Rugby fans must acknowledge problems
Roar Pro
By sheek, 14 Mar 2010 The Crowd is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- Australia, NRL, Rugby Union, Super Rugby
284 Have your say
Australia's Wallabies react after their 19-14 loss to New Zealand's All Blacks during their Bledisloe Cup match in Hong Kong Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008. AP Photo/Kin Cheung
I’m convinced many Australian rugby union fans live in a parallel universe, refusing to acknowledge the dire situation their sport is in compared to the other footy codes.
Union has the least player participation numbers of the four footy codes; it has the least TV penetration of the four footy codes; it attracts the least number of fans to its games; and this last point is going to hurt – it is the most boring of the four footy codes to watch on a regular basis., in my opinion.
Consequently, RU fans are the least passionate about their game – can you blame them? And yet, and yet, and yet many of them will tell you everything is just going along so swimmingly well.
It’s all about style being more important than substance, appearances being more important than effect. Whatever you do, don’t admit any faults, dear boy. It’s like the British in Singapore/Malaya pre-December 1941, living in a totally delusional parallel universe.
It was fellow Roarer Who Needs Melon who said during the week that while he was a passionate rugby supporter, he wanted to also be a realist, and not deluded. Or words to that effect.
They attempt to offer constructive criticism. Yet we seem to live in a world where any criticism is somehow a sign of weakness from the accuser. How does this work?
Elsewhere, Andrew Logan has written a passionate post about dwindling S14 crowds at Aussie games. Is it any wonder? Quite often the rugby on offer is absolute trite.
Don’t try and tell me the Tahs have turned the corner because they thrashed the hapless Lions. Even Penrith or Parramatta would give them a run for their money.
Speaking of Parramatta, there are concerns this proud and great Western Sydney club might not be able to field enough players in the Shute Shield this year. Does this not ring alarm bells?
Last night I was at a dinner at my mother in law’s place. Of the four adult males present, I was outvoted 3-1 to watch the Dragons-Eels match over the Tahs-Lions match.
When I say outvoted, while they were all true RL fans, I was actually non-committal, and quite happy to see the RL match, which I thought would provide more competitive excitement than the training run the Tahs were expecting against the Lions.
The NRL game lived up to expectations – it was a cracker, won by the Dragons 18-12. Although they led all the way, the Eels had explosive players capable of turning the game in a few minutes. On this occasion they were held.
Over the past 5 to 10 year, RL continues to go from strength to strength in the public mind, while RU continues to dither and slither along rather aimlessly.
AFL is talking expansion while A-League football is doing just that – expanding.
It’s a sad state of affairs. I’ve said this many times before and I’ll say it again – for rugby union to progress, it must first admit it has a problem. A massive problem!
This simple fact, that rugby union is in dire straights, is apparently being ignored by delusional rugby union living in some kind of parallel universe.
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Firebrand Sally said | March 14th 2010 @ 6:19am | Report comment
The worrying thing is that rugby league has still got a lot of obvious flaws.
Iin rugby we are mostly inert about change, rugby league does make changes, sooner or later.
The Dragons in that game you watched were very controlled with the ball, but they were very predictable and boring. They kicked the ball dead on the full to avoid and nullify Hayne. They took penalty shots at goal. Soward never passed the ball to a centre or winger. Not once. If other teams follow that strategy to nullify the more entertaining teams like Parramatta the NRL competition will bore every one. You can bet though the NRL will then change the rules to fix it.
If the Independent Commission does what it is expected to do, the NRL is only going to widen the gap with rugby.
I think the ARU had the NRL on its knees at the peak of the 2003 RWC. We missed the chance and now it is gone. I can’t see it ever coming again.
And in all of western Sydney we can’t find enough quality players to fill the Parramatta Two Blues pack.
Rod said | March 14th 2010 @ 9:49am | Report comment
I wonder if this is the type of head in the sand stuff sheek is talking about?
The ARU never was close to RL in 2003, that’s a myth that some Union fans like to believe for some reason.
Firebrand Sally said | March 14th 2010 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
So are you going to add J O’Neill to that? “In 2003 union was level pegging with rugby league and just behind the AFL in terms of market share,” O’Neill says. “We are now fourth, behind soccer.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/cracking-the-code/story-e6frgabx-1225787065026
ricardo said | March 14th 2010 @ 12:36pm | Report comment
don’t worry too much bout ratings..when the tahs, reds, brumbies, force and hopefully the rebels start playing winning and thrilling rugby, the crowds in their droves will come..everybody backs a winning horse..it’s the same in every sport (or maybe except for the storm in melbourne)..nobody wants to waste good coin turning up just to watch you lose bad and spoil their friday nights..
Rod said | March 14th 2010 @ 1:09pm | Report comment
I wouldn’t believe anything O’neil says, yes it’s his job to hype up his sport, but he was delusional if he thinks RU was anywhere near RL out here just because of a WC that went for 6 weeks.
That’s the thing, all I can really remember from October 2003 was that tackle from Sattler.
Dave said | March 14th 2010 @ 8:31pm | Report comment
Im sure the other thing you remember in 2003 was how well attended the rugby world cup was . The TV ratings were higher and the Wallabies sold over 100,000 jerseys than the kangaroo’s 2000.
JIm Nariel said | March 14th 2010 @ 7:14am | Report comment
Rugby Union is dire straights???? I think there is great support
Just watched the England and Scotland match – not the best of games but loved the occasion
Firebrand Sally said | March 14th 2010 @ 9:07am | Report comment
Jim this is a story about rugby in Australia. Matt Rogers in the Sun Herald today: “The product that is rugby union at the moment is woeful. Rugby has slipped to the fourth code of football in this country, and would be further down the list if there were more. They are lucky there are only four” http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/ibrahim-rolls-out-red-carpet-for-mini-braith-20100313-q55i.html
CraigB said | March 14th 2010 @ 9:18am | Report comment
Matt Rogers?? Now there’s a fair and balanced opninion from a truly great mind….. Please, the only thing I am listening to him about is where the best place to get cheap looking ink.
True Tah said | March 14th 2010 @ 9:56am | Report comment
I wouldnt really pay too much attention to what Rogers said…this week he was saying that Lote will be ready for the Tigers as he has been playing rugby for the Tigers.
Anyway, Im sure Matt still feels his ribs and it makes him angry about rugby!
Bay35Pablo said | March 14th 2010 @ 10:08am | Report comment
Yeah, Rogers seems to have a real chip on his shoulder about rugby now. Strange given from memory rugby did the right thing by him when his Dad passed away, he was under contract and he wanted to go back to league.
True Tah said | March 14th 2010 @ 10:11am | Report comment
Sally,
I juat read that article, and it goes on to say:
“With France, the All Blacks and Samoa all desperate to sign the former league star”
Im not sure how much credibility that article can have when I havent heard the NZRU say anything about SBW, and lets face it, given the amount of explosive backs in NZ Super Rugby teams, they arent going to be going to Sonny on their knees.
As for France, I heard that it was the Toulon club owner who suggested Sonny should play for France.
I think playing for Samoa would be Sonny’s best bet at playing at next years World Cup, but how much $$$ can the Samoan rugby union pay him?
Firebrand Sally said | March 14th 2010 @ 12:31pm | Report comment
Rogers was making the point that rugby is now fourth of our football codes. Just because Rogers said it doesn’t mean it is not still accurate, Even J O’Neill agrees with him. “In 2003 union was level pegging with rugby league and just behind the AFL in terms of market share,” he says. “We are now fourth, behind soccer.” http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/cracking-the-code/story-e6frgabx-1225787065026
John Ryan said | March 14th 2010 @ 1:00pm | Report comment
I assume she was not talking about the UK mate,you people always start bleating about overseas,we are in Australia,and thats what she is referring to,what happens OS is of limited interest to 99% of Australians.
We have heard it all before Ricardo,get real
Dave said | March 14th 2010 @ 8:37pm | Report comment
Do you say the same thing about NZ rugby league which seem to have gone backwards and even 100 times in worst state than the ARU ?
Realist said | April 3rd 2010 @ 10:17pm | Report comment
The NZRL made a profit in 2009. The ARU lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
rugbyfuture said | April 3rd 2010 @ 10:24pm | Report comment
actually 2009 was the second year the ARU was out of the black, John O’niell made a turnaround in 2008
Realist said | April 5th 2010 @ 12:34am | Report comment
“Rugby and its supporters in Australia are in no position to throw stones at rugby league because there is no doubt the 15-a-side code is struggling at present, what with the Queensland Rugby Union effectively in the hands of an administrator – the ARU – which itself will announce a loss of just under $300,000 at its annual general meeting on April 15.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/warning-to-league-unions-on-its-way-back/story-e6frg7t6-1225846183574
rugbyfuture said | April 5th 2010 @ 12:41am | Report comment
i stand corrected, but surely even those of us here the most unrealistic of people (you) will have also read past this opening paragraph to the ones on rugby revival.
“The heartland of the game in Australia – NSW and Queensland – is finally on the mend and while those franchises on the fringes, the Force and Rebels, might do it tough in the years to come, the Waratahs, Brumbies and Reds are positioning themselves to drive a rugby revival.
For all of Chris Anderson’s insistence that rugby doesn’t throw up athletes and superstars, Matt Giteau, Quade Cooper, Scott Higginbotham, James O’Connor, David Pocock, Matt Toomua and Tatafu Polota-Nau would seem to suggest otherwise.
And I have deliberately excluded from that list Will Genia because it is fast becoming apparent that he soon could stand alone, the one player the World Cup might well revolve around.
League would snap up all or any of those players – if they were prepared to accept a cut in pay – but Genia is someone truly extraordinary.
With the powerhouse states of Australian rugby reconnecting to the national grid, the Wallabies are now a team re-energised. If France is the best the northern hemisphere has to offer, then the Wallabies have every reason to feel they are right in the hunt for the World Cup.
Yes, it has been a while since they beat the All Blacks, but then again, it has been a while since the All Blacks beat the Wallabies in a World Cup. Wait a moment . . . they’ve never beaten them!
Rugby league should tend to its own business. And sure, right at this minute, business is booming. But the things that made rugby a threat to league a few years ago haven’t gone away and they haven’t changed.
Rugby might have missed the bus when it came to exploiting them back then. But that’s not to say there won’t be another bus along soon.”
Realist said | April 5th 2010 @ 1:31am | Report comment
rugbyfuture,
You really are a delusional muppet who believes any hype that is written by a rugby union fan, aren’t you? The paragraphs you cited are based on the author’s subjective opinion. Not once did he offer a shred of evidence to substantaite his claims. For example, he never proved that the QRU and NSWRU are “finally on the mend”. If they were “finally on the mend” then the QRU wouldn’t be broke and there wouldn’t be a crisis in western Sydney, would there RF?
rugbyfuture said | April 5th 2010 @ 11:42am | Report comment
actually, the NSWRU where able to save the parramatta club and have little to do with player stealings from other clubs, but yes,opinions are impractical, crisis builds a stronger system though, as it has with the NRL, fortunately, if the ARU really needed it the IRB would easily step in to back it up
no im not a muppet, i just understand reasonable opinion.
Realist said | April 5th 2010 @ 11:04pm | Report comment
“no im not a muppet, i just understand reasonable opinion”
No you don’t. If you did then your comments about the next NRL TV deal wouldn’t oppose David Leckie’s stance on the issue. He said that the deal will be worth around $1 billion dollars and, that the money spent on the AFL and NRL will leave the networks with next to nothing to spend on rugby union.
rugbyfuture said | April 5th 2010 @ 11:20pm | Report comment
the ARU hardly gets anything as it is and the IRB will always back them, i am however wary that the apparent 1 billion dollars the NRL is going to get won’t trickle down to grassroots or developmental levels
Rob said | March 14th 2010 @ 7:21am | Report comment
Sheek, Do you know if the rankings in participation rates have changed?
I live on the mid-north coast of NSW and rugby is growing here. But, and this is an important but , that is due to some very active people who really drive the sport in this region. From a country perspective I suspect that the coastal fringes including Hunter and Illawarra are doing OK but inland it may be struggling given population movements etc.
On the game itself as I said in another piece I think it is once again becoming watchable except for the case in one of the S14 games Saturday where the scrum was being reset after collapsing even though the ball was well and truly out.
As for Sydney the chickens are coming home to roost. The insular mindset that has not given proper attention to the West means that areas with the biggest growth in population are slipping through the net. I know that things are different now but when rugby first turned professional contracted fringe players became the development officers. What exactly would a contracted fringe player like Chris Thompson do with his time now? I mean really he doesn’t look like making the main squad so why isn’t he (and remember I’m just using him as an example ) out there running mid week coaching sessions in the schools? Maybe these players do, but if they do, can someone tell us. If they don’t can we be told what they do with their time while earning NSW salaries.
sheek said | March 14th 2010 @ 7:51am | Report comment
Jim,
This article is principally about Australia. And you ought to be worried – I doubt the other major nations would like to see Australia lost to RU, no matter what else you think of us.
But we’re not going under just yet…..
sheek said | March 14th 2010 @ 8:00am | Report comment
Rob,
I’m highly suspicious of rankings or stats. My fear is they can be manipulated to present the best possible picture.
That said, RU can’t live in isolation. For example, if you say RU is doing well on the NSW North Coast, then how much better might RL be doing in the same region?
Alternately, all codes are struggling in the country areas, but is RU faring worse than RL or better??
There’s an article in todays Sun Herald by Adam Freier explaining the woes of the professional rugby player having to crisscross different time zones & countries playing rugby. It’s a “woe is us” article.
But all the S14 teams are faced with the same terms & conditions. Frankly, although Freier is a nice guy, his article is a copout. They don’t do anything else except train & play, prepare & recover for rugby.
100 years ago, a guy might have to come out of a 6 hour shift from a mine shaft on a Saturday morning before playing a game of rugby in the afternoon. I would ask Adam Freier which scenario he prefers, & I reckon I know the answer…..
Grimmace said | March 14th 2010 @ 8:22am | Report comment
Sheek,
In the country areas I’m associated with RU seems to be edging ahead of RL Already there has been an increase in activity from our development officers over last year, still not the level of activity there should be, but an improvemnet. Over the last few years a few towns that I know ofhave sprung up juniour comps. But this is probably a regional thing- somthing must be terribally wrong if Parra is struggling for a side.
Guys still do play inbetween 12hr night shifts, I shook my head at the Frier article too.
Firebrand Sally said | March 14th 2010 @ 9:02am | Report comment
And so it damn well should. Rugby league is not a game for half fit weekend footballers to play. Anyone with half a brain wouldn’t risk it. Touch footy and RU and even AFL will all grow, but rugby league will soon die except for junior development and some A Grade teams made up of players still harbouring the dream of a NRL career.
sheek said | March 14th 2010 @ 9:12am | Report comment
Firebrand Sally,
The obituaries for RL continue to be written, but the game continues to endure. Wishing RL to die won’t actually make it happen.
RU has to try to be the best it can be, try to realise its potential. If it does that, then everything else takes care of itself.
Firebrand Sally said | March 14th 2010 @ 12:46pm | Report comment
I was referring to league as a social game dying. Never said the NRL would fade. See comments a few posts under here.
Rod said | March 14th 2010 @ 9:53am | Report comment
lol sally, you not only have a giant chip on your shoulder about RL, you obviously have 2.
Over 400,000 RL players in Australia compared to 70,000 RU players suggests otherwise.
This is exactly what sheek is getting at.
Bay35Pablo said | March 14th 2010 @ 10:09am | Report comment
Rod, cite your source on those figures. I looked at them late last year and that doesn’t sound right.
Rod said | March 14th 2010 @ 10:14am | Report comment
Go to the NRL site and look at the state of the game articles, they come out every season.
rugbyfuture said | March 14th 2010 @ 3:51pm | Report comment
the NRL publish Rugby Union player figures?
Rod said | March 14th 2010 @ 3:55pm | Report comment
What are you talking about RF?
rugbyfuture said | March 14th 2010 @ 5:35pm | Report comment
we’re pointing out the flaw in your Rugby player figures not league players. the published amount for rugby is 192000 i think
Rod said | March 14th 2010 @ 5:42pm | Report comment
RF, even O’neil came out 12 months ago and said those figures for Union were BS.
Union has under 100k in Australia, the proof is when you look at the fact that you can’t fill 5 Aussie s15 sides with Aussies and some club Rugby teams are struggling to get players.
If there was near 200,000 as you guys say, you’d have a decent domestic comp up and running.
rugbyfuture said | March 14th 2010 @ 5:56pm | Report comment
well good thing these figures were released like a month ago, besides, you’re saying all the other codes wouldnt use the same tricks (if there are any) as Rugby?
it actually showed there was a higher take up in the older years and younger years than the adolescent to young adult, so that ma say something about the domestic comp. also the viewers arent there.
Springs said | March 14th 2010 @ 5:17pm | Report comment
Last year’s ARL annual report said there were 423,000 or so Rugby league players in Australia.
Firebrand Sally said | March 14th 2010 @ 12:43pm | Report comment
Thanks Rod. I was actually lauding RL, but you missed that. I was making the point that league is a much more physically demanding game to play socially than rugby or AFL or touch or soccer.
Ultimately League’s number of SOCIAL players must inevitably go on a downward spiral as there is no money left for anything but junior development and the few competitions that provide adult players to the NRL (for example the Queensland Cup). The NRL or ARL won’t help insurance costs or help bush clubs from going broke. The Independent Commission will not be pouring funds towards the insurance and costs of social adult players.
It’s happening in rugby too, with most of the game’s money going towards the Wallabies and Super players and the costs of running those Super clubs and the Wallabies.
As AFL has a safer and easier game for the social athlete to play, and it is has the money to subsidize the costs, it will make gains.
League and union are all already copping a hammering from females dominating schools and teacher ranks, and the new GWS team has a female school principal on its board.
There is no place for the rugby codes in a country that applauds its cricketers for leaving a tour to rush home to sort out domestic troubles.
Rod said | March 14th 2010 @ 12:53pm | Report comment
Fair enough sally, I can see your point, but I think social RL is something Australia has never really looked at like Union does.
In England they are starting to do this and it’s starting to pay off, I can see something similar happening out here soon, but it will have to be a bit different, say a five metre rule and a few others minor changes
One thing that has exploded is Touch/ tag RL though.
stillmissit said | March 14th 2010 @ 2:59pm | Report comment
Very true Sally and rugby Union in the West is getting a small number who cant make it professionally but want to play a contact sport. Still very small numbers ask Parramatta and Penrith.
Dave said | March 14th 2010 @ 8:58pm | Report comment
There aren’t over 400,000 rugby league players in Australia Rod. There might be over 400,000 participating in many rugby league activities like after schools drills, games, coaching clinic, schol clinics, NRL clinics and many others.
Rod said | March 14th 2010 @ 9:51am | Report comment
Could you back that up with some facts Grimmace?
Grimmace said | March 14th 2010 @ 10:41am | Report comment
No Rod, just my perception.
Rod said | March 14th 2010 @ 10:44am | Report comment
No worries Grimmace.
stillmissit said | March 14th 2010 @ 3:01pm | Report comment
I can add that both of our boys have given up RU and are playing Touch Tag RL. Pisses me off but doesn’t seem to worry them.
allblackfan said | March 14th 2010 @ 8:44am | Report comment
I was watching the Chiefs-Crusaders game at a Parramatta pub on Friday surrounded by Eels and Dragons fans having a few pre-match drinks.
I can tell you that, on a regular basis, heads would turn to watch the game unfold. As the match went on, I even heard a few people asking who the teams were and where the game was being played. There was one Leeds Rhinos couple there who were even commenting on the game; the guy sure knew enough about the teams to explain to here who teams were and where it was being played.
I talked with one Dragons old timer who started to get involved in the game. He told me that he would watch more RU if there was less kicking, and cited the Chiefs-Crusaders game as a good game. (I had to explain that this was a NZ derby where the teams tends to play in a similar style to RL in that they use the full width of the field — he knew exactly what I meant!!)
First step in boosting the game is to get both teams to play in the right spirit. This would start with local derbies.
Firebrand Sally said | March 14th 2010 @ 8:58am | Report comment
RL fans would watch more RU if it was more like RL. How does that help rugby?
MyGeneration said | March 14th 2010 @ 10:40am | Report comment
Using the full width of the field is good rugby, whether it’s RU or RL.
OldManEmu said | March 14th 2010 @ 8:10pm | Report comment
Not quite my generation – watch the way the Roosters dismantled the Rabbitohs big boppers today – straight up the middle with quick jumps out from dummy half and short passing. Hardly a sweeping set of long pasess all day. I would argue that playing with width rarely works in either code these days given the speed and intelligence of defences.
Sam said | March 14th 2010 @ 9:13am | Report comment
That was a great game. I loved it, the best thing about it was that it had all the elements of a good game. Had running rugby when it was on, very quick hands and positive play. Then when the weather went to hell, there was intelligent kicking, clever pick and drives, strong mauls and some great penalty shots. The defense of both teams was superb and they played what was in front of them the whole night, basing their play on the situation rather than some plan they’d come up with on Tuesday with their team of coaches. I enjoyed it immensely.
sheek said | March 14th 2010 @ 9:18am | Report comment
Allblackfan,
I’ve only seen about 6-7 S14 matches this year, but the best 3 games so far involved the same 3 teams – Reds v Crusaders; Chiefs v Reds & Crusaders v Chiefs.
There are plenty of things wrong with rugby at the moment, but there’s nothing like several thrilling matches EVERY weekend to take our minds off other things & onto the main game – the contest on the field!
RU doesn’t have to be like RL to excite the fans. But it needs to demonstrate what a great game it can be, but on a regular basis. Too many rugby types are caught up in the old amateur time warp of the game being for the players mainly.
RU is in the sports entertainment business, & we’d better accept the reality of this fact very quickly.
steve said | March 14th 2010 @ 7:21pm | Report comment
if you’ve only watch 6-7 games this season then why even write this article. You’ve missed all the cracking gems played in south africa….If you want to watch total rugby just watch te bulls play.
sheek said | March 14th 2010 @ 8:04pm | Report comment
Steve,
Nuts! (look it up – Battle of the Bulge – 1944).
steve said | March 15th 2010 @ 1:30am | Report comment
hmmmm…well they put close on to 50 points every team they’ve played. Bonus point in every match match and they no longer have the heaviest pack in the game maybe you should watch more super 14 before you write an article like this. This is coming from a Sharks fan.
ISO said | March 15th 2010 @ 3:32am | Report comment
Steve – you’re right – short and sweet.
ohtani's jacket said | March 14th 2010 @ 9:20am | Report comment
Well, you’re fighting against the perception that the ARL and NRL are Australia’s great indigenous games despite being just as turgid as the Super 14. If the whole of the Super 14 were played in Australia (i.e. all the sides were Australian), I don’t think rugby would have quite the image problem that it does.
sheek said | March 14th 2010 @ 9:29am | Report comment
OJ,
There are plenty of people (Aussies) willing to argue against you. And they do it every week turning out to AFL & NRL games in their 10s of thousands, & watching on TV in their 100s of thousands.
Of course, if Australian rugby had a domestic S14 of its own, it certainly would be a different matter altogether. But it isn’t the case, is it!
There aren’t enough rugby players, & equally important, not enough good players to showcase rugby at its best. Australian rugby is presently bedeviled by a small player base & lack of quality players.
ohtani's jacket said | March 14th 2010 @ 10:00am | Report comment
If there was a rubbish Super 14 game and a rubbish NRL game held on the same night, more people would think the league game was better simply because it’s rugby league. That’s a difficult perception to fight. The truth is that the quality of all three Australian codes is closer than people make out. The difference is that over the course of a weekend, people are more likely to see the one or two good games of league than the one or two good games of rugby which are at present more likely to involve overseas teams in overseas countries.
I mean, Chiefs/Crusaders was a pretty good game while the weather held out, but it was a game between two NZ sides played in NZ on a Friday night with a time zone that doesn’t suit anyone who happened to be watching on pay television in Australia. Not very helpful for Australian rugby. On the other hand, it draws the TV money that keeps Australian rugby afloat.
In my view, Australia rugby has to be top heavy. The Wallabies simply have to be a success for people to take notice. If the NZRU really wanted to help the ARU, they’d lose the Bledisloe ala 1979.
Tom said | March 14th 2010 @ 12:34pm | Report comment
On your first point, my general impression is that league is a more consistent game than union. I would say there are less truly stunning games of league than union, but the flipside is you get less of the horrid Waratahs – Sharks style festivals of aimless kicking and dropped balls. Essentially the quality of league games stays close to the mean, whereas union fluctuates much more. This isn’t a criticism of either game, I enjoy both, just an observation.
MyGeneration said | March 14th 2010 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
I pretty much agree with you, Tom, especially on the bit that it isn’t a criticism of either game, a point often lost on both sides. They both have their strengths and weaknesses. Some see League’s consistency as predictability, and some aren’t prepared to forgive Union the games that “flow” like molasses, as against the games that actually flow. You can learn a bit about both games by watching the other.
stillmissit said | March 14th 2010 @ 1:12pm | Report comment
Correct Tom, and I think that is why I get so bored watching it – except SOO games which are always worth it.
Mind you with some of the Tahs efforts over the last few seasons I would have gladly beaten my head against a wall rather than watch what was on offer.
ohtani's jacket said | March 14th 2010 @ 6:53pm | Report comment
League probably is more consistent than union but I think they market it in such a way that the whole concept of “footy” and having a team is more important than the quality of the actual games. SANZAR are their own worst enemy when it comes to marketing the Super 14.
Justin said | March 14th 2010 @ 2:36pm | Report comment
I agree OJ and next year we will see many more matches in AUS with 5 teams each playing each other home and away. That has to be the best thing for AUS rugby since the game went pro hasnt it?