The past eighteen months in rugby league have been riddled with scandal after scandal, much like the previous eighteen months. Unlike any other sport in Australia, the NRL is constantly defending itself and its players against disgrace, with the only potential saving grace being State of Origin. Until now.
I am of the opinion that rugby league in Australia is heading down the path of extinction.
Yes, television ratings are up (not substantially) and crowd attendances hover slightly above those in years past. This is the result of a hard working and shrewd advertising and promotions team.
Unfortunately, they can only do so much.
These are minor victories in a sport, which has thrown everything except the kitchen sink at the Australian public, only to be let down by a generation of players who lack the integrity and respect to uphold the tradition which the game came to our shores with.
That tradition and passion crafted Origin into a spectacle, something which bled Australian through and through.
Whilst the build up to Origin One was as strong as ever, the game was a huge disappointment. It lacked everything that Origin grafted its existence on in the early 80s.
The product exists. However, the promoters of this product (the players) are the problem.
I believe Origin is also at risk of losing its aura – the media can only beat it up so much before the public wake up to the lack of substance it now contains.
The arrival of rugby league in Australia from Great Britain brought with it the tag of a working man’s sport.
It didn’t trouble the existence of AFL in the south, whilst forging its heart in NSW and QLD. The crux of the culture remained: an honest man’s game that was respected due to its physical nature.
Traditionally, the main participants in rugby league are people from lower socio-economic status areas. This is an undeniable fact: those from the upper echelon of society are almost non-existent.
Before the introduction of professionalism, first grade players would work full time jobs. This is no longer the case in many sports. However, it seems that along with the introduction of professionalism, rugby league players have struggled to adapt to the large sums of money that come with it.
I noticed Tim Sheens (a very respected man in the rugby league community) had his Tigers take etiquette lessons.
Posh etiquette lessons are far from the NRL’s solution. The problem bleeds much deeper, and is simply hidden by the people who believe the games’ success is forged on gate takings and TV ratings.
Although that being said, full credit to Sheens for taking some initiative. Gate takings and ratings are good indicators. However, they remain just that – indicators.
If NRL players are going to be demanding more, the NRL should implement measures to assure their players are kept busy and out of trouble.
Willie Mason was interviewed on the first episode of the Matty Johns show, and he let loose with expletives that continue to show that players simply don’t respect the game and everything it’s done for them.
I know Robbie Farah was undertaking a University degree: he’s been nothing but a model citizen for the NRL.
Too much money, too much time, and not enough guidance concocts a recipe for further demolition of what was once a respected sport.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
I am always amused by the rl critics banging on about the game imploding,the game dying,the game not expanding,it appears with little research,except what happens in the news re scandals(hardly unique to one code) ,the defection of a couple of players due to exorbitant monies being paid.But but the print media said so,therefore it must be true. LOL Might I suggest a code is hardly imploding or dying,which has for them a record number of participants,which dominates the Pay Tv ratings,which has consistently strong FTA Tv ratings(despite being shown in only 2 states),whose SOO series continues to bring in the TV ratings and revenue ,whose crowds are growing,where the QRL has $6.5m in the bank,The Auckland rl has $30mNZ in the bank,where 3 FTA Tv channnels are wanting to bid on the next Tv contracts,whose all stars game was a sellout and achieved excellent TV ratings in NSW and Qld,where ATM Perth,CQld,Central Coast and PNG want to bid for inclusion in the comp.An increase in representaive matches witha 4 nation in NZ and world cup in 2013 in England. Throw in the reorganisation of RL in NZ with the Sparc recommendations, the growth of the game in England where very county now plays the game,the growth in Wales,and grassroots growth in France.Aside from many new countries now playing the game. If that is an example of a code dying or imploding,I want my bank balance citing those examples to implode. BigKev in fact the Lebanon is a perfect example of organic growth(siupported by locals) with the game being played in universities and schools and given official status by the Government.Suggest you research what is going on in Wales as to organic growth,and Serbia.It is also expanding in Sth Africa,by locals ,with locals and for the locals.The news is on the SA website ,also re the recent visit by the BARL side ,involving 4 matches. It is very easy to glibly say a code is not expanding,when the evidence suggests the complete opposite.
Pete
Guest
you'd rather watch 2 flies going at it... fly p*rn... whatever floats your boat mate... freak
Brad
Guest
Big Kev, all I can say about rah rah is that it should be worth 10 points a try and 1 point for a goal of any type. That way it might become an interesting game. It has to be the most boring game around and will never replace rugby league in Australia. I would rather watch 2 flies bonking on the wall than to watch rah rah.
big Kev
Guest
Record crowds in excess of 30,000 attended the opening day of the tournament which saw South Africa, Wales, New Zealand, Australia, France and England secure victories. Support was strongest in Rosario's Estadio El Coloso del Parque as 16,000 fans saw hosts Argentina lose to England in a thrilling match, with 10,000 making their way to Santa Fe and a further 4,000 watching the two games played in Parana.
big Kev
Guest
give me one iota of facts to back up that RL is growing outside its traditional markets "especially over the last few years" as you say.... and dont give me some expat Aussie starting a local league with 5 teams like Lebanon or Norway - tell me about serious, organised expansion supported by locals.
hutch
Roar Guru
i agree, rugby league would benefit immensely from an indepedent international body that is not affiliated with any of the old boys club that it the arl. our current admin sure do their best to hold our game back sometimes! as for the recent junior rugby union world cup, i think its a great event which helps promote and grow the sport. it shows how well the irb run their sport. i would love to see the rlif stage an event like this, there is no reason they couldnt except for the fact they wouldnt know how to run a chook raffle. re the crowds in argentina. i watched quite a few games and there would have been lucky to be a thousand or two people there. you do know the nrl averages over 17k per game right?
hutch
Roar Guru
as i said before, this has nothing to do with union, why do you keep mentioning it? yes, rugby union is growing, thats not the issue. the fact the you say that rugby league is shrinking and you think that it wont last another 100 years shows that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. the facts are that the game has grown, especially over the last few years and is now bigger than it ever has been. we understand that we are not a world power, we understand we are the smaller cousin when it comes to the rugby codes, but we are still an international sport that has grown slowly despite our inadequate leaders.
hutch
Roar Guru
i think both codes have ignored the islands, but the irb are making more of an effort than the rlif thats for sure!
hutch
Roar Guru
what does rugby union have to do with anything? who cares how many union teams there are in south africa! the poster said that rugby league is only played in nsw and qld, which is clearly wrong. there is no need to bring any other sports into that argument. there would be at least 25 times more soccer players in south africa than rugby union players, but we arent comparing sports playing numbers are we, so who cares!
big Kev
Guest
the thing is when you guys talk about RL in Spain or even France, never mind Lebanon, USA, SA or Russia, the numbers are so tiny it's kind of laughable that you are trying to big it up. I would suggest there are more rugby clubs in the USA than RL clubs in every country mentioned combined. The point is there has been zero meaningful expansion outside the traditional RL market in 100 years while Union has expanded significantly, in particular with the 7 circuit where countries like Kenya and Samoa have excelled, sold out test matches in Asia etc etc. Face it the RL market is basically shrinking and I highly doubt it will last another 100 years.
sledgeandhammer
Guest
Re administration, I actually think the IRB is a huge benefit for rugby. This month we have the junior world championships being played in Argentina in front of crowds which would not be too far behind the average NRL weekend crowds in Sydney, the European Nations Cup in Bucharest, and the Churchill Cup in North America. These are all IRB funded competitions involving teams from as far afield as Argentina, Romania, Georgia, Italy, Canada, USA, Namibia, Tonga, Samoa and Fiji. The creation of tournaments such as the Nations Cup have gone a long way towards making teams such as Georgia more competitive come world cup time. Of course, these tournaments are largely funded by the success of the World Cup. To view highlights of the Junior World Championship check out the IRB website. So I think rugby league would benefit from an independent international body. Also, if you really want the game to expand, particularly in Europe and Africa, get the French involved...
ac
Guest
I have to also say this.... News of League's death has been around for a long time. Wasnt it Mark Twain that said " news of my death is greatly exaggerated". This is just sickening the way people dance around the supposed corpse of Rugby League. Please Please stop this "its only played in two states". What is Victoria? It is strongest in two states for sure. But, yes thats 54% of the people live in those two states. Let AFL go ahead, let League do the same.
ac
Guest
And yet it continues to get record TV ratings. Attendances up. Here in NSW and qld stronger than ever.
Brad
Guest
It is all in how you use and mean the words BC. A very good mate of mine who is aborigine is offended it I dont't call hin a BC every time we meet in fact if I don't he questions if we are still mates. He calls me white trash, its all in the comtext and how it is said. My mates nickname, by the way, is LOTTO because he has coloured balls. He laughs about it. In the case of Timana Tahu there is obviously more of a background to it, after all Johns is involved with Tahu at Parramatta. They say they are mates but I don't believe that. If you were a mate you would pull him aside and tell him to ace it up. Then if he continued the next step would be to belt him. There is no way a bloke would walk out on a NSW side over one statement on Greg Inglis. There has gotta to be alot more behind the scenes that what we know. After all NSW tried to hide it for some time. If it is however true over one stupid comment then in my opinion Tamana Tahu may have used this as an excuse to not play on the wing.? As we all know a position he did not feel comfortable with. Hope I am wrong but I just cannot fathom how a bloke can walk out on his NSW team mates over one bc statement. Wouldn't we all like to know the real story? Anyway onto more important issues such as the game of rugby league State of origin. Doesn't matter what side NSW pick they won't beat the current QLD machine, unless the bookies get to em and all 17 are injured for G3. Has anyone got any ideas. I have a great idea but unfortunately it's illegal.
clipper
Guest
Political Correctness going rife as you describe would be something like the Nativity scene not being able to be displayed as it might offend Muslims - it is not stopping people saying derogatory remarks about another race. I have blue eyes and blond hair, but have never once encountered any Aryan abuse, where have you encountered it? I think it would bemuse me more than anything as a few races have these features. It would not be mutually exclusive to be offended by the c word and the bc words.
big Kev
Guest
hmm they moved because they were extremely successful! A few amateur teams playing in front of no crowds with no TV coverage is not really relevant is it? There are more rugby union teams at Stellenbosch University in South Africa than there are RL teams in all those countries!
Springs
Roar Guru
Stick to financial disasters king, there are comps in USA and South Africa, plus many other countries, most notably Lebanon. Of course it is established in the Pacific Islands. And moving to North Wales does not mean the Crusaders have failed.
King of the Gorganites
Guest
how has the irb ignored the islands?
King of the Gorganites
Guest
i take you to task on the following: Wales having a successful expansion team - not that ive sene. didnt they have to run north far away from south wales. Established in the PI - barely. Comps in Sa, USA etc- your dreaming. League is great in NSW and Wld, but face the facts - it will all be a game played in north eaaster australia and the M62.
The Link
Guest
James, no one watches Rugby for the scrums, don't care what the code is. Yeah, Rugby League is one big media conspiracy to defraud Australia of the rightful Rugby code. If Rugby League in Australia has not grown in 100 years, how bad does that make Rugby look, which is now a clear last of the football codes. If you don't understand Rugby League you don't understand the history of Australian sport, get a lesson.