Something we’ll all agree on...

[welshmagpie]

Televised Internationals are the best way to sell rugby league.

... where has this come from? I’ve just popped on Instagram for 10 mins (saw roughly 5/6 stories of people aged 25-35 watching rugby union internationals). All bar one are from non-rugby backgrounds but are out for a beer and the atmosphere*.
 

* Worth mentioning most are in Wales, two are in the UAE.

 

[Markos]

I’m not sure I agree  save for 4 or 5 fixtures

Maybe it would be the best way to sell RL if we had the depth of international teams Union had (sadly).

I dare say the majority of games in the RL World Cup if televised may sour potential fans

[DavidM]

“ something we’ll all agree on “ ... come on, no way 

[RayCee]

If you have an agreeable post, it will quickly disappear down the list without trace. 

[gingerjon]

2 hours ago, welshmagpie said:

Televised Internationals are the best way to sell rugby league.

... where has this come from? I’ve just popped on Instagram for 10 mins (saw roughly 5/6 stories of people aged 25-35 watching rugby union internationals). All bar one are from non-rugby backgrounds but are out for a beer and the atmosphere*.
 

* Worth mentioning most are in Wales, two are in the UAE.

 

Yup. Even though more people will care, ultimately, about today's football scores, far more eyeballs will have been on the rah rahs.

[Dunbar]

1 hour ago, Markos said:

I dare say the majority of games in the RL World Cup if televised may sour potential fans

In the spirit of the thread, I couldn't disagree more.

The World Cup games will be fantastic. Some will be close and full of passion and some will be big scores and people will marvel at the skills on show and the spectacular tries.

Newcomers will love it. Only existing fans will find fault.

[The Great Dane]

3 hours ago, welshmagpie said:

Televised Internationals are the best way to sell rugby league.

... where has this come from? I’ve just popped on Instagram for 10 mins (saw roughly 5/6 stories of people aged 25-35 watching rugby union internationals). All bar one are from non-rugby backgrounds but are out for a beer and the atmosphere*.
 

* Worth mentioning most are in Wales, two are in the UAE.

 

I do and don't agree.

I agree that large events and representative matches, such as internationals, can be a powerful tool to promote the game and get people interested on some level, but at the same time I think that if you become overly focused on them that it has serious negative impacts.

In Australia smaller codes and sports often fall into a trap where they become overly reliant on their international team to promote the game. That over reliance leaves them in this sort of limbo where they need to push the national team to the moon to stay relevant, but huge portions of their "fan base" aren't actually fans of the sport as such, and are just fans of the national team, and for whatever reasons can't or won't be converted into fans of the local clubs. The problem with that is that the handful of games that the national team plays, relative to their club competitions, isn't really enough to support the sport and as a result their growth stagnates, and if things go south they quickly start to die.

It's even a problem that the NRL faces with SOO to an extent. If the NRL could convert the literal millions of people across the country that are "only SOO fans" into "NRL fans", then the NRL would be the biggest league in the country by far.

[ATLANTISMAN]

4 hours ago, welshmagpie said:

Televised Internationals are the best way to sell rugby league.

... where has this come from? I’ve just popped on Instagram for 10 mins (saw roughly 5/6 stories of people aged 25-35 watching rugby union internationals). All bar one are from non-rugby backgrounds but are out for a beer and the atmosphere*.
 

* Worth mentioning most are in Wales, two are in the UAE.

 

Internationals are 100% the way to go SELL THE SIZZLE:)

[Phil]

2 hours ago, RayCee said:

If you have an agreeable post, it will quickly disappear down the list without trace. 

Nah, that’s palpable bs mate 

[The Rocket]

4 hours ago, welshmagpie said:

Televised Internationals are the best way to sell rugby league.

There was an international on over here last night (15 all, no tries, fumble-a-thon) excellent selling point for Rugby League.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

6 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

There was an international on over here last night (15 all, no tries, fumble-a-thon) excellent selling point for Rugby League.

They showed it here on Sky Sports this morning (I watched it all) 

It was actually worth watching but largely due to the fact I wanted the Pumas to beat the Aussies in Newcastle and put them off yawnion 

That's the point I guess.... Internationals can draw in an as audience like nothing else

[Pulga]

10 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

They showed it here on Sky Sports this morning (I watched it all) 

It was actually worth watching but largely due to the fact I wanted the Pumas to beat the Aussies in Newcastle and put them off yawnion 

That's the point I guess.... Internationals can draw in an as audience like nothing else

It's Australia, they're already off it.

[The Rocket]

4 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

They showed it here on Sky Sports this morning (I watched it all) 

It was actually worth watching but largely due to the fact I wanted the Pumas to beat the Aussies in Newcastle and put them off yawnion 

That's the point I guess.... Internationals can draw in an as audience like nothing else

Second paragraph: mission accomplished.

Third paragraph: yeah it`s true, it`s amazing what sport you`ll watch when apparently the best are on display.

 

[DoubleD]

5 hours ago, welshmagpie said:

 I’ve just popped on Instagram for 10 mins (saw roughly 5/6 stories of people aged 25-35 watching rugby union internationals). All bar one are from non-rugby backgrounds but are out for a beer and the atmosphere*.

 

This is the terrible damage lockdown is having, the effect on people’s mental health is devastating 

[Futtocks]

3 hours ago, Markos said:

I’m not sure I agree  save for 4 or 5 fixtures

Maybe it would be the best way to sell RL if we had the depth of international teams Union had (sadly).

I dare say the majority of games in the RL World Cup if televised may sour potential fans

I think the only people who'd be "soured" would be the ones trying to get the remaining 62 posts necessary to access the cross-code forum.

[unapologetic pedant]

3 hours ago, Dunbar said:

In the spirit of the thread, I couldn't disagree more.

The World Cup games will be fantastic. Some will be close and full of passion and some will be big scores and people will marvel at the skills on show and the spectacular tries.

Newcomers will love it. Only existing fans will find fault.

I agree. All existing fans can love it too if they first clear their mind of some of the mores and perspectives acquired from years of watching only club games. The media set the tone in many ways.

The impression I got from the 2017 WC was that the Australian organisers began with low expectations, and the NRL media were covering it through an NRL prism. Totally different in New Zealand.

Unusually it`s something the RFL, starting with the 1995 tournament, have got more or less right. The contrast with 2013 here and the Aussie part of 2017 was stark.

[unapologetic pedant]

2 hours ago, The Great Dane said:

 

In Australia smaller codes and sports often fall into a trap where they become overly reliant on their international team to promote the game. That over reliance leaves them in this sort of limbo where they need to push the national team to the moon to stay relevant, but huge portions of their "fan base" aren't actually fans of the sport as such, and are just fans of the national team, and for whatever reasons can't or won't be converted into fans of the local clubs. The problem with that is that the handful of games that the national team plays, relative to their club competitions, isn't really enough to support the sport and as a result their growth stagnates, and if things go south they quickly start to die.

Agree with this too. If we see AFL at one end of the spectrum, and ARU at the other, RL in Aus falls somewhere between the two, and in recent times moving inexorably towards the AFL side.

If a sport has both a club and an international focus, finding an optimum balance between the two is the holy grail.

Comparing RL with Soccer, obviously it is global reach that differentiates the most. But the far more strenuous nature of RL, and the greater risk of injury, also militate against the top players committing themselves to internationals, or being allowed to by their clubs.

When administrators change the rules to make their domestic competition faster, more intense, placing higher demands on the bodies of their players, they are signalling just how inwardly focussed they are.

[Markos]

11 hours ago, Futtocks said:

I think the only people who'd be "soured" would be the ones trying to get the remaining 62 posts necessary to access the cross-code forum.

To be clear, I am not a rugby union fan, I am a massive rugby league fan who watches all the games on, regardless of quality and I go to a fair number live too.

My point in relation to the original post was that I don’t think it is the best way to “sell” RL to new audiences. In comparison to some of the Union internationals our equivalent fixtures look amateur at times unfortunately.

The OP themselves referred to non fans talking about a Union fixture, presumably because of the big time feel Union has relating to internationals. I can’t say I see the same thing among my mates when RL internationals are on. Definitely not enough that they remember to put it back on the next week.

In terms off selling a product, I thought you sold the strengths of the product, not the weakness? Our domestic game stacks up well versus the RU domestic game. Throw in the size and prestige of the NRL and done right I’d say that’s RL’s selling point.

[GUBRATS]

7 minutes ago, Markos said:

To be clear, I am not a rugby union fan, I am a massive rugby league fan who watches all the games on, regardless of quality and I go to a fair number live too.

My point in relation to the original post was that I don’t think it is the best way to “sell” RL to new audiences. In comparison to some of the Union internationals our equivalent fixtures look amateur at times unfortunately.

The OP themselves referred to non fans talking about a Union fixture, presumably because of the big time feel Union has relating to internationals. I can’t say I see the same thing among my mates when RL internationals are on. Definitely not enough that they remember to put it back on the next week.

In terms off selling a product, I thought you sold the strengths of the product, not the weakness? Our domestic game stacks up well versus the RU domestic game. Throw in the size and prestige of the NRL and done right I’d say that’s RL’s selling point.

Nobody in the UK cares about the NRL 

[Markos]

Just now, GUBRATS said:

Nobody in the UK cares about the NRL 

I’ve seen literal multiples of people wearing NRL shirts than I have seen people wearing an England shirt

[GUBRATS]

1 minute ago, Markos said:

I’ve seen literal multiples of people wearing NRL shirts than I have seen people wearing an England shirt

While there is an interest from a smallish % of RL fans , and the shirts are good , using a club competition from the other side of the world won't interest non RL fans to watch the sport 

Internationals are the way to build and expand the sport in the UK 

[Cumbrian Mackem]

Speaking from my own experience Internationals are definitely the best way to convert non-RL fans to our game. I was only into football until I stumbled into watching the 1990 ashes series which to this day is the best sporting series I’ve ever seen.

[Markos]

1 minute ago, GUBRATS said:

While there is an interest from a smallish % of RL fans , and the shirts are good , using a club competition from the other side of the world won't interest non RL fans to watch the sport 

Internationals are the way to build and expand the sport in the UK 

I don’t necessarily disagree, if done right and with quality in depth, neither of which our sport seems to get right, hence my view that in its current state, it isn’t the best way to sell RL. Depends on your definition of sell too I suppose.

We’ve had some amazing internationals and World Cups. I was at Derwent Park to see Scotland vs NZ in 2016 and the ground was rocking. And then those fans disappeared again 

[GUBRATS]

4 minutes ago, Markos said:

I don’t necessarily disagree, if done right and with quality in depth, neither of which our sport seems to get right, hence my view that in its current state, it isn’t the best way to sell RL. Depends on your definition of sell too I suppose.

We’ve had some amazing internationals and World Cups. I was at Derwent Park to see Scotland vs NZ in 2016 and the ground was rocking. And then those fans disappeared again 

Probably because the local teams aren't really pulling up any trees and haven't done for a decade , stagnation is bad for local clubs , they need to have ups and downs to generate interest , not sure what the answer is 

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

5 minutes ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Speaking from my own experience Internationals are definitely the best way to convert non-RL fans to our game. 

Completely agree, non RL fans are always interested in coming to International games, especially games England are playing in or World Cup games. The promise of a vaccine is great news for rugby league as the RLWC2021 should be able to go ahead as normal.