I am someone who would not usually want to give the Manly Sea Eagles a rap, however Sea Eagles CEO Graham Lowe should be applauded with his plans to take a Manly game to Papua New Guinea.
I wrote an article a little while ago saying the NRL should take one round per year to a non-heartland area of the game – something that probably won’t happen – so its good to see a club take some initiative.
Last Monday we saw a poor crowd of just over 6,000 at the SFS to watch the Roosters take on the Cowboys. Granted it was a Monday game, but surely this was a perfect match for the Roosters to take on the road.
In 2009 we saw the Sharks take a home game against the Cowboys to Adelaide, with a crowd of just over 8,000 turning up to watch 15th and 16th placed teams battle it out. Some said after that it was a failure, but how many would have turned up at Toyota Stadium? Probably less than 8,000.
Whether taking a game to Papua New Guinea is the right thing to do considering the infrastructure and safety isn’t the be all and end all, rather it shows rugby league, and most importantly a Sydney rugby league club, thinking outside the box to generate revenue for themselves.
We had the Suncorp double header last year which saw the Bulldogs play their home game against the Gold Coast Titans, which would have been lucky to draw 10,000, to then be played in front of 50,000 fans in a rugby league festival on a Friday night.
Some NRL clubs cry poor and they most probably are, but it’s time for them to think about what they can do and not always blame the NRL, which of course through current television rights, deals and salary cap restrictions doesn’t exactly help the game at a time when its players are being targeted from other codes.
It’s good to see a club take a forward thinking approach to show up other clubs, and the NRL itself for something they should have pushed a long time ago.
Ricky Reck
Guest
all you critics don't have any clue how rugby league is worshiped in Papua New Guinea and how it unites a nation. Surely ask an Australian or New Zealand or even the English High Commissioner to PNG. I assume you haven't heard of the PNG NRL bid for 2013... Lowe is looking @ a great feedback. Greetings From the Great Australian Outback.
allblackfan
Guest
Of course, Lowe has been living in NZ all these years so his perspective of the game would be different to that of the other CEOs. Personally I think the man's an idiot but you have to credit him for thinking outside the square.
Ian
Guest
Graham Lowe has always been a visionary and a top bloke to boot. Every Monday night at 9.30 on Maori TV in New Zealand, the Manly game for that week is televised on free to air TV. How good is that!!
Bam Bam
Roar Guru
True, great to see CEOs thinking for once, that is what they get paid for! Hopefully they give back to PNG and actually get more fans because of it. The stadium at Suncorp was just over 40k for the Derby, but if clubs got in touch with their community a lot more the game would have been sold out and brimming with passion. I believe the Broncos should tap into the Sudanese communities, they are close to the city (Annerley) so there is no great distance for them to travel to for games. The Sudanese than also feel part of the community, and become Aussies by community, not default. Another plus is the athleticism of Africans naturally, look at Idris. If Broncos tap into that then we will have even more athletes to choose from. Gold Coast should tap into the Japanese market, the Japanese have been tapping into Gold Coast for a long time now, may be its time the same was shown in return. Think of the memberships you would sell, especially the Platinum memberships, the Corporate memberships and even some healthy sponsors and third-party payers. We need to start looking into the communities that have been neglected for so long. This is how communities are built, and RL prides itself on the community aspect, I don't know how but they do. They need to start going outside their comfort zone and they will prosper for it, may be not tomorrow but in the future.
JP
Guest
Agree M1tch I believe the rabbitohs are from next year, taking two home games to Perth. The sharks had an agreement with the SA Gov to play games in Adelaide but they scrapped it due to lack of funds at the club. The Dogs I think are still in an agreement with SA to play a game there every year. I was a bit worried when manly gave Mayer the punt last year and replaced him with Lowe who is about 20yrs his senior and has serious health issues. But from all reports Lowe is doing a great job in promoting Manly by looking to take games to NZ & PNG. We need more of it I say, especially since it looks like the Titans could be in financial strife. We may be on the lookout for two new clubs if the Sharkies & Titans fold ....... lets not forget the Storm also.