- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
I am a lapsed leaguie. I’m not proud of it but for the last 18 years of my life I have not really followed the NRL.
It started in high school when rugby union was on offer, and that is what you played. I learnt the game and loved the tactical aspects – still do.
It got worse when I went to uni and met my now-wife. She is an unashamed, unabashed Collingwood fan (the things we do for love, right?).
As I watched more games you learn to grasp the game more, and going to a live game at the MCG showcases the atmosphere the game is known for.
Having lived all over this country – from Townsville to Melbourne to Perth and back to Sydney – I have seen lots of different games, gone to multiple sporting grounds and have learnt some things the NRL could benefit from.
Call it a fact-finding mission that doesn’t require spending a lot of money for some NRL executives to have a pub crawl on a global scale.
Positivity
How many articles have you read in the last year that talk about how good things are going? Not many.
How many times has TV commentators said, “oh well the refs have got that wrong but that’s just part of the game”? Never!
The game’s media have made an industry of dragging the NRL down.
Keyboard warriors take a step back and understand that things are going ok, the guys at the top of the NRL aren’t just pulling ideas out of a hat to ruin the game and annoy you.
The new guy at the top doesn’t know the game? Pretty sure the problem with Gallop was that he was part of the game and did a crappy job (I think he did an ok job with what he was given).
Give the NRL and Dave Smith a chance.
Respect
Respect isn’t given, it must be earned – something that is spouted at every leadership retreat in every company around the world. I was always told – by every coach I ever had in every code I’ve every played – to respect the ref’s call.
Yes, I know they get the call wrong. Yes, I know a blind person could see he is offside or he dropped it. But you know what? It happens.
Captains that stand there and let loose at the ref should not be tolerated.
Two weeks ago, I watched a junior game where the captain of the side on the wrong end of a decisions asked for clarification, he didn’t get angry, he didn’t swear, he said please and thanks to the ref for clearing that up.
If a 12 year old can talk to an official with respect, why do we let NRL player talk back to the ref?
In the recent Lions tour of Australia, the captains of the Irish and Welsh teams were picked, but the coach put the c next to Sam Warburton because he communicates with the ref better.
The flip side of this is refs need to be communicators. Tell the players what they want, and be consistent with their rulings. Video refs included.
Better yet, why doesn’t the NRL follow the NBA and make a video rule book. No confusion about interference or downward pressure. It is hard to argue with something that is set in stone from day one.
It also means no mid-season crackdowns on anything the NRL thinks might be an issue from offside to wrestling. One rule for all for the whole season. It will give the clubs a standard and if the try pushing it they will be penalised.
If a ref does have a bad game, I would like to see them not dropped but told they didn’t have a good game and work on it. If more bad games follow, give them more training and look at where they are going wrong.
If the problem doesn’t improve, drop them. After all, they should be and are accountable for their performance.
Family
Once upon a time, rugby league was a family game. As a child I remember going with my pop and other male cousins to watch a game.
Nowadays, you’d be hard pressed to afford to take six kids and two adults to the footy without having to mortgage the home and sell a kidney.
Cheap tickets could be the silver bullet the NRL is looking for.
If a family pass was $30 I’d take the kids because it would be a cheap outing. Match that to food prices and people would flood through the gates.
I know the stadiums set food prices but come on, the NRL can’t use a little influence?
Why not make every game a family day with jumping castles, rides and games free for kids under 12. Get the families in and you can hook the next generation of fans.
My uncle is a Souths member, and he has eight grandchildren. He buys them all memberships each year and takes them to as many games as possible.
Now when the five and four year olds come to a BBQ, the footy comes out and I’m always the Storm (i.e. the bad guys) and they are always the Bunnies.
Hooked for life!
Growth
I challenge anyone born in the 80s to her Tina Turner’s ‘Simply the Best’ and not think rugby league.
It was the best advertising campaign without a doubt. Why did we ever change it?
Bon jovi and Jessica malboy? How much money has been wasted on getting a song that no one cares about? Use what worked.
Having lived in three of Australia’s major cities, the lack of advertising done by the NRL is pathetic. I see more ads for the Giants and Swans than I do for any team in league.
What is wrong with spurking the game? How can they grow the game when it isn’t even supported in its heartland?
Speaking of growing the game, expansion should be on the cards but only in expansion areas.
Sure we need a second Brisbane team, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of a Perth team or a Wellington team or Darwin team.
Brisbane two will come, as well as Central Queensland, but expansion should be to areas that aren’t already safe – sorry Bears, no space for you or Steelers just yet.
The AFL didn’t expand into safe areas, such as Tassie or Darwin, they looked outside the box.
Whether or not these teams work only time will tell, but they look like they are set up for long term success, not quick wins.
But if we are to expand to new markets we have to make sure we do it right. Grass roots teams must be looked after, nurtured and grown. Putting all this money into a team and not helping its main supporter base would be foolish.
Free-to-air coverage
With the NRL signing a billion dollar TV deal I have but one question. Why, oh why can I watch more live and free-to-air NFL and baseball from the States each week than NRL?
It perplexes me we have a local game that can’t get more than three free-to-air games a week.
The AFL gets the two local games on each week in cities outside Melbourne. The cameras are there from Fox AFL, so why can’t the NRL and Nine do the same?
If the NRL want to grow and move forward, it should start looking forward rather than holding on to the golden years of the past.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.