Not so long ago you could say that rugby union signing up NRL players was the biggest threat to rugby league. Now it’s been an incredible 12 months in which two top quality rugby league players have taken the cash offered by the AFL to join their new expansion teams in NRL areas.
But how big is the threat, really?
When the one and only Sonny Bill Williams left, that caused a huge amount of anger with the rugby league public. We had rugby journos saying it was only the beginning of a huge player drain, and two years on what a dud call that was.
But now it’s all AFL, offering huge amounts of money; offering over $1 million to get Folau to head down south to spread the word of the AFL.
They ain’t shy about their intentions, and for the rugby league officials who laughed off the threat, I hope they are finally taking notice of what is going on.
Now war is an over the top word, but the AFL is doing what they believe they have to do to have some sort of presence in Western Sydney and the Gold Coast, even though it does go against everything they say about being in these areas for the long haul and not needing gimmicks to get people interested in their game. But that’s another issue altogether.
We’ve heard in the past few days of 10-15 NRL players contacting agents about AFL contracts, which means we are now in stage two of the hysteria from the Folau signing.
In a way the NRL is at the mercy of the AFL until the new television deal is done, so how many more will go?
It doesn’t matter for the gimmick will wear off sooner rather than later. Haven’t seen any fans saying they have been crossed over to the AFL from whatever sport they currently follow. Or NRL fans jumping the fence to AFL.
The so called new option for kids in the west of Sydney has been there for 30 years at the very least.
It’s been said a few times that this is a wake up call for the NRL, so hopefully someone at HQ has finally answered the call.
oikee
Guest
Class. ;)
ac
Guest
The AFL is shameful the way it counts members. But it doesnt care, it is all about publicity. It is a big business and it will do anything for a hedline. Forget the football in ten years time no one will care about the footy. AFL INC moves on. Personally, i cant believe the spin they are putting out, my stomach is turning tooo much these days with it all.
JVGO
Guest
Mike C and Redb are both AFL PR operatives JF. Pay them no respect.
Michael C
Guest
Many of us want nothing more than to see something like a 4 yearly SoO carnival of Aust Footy with 2 divisions etc, It might happen.
Michael C
Guest
oikee - Perth has the Wildcats, the Glory, the Force, the Warriors, the Fever........and the Eagles, Dockers and WAFL, what's wrong with that?? (......and Redbull air race) and by comparison.........what's West Sydney got for a population that is larger?? ;-)
bilbo
Guest
SOO had a lot more than 2.4m viewers - when regionals are counted. Regional viewers - considering the regional nature of NSW and Qld - are one of League's strong points, and unfortunately, due to the different modes of classification, are often forgotten or disregarded. As Vic and SA are heavily populated in the cities but not much else, regionals count little, and ratings can look more significant for the AFL when only the five capitals are taken into account.
Baz35
Guest
Akazie What are you on about? Where did I claim that all the people watching on Fox are in Sydney? Its pretty blatantly obvious that my conservative estimate was that around one quarter were. The cumulative weekly audience (going by average per game) is about 1 million more for the AFL than the NRL, and the games for 50% longer. You mighten like the way the data is presented on that website but it is still perfectly valid data and the over all figure doesn't lie. If he really wanted to mislead he could use "peak audiences" instead of averages... And that obviously does not include the regionals but they would make up very little of the difference. I was up on the Gold Coast the other week. The AFL was every where we went and far more people were watching it than the league. Not saying that is is more popular there but that was our observation. And down the bottom of the following link has the total regional ratings for the GF's last year. http://www.talkingfooty.com/tv_ratings_2009.php This includes NNSW, SNSW, VIC, QLD, TAS. NRL 1,104,000 VIC 970,000 Note: it does not include SA, WA and NT. So good luck if you think "regionals" make up the difference!
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
They may have more potential, but don't you pay out on what the product brings to the table? In this case subscribers? If you paid out on potential then the NRL would be getting more on free to air rights due to the potential if they were actually screened in WA, SA and VIC. This is where the conflict of interest comes in, News owning League and Foxtel, and makign plenty of cash along the way. Next TV rights for foxtel won't be so pretty.
Beaver Fever
Guest
Thats very debateable Ian, Melbourne storm are not even playing for premiership points ATM, so their sucess and existence is quite fragile as well. Ian how many times do you start a sentece with " the problem with the AFL is "
Michael C
Guest
Dan - might be the Gabba Cricket Ground members - - like the MCG where vast sections are reserved for AFL members and MCC members (thus a sell out can produced 85,000 attendance) and at Docklands we have the western side level 2 is all Medallion club members area. A sell out is a 'technical' description of all the General admission tickets being sold. What happens generally on Anzac Day is that they determine that it's a fully ticketed game so any members without a reserved seat (i.e. ticketed members for entry into GA reserve) do then have to reserve a seat on the day or not be able to enter..........as the GA entry is generally given the provision of 'subject to capacity'.
Michael C
Guest
Listen to yourself will you Aussie Rules gets plenty of coverage in Sydney, even on the ABC, probably some deal there to promote it. what feeble paranoid rot that is. Are you bringing into question the integrity of the ABC?? any proof??
Ian
Guest
Its got every need to fudge the figures! There's a reason the cameras don't pan to the third level. Why else would channel nine offer to provide a virtual crowd if they get the rights next round. They're appealing to the values of a corrupt and fragile organisation.
Ian
Guest
The Melbourne storm are a successful franchise in a hostile territory. Once the balance tips and rugby league gets some fair airplay (I'm talking here of Channel Nine not hoarding the game as they do in Melbourne) it'll pay dividends. The problem with the AFL is they'll be stretched from day one with two sydney clubs, a fragile Gold Coast team and poor TV rights. Remember, they'll not get a Billion dolllars for a dodgy product because as discussed further down, TV networks won't be keen to continue to take the hit they're suffering at the moment.
Mike
Guest
You mean like soccer Ian, which is played as a winter sport at both a school level and a state level?
akazie
Guest
James P. I seen the ratings for the game yesterday and they were: http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare/archives/2010/06/the_who_we_are_81.html#comments SEVEN'S AFL: RND 11: SYDNEY VS ESSENDON Seven 58,000 58,000 Not shown Not shown Not shown Brisbane Bears: 13 Saturday Night AFL Ten 611,000 *** 307,000 57,000 89,000 158,000 Saturday Night AFL One 93,000 *** 31,000 14,000 25,000 22,000 71,000 when you put them together :) So as I said, no where near 100k, closer to 50k hehe. And you think you can add foxtell ratings to it nation wide to bump it up lol. if 120k watched on Fox, are you seriously saying that the majority would be from NSW? hahahahahahaha.
Dan Wighton
Roar Guru
The wiki article now states 6,700 melbourne members - some cheeky last minute editing perhaps???!!!
Dan Wighton
Roar Guru
Ok, well the wikipedia article on the swans says both teams still have approx 10,000 melbourne based members - how else do you explain the 8-10K empty seats at each of the three Gabba 'sellouts' this year? Even if its less than 10,000 (and wikipedia isnot the most accurate source!), top crowds of 34,000 in a 42,000 capacity stadium would indicate significant support outside brisbane. Perhaps they are counting non ticketed membership?
JamesP
Guest
I suppose you are adding up the people in Sydney who watch both games are you Akazie? For example, Akazie and his mate watch the 7.30 game - 2 people register with OzTam for that game Then, Akazie's mate goes to the pub so Akazie watches the 9.30pm game by himself - 1 person registers with OzTam for that game Now, how many people watched Friday night Footy over at your place Akazie...is it 2 or is it 3? I am telling you its 2....you are telling me its 3...
JamesP
Guest
You are wrong with regards to Brisbane Lions Vic based memberships...its not even 4 thousand Here is a link from the club itself from April....they will do a final one I assume this month now that membership is closing/closed http://www.lions.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/5085/newsid/88352/default.aspx Here is a synopsis: Season 2009 Total members this time last year: 24,707 (Final: 26,324) Reserved seat members this time last year: 13,271 September Members this time last year: 1,876 3-game members this time last year: 3,017 (Final: 3,708) Victorian members (game entry rights) this time last year: 2,911 Season 2010 Total members to date: 28,512 Reserved seat members to date: 14,565 September Members to date: 3,512 3-game members to date: 3,384 Victorian members (game entry rights) to date: 3,699 I dare say they would be very close to 30k this year, with over 25k in Brisbane Not sure about Sydney...but I would assume the numbers would be pretty similar...
Akazie
Roar Rookie
RL has been outrated about once this season by AFL on a Friday night, stop lying. And when the regionals were added, the RL won anyway.