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Spending my adolescent years in the Northern Tablelands of NSW, there were four main things in life: mates, car, footy and women.
Life was simple and rugby league was king. I suspect that returning home I would still find a town full people passionate about league – all 3000 of them.
Fast forward a few years and I am now a proud Gold Coaster and love my Titans. Girls still rule my world but they are now in the shape of my lovely wife and three beautiful little girls.
But here’s the thing. Life isn’t simple any more, and I’m not talking money and work, I’m talking about who is king of the coast. When the NRL announced there was a team coming back to the coast, for the first time there seemed to be a small country town feel to the six largest city in Australia.
The Titans were the talk of the town, for the next three years people got behind what was a team of superstars. Scott Prince at one stage could have run for mayor unopposed.
Sure we had the soccer and basketball but rugby league was still king. But then, the bubble burst. The centre of excellence fiasco showed a grubby side to our shiny team and after achieving the heights of finals footy, the team went down and down to depths of the wooden spoon.
Then the juggernaut came to town, in the shape of the Gold Coast Suns and the AFL marketing machine.
While I think rugby league is a better sport to watch, this is not what the battle is about. What AFL do a thousand times better than the NRL is the marketing of their game.
At the start I made mention to my girls. They are three little pink bundles that love dancing, netball and watching the Titans.
Then along came the AFL marketing all bundled up in a nice little Auskick parcel, and before I could say Ashley Harrison, I was standing on the local school oval watching my little girl practicing her hand passes and kicks and taking marks.
Then came their little bag of goodies, a ball, backpack, socks and trading cards, and there I was again, sitting with my girl looking the AFL trading cards trying to bluff my way that I know who Chris Judd is and why he on this card.
What is the equivalent to this in the NRL? Sure our mighty Titans come to the school once every few years, but the NRL do nothing to promote the game outside of the weekend club comps.
Where’s the afternoon school programmes, bumper stickers, hats and balls from the NRL that the AFL seem all to happy to let rain from the sky?
Crowd numbers are up at the AFL and down at the NRL, I have been to both grounds this year and both teams have lost, but all things being considered I had a better day at the AFL than the NRL. The atmosphere, the music, the crowd participation was all done better at the AFL.
On the Coast our Titans and facing one of their biggest challenges, The AFL is winning the battle with the juniors, both boys and girls. And for your hard earned you get a more value for money from a day at the AFL.
There needs to be a joint plan from the Titans and NRL to make rugby league great again.
Once upon a time rugby league was the Mufasa of the sporting world on the Gold Coast. Now I’m not so sure. If you only take 2014 as a snapshot the AFL looks pretty comfy on the throne.
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