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New North American Competition?


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20 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

It can't grow at that lower level until there's a high profile major pro league and franchises to inspire that level of interest.  Things don't work bottom-up, they work top-down.

Hmm, fair point, I suppose it is a bit chicken and egg - how do you develop a fan base without people who know/play the sport, and how do you attract people to play the sport without the high level spectacle to engage them.

I get the feeling that more sports go the grassroots->pro route than pro->grassroots. Are there any other sports that have successfully built a following in the same way that NARL is trying to?

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15 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

It can't grow at that lower level until there's a high profile major pro league and franchises to inspire that level of interest.  Things don't work bottom-up, they work top-down.

When Gateshead finished, Newcastle started working bottom up and continue do do so.

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6 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

When Gateshead finished, Newcastle started working bottom up and continue do do so.

That's a rare instance of the bottom-up approach working, and even that was based on the interest created by the top-down approach of the original Gateshead club being in SL.

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23 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

That's a rare instance of the bottom-up approach working, and even that was based on the interest created by the top-down approach of the original Gateshead club being in SL.

It’s a fact.  Doesn’t matter the history, what matters is it is possible and debunks all the ‘it cant be done theories.   They went back and started from scratch.  If Newcastle eventually get into Super League it will be one of the greatest achievements in RL.

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Top down development is about having a professional league to aspire which will facilitate teams being able to develop from bottom up. That's why Toronto worked so well, as they had a professional pyramid to enter and the (seemingly) real opportunity to progress to the top.

For once Big Picture has a decent point in that it would be virtually impossible to grow a professional league from the bottom up. There needs to be a 'big bang' at some point, which we are now seeing, and the formation of a league with funding to back it up. Where I, and almost everyone else, disagree with him is that NARL is a good base for a professional RL competition in the region and something that might grow and give bottom up development a chance.

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2 hours ago, Sammo said:

get the feeling that more sports go the grassroots->pro route than pro->grassroots. Are there any other sports that have successfully built a following in the same way that NARL is trying to?

They did historically,  but almost every "established" sport around the world got that way in late 19th/early 20th century when it was essentially a vacuum, and has been extremely difficult to change since then.

Soccer has only recently managed to  become sustainably mainstream at the pro level in North America,  and it had the advantage of being the most popular sport in the world AND has been an amateur sport here the entire time.

As has been pointed out many times, the NHL's expansion across the American south, and I'd also add the explosion in the popularity of basketball following the growth of the NBA, as much better examples that pro-first is a better path to amateur growth. I'm not an expert, but I suspect AFL growth in NSW and QLD, an conversely RL growth in Victoria, show the same thing.

Basically, everywhere already has a couple of sports that are common for people to play. They need a really good reason to play something else. 

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2 hours ago, Sammo said:

Hmm, fair point, I suppose it is a bit chicken and egg - how do you develop a fan base without people who know/play the sport, and how do you attract people to play the sport without the high level spectacle to engage them.

I get the feeling that more sports go the grassroots->pro route than pro->grassroots. Are there any other sports that have successfully built a following in the same way that NARL is trying to?

It’s completely different in America to the UK tbf, top down works better there. 

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10 hours ago, TheReaper said:

As has been pointed out many times, the NHL's expansion across the American south, and I'd also add the explosion in the popularity of basketball following the growth of the NBA, as much better examples that pro-first is a better path to amateur growth. I'm not an expert, but I suspect AFL growth in NSW and QLD, an conversely RL growth in Victoria, show the same thing.

The ideal model is a top-down/bottom-up symbiosis.

The AFL combined the launch of GWS Giants with a major investment in grass roots participation in Western Sydney. It was partly this that spooked the NSWRL to accelerate the development of League Tag, and the NRL to formally link up with Touch Australia.

They realised firstly the threat of a rival growing bottom-up through participation, and secondly that the physical nature of Tackle RL militates against it becoming a mass participation sport.

The big numbers playing Soccer in League heartlands have never had much impact since they`re not complemented by a prestigious pro League.

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12 hours ago, Sammo said:

Hmm, fair point, I suppose it is a bit chicken and egg - how do you develop a fan base without people who know/play the sport, and how do you attract people to play the sport without the high level spectacle to engage them.

I get the feeling that more sports go the grassroots->pro route than pro->grassroots. Are there any other sports that have successfully built a following in the same way that NARL is trying to?

Wherever RL goes, its portrayal as a simple game inexorably goes along too. This makes it hard for anyone to acquire sufficient knowledge to fully enjoy watching it. Hence, playing some form of it remains the most likely route to becoming a fan. Maybe NA is an exception to this rule, but the history of the game everywhere else is littered with top-down failures.

There ought to be greater potential for bottom-up growth now that word-of-mouth is a more internet, social media affair.

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On 06/05/2021 at 05:48, Gomersall said:

 

Is that bloke (pictured) wearing a Wests Tigers jersey, if so then that augurs very well for the competition to be able to improve it`s standards.

If the competition can have a smattering of players who have been through the NRL system this can go a long way in bringing new players in the sport up to speed.

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1 hour ago, Tex Evans Thigh said:

T-Rex been axed due to comments on Hayne case. Good on New York.

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On 05/05/2021 at 17:49, Big Picture said:

That's a rare instance of the bottom-up approach working, and even that was based on the interest created by the top-down approach of the original Gateshead club being in SL.

BP, you're not quite right here.

First of all, Newcastle is the only time bottom up development has ever been tackled systematically (and professionally, albeit mostly done by amateurs).

So the reason its a rare example, is because it's never been done right anywhere else on that scale.

It began long before Gatehead pro club existed.

No doubt, subsequently, the high profile events put on up there contribute to the exposure the game gets but its not fair or accurate, to present them as some kind of oddity, when they are clearly demonstrating how it needs to be done in order to succeed.

Without the kind of approach pioneered by Newcastle/Gateshead (Mick Hogan's love child) any attempt at embedding the game in a new community will be doomed to a long and slow, sporadic, nomadic, parlous existence.

Longevity depends on a fully committed and fully integrated combination, of top-down/bottom up approach.

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2 hours ago, marklaspalmas said:

So, the fixture list has disappeared off the website?

If you click any club logo above the word "Schedule" it opens up that teams fixture list. The old product was difficult to read so I guess they have dropped it.

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13 hours ago, marklaspalmas said:

So, the fixture list has disappeared off the website?

It’s not a great website is it. 

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On 06/05/2021 at 23:44, The Rocket said:

Is that bloke (pictured) wearing a Wests Tigers jersey, if so then that augurs very well for the competition to be able to improve it`s standards.

If the competition can have a smattering of players who have been through the NRL system this can go a long way in bringing new players in the sport up to speed.

I see a bloke in two French jerseys!? One is Lezignan

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I'm interested to know when the games are being played. Initially it looked like all the east games would be played on sat and west om sunday. On chashing kangaroos the chap that is heading up the narl was suggesting games would all be on a Saturday and would be timed to run one after the other to try and get the maximum global coverage; one advantage of playing in two time zones 3 hours apart.

Whatever they end up doing, spinds like a nice little evening and night slot at the weekend, about the only one currently where theres no league to watch. It would be good if their website clarified the fixture schedule and timings soon though.

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