We`ve definitely got something to sell.

[HawkMan]

This battle for top dog in Oz between RL, RU and AFL is one thing, but apparently 90,000 turned up to watch  Man Utd vs Melbourne Victory in a meaningless exhibition game at the MCG. Is this significant, or nothing unexpected?

[GUBRATS]

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

You’re in a minority of one on the entire planet 

That's because as you admit , you are on another planet

[DavidM]

5 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

That's because as you admit , you are on another planet

I’ll give you that one !

[Guest]

1 hour ago, HawkMan said:

This battle for top dog in Oz between RL, RU and AFL is one thing, but apparently 90,000 turned up to watch  Man Utd vs Melbourne Victory in a meaningless exhibition game at the MCG. Is this significant, or nothing unexpected?

It's Man Utd so nothing unexpected. 

[MEXICO WILL PAY]

23 hours ago, Man of Kent said:

It’s the metres stats that really brings home for me - if proof were needed - how unarguably superior is league in terms of running rugby.

Union has different rules, of course, so it’s not quite comparing apples & apples but if you believe rugby is about running with an oval ball, there is no comparison.

The vast majority of the meters made in league are due to the defence having to retreat 10 meters after every tackle. Is a player running for 10 meters before smashing into a wall that much more inherently entertaining than a player  running for 1 meter before smashing into a wall?

[MEXICO WILL PAY]

Ddouble post

Edited July 16, 2022 by MEXICO WILL PAY

[Dallas Mead]

On 15/07/2022 at 17:43, Man of Kent said:

https://twitter.com/rugbyfixation/status/1547371266445029376?s=21&t=309Nr9tEq2Gf6kvw8OqhLw

League match v Union match captured beautifully there.  Says it all.

[Dallas Mead]

23 hours ago, HawkMan said:

This battle for top dog in Oz between RL, RU and AFL is one thing, but apparently 90,000 turned up to watch  Man Utd vs Melbourne Victory in a meaningless exhibition game at the MCG. Is this significant, or nothing unexpected?

76,000 wasn’t it?

[Mr Frisky]

On 15/07/2022 at 17:10, HawkMan said:

This battle for top dog in Oz between RL, RU and AFL is one thing, but apparently 90,000 turned up to watch  Man Utd vs Melbourne Victory in a meaningless exhibition game at the MCG. Is this significant, or nothing unexpected?

Well its Man U the biggest spots team on earth and they don't play games in Oz very often so not really unexpected.

Think the crowd was about 73000 is - still not aa many as a boxing day Ashes test match crowd. 

[Oxford]

On 15/07/2022 at 17:07, Man of Kent said:

I love my sport and I don’t have the proverbial chip on my shoulder but union commits the ultimate crime - it’s boring. 

There are sports which cross this line consitently the difference has tended to be and will always be the total of media coverage they recieve rather than the quality of their output.

As an event the audience is often more important in its creation than the sport itself.

The myth of the proverbial "chip" needs burying and for it to be spread on these pages is a bit sad TBH. It is no more than favouring your passion against what has been a questionable rival, to say the least.

[Man of Kent]

2 hours ago, MEXICO WILL PAY said:

The vast majority of the meters made in league are due to the defence having to retreat 10 meters after every tackle. Is a player running for 10 meters before smashing into a wall that much more inherently entertaining than a player  running for 1 meter before smashing into a wall?

I alluded to the different rules in my post you quoted but, yes, 10-metre offside makes for an inherently more entertaining sport than zero metres. D’uh!

[Man of Kent]

1 hour ago, Oxford said:

There are sports which cross this line consitently the difference has tended to be and will always be the total of media coverage they recieve rather than the quality of their output.

As an event the audience is often more important in its creation than the sport itself.

The myth of the proverbial "chip" needs burying and for it to be spread on these pages is a bit sad TBH. It is no more than favouring your passion against what has been a questionable rival, to say the least.

The chip is a myth, is it? All righty then! 

[Oxford]

2 hours ago, Man of Kent said:

The chip is a myth, is it? All righty then! 

Of course it is! Think who spreads it, think who this might matter to, then include all the RL appologists and foot in two camps people.

If you don't like K&C you've got a chip! if you think the history of RL has been dogged by ru's dirty tricks get over yourself!

You can accept these things and imagine that the two sports are friends but they're just competitors and seeing them that way doesn't say anything about you because it's just your opinions.

The myth is something that enables certain people that's all, it's part of the games historical heritage, but like all stereotypes just a vehicle for someone else's prejudice.

 

[Oxford]

On 15/07/2022 at 08:01, The Rocket said:

State of Origin 2022 Paul Cully: Rugby is kidding itself if it is still looking down at the NRL (smh.com.au)

Why wouldn't Rugby continue looking down its nose the have the NRL as a great model to copy?

[fighting irish]

20 hours ago, MEXICO WILL PAY said:

The vast majority of the meters made in league are due to the defence having to retreat 10 meters after every tackle. Is a player running for 10 meters before smashing into a wall that much more inherently entertaining than a player  running for 1 meter before smashing into a wall?

My immediate response is yes it is, but your are grossly over-simplifying it.

First of all the men carrying the ball, in Rugby League are lighter (naturally), faster and more skillful players.

The speed of impact in Rugby League is on average much higher than in the Eton Wall game which is RaRa, due to both the faster players and the extra room our blokes have to run in.

The defences in Rugby League are far less crowded than RaRa due to their virtual abolition of the ruck, ensuring all 15 men are spread across the field, on the gain-line. 

This makes it much more difficult to defend in league and far easier in RaRa.

RL players (forwards) are more elusive than the RaRa behemoth trundle-trolls which are so predictable most decent tacklers would have no problem stopping them. Our players, are faster, side step, dummy, bump and spin, reverse pass offload etc. etc. etc whereas their dopes just haul-ass two metres or so before hitting the deck to begin again.

So yes, but for many more reasons than you first admitted, Rugby League is far far more entertaining than boring-ball.

[Leyther_Matt]

21 hours ago, MEXICO WILL PAY said:

The vast majority of the meters made in league are due to the defence having to retreat 10 meters after every tackle. Is a player running for 10 meters before smashing into a wall that much more inherently entertaining than a player  running for 1 meter before smashing into a wall?

Yes. Because there's nowt else you can do for 1 metre, whereas 10 metres (more when you consider the nature of the play the ball and being passed backwards from dummy half) creates the space for the ball to actually be passed and allow creative play rather than having 20 lumps falling in to each other while the rest of the players get bored bar the odd kick chase.

[Oxford]

21 hours ago, MEXICO WILL PAY said:

The vast majority of the meters made in league are due to the defence having to retreat 10 meters after every tackle.

Er, I'll just say this is inaccurate.

 

21 hours ago, MEXICO WILL PAY said:

Is a player running for 10 meters before smashing into a wall that much more inherently entertaining than a player  running for 1 meter before smashing into a wall?

Yes !

[EggFace]

On 15/07/2022 at 18:23, NW10LDN said:

It's Man Utd so nothing unexpected. 

And the A-League Soccer/Football grand final got 22,000 at home of the Storm.

[redjonn]

I prefer RL by miles but for sure I enjoyed the Irish v NZ RU game too.

So whilst agreeing and recognising why I prefer RL I am not daft enough not to note that some RL are poor entertaining wise and some RU games have an intensity and are entertaining.

I think RU fans would and could enjoy RL if we welcomed or targeted getting them on board.  I guess being arrogant about our game v their game ain't going to help that for sure.  Pity as it would be good to convert some and have their families/kids being more interested in our game.

 

[The Rocket]

20 hours ago, fighting irish said:

RL players (forwards) are more elusive than the RaRa behemoth trundle-trolls which are so predictable most decent tacklers would have no problem stopping them. Our players, are faster, side step, dummy, bump and spin, reverse pass offload etc. etc. etc whereas their dopes just haul-ass two metres or so before hitting the deck to begin again.

There was an intercept by an English union forward in last Saturday night`s union test, I kid you not he probably made about 2 metres before he was run down, even Junior Paulo would have run at least 10 I reckon.

[Anita Bath]

On 18/07/2022 at 00:36, EggFace said:

And the A-League Soccer/Football grand final got 22,000 at home of the Storm.

And Leeds United v Aston Villa at suncorp got 40,000

[DavidM]

10 hours ago, The Rocket said:

There was an intercept by an English union forward in last Saturday night`s union test, I kid you not he probably made about 2 metres before he was run down, even Junior Paulo would have run at least 10 I reckon.

That would have made him the top metre maker in the forwards 

[gingerjon]

On 17/07/2022 at 17:34, redjonn said:

I think RU fans would and could enjoy RL if we welcomed or targeted getting them on board

I'd say the vast majority of RU fans I've spoken to about this are hugely supportive of RL.

But if they come on here and some spanner tells them they need to say sorry for the actions of the Vichy government.

[GUBRATS]

20 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

I'd say the vast majority of RU fans I've spoken to about this are hugely supportive of RL.

But if they come on here and some spanner tells them they need to say sorry for the actions of the Vichy government.

Apologising for past misdeeds like ? 

[The Rocket]

On 15/07/2022 at 23:55, unapologetic pedant said:

In my view, the main reason this year`s Origin series was so enthralling wasn`t due to collisions or because a fight was allowed to happen without red cards. Rather it was because Ashley Klein (unusually for him) and his Touch Judges weren`t constantly looking for things to call.

It`s imperative that this "if in doubt, play-on" policy is repeated at all levels. Officials should be instructed to ignore the media, ignore the crowds, curb their paranoid instinct to call knock-ons/forward passes/obstructions, and let the game flow.

Agreed and have been making this point in every comments section of Oz media where the opportunity arose over the last week.

Watching the game again last night the number of times Klein waved play on or simply didn`t react to 50/50 calls, or as is unfortunately often the case, calling anything; forwards, backwards or in between a knock-on, I was stunned by the amount of times he played benefit of the doubt. A reaction that allowed the tension to ratchet up without unnecessary and continuous interruptions. 

The other thing that struck me watching it again was the reaction of the television commentary team, a brief pause while waiting for the call to come then quickly forgotten with no comment either way. A reaction that only confirmed how unimportant it is in the greater scheme of things it is to be too obsessive about these things.