Touch/Tag Rugby League TTRL

[The Rocket]

Big article in today`s Sydney Morning Herald about the changing face of Parramatta Rugby League Club`s fan base. and the ways used to engage new fans.

Fans from the Parramatta region’s enclaves talk of touch footy and OzTag as the source of their first rugby league encounter.

The Sri Lanka schools touch footy comp in April was hosted by the Eels and drew well over 1000 players and punters to the club’s Kellyville HQ.

On the club front, research commissioned by the Eels in 2019 found one in five Parramatta fans were born overseas, and around 30 per cent were first-generation Australians born to migrant parents.

 

 

 

[unapologetic pedant]

6 hours ago, The Rocket said:

On the club front, research commissioned by the Eels in 2019 found one in five Parramatta fans were born overseas, and around 30 per cent were first-generation Australians born to migrant parents.

Which poses questions about Parra`s traditional fans. If all those people had remained engaged and passed the ties on to their children and grandchildren, with the addition of fans from new-Aussie backgrounds, the crowds should now be a lot higher. Has a large chunk of their 80s fans moved out, to SEQ or WA?

This applies to other Sydney NRL clubs, especially the Bulldogs.

Away from the West, I`ve been conjecturing for a while that most Swans fans come from RU areas in Sydney. Where previously they went to Wallabies and Waratahs games, they now go to Wallabies and Swans games. And they`ve switched their weekly allegiance partly because they see Fumble as a white game. As distinct from conspicuously multi-racial/multi-cultural Rugby League.

7 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Fans from the Parramatta region’s enclaves talk of touch footy and OzTag as the source of their first rugby league encounter.

Said many times that participation strategies take a long time to feed through to major expansion of the fanbase. 

Most Parra fans will only have a passing interest in the NRLW final on Sunday. The RL fanbase is not yet prepared to value women`s contests like the Aussie Soccer fanbase (Matildas` crowds are often a similar size to Socceroos).

If only the NRL had invested in non-contact forms and the female game a generation ago.

[The Rocket]

The evidence keeps piling up.

 Parramatta Eels chief executive Jim Sarantinos said the club did a review earlier this year to identify how to grow the game of rugby league.

With both their women’s and men’s teams in the NRL grand final, Sarantinos said they will look to capitalise on this opportunity but are already exploring how to engage more junior players — and to do that will look to establish more “non contact’’ versions of the game.

“One of the key drivers in this review is to look at the impact of the changing participation model, especially the positive influence non-contact versions of the game can have in growing the game,” Sarantinos said.

“Touch and tag are growing significantly both in our catchment and across the country. Research is showing that these versions of the game have some of the highest participation rates of any sport in key areas across western Sydney. This represents a significant opportunity for the Eels and our Junior League Clubs in the coming years.”

Penrith’s Mairleitner points out they too are teaching the non-contact version of rugby league

Recently when Blacktown Council put two grounds out to tender at the new Schofields development, a junior rugby league club won the bid over Australian rules football and soccer – and they will teach a modified game there.

“We only put a club there last week; the Schofields Crusaders which will neighbour three other historical clubs which helps protect the foundation of what our district is all about,” Mairletner said. “We put a junior club, a six to 12 (age group) club in there …. that’s our way of trying to get into that new community, and rather than teach the international game of football, let’s teach the modified tag way.”

It`s just a no-brainer really.

Edited October 1, 2022 by The Rocket

[jacobus]

Just wanted to bump this thread by asking if any clubs in the East Midlands down towards Herts fancy a social touch match (to England Touch rules) any time soon?

 

PM me please and let's arrange a game 

[jacobus]

https://www.internationaltouch.org/news/2022/nov/9/atlantic-cup-brings-a-new-look-for-international-youth-touch-next-summer/

Another big touch competition hitting our shores. 

[The Rocket]

NRL launches Surf Life Saving Partnerships to take footy to the beach | NRL.com

Beach Touch Footy will give surf life saving participants the chance to compete and show off their skills, with competitions running in the 13-17 and open (18+) age groups. The best teams at each event will win a dream trip to the NRL’s Magic Round in 2023, where they will represent their state in the national finals.

The events will also cater to younger Surf Life Savers, with those aged five to 12 years taking part in one-hour ‘League Stars’ skills-based sessions.

Peter V’landys AM, Chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, said, “I’m very excited about this initiative which brings together two Australian traditions, footy and the beach. Now you can enjoy both at the same time. It also encourages kids to be active in the best possible environment.

“These events are just the beginning for our partnerships with Surf Life Saving in Queensland and New South Wales. As community partners moving forward, we believe there is great potential to increase the reach of both sports on the coast and in regional areas of Australia.”

Just brilliant, another way to increase exposure, participation and grow the fanbase. 

Great to see the best teams representing their state also being given exposure at the Magic Weekend round.

Edited November 25, 2022 by The Rocket

[jacobus]

I have a question. 

Our team has been getting bombarded with invites to tournaments recently. 

From south Dorset, to Portugal, to the French alps to China! the game of touch is certainly world wide... so how about the RFL and NFL (as dedicated promoters of the code) get together with the RLIF and use this expansion to help the 13 a side as well as 6 a side game prosper? 

[unapologetic pedant]

3 hours ago, jacobus said:

Our team has been getting bombarded with invites to tournaments recently. 

From south Dorset, to Portugal, to the French alps to China! the game of touch is certainly world wide

Have a nasty feeling your spate of cosmopolitan offers betrays a pervasive and persisting Touch/Union stitch-up.

[jacobus]

Its a different sport though. 

The Touch Union game is not the same game and not the same rules. 

Most touch players wont play it. 

We play out of a union set up and tried playing a competition with the contact teams to help them prepare for the season and it was virtually unplayable. 

 

[unapologetic pedant]

1 hour ago, jacobus said:

Its a different sport though. 

The Touch Union game is not the same game and not the same rules. 

"Touch/Union" was not a reference to the Touch Union rules. I meant the institutional links between Rugby Union and Touch derived in part from Union previously embracing Touch more readily than League.

This is germane to your question about RL bodies promoting expansion of Tackle and Touch together. Your own team continuing to "play out of a Union set-up" illustrates the problem.

On 22/12/2021 at 09:00, jacobus said:

I wonder if the RFU will dictate that their touch union rules will be needed to be part of a union set up?

Do you know the answer yet?

Are all your recent invites to tournaments playing traditional Touch rules?

[jacobus]

We play on the Cambs/Lincs border so to play out of a rugby league ground would require a 2 hour commute, so its a none starter. 

In terms of the rules of the competitions they are all FiT rules so thats existing touch and not touch union. 

In terms of our club base, we have been put under no pressure as yet to play touch union rules. Whilst (I assume) the clubs union teams are affiliated to the RFU we remain under the England touch banner. 

If the time comes where that pressure is applied (and we were happy to take O2 touch funding to get started 6 years ago) we might see some issues. 

Players have been playing for many years under a set of rules which (apart from the defensive line moving from 5-7 metres) haven't changed. To ask them to compete under a totally different set would cause a lot of drop out. 

I would be gone for sure. I play touch in these current laws as its the nearest to player rugby league I will get as I approach 50. 

 

 

[Man of Kent]

3 hours ago, jacobus said:

Its a different sport though. 

The Touch Union game is not the same game and not the same rules. 

Most touch players wont play it. 

We play out of a union set up and tried playing a competition with the contact teams to help them prepare for the season and it was virtually unplayable. 

 

Have you played a game Touch Union? Haven't seen any footage...what's it like? I imagine there's a lot of grubber kicking?

[jacobus]

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.pitchero.com%2Fclubs%2F50915%2F0EZrPyOfQLaGmtI0ombH_The+Touch+Union+Rules.pdf]

I uploaded the laws to our website... its 2 touches before a tackle and limited kicks... 5 metre line in their version

In playing it this was the bit that we couldnt adapt to very easily...

 

Quote

• After first touch tackle by a defender, the ball carrier can run or pass or kick. • After the second touch the attacking player must stop / go back the where they were touched, touch the ball on the ground and pass to a team mate • Ball carrier touch tackled once cannot score and must pass to a support player to score. • After a second touch (from a different defender/s), ball carrier must: o Stop / go back the where they were touched, touch the ball on the ground and pass to a team mate. o Pass after second touch tackle must be no more than 2 metres • Kicking o All kicks must be below head height. o If the kick goes into touch = turnover, tap and pass restart to defending team where the ball went out. o Ball goes dead in goal from attacker kicking = tap and pass restart to defending team on halfway line.

 

[Man of Kent]

22 minutes ago, jacobus said:

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.pitchero.com%2Fclubs%2F50915%2F0EZrPyOfQLaGmtI0ombH_The+Touch+Union+Rules.pdf]

I uploaded the laws to our website... its 2 touches before a tackle and limited kicks... 5 metre line in their version

In playing it this was the bit that we couldnt adapt to very easily...

 

 

From the website, my local RU club seems to be playing Touch Union with unlimited touches! Sounds absurd. 

[Madrileño]

2 hours ago, jacobus said:

In terms of the rules of the competitions they are all FiT rules so thats existing touch and not touch union. 

In terms of our club base, we have been put under no pressure as yet to play touch union rules. Whilst (I assume) the clubs union teams are affiliated to the RFU we remain under the England touch banner. 

If the time comes where that pressure is applied (and we were happy to take O2 touch funding to get started 6 years ago) we might see some issues

 

 

For me, the problem is not the rfu, the problem is Touch England weirdly clamouring to suck up to union.

I speak from a reasonable position of knowledge, as I have been involved on touch for many years, refereed at the 2018 European championships and played in the World Cup a few years before that. 

Touch England have brought in a high performance coach named Bell from Australia. He speaks as if rugby league doesn't exist. Seriously.... it is bizarre - I have heard him interviewed and he uses phrases like "transitioning from Touch to 'contact' " and when he is asked what sports people would transition from in Australia, he said that female players often come from netball and hockey, and male players come from rugby, and also soccer or basketball!! This is talking about high performance national squad players in Australia.

He was interviewed 2 seasons ago by Russell earnshaw on the magic academy sports coaching podcast, and his language used was incredibly specific around "rugby".  In a discussion lasting more than an hour, he did not mention Rugby League even once. 

Given the tie in between Touch Australia and the NRL this is more than bizarre. High performance Touch in Oz is now played as NRL curtain raisers, yet this guy somehow completely omitted to even mention the sport. 

He is clearly someone who needs watching.  

Edited December 13, 2022 by Madrileño

[jacobus]

https://www.englandtouch.org.uk/represent/whos-who/

 

Maybe they left? 

[jacobus]

https://www.englandtouch.org.uk/news/posts/2022/december/touch-world-cup-set-for-nottingham-in-july-2024/

 

This could be good... 

[JM2010]

Sounds like Touch is a fast growing sport. No mention of RL in the article though. Is it under the RL umbrella or an independent sport?

[jacobus]

3 hours ago, JM2010 said:

Sounds like Touch is a fast growing sport. No mention of RL in the article though. Is it under the RL umbrella or an independent sport?

https://www.englandtouch.org.uk/news/posts/2022/february/why-england-touch-partnership-should-be-good-news-for-the-rfl/

 

This brilliant article  should bring that part to life. 

England touch and FIT are not part of the RFL but do work in partnership. 

[JM2010]

43 minutes ago, jacobus said:

https://www.englandtouch.org.uk/news/posts/2022/february/why-england-touch-partnership-should-be-good-news-for-the-rfl/

 

This brilliant article  should bring that part to life. 

England touch and FIT are not part of the RFL but do work in partnership. 

Thanks. Looks like a positive development.

I hope the RFL and the clubs, both professional and amateur, take full advantage of the partnership.

With full contact men's and women's, Touch, Tag and Wheelchair RL their is plenty of scope for clubs to grow and offer lots of opportunities for everyone to play some form of RL 

[Dirkgee]

On 13/12/2022 at 23:47, Madrileño said:

For me, the problem is not the rfu, the problem is Touch England weirdly clamouring to suck up to union.

I speak from a reasonable position of knowledge, as I have been involved on touch for many years, refereed at the 2018 European championships and played in the World Cup a few years before that. 

Touch England have brought in a high performance coach named Bell from Australia. He speaks as if rugby league doesn't exist. Seriously.... it is bizarre - I have heard him interviewed and he uses phrases like "transitioning from Touch to 'contact' " and when he is asked what sports people would transition from in Australia, he said that female players often come from netball and hockey, and male players come from rugby, and also soccer or basketball!! This is talking about high performance national squad players in Australia.

He was interviewed 2 seasons ago by Russell earnshaw on the magic academy sports coaching podcast, and his language used was incredibly specific around "rugby".  In a discussion lasting more than an hour, he did not mention Rugby League even once. 

Given the tie in between Touch Australia and the NRL this is more than bizarre. High performance Touch in Oz is now played as NRL curtain raisers, yet this guy somehow completely omitted to even mention the sport. 

He is clearly someone who needs watching.  

In my part of Australia, "Rugby" means Rugby League, Rugby Union is just refered to as "Union". Maybe thats what was happening.

[Madrileño]

6 minutes ago, Dirkgee said:

In my part of Australia, "Rugby" means Rugby League, Rugby Union is just refered to as "Union". Maybe thats what was happening.

Interesting. Where is that please?

[Dirkgee]

40 minutes ago, Madrileño said:

Interesting. Where is that please?

South Coast of NSW, around Bega/Eden. Area has a decent sized Aussie Rules presence and is a long way from the Union strongholds.

[jacobus]

Some pretty decent action in this one... will be worth a watch in the World Cup the Aussies. 

 

 

[Man of Kent]

(post in error, old news)

Edited January 23, 2023 by Man of Kent