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Why does RL ignore Germany?


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There's a virtual pub thread you know. And the cost of drinks is pre-war prices though ou do have to have the exact money even the farthings.

2 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Germany is the best night out in Europe. 

No Eurpoe is the best night out in Europe, and the best night out in the UK is the virtual pub.

"It's 9 o'clock on a Saturday, 

And the regular crowd shuffle in ......."?

2 warning points:kolobok_dirol:  Non-Political

 

 

 

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38 minutes ago, Oxford said:

Why does RL ignore Germany?

 

And the last moral is Total RL threads have no subject, have any number of subjects or posters don't know how to stay on track and are blaming how long they've been cooped up with the family!

to be fair Dublin has been being ignored by RL and the conversation is people saying whey we should NOT go to Dublin... so as the subject is about ignoring Germany and how Dublin is being ignored ipso facto it is in Germany... ?:kolobok_ph34r:

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1 minute ago, RP London said:

to be fair Dublin has been being ignored by RL and the conversation is people saying whey we should NOT go to Dublin... so as the subject is about ignoring Germany and how Dublin is being ignored ipso facto it is in Germany... ?:kolobok_ph34r:

I re-read that 2-3 times and decided you're Dominic Cummings!

2 warning points:kolobok_dirol:  Non-Political

 

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Oxford said:

I re-read that 2-3 times and decided you're Dominic Cummings!

nope... but i recon i could do his job..... i like the idea of other people getting the blame for my idiocy and ineptness!

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14 hours ago, The Daddy said:

Why has SL or the game in general not made a concerted effort to target the German market. 

Germany is the biggest economy in Europe with many big cities and tv stations. Tapping into this market would propel rl into an economy with a huge consumer base so I'm really surprised that sl club owners haven't thought about a magic weekend over there or some sort of event. 

For what it's worth...

I live in the Netherlands, and lived for 6 years in Germany (Berlin). RL does exist in DE, just largely in the West, in Nordrhein Westfalen. I played last year at the Amsterdam Cobras and we had two German national team lads come over for our games, who then went on to play in the German comp once the Dutch one was over. There was a German team in the Rotterdam 9s too.

The biggest problem is that you're largely depending on either ex-pats, RU converts or total newcomers to get going.

RU is played where there have historically been ex-pats, largely in the form of squaddies, around cities like Heidelberg in the south west. Places like Berlin, where I lived, there was a small RU community. I tried to get a touch footy team going in Berlin and couldn't manage as much as that. 

Secondly, the cities in Germany are miles apart from each other, so any league involving, say, the major 4 population centres (Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and NRW) would involve a huge amount of travelling. The closest, Berlin to Hamburg, 1.5 hours on the train and quite expensive. Imagine starting a team in Hull knowing that your closest away fixture is in Wigan. Takes some dedication. In NL, for example, it's easier because our away games are all within an hour: it's easier for the German lads to come play here rather than an away game anywhere realistic within their own country. 

All that said, there is a comp and they are trying. Grassroots level stuff, but it does exist. While I'm sure that they'd love a Magic Weekend, it'd lose a shedload of cash and at best, you'd be importing in a load of Brits to enjoy it in the hope that some Germans catch on (and then want to play). 

 

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41 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Just as it does everywhere else I don't see how it makes a difference?

Take a Magic Weekend based in the UK, it’s possible to do it in a day from the heartlands and plenty of coaches do so every year. This is one cost effective way to attend. That is less possible with the weekend being based in Ireland. 

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8 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Take a Magic Weekend based in the UK, it’s possible to do it in a day from the heartlands and plenty of coaches do so every year. This is one cost effective way to attend. That is less possible with the weekend being based in Ireland. 

True, taking 50,000 people from the Heartlands for Magic in Dublin would be logistically terrible, unless they put extra planes and ferries on. It’s probably the worst idea since the Maginot Line. 

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16 minutes ago, XIII_Winters said:

For what it's worth...

I live in the Netherlands, and lived for 6 years in Germany (Berlin). RL does exist in DE, just largely in the West, in Nordrhein Westfalen. I played last year at the Amsterdam Cobras and we had two German national team lads come over for our games, who then went on to play in the German comp once the Dutch one was over. There was a German team in the Rotterdam 9s too.

The biggest problem is that you're largely depending on either ex-pats, RU converts or total newcomers to get going.

RU is played where there have historically been ex-pats, largely in the form of squaddies, around cities like Heidelberg in the south west. Places like Berlin, where I lived, there was a small RU community. I tried to get a touch footy team going in Berlin and couldn't manage as much as that. 

Secondly, the cities in Germany are miles apart from each other, so any league involving, say, the major 4 population centres (Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and NRW) would involve a huge amount of travelling. The closest, Berlin to Hamburg, 1.5 hours on the train and quite expensive. Imagine starting a team in Hull knowing that your closest away fixture is in Wigan. Takes some dedication. In NL, for example, it's easier because our away games are all within an hour: it's easier for the German lads to come play here rather than an away game anywhere realistic within their own country. 

All that said, there is a comp and they are trying. Grassroots level stuff, but it does exist. While I'm sure that they'd love a Magic Weekend, it'd lose a shedload of cash and at best, you'd be importing in a load of Brits to enjoy it in the hope that some Germans catch on (and then want to play). 

 

Thanks for these comments, really good to hear from someone actually involved instead of the fantasists on this forum who can’t understand why there isn’t a professional team in Munich selling out the Allianz Arena every other week. 
 

The Chasing Kangaroos podcast talk about RL in NL a fair bit and it sounds like the game is slowly growing in popularity (new team in Zwolle this season taking it to 5 in total?). Do you know much about whether any of the teams have kids training sessions or teams or if there are any other clubs that are close to joining the national league?

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6 minutes ago, scotchy1 said:

It wouldnt be 50k and The 6 nations manages ok. Its worth about €12m to the local economy. That has value. 

Why would you want to arrange a magic that has fewer fans travelling to it than currently?
 

Also the 6 nations doesn’t have tens of thousands of away fans crossing the Irish Sea. 
 

 

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4 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Thanks for these comments, really good to hear from someone actually involved instead of the fantasists on this forum who can’t understand why there isn’t a professional team in Munich selling out the Allianz Arena every other week. 
 

The Chasing Kangaroos podcast talk about RL in NL a fair bit and it sounds like the game is slowly growing in popularity (new team in Zwolle this season taking it to 5 in total?). Do you know much about whether any of the teams have kids training sessions or teams or if there are any other clubs that are close to joining the national league?

In terms of growth, I'm not sure what to say. Zwolle is a fifth team, but the guys that are starting it were previously Cobras players so in creating their team, they took 5 or so out of ours.

Obviously the hope was that they could start their thing and fill their team out with new players and guys from Zwolle RU, and we could fill the gap they left with new recruits here in Dam, but in practice I'm not sure if that was going to happen. It's a schlep from Zwolle to Amsterdam for training and games, so it made sense to start their own team, but my personal feeling was that we'd have had two teams of 9 rather than one full XIII and subs. 

Obviously the season isn't happening now anyway so hopefully we can start again next year. 

As for youth development, I know we're not doing anything in Amsterdam, but I feel like Hardewijk might have been. They're the real success story for me: pretty much all Dutch guys, losing every week to UK/Aussie/French expats, but still turning up wanting to get better. 

 

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4 minutes ago, scotchy1 said:

Not everything can be held at the bottom of your road. 

And 15k did. 

It’s nothing to do with at the bottom of your road. If fewer fans are going and the cost of going is vastly higher, why would you host Magic in Dublin rather than in a UK city? Serious question - what would be the benefit to rugby league and its fans?

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23 minutes ago, scotchy1 said:

Spread the game, and money. 

As i said the 6nations game is worth around €12m to Dublin. That is literally why Magic was created. To take advantage of that corporate dollar. 

That value is also why RU get the structural support they get and we don't

 

I may be wrong but I don’t think Magic was designed to boost the tourist economy in Dublin, as admirable an ambition that might be. 
 

I someone was trying to start some clubs and significant youth development over there it might be a good idea, but as far as I’m aware they’re not. 
 

 

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15 hours ago, The Daddy said:

Why has SL or the game in general not made a concerted effort to target the German market. 

Germany is the biggest economy in Europe with many big cities and tv stations. Tapping into this market would propel rl into an economy with a huge consumer base so I'm really surprised that sl club owners haven't thought about a magic weekend over there or some sort of event. 

Firstly, may I suggest that it is about urban centres. It would not be Germany as a whole.

Secondly, Germany is already fairly well catered for with top class sport.

Thirdly, there is no movement for a major team in Germany for rugby league to ignore.

"You clearly have never met Bob8 then, he's like a veritable Bryan Ferry of RL." - Johnoco 19 Jul 2014

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10 hours ago, Lowdesert said:

I know of 1 game that has been played there before,  organised by the development person for europe at that time, Tas Batieri.

 

Didn't the army play RL in Germany before their withdrawal 

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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2 hours ago, RP London said:

nope... but i recon i could do his job..... i like the idea of other people getting the blame for my idiocy and ineptness!

You mean you like the idea of sacking them so quickly not one of your fans will think it's you?

2 warning points:kolobok_dirol:  Non-Political

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Eddie said:

It must have got cheaper over the years then because last time I was there around 10 years ago it was €7 for a guiness in Temple Bar and at least €6 elsewhere in the centre. That is blatantly where fans would go as well, people aren’t going to get a bus to the suburbs to look for a cheap pint. Also flights may be cheaper than the train but how many flights are there from the North of England, not enough to take 1000s of people over. 

Prices dropped quite a bit after the credit crunch 

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1 hour ago, Eddie said:

I may be wrong but I don’t think Magic was designed to boost the tourist economy in Dublin, as admirable an ambition that might be. 
 

I someone was trying to start some clubs and significant youth development over there it might be a good idea, but as far as I’m aware they’re not. 
 

 

Magic was started as a joint initiative by the Wales tourism board and the RFL, with the board putting up money to host. These events are popular and desirable - Liverpool/Anfield did the same for last Magic. 

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2 hours ago, scotchy1 said:

It wouldnt be 50k and The 6 nations manages ok. Its worth about €12m to the local economy. That has value. 

Whether magic weekend ever happens in Dublin will come down to whether or not the government there are willing to pay to host it. After coronavirus they may well be looking at ways to boost spending in their economy. 

There is certainly lots of capacity to get UK fans over, there are plenty of short flights from Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, East Midlands, Birmingham, Gatwick, Heathrow,  Luton, Stansted, Newcastle each carrying about 500 people, as well as plenty of ferries.

Personally I think it’d be great and we should 100% go for it if the Irish come up with the money to host it.

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- A Couple of problems are the same as in the UK.

Where do you start Developing the game in an area which knows nothing about Rugby League?

There is no history, players etc to work with and most Germans struggle to identify what Rugby Union is nevermind League. Many think that all 3 are versions of American Football! And American Football has invested 10s of Millions of Euros in over the years!

Paid Development Officers like we have done! University, College etc is a massive thing in German and many Germans study until late 20s whilst working with a Company. I did do some work mainly Touch at the Bavarian International School when I lived in the South when I could fit it in to work-but it was unpaid. Bob Doughton is having some success in the Dortmund area but again he is doing it for nothing and he is self Employed, has a bit more movement to fit around the way the Education System works. But he is not Paid any money and even if he was he would need to be paid good money for it to be considered "Attractive". A young German Basti Peters in Dusseldorf does do the odd bit but he is a Teacher and there is a set system of things that must be covered.

Football/Soccer

Just rules and its difficult for any other sport outside maybe F1, Cycling, Winter Sports, Handball to get any media or even get close to be shown on any TV stream. Its only in the past couple of years Union has achieved this, but its on a small time Channels like Sport1, DAZN (Pay). Its near impossible to get near to somebody like ARD, ZDF, Eurosport even for the American Sports that have pumped in 100s of Millions in over the years. And if you see the pulling and media presence that Football and Clubs like Bayern, Dortmund, Schalke even the "new" clubs like Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig have other sports are simply blown away both in turns of Money, Media and Sponsorship. Football simply rules in Germany probably even more so than the UK. And its very difficult to get a sports field to play & Train on as Football Clubs owns often or aretop of the priority list.

I think the game has not ignored Germany or any Nation.Its true though most of the work since 2005 in Germany, has been done by volunteers etc. But its more a simply the case that its difficult to know where to start and how best to develop a sport nobody know of- Much like the areas of South Yorkshire, North Lancashire (Blackburn/Preston/Burnley/Bolton with much of Manchester & Liverpool. These areas are populated by people who have more idea of Rugby League than people in Germany (or any other area of Europe).

Its easy to shift/blame the game for its development or lack of in the world when often by looking closer at a couple of points shows more the reason WHY its been so hard rather than been ignored.

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Maybe development should have started 70 years ago after the 2nd war and steps made to grow the game in some way in places like Germany, Poland etc. Chances were not helped by Union in Italy, Yugoslavia and France, but we was in my opinion too weak to stand up and fight for various  reasons. I just dont know its just a thought

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