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AFL is winning hearts and minds because the NRL just does nothing

11th February, 2018
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The AFL are running a far better program to get kids to play their game.
Roar Guru
11th February, 2018
220
5457 Reads

I’m a lifelong rugby league fan and this week I signed my nine-year-old son up for Auskick. It’s not my preference, but it’s what my son wants to play. And I’m not alone.

I live in a rugby league heartland, north of Brisbane, where so many people I know love the game, yet they too are signing their kids up to AFL – or pretty much anything other than league.

For some, the risk of physical injury is a factor. Some have left due to the total lack of organisation and even club politics (amazingly present and rife in juniors).

But my biggest concern is the total lack of marketing by the NRL to children. Quite simply, the AFL is nailing it and the NRL is so far behind it’s not funny.

You would expect that kids from AFL families will play AFL, kids from rugby league families will play rugby league and whoever does the best marketing gets the kids not aligned with any particular code. But the AFL is getting most of those kids and quite a few league kids too.

My son is in year four and every term for the past four years he has brought home Auskick flyers. Every year he’s had Brisbane Lions players visit his school. For the past couple of years he has played Auskick in PE, as the AFL are smart enough to partner together with schools.

And Auskick runs after-school sessions for one hour each week, every term.

My son signing up for Auskick was inevitable. Repetitive marketing, fun program, straight after school, at the school – and he gets free tickets to a Brisbane Lions game as a part of the program!

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My son has already suggested he wants to play AFL on the weekends as a mate in his cricket team does. If he likes Auskick (which I’m sure he will) then he’ll be signed up for that too.

He asked me about it sheepishly, because he know’s how much of a league man I am. But as a parent, I’m going to encourage him to do what he wants.

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Do you want to guess what the NRL presence in my son’s school is like? Flyers about NRL in the last four years? Zero. Broncos players visiting the school? Zero. League being a part of the PE curriculum? Zero. After school hybrid program for kids to participate in? Zero.

Nil, zilch, nada, nothing!

This is at one of the biggest primary schools in Queensland, with well over 1000 students from prep to year six. And the NRL does nothing.

I’ve written to them twice, asking them to do more, suggesting they visit the school. Do you know what response I got? Zero. Not even an automated email.

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My son played junior league in under 6s and 7s, but doesn’t want to anymore. He’s not a small kid, so didn’t get bashed around. He’s not super quick but good enough to snag a few tries each season. In 20-minute games, he’d get two, maybe three runs and make tackles.

It wasn’t fun, he got bored.

He loves going to Broncos games and we go three or four times a year. He loves State of Origin and giving it to the Blues.

But he’s playing AFL now.

I appreciate AFL, it’s a good game to watch, particularly live, and the athleticism is spectacular. But I’ll always be a league man. It’s my game.

As for my son? I suspect by the time he has kids, he’ll be an AFL man. His son will go to school and play Auskick during the week and AFL on the weekends. NRL will be a niche sport that Grandad likes.

And all the while, the NRL will continue to do…. nothing.

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