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Will 2024 be the best NRL season ever?


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17 minutes ago, John m said:

So they are estimating.

Did you think they asked everyone in Australia?

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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17 minutes ago, John m said:

No.

i thought it was done on memberships.

It's clear that isn't the case after 2 seconds of looking.

If you want figures for members there are plenty of those knocking about.

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2 hours ago, Damien said:

 

 

Great news. I can tell you the difference over the last 20 years has been amazing. It’s increasingly popular, even more into mainstream consciousness, more positive media, less death riding, significantly more confident etc.

Those stats are also interesting because it shows the warriors have more Australian based fans than the Titans.

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2 minutes ago, Copa said:

Great news. I can tell you the difference over the last 20 years has been amazing. It’s increasingly popular, even more into mainstream consciousness, more positive media, less death riding, significantly more confident etc.

Those stats are also interesting because it shows the warriors have more Australian based fans than the Titans.

I think you see that when the Warriors play away games, the support they often get is phenomenal.

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No I don’t think it’s the best ever . I also wonder if among all the rightful lauding of Penrith , if  a team winning  four on the trot is perhaps not such a good look for a league which prides itself on its strength and depth of competition . And there’s talk already of five in a row and no one really pushing to knock them off. We’ll see 

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1 hour ago, DavidM said:

No I don’t think it’s the best ever . I also wonder if among all the rightful lauding of Penrith , if  a team winning  four on the trot is perhaps not such a good look for a league which prides itself on its strength and depth of competition . And there’s talk already of five in a row and no one really pushing to knock them off. We’ll see 

3 of penriths 4 wins have been very close. Rabbits missed a conversion to take the game to golden point, last season was one of the best finals of all time won by some magical play by the best player in the game in the last 5 minutes and this year pitted two magnificents defences against each other.

Long may we have competitive grand finals, whoever may come out on top.

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I watch the NRL in fits and starts but I found myself turning plenty of games off this season due to how one sided they were. I know the quality of player is higher in Australia, with more superstars and more depth but I've enjoyed our play off series far more. The games (bar Wigan and Leigh) have been incredibly tight and tense, with points at a premium. Something about NRL play off games with 50/60+ points and 30 point winning margins seemed like a regression. 

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In terms of crowds, there is certainly a case that it's better than ever before.

I didn't enjoy 2024 as much as other years though. I found myself snoozing during some of the Finals, which doesn't say much for how tight or engrossing they were.

Too predictable and too many blow-outs. Penrith and Melbourne miles ahead with the Roosters as third strongest.

I did enjoy watching Canterbury's resurgence, although they ultimately failed when it mattered.

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Seems the NL Authorities agree me with and a few others in this thread:-

Quote
‘Tunnel ball’ tactic, Bunker process under spotlight as NRL’s email to 17 clubs revealed
Fox League from Fox Sports
The NRL has emailed all 17 clubs for feedback regarding potential changes to the play-the-ball and the Bunker and judicial process ahead of the 2025 season.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported the NRL are trying to address a number of contentious issues with clubs, including players not attempting to strike the ball with their foot and Bunker decision making.
The NRL has sought suggestions on how it can improve on-field officiating, bunker decisions, the match review committee, the judiciary system and concussion protocols.
Clubs exploiting the play-the-ball to speed up the ruck is high on the agenda, with the NRL privately conceding it will have to address its deterioration over the 2024 season.
NRL players were openly stepping over the ball and making no effort to strike it in a bid to speed up the ruck.
This tactic was most notable in a Panthers’ comeback win over the Eels in August, that saw them score three consecutive tries after playing the ball legitimately once in 11 tackles.
The game’s biggest superstar Nathan Cleary and teammates Isaah Yeo and Brian To’o made little to no effort to strike the ball with their foot.
Paul Crawley was critical of the tactic on NRL 360.
“I reckon that’s coached to speed up the play the ball,” Crawley said on NRL 360.
“It’s basically tunnel ball”.

 

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On 07/10/2024 at 17:42, DavidM said:

No I don’t think it’s the best ever . I also wonder if among all the rightful lauding of Penrith , if  a team winning  four on the trot is perhaps not such a good look for a league which prides itself on its strength and depth of competition . And there’s talk already of five in a row and no one really pushing to knock them off. We’ll see 

Penrith for me are nowhere near the best ever. the most methodical, organised and structured, perhaps. But their "game" is about wearing down the opposition with attritional, ridiculously high speed sets, no respite etc.

I know thats a basis for many teams tactics over the decades, but the extremes they have taken it to using the benefit of the anything goes play the balls has taken away a lot of the competition for me. I do love seeing their defence, its outstanding. But the attacking game is very basic and all about percentages.

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27 minutes ago, dkw said:

Penrith for me are nowhere near the best ever. the most methodical, organised and structured, perhaps. But their "game" is about wearing down the opposition with attritional, ridiculously high speed sets, no respite etc.

I know thats a basis for many teams tactics over the decades, but the extremes they have taken it to using the benefit of the anything goes play the balls has taken away a lot of the competition for me. I do love seeing their defence, its outstanding. But the attacking game is very basic and all about percentages.

I very much agree. I appreciate Penrith's intense application to process, but it is much too regimented and machine-like to make them a team that I would cheer on fulsomely.

I didn't fall in love and first get drawn into watching football over near-robots playing the percentages for 80 minutes.

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15 hours ago, Damien said:

 

 

He makes it sound as though the NRL has only recently supplanted fumbleball as Oz`s most watch sport:

"Rugby League has dethroned the afl as Australia`s most watch television sport."

When in fact we`ve been on top now for about 6 years and preceding that there was only about 5 or 6 years where the afl had dominated.

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Hot on the heels of signing Red Bull as the NRL`s official sports energy drink partner comes a tie up with another multi-billion dollar company.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA5PsnDS4F7/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

How cool is that ad.

Edited by The Rocket
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54 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

He makes it sound as though the NRL has only recently supplanted fumbleball as Oz`s most watch sport:

"Rugby League has dethroned the afl as Australia`s most watch television sport."

When in fact we`ve been on top now for about 6 years and preceding that there was only about 5 or 6 years where the afl had dominated.

With one less game per week as well. NRL certainly has been outrating AFLs weekly television audiences for a long time.

In saying that, I think the Saturday daytime AFL GF still pulls in superior ratings to the prime time Sunday evening NRL GF. Not sure about this year.

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45 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Hot on the heels of signing Red Bull as the NRL`s official sports energy drink partner comes a tie up with another multi-billion dollar company.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA5PsnDS4F7/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

How cool is that ad.

That ad will work with the kids I think. Been a great year for the NRL.

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9 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Hot on the heels of signing Red Bull as the NRL`s official sports energy drink partner comes a tie up with another multi-billion dollar company.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA5PsnDS4F7/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

How cool is that ad.

Red Bull, JD Sports … the NRL seems to be flying with those sponsors coming on board.

To think it wasn’t that long ago the NRL was considered so poisoned by some that a children’s cancer charity had to be convinced into allowing their name to be on a bulldog’s jersey for free.

 

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10 hours ago, The Rocket said:

He makes it sound as though the NRL has only recently supplanted fumbleball as Oz`s most watch sport:

"Rugby League has dethroned the afl as Australia`s most watch television sport."

When in fact we`ve been on top now for about 6 years and preceding that there was only about 5 or 6 years where the afl had dominated.

Our mate at sportsindustry has a habit of posting quotes without quotation marks.

Think the "dethroned" line comes from the Telegraph article.

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1 hour ago, Copa said:

Red Bull, JD Sports … the NRL seems to be flying with those sponsors coming on board.

To think it wasn’t that long ago the NRL was considered so poisoned by some that a children’s cancer charity had to be convinced into allowing their name to be on a bulldog’s jersey for free.

 

There was a CEO of a large financial lender who told me about 5 years ago he would never sponsor in RL again after his first time went sour citing player behaviour as the problem.

Well they just completed their second year of being a premier partner of a NRL club.

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3 hours ago, Copa said:

Red Bull, JD Sports … the NRL seems to be flying with those sponsors coming on board.

Speaking of flying did you see one of the Red Bull stunt pilots put on an aerial show over Bondi beach last week to coincide with the announcement of the tie-up with that company. It was held just prior to the NRL Beach Touch Football finals that were being held there. I mean, talk about marketing gold.

It`s no surprise that I stumbled upon an article in some magazine called the Diplomatic Weekly or something last week that had a big article on the NRL`s push into the Pacific, it`s great to see the brand getting such widespread reach and hopefully recognition.

 

Edited by The Rocket
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