Will Melbourne really embrace the Rebels?
Roar Guru By Paul J, 13 Jan 2010 The Crowd is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- AFL, ARU, Melbourne Rebels, melbourne rugby, Rugby Union, Super 15, Super Rugby 2011
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Australian rugby did not have its finest year in 2009. It was a year that will not want to be remembered and celebrated like 1984 or 1999.
There was though one great announcement for rugby in Australia last year: the imminent introduction of the fifth Australian Super rugby team – the Melbourne Rebels.
Naturally with any announcement of a new sporting venture comes speculation as to the success that it may expect.
Predictions for the Rebels fortunes can not be based on the standard of the international game. Rugby is light years ahead of rugby league in representation overseas but this has never had a flow on effect here at home.
And nor can you predict that league will dominate rugby in Melbourne just because it has done so in Queensland and NSW.
It would seem the opinion of your average St George or Waratahs fan as to which rugby code is exciting and which is boring is redundant when discussing the Rebels.
We are talking about Melbourne here – the AFL capital of Australia, a giant fishbowl where AFL is a religion and the other codes exist only on the peripheral.
Well not quite = football does come in at a distant second. Then there is a further gap and you will find the rugby codes languishing at the bottom of the barrel.
Perhaps the Rebels will be able to learn from the experiences of the Storm when it comes to trying to crack the tough Melbourne sporting nutshell.
Swiping Storm CEO Brian Waldron is a great first step.
Waldron will not be able to give the Rebels the magic secret to profitability in Melbourne – unless he has kept this to himself during his time at the Storm – but he will be able to give a realistic idea of the monumental challenge facing the Rebels in AFL land.
It will be fascinating to see how the rugby codes go head to head on the relatively clean slate that is Melbourne, competing on an even playing field.
But one question is, is it an even playing field?
The Storm had to start from nothing; the Rebels will have the advantage of having the opportunity to build on the existing rugby community in Melbourne that has been in existence for a century.
However, this community is modest when compared to rugby communities in NSW and QLD. Victorians as a whole were not exactly crying out for their own rugby team.
The VRU was not even deemed strong enough by the ARU to run their own Super franchise and consequently the Rebels are the first Australian Super franchise to have private ownership.
Private ownership may be new to Super rugby in Australia but the NRL currently has six privately owned clubs. (Ironically it will soon be seven as the Melbourne Storm are in the process of changing hands from News Ltd to private owners).
Is reliance on private ownership of major consequence to the Rebels?
To answer this, we can look at the two main ingredients needed with a new team or franchise: time and money.
It will take time for the Rebels to take hold in Victoria, to form the own nice little niche.
The Storm are still considered quite young having been in existence for 11 years (although they were born out of adversary – the Super league war – and have been for the most part neglected by the NRL).
Importantly the NRL views the Storm as a long term work in process, in the same way that the AFL will view Western Sydney and the Gold Coast. The ARU will be no different with the Rebels.
The real challenge for the Rebels will be money.
Simply put, the ARU is not in the same league (excuse the pun) as the NRL and AFL in terms of popularity and therefore finances to support new teams.
The AFL wants $1 billion for their next TV broadcast deal and the NRL having slightly superior accumulative TV viewing figures this year means they will be asking for something similar.
The ARU are still fighting to get Super Rugby on to FTA.
A smaller ARU bank balance places more pressure on the Rebels to become profitable in the short term than will be placed on the Storm or Western Sydney.
And the Rebels private owners are not concerned with administering the game of rugby. They are investors and like any other investors their primary goal is to make money, pure and simple.
Another factor was the state of the games in 2009.
The two referee system in the NRL has cleaned up the ruck allowing a faster flowing game and the viewers have tuned in.
Rugby is unfortunately currently on an opposing trend with heated discussions between fans in regards to the game becoming too defensive, having too much kicking and too much power in the hands of the referee.
Where has the beautiful running game they play in heaven gone?
If these suggested problems facing the state of play in modern rugby are valid they will affect the Rebels fortunes as much as any other Australian Super rugby team.
In fact, they will hurt the Rebels more as the Rebels will be relying on converting new fans, not testing the patience of the faithful.
The average rugby fan would feel far more confident in their predictions for the fate of the Rebels if rugby could be the running game again and the ARU had just signed a lucrative FTA TV contract.
This will most likely not be the case in the Rebels immediate future.
This is not a scenario that the ARU – or more importantly the private owners – can afford to imagine in the medium to long term.
Will Melbourne embrace the Rebels? The reality is that the future of the Rebels is not in the hands of your average rugby fan.
Its future lies in the hands of the good people of Melbourne and the patience of the private owners.
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January 13th 2010 @ 8:17am
southernwaratah said | January 13th 2010 @ 8:17am | Report comment
There’s plenty of us Rugby ex-pat fans living in Melbourne to draw a crowd
January 13th 2010 @ 8:28am
kingplaymaker said | January 13th 2010 @ 8:28am | Report comment
It’s hard to predict how the Melbourne public will react because it’s difficult to assess how far the kind of fans who attend Wallabies matches might be converted into Super rugby fans. The same fans probably make up a large quantity of the Storm’s crowds.
I would say it will probably work out well: If a vast stadium can be filled for an international match in a city, there are probably the rugby fans there to fill a smaller Super stadium.
As for attracting casual viewers, star quality is probably the big card the Rebels will play: I imagine the team will bring as many different types of superstars together as possible: perhaps a third Wallabies, a third big foreign stars, and a third league stars. Star power, in this case, is even more important than the current quality of the players.
This might well draw in casual spectators, and so long as the team wins more often than, say, the Queensland Reds, it should retain them.
So all is all I think it will be a big success
January 13th 2010 @ 8:38am
Jay said | January 13th 2010 @ 8:38am | Report comment
a very good objective article.
i think the only component missing in the rebels set-up (apart from the players) is the FTA exposure. Also schedulling might be a problem.. If their road trips to SA last one month, that is going to cause a lot of inconvience in terms of supporters and following. I understand the schedule will be updated to include more local derbies, so maybe this will be avoided.
It will be interesting to see how this goes. The objective melbourne viewers with no background in rugby or RL may find following RL easier, but the proof will be in the pudding.
January 13th 2010 @ 9:09am
Brett McKay said | January 13th 2010 @ 9:09am | Report comment
Jay, month-long trips to South Africa will be avoided in the S15 conference set-up. The Australian teams will play each other home-and-away (8 games), and then 4 each of the NZ and SA teams with two home and two away (4H, 4A, 16 games in total before the finals). So at worst, an Aust team would only be in the Republic for two weeks, and may or may not “tour” NZ at all…
January 13th 2010 @ 8:40am
Cameron of Melbourne said | January 13th 2010 @ 8:40am | Report comment
I live in Melbourne and I am a big rugby (real rugby) fan. And I know quite a few of my mates will be buying memberships for the rugby team. One of them is a big Irish rugby fan. As southernwaratahs said there’s a lot of Kiwi,PI,Saffer,Irish, Britsh and Argie expats here in Melbourne who will have a keen interest in this rugby team. But the majority of the Rebels fans will be local aussies.
Anyone who knows about the Melbourne rugby scene knows there are passionate rugby fans although the nubmers won’t be as big as in NSW and QLD but there’s still a significant rugby following. The Weary Dunlop rugby lunches run by the VRU are some of the biggest attended rugby lunches in Australia. I think last time they had over 500 people attend. And the tickets aren’t cheap either.
Also Rebels ARC team was one of the better supported teams in ARC despite the fact that Melbourne is not a traditional rugby heartleand and we didn’t have a professional rugby team like the other states. The rugby tests held here average close to 50K. Some people might say last time Italy played Wallabies they only got 20K. Well I doubt Italy playing Wallabies in other cities would have got big crowds either. People aren’t stupid, you are not going to get a big crowd against a team like Italy. There’s a Bledisloe cup game in Melbourne this year (great timing) and watch the tickets get sold out within days, if not hours.
Rugby will also get good corporate support. All in all I think this rugby team will get good support and will be succes. Crowd averages around 20K are probably realistic.
January 13th 2010 @ 9:23am
Mike G said | January 13th 2010 @ 9:23am | Report comment
Re FTA exposure, hasn’t it already been reported that ONE HD are looking for local content and that they see S15 as being a good fit for them? In my mind, this would be the ideal solution. That may mean a split of games between FS & ONE, or not…DEpends on whether ONE wanted to buy the lot…Personally I hate the game sharing deals that have been done between various codes over the last 10 years…If ONE could buy the rights for all the games, & they are contracted to play them all LIVE, then that would be sensational for the game & I guess the broadcaster…Perhaps not so good for FS though!!
January 13th 2010 @ 10:04am
Jay said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:04am | Report comment
There was also talk about One HD trying to get some regular NRL games when the next tv deal is up as well. Channel ten are not in the best of health financially, so I doubt anything significant will happen on the front for either S15s or NRL.
Either way I think John “show me the money” O’neil will resign with Fox – end of the day, Im sure they will pay the most (even though it won’t be in the interest of the game).
January 13th 2010 @ 10:10am
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:10am | Report comment
It comes down to how the NRL sells the rights. I believe there exists an opportunity to sell via timeslots/days. Channel 10 may want to go after say Monday night or a Sunday afternoon, or even an early Saturday night game. It wouldn’t cost them as much as going for all the NRL rights.
January 13th 2010 @ 9:39am
chief said | January 13th 2010 @ 9:39am | Report comment
I think that this Rugby franchise in Melbourne will be a success. Can they snatch some of the Storm players, and other league players, as well as a couple of high profile International Players. A lot of the League supporters will probably make the move to Union as well, sounds unlikely, but Melbourne League fans are solely based on the success of the team, with very few league supporters actually ritually showing up each week. For Union in Melbourne it is different, very different. They have it at school based level as well as AFL. They had 4 players in the Australian Schoolboys this year, which is a pretty good feat.
Melbourne team will succeed, it just will struggle to be embraced by the average AFL fan.
January 13th 2010 @ 9:53am
Jay said | January 13th 2010 @ 9:53am | Report comment
I fail to see why the talk turns to league players playing for the rebels.
People keep mentioning how strong the rubgy community is down there, with their private school culture and representation in wallaby team – if that is the case, why the need to have a quota reserved for league players? I understand there will be some players who genuinely want to come across (Barnes, Elsom), but actively recruiting league players seems rather condradictory to what many RU people state about the health of their game in Australia.
January 13th 2010 @ 9:58am
Cameron of Melbourne said | January 13th 2010 @ 9:58am | Report comment
Jay go trolling somewhere else.
Answer me this. Why do NRL go after young rugby players? (you do realise there’s quite a few NRL players with rugby backgrounds) Is it becasue league doesn’t have enough talent? No..becasue like rugby scouts looking out for good young league players, league look for young rugby players who could excel in league.
January 13th 2010 @ 11:49am
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:49am | Report comment
Cameron, Union is looking at established League players. It’s been quite some time that League has done that to Union, League has the Toyota Cup which they try and get the best talent into to develop (Be it a League, Union or whatever other sporting background).
The Toyota Cup is also where Union should be targetting those who were recruited from schoolboy Union, and got the professional training in League.
Did you realise that Melbourne Storm won the Toyota Cup last year, with home grown Victorians in the side? People that the Rebels should have been targetting.
January 13th 2010 @ 11:56am
Roger said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:56am | Report comment
Um… DOW I think if you look long and close at NSW and QLD schoolboy carnivals you will see 3 to 1 League to Union Scouts there.
There are probably 12 union contracts pa to schoolboys nationally with a high risk if they falter there is no more work unless the go OS.
League clubs can throw $50K Toyoya Cup contracts at 10 times as many players pa with a much bigger chance they can move from club to club and build a career in Australia.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:03pm
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:03pm | Report comment
Whose fault is that? Union needs to establish genuine pathways for these players. An U23 National comp is probably the right start.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:15pm
rugbyfuture said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:15pm | Report comment
I have to agree with dogs, Rugby needs a clearer proffesional pathway, so that even those not completely dedicated to RU can easily gain some momentum at playing RU.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:50pm
Jim Wilson said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:50pm | Report comment
It’s not all that unusual crowd to increase when their team is successful.
However, the Rebels in their ARC year had a win/loss ration of 5/2 in the regular season (& they even played in the GF). But their home crowds dropped every game. Their final home grame attracted barely 1700 spectators.
January 15th 2010 @ 7:12am
Bill Baxter said | January 15th 2010 @ 7:12am | Report comment
Why would the average AFL fan embrace Rugby Union more than Rugby League?. What would attract those AFL fans who currently do watch Rugby League to a game where the number of tries in a game are exceeded by the number of penalty goals?. Not to mention the countless reforming of scrums!!!.
January 15th 2010 @ 7:20am
Foxy Loxy said | January 15th 2010 @ 7:20am | Report comment
Precisely Bill Baxter. Why would anyone that is used to riding in a V8 of a rugby code want to suddenly try out a P76 rugby code, just because it comes with a big boot?
January 15th 2010 @ 7:24pm
Spencer said | January 15th 2010 @ 7:24pm | Report comment
There is a lot to be said for a big boot!
BTW – The P76 also had a V8.
January 13th 2010 @ 9:45am
Cameron of Melbourne said | January 13th 2010 @ 9:45am | Report comment
FTA exposure is not necessary for a team to be successful in a city. A-league doesn’t have any games on FTA tv yet the Melbourne victory are doing quite well with crowds. Similarly Brumbies are well supported without having FTA exposure. It’s all about marketing and how successful the team is on the field. I am so glad Harold Mitchell is involved with the Melbourne Rugby team since he’s in the media business. I think we should see Rugby get a lot more coverage here in Melbourne in the future.
Ideally I would like to see at least a couple of delayed games on FTA tv. I think O’Neill a while ago said they were looking at this so hopefully they can negotiate something. But most of the games if not all will be live on foxtel as News Ltd brings a lot of money to SANZAR.
January 13th 2010 @ 10:03am
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:03am | Report comment
jay, its only for promotional purpose and a bit of media attention on and off the field. the rebels aren’t going to get all the wallabies and all blacks to play for them.
there is a a large rugby commuinty in melbourne but i don’t think the players will be ready to step to super rugby in 2011.
January 13th 2010 @ 10:13am
ricardo said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:13am | Report comment
there are dozens of rugby players running round in the islands better than most super 14 players in nz and aust..put lolo lui at 1st 5 or full back..put pesamino on one wing and alesana tuilagi on the other..prob get big henry tuilagi at no. 8..but that’s just my bias, i’m samoan..
January 13th 2010 @ 10:35am
chief said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:35am | Report comment
Tuiliagi is not that good. He fails to actively be a dominant player in Europe, especially in the Heikeken Cup, other wingers constantly roll over him. Not to add how undisciplined he is.. And yes Ricardo you are incredibly bias. We should invest in League players, because the pride that a lot of them want to hold. Union is an International game, and you get pride for playing for Australia in Union. Not so much like in league. You can play against England at Twickenham in front of 80,000 people or you can play for the Kangaroos against England next door at the Stoop in front of 10,000 people. It is national pride.
Thurston has said that, and a lot of other League players have thought and desired this. But like League a bit better, and are worried, also cash comes into the fray, with test match payments being extravagant. And the player support network being a lot better.
January 13th 2010 @ 10:43am
ricardo said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:43am | Report comment
he a much better winger than pedestrian rokocoko..and roko’s an all black..
January 13th 2010 @ 11:35am
anopinion said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:35am | Report comment
The biggest call ever. Better than Rokocoko….
January 13th 2010 @ 11:46am
ricardo said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:46am | Report comment
yea, better than roko..i doubt roko would crack it in the HC..he’s always been crap in super rugby..how many tries has he scored the last three super rugby seasons..two?
January 13th 2010 @ 12:12pm
ricardo said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:12pm | Report comment
furthermore..a winger is only as good as the inside centers that feed him good ball..most of roko’s AB tries came from good feedoffs from Tana and the likes..he’s certainly no shane williams or a habana..
January 14th 2010 @ 9:15am
Dean Pantio said | January 14th 2010 @ 9:15am | Report comment
Give it a rest. Josevata has been playing for the woeful Blues, but has still managed to score ~27 tries. How many other people have scored 45 tries for the All Blacks?
January 13th 2010 @ 12:37pm
True Tah said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:37pm | Report comment
ricardo,
Digby Ioane is over all those guys, hes a hard player, last season when the Reds played the Blues, Rokocoko was looking for a place to hide whenever Digby had the ball. Plus he has some Victorian rugby background, would be a good signing.
And I even believe he has Samoan blood in him!!
January 14th 2010 @ 9:37am
Sam Taulelei said | January 14th 2010 @ 9:37am | Report comment
Really? that many, I’m Samoan too and proud of my heritage and while I acknowledge that Samoans and Pacific Islanders in general inherently have a lot of natural ability and talent for rugby and league, that alone is not enough to survive and excel at a higher level than Super 14 or the European club competitions.
As a younger man I’ve played with and against several former Manu Samoa internationals and All Blacks at schoolboy and club level and without a doubt the main reason why they excelled (and they admit to it as well) is because of the training and development in the NZ system. Even the greatest of them all Michael Jones wouldn’t have been the player he became without playing in NZ.
I see many talented kids playing rugby when I return to the islands and some of them gain scholarships to Australian and NZ schools, two of my nephews as an example. Unfortunately all that potential hasn’t yet been realised, but I’m still hopeful.
January 13th 2010 @ 10:23am
craig said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:23am | Report comment
I give Rugby in Melbourne 4 years before it goes bust. It’s so bloody boring to watch! Only private school try-hards watch it.
I haven’t watched a game in 4 years and I went to a GPS school in Brisbane and played Rugby for 6 years.
Who cares if some South African team you’ve never heard of is playing the Rebels. When you have Calton V Collingwood,
Storm V Brisbane or Victory V Sydney FC. People in NSW and QLD are turning away from the game why would Melbourne people take it up. The Rebels will get 25,000 to the first game or two then 3000-5000 a game when people in Melbourne see there is a big difference between the NRL and Rugby.
January 13th 2010 @ 10:29am
Jay said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:29am | Report comment
everyone is entitled to their opinion. Im a league fan through and through, but love watching rugby internationals between top tier nations. not much interest in s.14s though.
rugby seems to be a game that really takes some time before you develop some type of understanding. I followed RL mostly and found that I took to and developed an understanding of AFL (member of swans 05 bandwagon) quicker than rugby. but its still a great game.
January 13th 2010 @ 10:34am
ricardo said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:34am | Report comment
yea rugby league is really interesting..one tackle..hump the grass..yawn..repeat five times then kick..aussie rules? let’s not even go there..they tried to set up a competition here a while ago..nobody interested in that rubbish game..this union country..
January 13th 2010 @ 10:45am
Matt S said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:45am | Report comment
Ah Richardo-welcome friend from the land of Argentine Dictatorships and where union certainly was the favoured sport of Argentina’s elite.
January 13th 2010 @ 10:53am
Jay said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:53am | Report comment
what’s union country? this website, yes perhaps.
January 13th 2010 @ 10:57am
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:57am | Report comment
i think he was reffering to league and rugby in victoria.
January 13th 2010 @ 10:59am
The Phantom said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:59am | Report comment
Samoa
January 13th 2010 @ 10:37am
ohtani's jacket said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:37am | Report comment
I agree that there will be a huge drop off in crowd numbers in the first season, but it’s not like the Storm are an exciting team to watch. They’re as boring as any other modern day league team.
January 13th 2010 @ 10:51am
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:51am | Report comment
its exciting stuff that its the national sports in more countries than rugby league and its exciting stuff that why its the number one team contact sport on the planet.
January 13th 2010 @ 11:06am
Foxy Loxy said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:06am | Report comment
Where is rugby the national sport? NZ it is, that’s one. It isn’t tops in Wales ahead of soccer. Soccer is bigger in SA. The Pacific nations population wouldn’t top Brisbane’s population.
” the number one team contact sport on the planet” Whoa boy. The NFL has more professional players, television audiences and total annual crowds than the world of professional rugby.
January 13th 2010 @ 11:19am
rugbyfuture said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:19am | Report comment
foxy loxy you were very quick when i was on the league post to point out that i shouldn’t be there, maybe you should think of your strong ethics and get out
January 13th 2010 @ 11:29am
Foxy Loxy said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:29am | Report comment
Paul J’s story here and Siva’s bait both raise many cross code issues worthy of discussion here.
January 13th 2010 @ 11:35am
rugbyfuture said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:35am | Report comment
just as the league articles did, consistency though is something you should use in an argument…
January 13th 2010 @ 11:39am
ricardo said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:39am | Report comment
the nfl is played in one country
January 13th 2010 @ 11:44am
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:44am | Report comment
Is it, what is that Canadian Football League about? It looks so similar to NFL??!?!?!
And the college program that American Football has is unparalleled. It is better supported that the NFL!
January 13th 2010 @ 12:09pm
Foxy Loxy said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:09pm | Report comment
Ricardo says “the nfl is played in one country”.
There are more professional gridiron players and their fans on the planet than professional rugby players and their fans. It’s also shown all over the world on television.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:19pm
Jannerboyuk said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:19pm | Report comment
@ Ricardo . american football (as opposed to NFL which is an american football comp) is played professionally in at least two other countries, germany and mexico and i know that without looking.
According to wikipedia its canadian football that influenced american football. a canadian college challenged harvard to a game and because they only had a smaller pitch they reduced to 11 men as opposed to the canadian 12 and went for four downs as opposed to three to allow more attacking play.
The NFL is looking to play two regular season games in London which will sell out (previously they had played a regular seaon game in mexico in front of over 100,000 fans) and the superbowl tv audience pees from a great height over the rugby union world cup final.
I still think rugby has the ability to overtake it in the long run but overstating its current positions looks crap.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:20pm
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:20pm | Report comment
foxy, i didn’t want to turn this into a league vs rugby thread but i’ll corect you while your here. rugby is the national sports of samoa, nz, tonga, cook island, niue, fiji, wales and maybe south africa.
wales might have more soccer players than rugby but rugby is by far the biggest of the two. wales playing in the six nations and internationals rugby test matches is by far the most important dates in the welsh calenders. tell us what the last crowds for a welsh soccer international was ?
if you think each countries national sport is measured by the numbers of participation then soccer is the national sport of australia and new zealand.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:27pm
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:27pm | Report comment
There are more professional gridiron players and their fans on the planet than professional rugby players and their fans. It’s also shown all over the world on television. – foxy loxy
you really are starting to show your true colours. so your saying that cricket has more players and is the most watched sport on this planet because its supported by a large indian and pakistan population ?
January 13th 2010 @ 12:29pm
ricardo said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:29pm | Report comment
yawn..o yea?..and how many countries play american football as opposed to rugby union? tru dat, the last American Football World Cup played in who-da-feck-knows-where and who-the-feck-knopws-what-is-it was a real international drawcard..
January 13th 2010 @ 12:54pm
True Tah said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:54pm | Report comment
On what basis wouldnt rugby be the national sport of Wales?
The Welsh Rugby Union owns a 75,000 seat stadium, where does the Welsh futbol association play? Do they have a 50,000 seat stadium in Wrexham?
The Welsh Rugby team consistently plays to full houses, hell they even drew 60,000 when they played Canada. The Welsh futbol team failed to draw over 30,000 to any of their World Cup qualifying games in Cardiff, and that included games against both Germany and Russia. If Australia played either of these two teams in Australia, I think its a safe bet to say that both games would be sell-outs!
January 13th 2010 @ 1:24pm
ricardo said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:24pm | Report comment
janner, rugby union is played professionally in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, France and Italy. With rugby sevens now included in the Olympics (administered by the IRB) that offshoot of union is taking off around the globe with players from Kenya, to Fiji, the UK and Timbuktu now signing professional contracts..Lil American football can’t shove a flaming shathouse to rugby union’s global reach..
January 13th 2010 @ 4:06pm
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 4:06pm | Report comment
It isn’t tops in Wales ahead of soccer. – foxy loxy
Inspired by viewing figures of up to 11.8 million for Andy Murray’s fourth-round tie at last year’s Wimbledon, the whole of the tournament will be added to the list, rather than just the finals, and rugby union internationals in Wales, which can attract more than seven in 10 viewers, are also due to be included, according to sources close to the independent review led by the former FA executive director David Davies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2009/nov/08/free-to-air-sport-shakeup
MORE than 27,000 Welsh rugby fans who have pre-registered for the Six Nations matches at the Millennium Stadium will get the opportunity to snap up tickets at noon today.
Fans have registered their support for the national squad since Wales captain Ryan Jones launched the pre-registration process via the Welsh Rugby Union website during last year’s autumn series.
Fans were able to join a priority waiting list for access to any tickets unclaimed by WRU member clubs and debenture holders.
Sell-out crowds are expected for the games against Scotland (February 13), France (February 26) and Italy (March 20).
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/rugby-news/2010/01/12/welsh-rugby-fans-ready-to-snap-up-six-nations-tickets-91466-25575822/
January 15th 2010 @ 12:41am
Jannerboyuk said | January 15th 2010 @ 12:41am | Report comment
@ true tah. there is a difference between being very popular and being the national sport. ive not argued that football is a biugger sport but its contested. cardiff city has twice, at least, (although we are comparing apples and pears to an extent) of the cardiff blues. Does new zealand for example have a football team in its most populous city with that? of course not. becuase rugby union is its national sport but in wales it is contested. showing me figures of this and that dont mean owt, i know all that cuz i live in wales and i watch a lot of rugby union and prefer it by a country mile to football but the reality on the ground is that the nation is more divided them myth allows.
January 15th 2010 @ 12:56am
Jannerboyuk said | January 15th 2010 @ 12:56am | Report comment
@ricardo. so what gets the bigger tv audience: the rugby union world cup final or the superbowl?
January 15th 2010 @ 6:41am
ricardo said | January 15th 2010 @ 6:41am | Report comment
dunno..but is that the basis for being the “more popular sport” or is it the number of countries who actually play a particular sport?..you really scratching there stupid..how bout, how many countries play in the super bowl?..or, how many countries play in the nfl?
January 15th 2010 @ 7:00am
MV Dave said | January 15th 2010 @ 7:00am | Report comment
Rugby Union 2007 WC Final attracted an audience of 34million (watched full match around 60 million watched some part of the match) and the last Super Bowl 100million (vast majority watching in the US). The NFL achieves around 17 million spectators per season which is more than all the RU competitions around the world added together. Also College football in the US total around 45 million attendance for Div 1 schools each season (according to Wiki). If more popular means more people watching live or on tv then Gridiron is more popular than RU, even though their audience is almost totally domestic.
January 15th 2010 @ 7:15am
Foxy Loxy said | January 15th 2010 @ 7:15am | Report comment
So to summarise Ricardo and his fellow RU cheerleaders, if the USA was not divided into 52 states, but was instead 52 nations, they would accept that gridiron has a bigger audience than RU.
Borders are meanlingless when you’re counting tv audiences and crowds. Gridiron is a bigger sport on this planet than rugby union. Accept it.
January 15th 2010 @ 7:53am
ricardo said | January 15th 2010 @ 7:53am | Report comment
the US is one country, not 52 states..if you gonna go down that road then lets break down every country on the planet into states..you just putting out silly conjecture..the irb has over a hundred member countries..the world cup is contested by 20 countries with over 40 involved in the qualifying rounds..the last world cup was watched by 3 billion people..the gridiron world cup played last time in japan is flyshat compared to the 3rd biggest sporting spectacle in the world (after the olympics and fifa world cup)..american football is small fries compared to rugby union, live with it
January 15th 2010 @ 8:01am
Siva Samoa said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:01am | Report comment
gees you guys come up with some classic bull just to have a go at rugby. now states in america are countries. foxy loxy will be saying next cricket and ping pong are bigger than soccer because the indians and chinese watched it. what a load of bull.
January 15th 2010 @ 8:05am
Brett McKay said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:05am | Report comment
you guys know there’s only 50 US states, right??
January 15th 2010 @ 8:11am
Jannerboyuk said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:11am | Report comment
@ricardo “stupid” huh? ok champ knock yourself out.
January 15th 2010 @ 8:16am
ricardo said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:16am | Report comment
50…52 states..woteva..who cares..it’s not my country
January 15th 2010 @ 8:20am
Jannerboyuk said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:20am | Report comment
ON the subject of tv viewers i thought this made interesting reading:
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/why-fifas-claim-of-one-billion-tv-viewers-was-a-quarter-right-438302.html
January 15th 2010 @ 8:23am
Siva Samoa said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:23am | Report comment
Jannerboyuk. cardiff city are on the verge of joining the english premiership. cardiff rugby union team in the old welsh premiership use to get bigger crowds than their soccer counterpart when city were in fourth division and often slipped into the league’s basement division three times.
majority of welsh football supporters supports their teams in the english soccer leagues and most now cheer for swansea and cardiff city. one nz soccer team have only just join the australian a-league. the welsh soccer teams have been playing in the biggest socccer competition in the world for nearly 100 years. you can’t compare the two. rugby union is very much part of welsh culture with many welsh hero’s who played rugby union over the years. the last time the welsh won a grand slam in the six nations nearly the whole nations celebrated with the welsh team.
January 15th 2010 @ 8:35am
ricardo said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:35am | Report comment
soccer world cup, cricket and the rugby world cup to a lesser extent is a different kettle of fish..and i think a benchmark based on tv viewership is misleading..those games are beamed live in pubs and big screens with thousands watching in parks across the globe..many in the third world without the benefit of a tv set listen with religiosity to live radio broadcasts..do they count?
January 15th 2010 @ 8:36am
Foxy Loxy said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:36am | Report comment
Oh Ricardo! “the last world cup was watched by 3 billion people..” In your dream world maybe, but not elsewhere.
Face it, there are more humans on this planet who watch gridiron than rugby union. Not even yours and Siva’s delusional posts can you change that truth.
January 15th 2010 @ 8:42am
Siva Samoa said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:42am | Report comment
yes foxy,. but there are more countries playing rugby union than amerian football and there are more countries playing american football than rugby league. not even your hatred of rugby union can change that foxy loxy.
January 15th 2010 @ 8:46am
Jannerboyuk said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:46am | Report comment
@ Siva. wow Siva a civil contribution? there is hope for you yet. Like i said it is comparing apples to pears, but the advantages goes both ways. rugbys lack (compared to football) of international teams is an advantage, they have a guaranteed entry to the top european and world cups (in reality) – the football team doesnt and has still produced some of the most famous footballers in the world – ryan giggs (whose dad was a semi-pro rugby league player), ian rush, mark hughes to name a few.
Like ive been trying to say i know how popular rugby is here, i dont dispute it, i live here, i was living and working here in 2005 and 2008, i studied welsh history in cardiff university, ive been here (mostly) since 1996! ive seen rugby recover from a disastrous start to professional life and has done very well in translating the tradition into the modern world.
BUT my point still stands: football competes with it and competes well. Of course it has the advantage of being in the english pyramid but thats the point a few good years for football (cardiff and swansea in the premiership, wales in the world cup finals) and a few bad for wales then football is knocking on the door in terms of popularity. I dont think this will happen, i hope it doesnt because i prefer EVERY contact sport to football but a sport so vunerable to a compeititor thats not my definition of a national sport, outside self serving myth making. I was here when an element of that happened (wales ru getting regularly hammered, wales football nearly qualifying for a major tournment) and whether you want to believe it or not it was looking vunerable. Now tell me you can even imagine that happening in NZ?
January 15th 2010 @ 8:46am
ricardo said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:46am | Report comment
oh janner, you poor thing..if it makes you feel better, here ya go..america’s national football league (nfl) is bigger than the rugby world cup..hepi?
January 15th 2010 @ 8:46am
Foxy Loxy said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:46am | Report comment
Poor Siva. No matter how many times you click your little red shoes Siva, you always wake up here in the Land of Oz, a country where rugby union means so little, to so many.
January 15th 2010 @ 8:55am
Jannerboyuk said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:55am | Report comment
@ Ricardo. It seem most estimates have included a figure for people watching in the pubs etc FIFA certainly where.
As for ‘poor thing’ – well if you think abusing a complete stranger on the internet is the thing to do then go for it. I sure it makes you look the big man amongst all and sundry.
January 15th 2010 @ 8:59am
Siva Samoa said | January 15th 2010 @ 8:59am | Report comment
yes foxy loxy. i use to live and coach rugby in western australia and victoria where rugby league means so little, to so many.
do you the have the crowd and tv ratings figures for the 2003 rugby world cup and the 2008 rugby league world cup foxy loxy ? please tell us which world cup australians supported the most ?
January 15th 2010 @ 9:15am
Foxy Loxy said | January 15th 2010 @ 9:15am | Report comment
Siva you’re seriously deluded if you believe that rugby union ranks above any other football code or cricket IN Australia.
How’s the ARU’s State of Oriign series coming along? How about a grand final that outrates the AFL’s like the NRL’s 2009 did? even the Kangaroos Anzac match outrated your Bledisloe games. How many fans marched in the streets or cried on the radio when their ARC teams were made defunct?
Instead of posting on the Roar, have you tried shouting out your tales in the real world? Or is it only @ The Roar that you can find a few other rugby nuts to give your dribble an audience?
January 15th 2010 @ 9:21am
ricardo said | January 15th 2010 @ 9:21am | Report comment
abusing you janner?..nah, nah, nah just pointing you the light mate..i mean seriously, american football? now who outside america cares about that rubbish game..and despite the dozens of football movies hollywood puts out every year, nobody in the world cares about gridiron..
January 15th 2010 @ 9:30am
Dean Pantio said | January 15th 2010 @ 9:30am | Report comment
Anyone who seriously thinks audience ratings promulgated by relevant sporting governing bodies has any resemblance to fact is deluded.
January 15th 2010 @ 9:30am
Siva Samoa said | January 15th 2010 @ 9:30am | Report comment
did i hit a nerve there somewhere foxy ? its simple question i asked you ? i know rugby union is not the most popular sport in australia and i know rugby league is not the most popular sports in some states in australia.
i ask you again and im hoping for an answer this time. which world cup did australians get behind in regards to ticket sales and tv ratings ? 2003 rugby union or 2008 rugby league ?
January 15th 2010 @ 9:33am
Jannerboyuk said | January 15th 2010 @ 9:33am | Report comment
@ Ricardo Well i live in cardiff so i dont need to be pointed to the light when it comes to rugby union, as i watch that game all the time along with rugby league, cricket and the mightiest sport of all – darts! I happen to like american football and baseball as well. Each to their own but if you think calling complete strangers ‘stupid’ is going to point anyone anywhere then you have a lot to learn about some basic manners, let along about convincing people about your point of view.
January 15th 2010 @ 9:42am
ricardo said | January 15th 2010 @ 9:42am | Report comment
i’m not trying to convince anybody here..you have your views i have mine..the debate has been interesting..a welcome tonic/diversion at another day at the office..thanks roar..
ricardo
from Apia
January 15th 2010 @ 9:48am
Foxy Loxy said | January 15th 2010 @ 9:48am | Report comment
Irrelevant Siva. One tournament in 100 years proves nothing. As you will find with the Rebels, all showcasing rugby union to new audiences in Australia does is act as an advertisement for why rugby league is better value.
January 15th 2010 @ 10:06am
Siva Samoa said | January 15th 2010 @ 10:06am | Report comment
you didn’t answer the question. you go on about your sport been number one in australia and so on but when the pinnacle of your codes comes to town australians didn’t supported like they did in the rugby world cup.
it seems that western australians suppoted the force more than they did the western reds . showcasing rugby union to new audience ? how about showcasing rugby league for over 100 years in france, nz and the uk ? if your talking out of your a** again and think your code is more exciting to watch than any other sports then answer me another question.
why isn’t the population of france, new zealand, united kingdom, victoria, wa, sa, tasmania who has had rugby league for over 100 years switching to rugby league in masses ?
January 15th 2010 @ 10:55am
Foxy Loxy said | January 15th 2010 @ 10:55am | Report comment
Siva you do find it hard to not wander. We were debating about codes WITHIN Australia. Let’s stay on the subject being referred to please. In Australia rugby union is the least supported code. It’s over.
Your 2003 showcase worked brilliantly, for the NRL! It drew a lot of people in, then proved to everyone in Australia that rugby union is a boring kickathon sport.
The 2003 RWC was best boost rugby could ever have given rugby league in Australia. Your code has been on the slide in Australia eversince.
January 15th 2010 @ 11:03am
Jay said | January 15th 2010 @ 11:03am | Report comment
In 2000, people came out in droves to watch syncronised swimming at the olympics, as well as equesterian, weight lifting, diving etc in the olympics. It says nothing about the health of the game apart from the fact that people turn up to events.
End of the day, union is better in terms of internations and the wallaby brand is better than the kangaroos. Domestically, RL is doing better.Just accept it and move on. No need to argue about it.
January 15th 2010 @ 4:30pm
rugbyfuture said | January 15th 2010 @ 4:30pm | Report comment
this rating system is going to stop alot of this discussion soon, copying the weblogs network commenting system, good work whoever implemented it. although i can imagine i will get voted down often
January 13th 2010 @ 11:52am
anopinion said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:52am | Report comment
Dogs of War,
The Canadian brand of American Football (Gridiron for ease of discussion) has differing rules than its NFL counterpart. As you say, it looks the same, to the untrained eye, in much the same way as RL and RU look the same to a the average yank.
January 13th 2010 @ 11:58am
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:58am | Report comment
I realise that, but no different how College Football has slightly different rules. Even games like Rugby League can have different rules depending on where and what level the game is being played at.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:22pm
Jannerboyuk said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:22pm | Report comment
dogs – a bit more difference i think then college football between AF and CF. 11 players not 12, 4 downs not three, bigger pitch. Hey obscure fact of the day: drop goals are allowed in both versions! Never seen one attempted though.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:26pm
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:26pm | Report comment
Yet College players (and even NFL players) move over to the CFL without difficulty (Ricky Williams for one, even came back into the NFL after playing CFL)
No way that Union and League look the same to the untrained eye. Mauls/Rucks vs Play the ball provide an instant difference to the style of how each game is played.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:32pm
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:32pm | Report comment
dow. its ok for you to say that americans and victorians wouldn’t know the different between the two codes but then all of a sudden its different to the eyes of the same yanks and vics .
January 13th 2010 @ 12:34pm
ricardo said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:34pm | Report comment
the nfl is a domestic comp..like the nrl..ooops. there’s a token kiwi team in there too
January 13th 2010 @ 12:39pm
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:39pm | Report comment
That’s not what I said, I said those games are fundamentally the same. The difference are minor, not major as play the balls vs maul/rucks are in League and Union.
The problem lies in the names. Both having the word Rugby creates an instant connection that the sport is a type of Rugby. Now most people unfortunately don’t realise there are two types, and just believe there to be one (Rugby Union), this occurs in the US, where they report NRL games as Rugby games. And Victoria doesn’t get enough exposure via the press nor TV that unless you take an interest in those sports, you probably couldn’t care less to understand that they are 2 sports, and what are the differences.
You would have seen me post many times that I believe that Rugby League should either change it’s name (it’s been recommended by experts before, I believe League Football was the winner), or it talks to the IRB and comes under than banner as Rugby 13.
Personally I hope Rugby League changes it’s name.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:42pm
Jannerboyuk said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:42pm | Report comment
@ ricardo sorry mate you’ve lost me there. The NFL is one comp but there are three professional comps (including the cfl) in mexico, canada and germany. whats the nrl got to do with that? whats token?
January 13th 2010 @ 12:43pm
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:43pm | Report comment
we are talking about americans here and i can count on one hand the different between the two codes in their eyes.
lineouts, play the ball, ruck and mauls and can’t think of anything else .
January 14th 2010 @ 8:55am
anopinion said | January 14th 2010 @ 8:55am | Report comment
Jannerboyuk.
Doug Flutie kicked a drop goal a couple of years ago, playing for the Patriots (I think)
January 13th 2010 @ 12:39pm
Jannerboyuk said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:39pm | Report comment
I know i only live in wales so i wouldnt know but as i have tried explaining before the sporting landscape is a lot more complex then that. Rugby has a less competitive international structure then football. If the welsh football team had guaranteed access to the finals of the european championship and the world cup they would be equalling the welsh ru team easily. Wales ru basically has access to the top northern hemisphere comp every year, bit easier to build on then where welsh football are at.
of course one thing feeds into another and welsh rugby has built a deep and expansive presence (not so much in north wales) buts it is very strongly contested by a proud football nation.
believe me there are plenty of welsh people who actively dislike rugby, i know becuase i keep forgetting and getting dirty looks off them when i assume that they are interested in talking about rugby. equally there is also massive overlap with plenty of people loving both sports.
i dont think it can be called the national sport in the way rugby could be called that in new zealand for example. or that it dominates the sporting landscape in the way that football utterly, utterly dominates england.
January 13th 2010 @ 5:36pm
Foxy Loxy said | January 13th 2010 @ 5:36pm | Report comment
Unfortunately Jannerboyuk.the rugby union cheerleaders in this thread are in denial of your local knowledge.
Quite obvious that Siva Samoa, Sth Auckland First XV and Ricardo know more about Wales then the local Welsh people themselves.
January 13th 2010 @ 6:08pm
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 6:08pm | Report comment
jumping on the bandwagon again foxy loxy. if you take your hatred for rugby union you will find that rugby is wales national sport and rugby is the number one contact team sport on this planet.
i bet you couldn’t even name ten welsh soccer internationals.
January 13th 2010 @ 6:09pm
rugbyfuture said | January 13th 2010 @ 6:09pm | Report comment
http://spruce.flint.umich.edu/~ellisjs/Harris.pdf
Presenting Wales: National Identity and Celebrity in the Postmodern Rugby World
John Harris, Kent State University
North American Journal of Welsh Studies Vol. 6, 2 (Summer 2006)
January 15th 2010 @ 12:51am
Jannerboyuk said | January 15th 2010 @ 12:51am | Report comment
@ rugbyfuture interesting piece. here is a quote: “many parts of
South Wales have always been football playing areas” this is my point it is contested in a way that a true national sport is not contested. rugby union in new zealand and football in england are, for arguments sake, are split 90:10 in favour of the national sport, in wales its 60:40.
Welsh rugby union definitely played a part in creating a national conciousness against the background of a population dominated in some parts in the south by english and irish immigrants (at on point in the 19thc century newport had a majoriity of english born residents) because of the heavy industry. but in some ways its like the weslh language, definitely a part of the national identity but spoken by a minority and in some significant number is resented and actively disliked.
again this is relative: how does that picture i paint reflect the reality of new zealand. i know how it relates to the sporting landscape of england, where its nothing like the dominance of football (although these things are always complicated – direct comparisons are never that straight forward)
January 14th 2010 @ 9:22am
Dean Pantio said | January 14th 2010 @ 9:22am | Report comment
Lots. Lots more than watching 80mins in league. Each to their own.
January 13th 2010 @ 10:46am
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:46am | Report comment
craig. its funny how you compared a rebels game against a south african team to a carlton/collingwood, storm/broncos, victory/sydney fc local derbies ? typical mungo postings. i think the rebels vs nsw waratahs would be one of the biggest rugby union game in 2011. gps school my a**.
January 13th 2010 @ 11:20am
Craig said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:20am | Report comment
I’m Sorry Siva Somoa, I’m a mungo because I turned away from a game thats become as boring as bat shlt.
Plus I’m just sick of going to reds games and see ex-Nudgee boys in Canterbury apparel have a class reunion.
January 13th 2010 @ 11:57am
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:57am | Report comment
what are you graig ? nudgee boys always have class reunion when there 1st xv played as well. whats wrong with them having it at suncorp ?
January 13th 2010 @ 10:48am
Foxy Loxy said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:48am | Report comment
craig said “people in Melbourne see there is a big difference between the NRL and Rugby”. A double edged sword. The arrival of the Rebels will finally get Victorians over the hump of presuming there is just one rugby code. The worst thing that could happen for the Rebels and rugby is that the 2011 Super 15 season and the Rebels produce ordinary entertainment. That would be the best advert for the Storm and the NRL. Then again if the Rebels and rugby get it right on the field, that could impact on the Storm.
January 13th 2010 @ 11:52am
Dogz R Barkn said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:52am | Report comment
It’s probably true that very few Melburnians truly appreciate the fact that there are two rugbies.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:02pm
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:02pm | Report comment
are you saying that victorians apart from new immigrants don’t know the different between the storms and wallabies or rugby and league ?
i bet most afl fans knows the differents between the two.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:31pm
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:31pm | Report comment
I don’t believe that to be true. Would be interesting to get some data on it.
January 13th 2010 @ 4:25pm
jake said | January 13th 2010 @ 4:25pm | Report comment
Its true Victorians don’t no the difference because there exposed to neither. I told my boss today (I live in Melbourne) that i was excited about the Anzac test, he replied “The All Blacks have got no chance buddy the Kangaroos will smash them!”
January 13th 2010 @ 4:32pm
Justin said | January 13th 2010 @ 4:32pm | Report comment
You read it here first
January 13th 2010 @ 12:31pm
Sam Taulelei said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:31pm | Report comment
Agree, Melburnians may be mad on AFL but they’re also knowledgeable about sports and even my mother in law who is a rabid Essendon barracker knows who the Melbourne Storm are and the Wallabies. She couldn’t name a player but she knows the team colours and the difference in the codes eg. she doesn’t like either of them.
January 13th 2010 @ 6:41pm
JF said | January 13th 2010 @ 6:41pm | Report comment
Melbournians know the difference, they just sometimes pretend to not know as a way of showing how little regard they have for either code. I’m sure there are some non-sporting type people who don’t know the difference, but anyone who has an interest in sport definitely knows.
January 13th 2010 @ 6:56pm
Rellum said | January 13th 2010 @ 6:56pm | Report comment
I have spent too much of my life trying to explain to a seemingly endless line of Victorians that there is in fact two different forms of rugby. 90% of them don’t have a clue that League and Union are two different codes.
January 13th 2010 @ 11:53am
Paul J said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:53am | Report comment
Foxy Loxy
I agree.
Will the Rebels look for strong defence and field position to attract fans by focusing on winning at all costs or will they go for the entertainment angle instead and run the ball and throw it around like crazy?
I hope it’s more of the latter.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:07pm
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:07pm | Report comment
winning is the secret. if the reds are winning and they played that boring ten man rugby like england did ten years ago they would get more people turning up than they normally do now.
January 13th 2010 @ 12:41pm
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:41pm | Report comment
Yeah, the Tahs showed what a winning team playing boring Rugby can do for your crowds.
January 13th 2010 @ 1:02pm
Jay said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:02pm | Report comment
Agree – winning is more important that entertaining play. Though it hasnt exactly been an overwhelming success for the storm.
The swans played boring football in 2005 and sydney got behind them. mind you – alot of these people dont give a shit about them now (myself included)
January 13th 2010 @ 12:52pm
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:52pm | Report comment
the waratahs were hardly world beaters last year. so if the nz warriors and melbourne football club play boring football but remain undefeated for a long period and makes the playoff . nobody would bother to turn up ?
January 13th 2010 @ 1:00pm
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:00pm | Report comment
They won 9 and lost only 4 games. They only missed the semi’s on for and against, and won more games than teams that made the semi’s. The team that topped the table only won one extra game than the tahs. What more could you expect from a team if winning was the sole consideration.
C’mon Siva, you must be having a lend of me mate.
January 13th 2010 @ 1:08pm
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:08pm | Report comment
Oh Siva, so you know, I am a Tahs supporter.
January 13th 2010 @ 9:57pm
Siva Samoa said | January 13th 2010 @ 9:57pm | Report comment
yeah sure you are dow .
January 13th 2010 @ 1:01pm
Bay35Pablo said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:01pm | Report comment
Craig, I’d rather watch grass grow than Storm v Brisbane. Absolutely. No. Care. Factor.
That would be the GF in Sydney where no one would turn up.
January 13th 2010 @ 1:03pm
Jay said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:03pm | Report comment
They have played that GF in sydney & it was sold out!!
January 13th 2010 @ 1:07pm
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:07pm | Report comment
Classic stuff!
http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/rugby-league–the-game-they-play-in-melbourne/2006/10/02/1159641265954.html
January 13th 2010 @ 1:19pm
Jay said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:19pm | Report comment
DOW: Extract from that article:
“And even the passionate Australian rules devotee, Nine Network chief executive Eddie McGuire, has warned the AFL his network will aggressively support rugby league in Melbourne.”
Hmm…
January 13th 2010 @ 1:24pm
Mick from Giralang said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:24pm | Report comment
“And even the passionate Australian rules devotee, Nine Network chief executive Eddie McGuire, has warned the AFL his network will aggressively support rugby league in Melbourne”
Well didn’t that turn out to be a blatant lie. Channel Nine have deliberately suppressed coverage of rugby league in Melbourne ever since. The few times it’s been shown at reasonable times it’s rated its socks off.
Imagine how much stronger league would be in Victoria today if the game had the same armchair ride that oz rules has had in Sydney and Brisbane on FTA
January 13th 2010 @ 1:29pm
rugbyfuture said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:29pm | Report comment
i like how League fans hate News ltd and channel nine for not providing enough backing and halting the game apparently and ruggers hate them from being so bias towards league and building that game.
January 13th 2010 @ 1:29pm
Mitch said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:29pm | Report comment
Equal opportunity is what I’d love to see happen with RL coverage in VIC and even Wa,SA,Tas, I knew he wouldnt do anything for RL when he kept dodging the footy show when he was in sydney
January 13th 2010 @ 1:47pm
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:47pm | Report comment
News Ltd does what is best for them. If you want to watch NRL and your not from NSW and QLD, get Foxtel. Though they don’t provide the same benefit they do to AFL fans in NSW and QLD by providing the AFL matches live on Main Event on Friday nights (not that I believe that would rate that much, mainly because very few are aware, and pubs don’t show it).
Channel 9 on the other hand could be doing a lot more, and most League fans would prefer to see the arse end of Channel 9, unless they start promoting the game more.
January 13th 2010 @ 2:14pm
Jay said | January 13th 2010 @ 2:14pm | Report comment
Everyone wants to be better off – the AFL have is better off than the NRL, the NRL was to be like them. The NRL have it better off than the ARU, naturally, the ARU want to be like them.
For the NRL, the current administration has also caved into demands of broadcasters – wednesday night origin, monday night football, evening grand finals, lack of day time football.. hopefully and IC can sort this out!
January 13th 2010 @ 1:08pm
Bay35Pablo said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:08pm | Report comment
Ah, 2006. I forgot about that year. I WONDER WHY?!?!?!
They would have been handing out tickets with every Weet Bix packet for that one.
January 13th 2010 @ 1:11pm
Dogs Of War said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:11pm | Report comment
Cause your not interested in the NRL anymore?
No different to asking most Australian’s who played in the Super 14 final this year, or any year for that matter.
January 13th 2010 @ 1:16pm
ricardo said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
who cares who won last year..you only as good as your next win..go the the sharks!!
January 14th 2010 @ 8:02am
Bay35Pablo said | January 14th 2010 @ 8:02am | Report comment
If my Tiges are playing, I’m interested. Otherwise, usually don’t care.
Which differs from my interest in union, as I find I can watch any 2 teams playing if the game is decent (which is more often than most people would give credit for). Top 14, ANZC, etc.