC77]

As someone who followed international RU (I say followed as my interest has waned considerably due to the attritional style that dominates the game), I have never thought “must watch NZ as SBW is playing”, unlike with Jonah Lomu when he played. RU players cannot stand out like they did before, and the same applies to RL players. Only the other day I watched a Martin Offiah video, the eye catching tries he scored here (that made him a star) he would never be afforded the space to do today.

For me, both codes are their own worst enemy. The tighter defences, less space to run, the increase in player bulk, it has made it much harder for individuals to stand out, become stars, and attract people to the game. Offiah in today’s game, not being able to make the runs he made, would not be the name he was when he played. The recent RUWC, not one star name appeared from it. The talent is there, but they are not given the same platform on the field a Jonah Lomu or David Campese was afforded. The last RLWC final between England and Australia, every player on the field was smothered. An 80 minute arm wrestle. The showpiece game, and not one player did anything. They couldn’t, the game doesn’t allow it. To see players doing stuff of note you have to look at a career highlight reel on Youtube. 

SBW is immensely gifted, but I cannot see what he can do in a game that won’t afford him the on field platform to really make a mark. Give him the era Offiah played in then yeah, he would constantly make eye catching plays/runs etc. and be a huge name. 

The hype that he’s been given since joining Toronto does not match the player from RU. The “biggest name in RU”..it wasn’t something that was mentioned while he was in RU, and after thinking about it, it’s quite possible he was, but it wasn’t obvious, and it wasn’t saying much as there is no stand out individual in RU today. The “superstar” label since signing for Toronto is a new one. I get why it’s done, they have to sell him and the game, and to the uninitiated it may work, but once they see him, and how little he is allowed to do, what then? 

Jonah Lomu was a huge draw because he was allowed to rampage through opposition’s turnstile defences, and swat away the regular sized opponents. He stood out a mile, and as a result was a bona fide superstar. Stating the obvious, but making the game harder for that to happen is a bad thing. It’s quite possible SBW could be every bit as talented as Lomu was, but he will never be afforded the same platform to showcase it. It’s also probable SBW was more talented than Offiah, but again, he too won’t be given the same platform to show it.

[Marty Funkhouser]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

I take it you’re expecting the early TWP games to get low viewing figures then Mart?

The initial Sunday afternoon double header should surely get a comparatively decent figure because of the timing and what it is but I expect the TW games to be watched by more or less the same number that watch any Leeds, Hull, Castleford or Wigan games on SKY.  

Any TW figures against less "glamorous" clubs later  in the season will be of much more interest , especially  to SKY.

 

[DoubleD]

5 hours ago, RP London said:

i would say that if the advertising is done right (as memories will have faded since his signing) that you will get some tuning into the first games of TWP aired on tv.. what then happens is very much down to the person watching and the game itself (professionalism of coverage will help that)... either to keep them tuning in or get them to go to a local game. 

My son plays Union here in sheffield and there are plenty of the kids who travel to leicester or coventry to watch union games (not regularly but they do go off and on) why not people getting interested and travelling around every so often to watch SBW for Toronto? 

first step though is to get them to engage with the tv set for the opening couple of rounds.. its a good opportunity but will Super League/Sky/TWP take advantage of it (i'll stick my neck out and say this is all on TWP and sky as anyone involved in domestic RL seems hell bent on doing little to promote the sport!)

You've not brought him up very well RP, have you?

[RP London]

9 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

You've not brought him up very well RP, have you?

sadly his mates from school played at the local Union club and he wanted to give it a go and the Hawks didnt have a junior set up at the time.. he has an Ireland RU shirt (my wife is irish) but doesnt own any other union clobber, he does have a full warrington kit, england RL shirt (as does my daughter) and melbourne shorts and he says he prefers watching league to union so i'll turn him back to the Jedi from the dark side soon enough.. 

in fact had a sit down with him this weekend about positions as they should come in next year (i help coach and he overheard me talking to one of the other coaches about some of hte kids and where they will be playing [which will be a shock to a couple of them who think they are fly halfs but are blatantly props]) and he was worried he would end up in the scrum as he doesnt like rucking and mauling.... we're nearly there!!!  

 

[DoubleD]

1 minute ago, RP London said:

sadly his mates from school played at the local Union club and he wanted to give it a go and the Hawks didnt have a junior set up at the time.. he has an Ireland RU shirt (my wife is irish) but doesnt own any other union clobber, he does have a full warrington kit, england RL shirt (as does my daughter) and melbourne shorts and he says he prefers watching league to union so i'll turn him back to the Jedi from the dark side soon enough.. 

in fact had a sit down with him this weekend about positions as they should come in next year (i help coach and he overheard me talking to one of the other coaches about some of hte kids and where they will be playing [which will be a shock to a couple of them who think they are fly halfs but are blatantly props]) and he was worried he would end up in the scrum as he doesnt like rucking and mauling.... we're nearly there!!!  

 

Haha very good RP, glad to see he (and your daughter) know which side the bread is buttered.

When you said you had to sit him down at the weekend to talk to him about positions.............i thought the conversation was going to go in a whole different direction. I was thinking, this is modern day parenting. My Dad never talked to me about the reverse cowgirl!!!

[RP London]

14 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

Haha very good RP, glad to see he (and your daughter) know which side the bread is buttered.

When you said you had to sit him down at the weekend to talk to him about positions.............i thought the conversation was going to go in a whole different direction. I was thinking, this is modern day parenting. My Dad never talked to me about the reverse cowgirl!!!

i nearly spat my drink out on the keyboard then  

My nearly 9 year old daughter started asking my wife about "where babys come from" on a New Year walk in the peaks last week... my son and I were already ahead and sped up a little!!