Rugby League Australia most popular sport?

[EggFace]

On 08/12/2022 at 00:33, Sports Prophet said:

I can tell you there are tens of thousands of AFL fans that may not be turning off, but equally dissatisfied with how the sport is played and officiated these days. Me being one of them. A steady decline over the last ten years which has steepened in my opinion in the last five. 

The AFL certainly have far bigger challenges than the NRL in this regard and they appear harder to solve than when the NRL has them.

Does AFL have cross over fans to NRL and vice versa

Edited December 9, 2022 by EggFace

[EggFace]

30 minutes ago, Tosh said:

I can’t see a central coast team entering the NRL due to its small population, lack of corporate dollars potential and the already bloated NSW representation.

Replace a Sydney to Central Coast

[MidlandsJohn]

I might be way off here but does part of AFL's popularity have to do with its reach in rural areas that NRL doesn't have?

 

Every so often I'll watch AFL and the commentators will highlight a player from some country town in the ###### end of nowhere (said "town" with a population of 300) or some Aboriginal settlement who has made it to the top level, plus you have the pathway of AFL/State leagues/Amateur regional/country leagues.

 

Whereas with NRL, what sort of pull does it have on fans away from the state capitals/major cities?

[Sports Prophet]

28 minutes ago, MidlandsJohn said:

I might be way off here but does part of AFL's popularity have to do with its reach in rural areas that NRL doesn't have?

 

Every so often I'll watch AFL and the commentators will highlight a player from some country town in the ###### end of nowhere (said "town" with a population of 300) or some Aboriginal settlement who has made it to the top level, plus you have the pathway of AFL/State leagues/Amateur regional/country leagues.

 

Whereas with NRL, what sort of pull does it have on fans away from the state capitals/major cities?

RL has a tremendous amount of popularity in the country towns of NSW and Qld. No more or less fanatical than AFL in rural areas of the other states. NT is definitely an AFL state as is the Tiwi Islands. There is a reasonably strong Australian Rules league with NT clubs flooded with Aboriginal players. Teams in their entirety almost.

I don’t think there is any correlation that you can say favours either AFL or NRL to suit any side of the discussion. 

[Sports Prophet]

2 hours ago, EggFace said:

Does AFL have cross over fans to NRL and vice versa

Sure. Both ways. It’s just this being a RL forum, it’s far more parochial for RL.

In saying that, I think the anti AFL brigade is stronger among NRL communities in NSW and Qld, than the anti NRL brigade in communities in SA, NT and WA. I find people in WA and SA that if they don’t like RL, then that’s about it, there is no hate, they just don’t care about it.

Vic is very parochial and the Storm have done a marvellous job in a volatile market. They have built a club which in 2022 is very much part of the Melbourne fabric. Equally the Swans in Sydney and to a lesser degree, the Lions in Brisbane.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Sports Prophet

[Sports Prophet]

2 hours ago, EggFace said:

Replace a Sydney to Central Coast

I would think a relocation is the only way CC gets a club. Not a forced one either.

[Sports Prophet]

8 hours ago, Damien said:

I think NZ2 and Perth are a no brainer for the next 2 spots. I think there is heaps of talent for a 2nd NZ team. I would like to see both fairly quickly (none of this waiting a decade a time nonsense to add a team). I think both would be a great success and push the game onward and upward. I feel NZ2 would be transformational for NZ RL and really take the fight to RU.

I just cant see PNG having a team and think there will be a lot of demand within Australia for a 20th team (presuming those two get the 18th and 19th spots). The only way it will happen is if there is some huge political agenda bankrolling the whole thing. That may happen but I just cant see it. I suspect after a few additions from elsewhere that NSW, in the form of a Central Coast team at Gosford, will probably get another team. I don't agree with that but just think RL politics will come into play at some point.

Either way I'd love to see 20 teams asap. I certainly think the players and support for it is there and it will see RL truly dominate the region.

You are probably right. A PNG club will be a huge financial burden. But then again, if the return on investment is a reasonably grown player pool, then perhaps the investment is worth it. If there was a joined PNG and Aus national government strategy to part finance a club for 10-15 years, it would probably be worth a shot. Give the club plenty of time to become sustainable.

Biggest difficulty I see would be contracting the 15 or more non nationals they would require to be competitive for the first 10 years.

If I was one of the Bears faithful, I would be making the best business case possible for a return to the CC, none of this country or joined WA nonsense.

[Tosh]

6 hours ago, EggFace said:

Replace a Sydney to Central Coast

The logical choice would have been the manly sea Eagles but they are spending tens of millions of dollars on a new centre of excellence and a new stand.

[Tosh]

3 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

You are probably right. A PNG club will be a huge financial burden. But then again, if the return on investment is a reasonably grown player pool, then perhaps the investment is worth it. If there was a joined PNG and Aus national government strategy to part finance a club for 10-15 years, it would probably be worth a shot. Give the club plenty of time to become sustainable.

Biggest difficulty I see would be contracting the 15 or more non nationals they would require to be competitive for the first 10 years.

If I was one of the Bears faithful, I would be making the best business case possible for a return to the CC, none of this country or joined WA nonsense.

A PNG NRL franchise is too risky all around for both on and off the field reasons and their are far too many less risky options in Perth, Queensland and New Zealand and maybe even Adelaide or Melbourne 2 etc.

[eal]

On 07/12/2022 at 23:55, Young Blood said:

I get that phenomenon in all sports but most people I speak like the 6 again rule while the afl fans I speak seem unhappy about the game saying it was better 5 years ago 

The AFL just had what was widely regarded as the best finals series this century. While 2020 and 2021 were particularly tough on viewers, some rule adjustments ahead of 2022 made all the difference and the season in general was deemed to be the best football played in a long time. The days of slow ball movement and coaches flooding the defensive half with players seemed to be largely gone.

The six again rule in the NRL initially provided some exhilarating play - I remember the first few weeks post-lockdown were the most I have enjoyed RL since the 1990s - but since then coaches figured out how to exploit the rule and I've begun to wonder if the game would look better without it.

Edited December 10, 2022 by eal

[The Rocket]

2 minutes ago, eal said:

The AFL just had what was widely regarded as the best finals series this century

According to who ... the afl ?  the bits that I saw were just the usual fumbling and bumbling up and down the field, often almost comical.

[gingerjon]

2 hours ago, eal said:

The AFL just had what was widely regarded as the best finals series this century.

Didn't know you were a Geelong fan as well.

[ATLANTISMAN]

The great thing about any relocation of a Sydney club is that the fans still get the chance to watch their team in Sydney on a regular basis.

Feel sorry for the Bears great club and North Sydney Oval has to be one of the most beautiful rugby league grounds ever.

 

Paul

[Pulga]

10 hours ago, MidlandsJohn said:

I might be way off here but does part of AFL's popularity have to do with its reach in rural areas that NRL doesn't have?

 

Every so often I'll watch AFL and the commentators will highlight a player from some country town in the ###### end of nowhere (said "town" with a population of 300) or some Aboriginal settlement who has made it to the top level, plus you have the pathway of AFL/State leagues/Amateur regional/country leagues.

 

Whereas with NRL, what sort of pull does it have on fans away from the state capitals/major cities?

It's the opposite. The NRL gets a far larger comparative share of the TV ratings outside the 5-City metro figures.

 

[Pulga]

On 08/12/2022 at 10:33, Sports Prophet said:

I can tell you there are tens of thousands of AFL fans that may not be turning off, but equally dissatisfied with how the sport is played and officiated these days. Me being one of them. A steady decline over the last ten years which has steepened in my opinion in the last five. 

The AFL certainly have far bigger challenges than the NRL in this regard and they appear harder to solve than when the NRL has them.

I have a theory that when COVID killed crowds people realised how terrible the game itself is. The opposite is true for RL. Everyone was commenting on being able to hear the collisions.

[Young Blood]

7 hours ago, eal said:

The AFL just had what was widely regarded as the best finals series this century. While 2020 and 2021 were particularly tough on viewers, some rule adjustments ahead of 2022 made all the difference and the season in general was deemed to be the best football played in a long time. The days of slow ball movement and coaches flooding the defensive half with players seemed to be largely gone.

The six again rule in the NRL initially provided some exhilarating play - I remember the first few weeks post-lockdown were the most I have enjoyed RL since the 1990s - but since then coaches figured out how to exploit the rule and I've begun to wonder if the game would look better without it.

What the Grand Final was over in 15 minutes. 

[EggFace]

9 hours ago, Tosh said:

The logical choice would have been the manly sea Eagles but they are spending tens of millions of dollars on a new centre of excellence and a new stand.

How about Souths or Canterbury ?

[Sports Prophet]

10 hours ago, Tosh said:

The logical choice would have been the manly sea Eagles but they are spending tens of millions of dollars on a new centre of excellence and a new stand.

Manly won’t go anywhere and the NRL would do anything to stop them.

[eal]

1 hour ago, Young Blood said:

What the Grand Final was over in 15 minutes. 

Finals series is more than just the Grand Final. The first week of the finals was particularly epic.

[Sports Prophet]

On 10/12/2022 at 20:50, EggFace said:

How about Souths or Canterbury ?

Frankly, I don’t think there is any suitable club to move. Every Sydney club has their own strength and value to the competition.

Edited December 11, 2022 by Sports Prophet

[Big Picture]

6 hours ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

The great thing about any relocation of a Sydney club is that the fans still get the chance to watch their team in Sydney on a regular basis.

Feel sorry for the Bears great club and North Sydney Oval has to be one of the most beautiful rugby league grounds ever.

 

Paul

If any club relocates, then the AFL shows how it should be done, i.e. lock, stock and barrel as was the case with both South Melbourne and Fitzroy.  Both play in Melbourne plenty of times every season apart from their home matches which naturally are all in Sydney and Brisbane respectively, and those Melbourne matches let their old fans see them play live if they want.

True, North Sydney Oval was a great place for matches based on what I've seen on videos of matches played there.

[anjado]

2 hours ago, EggFace said:

How about Souths or Canterbury ?

Canterbury are probably the most supported club in Sydney. Souths rejected any notion of a merger no one would accept them going to the Central Coast. 

Manly are hated by everyone and just aren't a team that can be merged. 

Basically the way to fix it is build a time machine discuss with the morons who came up with the crooked criteria to base it with some form of long term planning rather than let the club's to decide. 

They had the perfect opportunity to have 6 full time Sydney clubs with 2 part time Sydney clubs. All in their own unique geographical area with their own junior bases and bigger fan bases. 

The Bears being thrown out of the comp was a travesty. 

They put no thought into future planning and honestly if they had done the amalgamations properly Rugby League would be in a much stronger position. 

 

 

[Sports Prophet]

17 hours ago, anjado said:

Basically the way to fix it is build a time machine discuss with the morons who came up with the crooked criteria to base it with some form of long term planning rather than let the club's to decide. 

They had the perfect opportunity to have 6 full time Sydney clubs with 2 part time Sydney clubs. All in their own unique geographical area with their own junior bases and bigger fan bases. 

 

What does this 6 FT and 2 PT Sydney system look like and when was the perfect opportunity to create it?

[The Rocket]

I saw some talk on relocations. St. George making plans for the future in the south.

Illawarra kicking goals at Dragons' centre of excellence | NSW Government

St George Illawarra Dragons has submitted the development application for its new Community and High Performance Centre (CHPC) at the University of Wollongong’s (UOW) Innovation Campus.

Treasurer Matt Kean said the NSW Government is investing $40 million in the project, which will set a new benchmark for community, education and sporting excellence.

“This centre will also house a merchandise zone as well as the club’s administration offices, bringing the Dragons’ entire operations into one location.”

Minister for Sport Alister Henskens said the project is expected to create 229 new jobs during construction and support more than 60 new full-time jobs once operational.

“The Illawarra is a traditional rugby league stronghold, and this new facility will foster the next generation of talent from across the region,” Mr Henskens said.

“It will build on the 20 different programs and more than 114,000 community members currently engaging with St George Illawarra each year, and be a catalyst for increased female participation in sport.”

The project is being funded by the NSW Government.

Good to see it being based at a tertiary institution, League needs the respectability of being more closely associated with these types of bodies.

[unapologetic pedant]

On 10/12/2022 at 05:11, The Rocket said:

According to who ... the afl ?  the bits that I saw were just the usual fumbling and bumbling up and down the field, often almost comical.

Would have continued to overlook this but for the namecheck on another thread.

Should be "According to whom". In this construction AFL (or another noun) is the object of a preposition. It has nothing to do with whether AFL is regarded as singular or plural. 

Consider this an early Christmas present. You deserve it.

Whatever happened to The Great Dane? He took misunderstanding of the difference between "who" and "whom" to another level.