SOO 3 will be the world largest sporting event since covid-19 began

[unapologetic pedant]

12 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Its the best explanation imo, akin to if GB kept organising the Ashes despite losing regularly.

Earlier this year Pete V. was on Fox League talking about the need to help QLD. Similar to how the NRL talk of the need to help NZ or us. This based on the last couple of Origin series and the poor seasons for Broncos, Cowboys, Titans.

When QLD won all those consecutive series, or after the 2015 all-QLD GF, nobody in Brisbane was talking of the need to help NSW become competitive again. Other than ironically.

Had Melbourne rather than Sydney grown to be the centre of the RL universe, intriguing to speculate whether attitudes would have been the same.

[yipyee]

1 hour ago, AB90 said:

Basketball is actually a great comparison to RL as its very popular world wide but the pinnacle is still the NBA.

They do in fact have a world cup every four years. The last one was only held last year in China and the US (who you assume would walk it) came 7th. Australia even finished higher than them finishing 4th!

All the top US players and stars don't participate so they can have a longer offseason and rest up for the next NBA season (I.e the pinnacle of their sport).

It is what it is. No point getting mad at it. You can't tell people how they should or shouldn't feel about something.

The US dont really pay attention to anything outside the US. If they came 7th in a global comp I would be amazed if this was common knowledge in the US. The winners of their national tournaments are declared world champions which is farcical.

Rather than tell people how to feel I would sooner highlight the stupidity of the above and sums up stupid uneducated small minded people who rarely leave their towns and very rarely their states.

You would be amazed as to how many americans do not even have passports. A lot of americans are scared to leave the country and think the rest of the world is a third world. I was once in London and an american couldnt believe there was a starbucks there... This was after proffessing that a mcdonalds there was just a surprise.

 

As to the NBA being the pinnacle this is more to do with the crazyness that is America and little to do with actual facts.

I would imagine the multi million dollar contracts has a lot more to do with the reluctance to represent the US and focus on the NBA

[yipyee]

13 hours ago, The Rocket said:

I have thought about this before, he fact we didn`t beat you in a series for 27 years at one stage, however 50 years is getting a little beyond the pale.

I don`t think the Kangaroos would mind travelling to England every four years even if they were beating you every time, a lot of players would do it for the experience, after a while though they might find it hard to get the best players to go, there would be a lot of drop outs.

I f we were beating you all the time, there would be very little interest over here very quickly.

Its not as if Australia won every game in between though. Also if the best players as you put it chose not to play and Australia did get beat what would the reaction be?

Tonga beat Australia recently and NZ won a world cup so its not like Australia are the only team and won every trophy and every game for the last 50 years.

Part of the problem is the nonsense that SOO is the pinacle of the game. I get why they say this as they want this to be true and make it an aussie only game to compete with the bigger aussie rules who have this image of it being a aussie only game.

As for the current situation its like me saying I would beat tyson fury in a fight. I am never going to fight him so this would never be proved either way. 

If i got enough people to say the same would this then make this statement true??

[unapologetic pedant]

2 hours ago, yipyee said:

 

As for the current situation its like me saying I would beat tyson fury in a fight. I am never going to fight him so this would never be proved either way. 

Or like one of those audience members at the Jerry Springer Show who lunged at the stage sure in the knowledge the security bods would block their passage.

[unapologetic pedant]

12 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Yeah mate for sure, over 50 % audience share in Sydney and Brisbane, 300 000 tuned in in Melbourne, outstanding, and over 100 000 in both Perth and Adelaide, and about 850 000 regionals, so it was a pretty good night on the box and all those non-League supporters who tuned from interstate saw a top-notch game of League. How about that hit on Tupou when he was bringing it off his line, spilled the ball but the Maroons were called offside, poor bloke had a target on his chest all night.

Good numbers in Melbourne, but worth noting it was more than double that for the GF. Which underscores the attraction to general viewers of having a nominal dog in the fight. Shows the potential value in taking a calculated punt on a Perth NRL franchise.

The Adelaide TV ratings continue to interest me. Again they were bigger than Perth, despite having far less grass roots RL activity. There was an encouraging straw in the wind last week with a story on social media of a South Australian girl being offered a place in Canberra Raiders` Tarsha Gale Cup squad.

[DC77]

2 hours ago, yipyee said:

The US dont really pay attention to anything outside the US. If they came 7th in a global comp I would be amazed if this was common knowledge in the US. The winners of their national tournaments are declared world champions which is farcical.

Rather than tell people how to feel I would sooner highlight the stupidity of the above and sums up stupid uneducated small minded people who rarely leave their towns and very rarely their states.

You would be amazed as to how many americans do not even have passports. A lot of americans are scared to leave the country and think the rest of the world is a third world. I was once in London and an american couldnt believe there was a starbucks there... This was after proffessing that a mcdonalds there was just a surprise.

 

As to the NBA being the pinnacle this is more to do with the crazyness that is America and little to do with actual facts.

I would imagine the multi million dollar contracts has a lot more to do with the reluctance to represent the US and focus on the NBA

 

Few points:

1.What nation supplied the most visitors to the 2014 World Cup held in Brazil? US. They failed to quality for 2018 in Russia and yet still they had a large number of applicants for tickets.

2.US is vast, equivalent to Europe (excluding eastern Russia). I’ve never been outside Europe. It’s silly to compare us in a tiny Island (in my case Ireland) with a place 30 times (or more) bigger. For me to travel from the top of Ireland to the bottom, it’s 290 miles. My sister in law in San Antonio travels that distance to get to Dallas. Don’t get me wrong yanks generally are far more ignorant, including about US history...next week the pilgrims...a persecuting extremist Protestant sect that would have had me, a Catholic, hanging from a tree, are weirdly commemorated in “thanksgiving”, the other group in this double act, the Natives Americans who apparently fed them, were dehumanised as “savages” by the 600 plus slave owning tyrant Jefferson who then proceeded to have them removed from their land with those who survived the massacres put in cages (“reservations”), an act Hitler praised, for “gunning down the millions of redskins to a few hundred thousand and now keep the modest remnant under observation in cage”, so the ignorance and sheer cheek is astounding. 

3.NBA is the pinnacle, because basketball is predominantly an African American sport, and the black people who play it on the streets there are by far the best at playing it. It’s almost equivalent of the NRL, and look how little interest the Aussies have in international RL. 

GB (now Eng) haven’t beat Aus in a series for 50 years. When something is not competitive it loses status, which this fixture lost a long time ago. It’s during this period that the state of origin took off to fill the competitive void. Don’t think you can critique the Aussies for this. It’s human nature to get worked up for competition. Likewise I don’t think you can critique GB/Eng for the lack of competitiveness as the difference in status, wealth and playing numbers in RL between the two countries is considerable. 50 plus years ago the gulf wouldn’t be what it is now. There’s circa 45k people aged 16 and over in England who play RL (2017 Sport England figures). You could fit them all inside Anfield and have 8k seats left over. It’s a very small playing pool to choose from. As well as this that small number that play it weekly won’t have the level of coaching like Aus, what with the financial constraints and cut backs (routinely hear about junior coaches being laid off). Many teams are just cobbled together..the game in Hull being one example where mates are called up to make up the short fall in playing numbers.

I think for Eng to improve and be much more competitive the game needs to change in order to reverse the rapid decline in playing numbers. A very physical, attritional game is much less enticing than one this is open and attacking. RL is progressively getting harder to play, more taxing on the body, coinciding with a 39% drop in participation from 2007 to 2017. It needs to reverse these demands to get more people playing, thus having bigger pool to choose from and ultimately more competitive international team.

[Aussie Bronco]

5 hours ago, yipyee said:

 

Maybe if Aus played against GB and not run away scared?

Origin is the pinnacle because that is what the press tell you not because it is 

Anyway maybe the pinnacle should be Tonga vs GB as they turned Aus over??

I also find your arrogance amusing why should the best English players play in Aus, okish players go over there and look like world beaters.

Roby, olockhlan, Peacock, Sculthorpe long etc would have made the aussies look like school boys if they went over in their prime they just chose to play in the uk. 

Your delusional this is why no one takes England serious in RL. Okayish players? Only the best come over here and only the best of the best succeed. Whitehead, Bateman, Williams etc were internationals before the NRL and the best in Super League. Roby is rubbish, never done anything against anything other than Northern Hemisphere competition. Same as O’loughlin, peacock and sculthorpe. These players would’ve struggled to get a spot in an NRL side in their prime, especially the backs. O’loughlin would’ve done alright since English forwards don’t do too badly. But if them players were so good why couldn’t they beat Aus and NZ?
Also WCC is played with super league rules, during the super league season and in England and the NRL teams still cruise to victory without getting out of second gear. Second rate NRL players go over to super league and dominate. Bevan French, Lachlan Coote, Blake Austin, David Fifita (the rubbish one), Aidan sezer, Jackson hastings etc.

sounds like you’re the arrogant one more than anything but yeah you keep watching your 3rd rate league that couldn’t even beat a qld cup or nsw cup side and supporting your 2nd tier nation. Another World Cup whooping coming up next year. The fact Bennett got England to a final is the greatest achievement England RL has had this century. Truth hurts 

[Newguy]

1 hour ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Good numbers in Melbourne, but worth noting it was more than double that for the GF. Which underscores the attraction to general viewers of having a nominal dog in the fight. Shows the potential value in taking a calculated punt on a Perth NRL franchise.

The Adelaide TV ratings continue to interest me. Again they were bigger than Perth, despite having far less grass roots RL activity. There was an encouraging straw in the wind last week with a story on social media of a South Australian girl being offered a place in Canberra Raiders` Tarsha Gale Cup squad.

It's mainly down to timezones mate, WA is a couple of hours difference with the eastern states, SA, half an hour. 

[Eddie]

8 hours ago, yipyee said:

It is right though, if playing for England soccer wasnt the pinnacle no one would play as they effectively play for free. 

Why do they all want to play for england and make a big deal over it.

Gareth Bale also imfamously ranked wales above club football 

No one would bother for the amateur olympics would they if representing their country didnt mean anything

1. The Olympics isn’t amateur and in most sports people are representing themselves not their country  

2. Bale plays for Wales not England. For some countries what you are saying is no doubt true, but sadly not England any longer  

3. Players do not play for England for free. In fact they even threatened to go on strike (led by Gary Neville as I recall) because of it. 
 

Do you think your point stands in NFL or Aussie rules, or MLB, NBA or MLB? 

 

[gingerjon]

8 minutes ago, Eddie said:

3. Players do not play for England for free. In fact they even threatened to go on strike (led by Gary Neville as I recall) because of it.

Nothing to do with pay. Everything to do with the, at the time (it was 17 years ago), controversial ban for Rio Ferdinand and Neville wanting to stick it to the FA as a result.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2003/oct/09/newsstory.sport1

I believe it's still the case that all England players donate their international match fees to charity.

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

Nothing to do with pay. Everything to do with the, at the time (it was 17 years ago), controversial ban for Rio Ferdinand and Neville wanting to stick it to the FA as a result.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2003/oct/09/newsstory.sport1

I believe it's still the case that all England players donate their international match fees to charity.

They don’t play for free then do they. Plus they earn a lot of extra sponsorship money etc and raise their profile. 

[Dunbar]

4 hours ago, Aussie Bronco said:

Your delusional this is why no one takes England serious in RL. Okayish players? Only the best come over here and only the best of the best succeed. Whitehead, Bateman, Williams etc were internationals before the NRL and the best in Super League. Roby is rubbish

Was reading your post but only got as far as this.

James Roby has been a world class player for over a decade and a good judge would be able to see this irrelevant of which competition he was playing in.

[Aussie Bronco]

When England/GB stop serving up the absolute tripe they do every time they play the kangaroos and players that couldn’t even get a game in the NRL stop going over and winning the man of steel or whatever it’s called, then RL fans in the Southern Hemisphere will start taking the English game and the players that play in it seriously and we’ll start seeing playing for your country as the pinnacle. I hope it happens because RL needs a strong northern hemisphere competition, SL needs a complete take over because unfortunately it’s in decline big time. I’ve tried watching as much as I can this year but it’s been almost unbearable

[Aussie Bronco]

5 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Was reading your post but only got as far as this.

James Roby has been a world class player for over a decade and a good judge would be able to see this irrelevant of which competition he was playing in.

World class in England maybe, every international against the kangaroos I’ve seen him in he has been completely outplayed by CS9. But Smith is the GOAT so that’s understandable i guess

[Dunbar]

10 hours ago, Aussie Bronco said:

World class in England maybe, every international against the kangaroos I’ve seen him in he has been completely outplayed by CS9. But Smith is the GOAT so that’s understandable i guess

This is a completely illogical argument.  It is fine to compare individual players but to say one player isn't world class because another player in the same position is better is a ridiculous argument.

The great St George side won 11 premierships in a row between 1956 and 1966.  The team is revered as the greatest in Australian history and many of the team have gone on to be recognized as greats of the game and indeed immortals.

And yet during this time, Australia lost to Great Britain in the Ashes in 1956, 1958, 1960 and 1962.  So for 9 of those 11 years the Great Britain players were clearly better than their Australian counterparts... do we conclude that Johnny Raper and Reg Gasnier et al were not world class because the Kangaroo teams they played in were defeated by Great Britain. 

Of course we don't, sensible observers of the game are able to make assessments of these players without writing them off based on the team results.  The same with English players in the modern era.

[nkpom]

And in 62 (I think) we played St George - the first time we had played a Premiership team rather than representative teams on tour. We beat them, and Alex Murphy played with a broken arm - he knew it was broken but didn't tell anyone because he didn't want to miss the game!

[bennyboy]

12 hours ago, AB90 said:

Basketball is actually a great comparison to RL as its very popular world wide but the pinnacle is still the NBA.

They do in fact have a world cup every four years. The last one was only held last year in China and the US (who you assume would walk it) came 7th. Australia even finished higher than them finishing 4th!

All the top US players and stars don't participate so they can have a longer offseason and rest up for the next NBA season (I.e the pinnacle of their sport).

It is what it is. No point getting mad at it. You can't tell people how they should or shouldn't feel about something.

Rugby league is not very popular worldwide 

[bennyboy]

I personally don’t see what the fuss is about with Origin. It’s an overhyped series between two Australian states that most people can’t even point on a map. Nonetheless I usually watch it each year but this year I just couldn’t watch it. It was a borefest 

[Rupert Prince]

11 hours ago, yipyee said:

The US dont really pay attention to anything outside the US. If they came 7th in a global comp I would be amazed if this was common knowledge in the US. The winners of their national tournaments are declared world champions which is farcical.

Rather than tell people how to feel I would sooner highlight the stupidity of the above and sums up stupid uneducated small minded people who rarely leave their towns and very rarely their states.

You would be amazed as to how many americans do not even have passports. A lot of americans are scared to leave the country and think the rest of the world is a third world. I was once in London and an american couldnt believe there was a starbucks there... This was after proffessing that a mcdonalds there was just a surprise.

 

As to the NBA being the pinnacle this is more to do with the crazyness that is America and little to do with actual facts.

I would imagine the multi million dollar contracts has a lot more to do with the reluctance to represent the US and focus on the NBA

Do Americans call their championships, world champions? I don't think the NFL do.  But the Baseball World Serieswas sponsored by a newspaper originally I think, The NY World?

In any event, the USA is a massive continental sized country where a holidaymaker in NY might go to Florida or Hawaii and ski in Aspen... no different to us going to Malaga. It's just we need a passport. 

You say you've sneered an American visitor?  Have you been to America?  I have.  I was amazed at the steaks and the breakfasts.  And the service.

[unapologetic pedant]

7 hours ago, Newguy said:

It's mainly down to timezones mate, WA is a couple of hours difference with the eastern states, SA, half an hour. 

Do timezone factors play a part in NRL reluctance in relation to WA? None of this seems to dissuade the AFL away from nationwide expansion.

With all the fixtures spread out one at a time, there ought to be scheduling ways around the difficulties. I noticed last year the Warriors got more early Friday games.

[AB90]

4 hours ago, bennyboy said:

Rugby league is not very popular worldwide 

My point still stands. I.e basketball and rugby league are sports that are played in multiple countries throughout the world but the international game is not considered the pinnacle of the sport by some.

[gingerjon]

3 hours ago, Rupert Prince said:

But the Baseball World Serieswas sponsored by a newspaper originally I think, The NY World?

Unfortunately, and whilst I'll defend baseball against all-comers, it really is because of big-headedism from our American friends. Albeit justified.

They were two 'major' professional leagues. The National and the American. At the end of the season, they had a series to determine which league's winner was better. They couldn't call them the national champion or the American champion, and so the hype decided to make them the World Series champion. And the name stuck.

[yipyee]

14 hours ago, Aussie Bronco said:

Your delusional this is why no one takes England serious in RL. Okayish players? Only the best come over here and only the best of the best succeed. Whitehead, Bateman, Williams etc were internationals before the NRL and the best in Super League. Roby is rubbish, never done anything against anything other than Northern Hemisphere competition. Same as O’loughlin, peacock and sculthorpe. These players would’ve struggled to get a spot in an NRL side in their prime, especially the backs. O’loughlin would’ve done alright since English forwards don’t do too badly. But if them players were so good why couldn’t they beat Aus and NZ?
Also WCC is played with super league rules, during the super league season and in England and the NRL teams still cruise to victory without getting out of second gear. Second rate NRL players go over to super league and dominate. Bevan French, Lachlan Coote, Blake Austin, David Fifita (the rubbish one), Aidan sezer, Jackson hastings etc.

sounds like you’re the arrogant one more than anything but yeah you keep watching your 3rd rate league that couldn’t even beat a qld cup or nsw cup side and supporting your 2nd tier nation. Another World Cup whooping coming up next year. The fact Bennett got England to a final is the greatest achievement England RL has had this century. Truth hurts 

Ok whatever you whopper, just because a player doesnt play in your boring league they are rubbish

Aussies are soft and that probably what feeds their arrogance

[yipyee]

2 hours ago, AB90 said:

My point still stands. I.e basketball and rugby league are sports that are played in multiple countries throughout the world but the international game is not considered the pinnacle of the sport by some.

Its bizzare though.

You get picked for your country its a badge that you are the best person in your country for that sport/positon

I think people are getting mixed up with what they dreamed growing up or set their goal to.

If a kid grows up wanting to play for wigan then they have reached their goal but its clearly nowhere near the pinnacle of the sport

For example one could say the pinace of union is to represent their country however most home nations players see it as playing for the lions as this is a step above in terms of individual excellence to be selected.

The lions tours have no bearing on the international game, there are no tournaments to enter/win but its seen as the pinnacle as you need to be the best of the best.

[yipyee]

6 hours ago, Rupert Prince said:

Do Americans call their championships, world champions? I don't think the NFL do.  But the Baseball World Serieswas sponsored by a newspaper originally I think, The NY World?

In any event, the USA is a massive continental sized country where a holidaymaker in NY might go to Florida or Hawaii and ski in Aspen... no different to us going to Malaga. It's just we need a passport. 

You say you've sneered an American visitor?  Have you been to America?  I have.  I was amazed at the steaks and the breakfasts.  And the service.

The NFL do... its amusing as clearly they are not world champions as other countrys play

The world strongest man was only open to american applicants for the first few years... so americas stronest man then. They didnt have a winner for years when it was a true global comp

I am aware of the baseball world series but if you asked an american they would refer to this as world champions... bit like when people say saints vs wigan isnt a true derby game...

The american visitor was a young visitor and was clearly expecting a third world country, I have visited, worked and lived in america and the lack of things unamerican even by the educated folk was frightening.

Just one point to read:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2008/nov/18/american-sports-nfl-nba-mlb