Hayne versus Marshall as NRL fights off the AFL

That is my point,AFL people complain because it (AFL ) is mentioned for comparison purposes,and it may well be less the case if Messrs Hunt and Folau,had not gone over. QED It is naive to have AFL people whining about Sydney rl journos at times.What you sow ,you reap. Interesting you say pick up the Age or Herald Sun.,as the former rl is lucky to get the time of day or acknowledgement of its existence.There is nothing to be gained in an AFL city by the Herlald Sun for comparing tv ratings,because their owners News Ltd,paid a handy figure for the pay Tv contract, by comparison to a higher rating NRL, one on that medium. Silence is therefore golden. It is fair and reasonable also to compare the disparity of the Tv contracts,due to the ratings.No one is blaming the AFL for the NRL getting a smaller contract.Three factors Packer K who assisted the AFL's one unarguable ,the code being half owned by one of the very Tv companies with which the NRL is negotiating and negotiating for 6 years is commercially too long.I would substitute incompetent with hasty. The News Ltd sporting head office is now located in Melbourne.All Sydney/Brisbane sport reports are onforwarded to there for publishing. The Sydney media provides dedicated AFL reporters,one has to organise a search party to get a rl one ,in Melbourne . Ms Wilson still gets top billing on the Offsiders,with the majority AFL team ,including Cassidy and the two other guys,whose names escape me.Balance for them ,is something you do standing on one foot.

Of course the AFL expected people to discuss it, you will not have missed Andrew Demetrious reflection that the news reporting of the Hunt/Folau defections was worth millions in free advertising for the code and that alone had justified the pay packets of the two former league players. Pickup the Herald-sun or the Age. I have seen very few articles that mention the tv ratings differences. These articles originate in the SMH and Telegraph almost exclusively. Caroline Wilson is one of the most despised reporters among AFL fans as well. its not really robbery, was more like a garage sale where the NRL sold all it had too cheaply. You cant blame the AFL for getting the most it could, just because the NRL administration was incompetent.

The AFL said they'd put a team in Western Sydney. The AFL have never talked about dominating Sydney, just hoping that GWS will be a success. The terms dominate and success are not mutually inclusive. They didnt say it was to combat the NRL, but that after a reasonably successful swans team and 30 years, it was time for a second one. This prompted a wide ranging series of code war type articles from both sides of the fence - but not from the AFL administration. They did say that they had a budget and a timeframe because the AFL would like the people of Sydney to know its committed to its plans, complete with junior programs, schools programs and an Academy. The Swans never acted like this because they spent the first 20 years just trying to be viable, and the next ten years trying to get the AFL to notice them so that they could be more like this. They never had the cash - and neither did the VFL - that the current administration have. Where is it written that the AFL MUST play nice with other codes? All we've heard is the gibberish from soccer followers over some misguided offence the AFl evidently caused them during their illfated world cup bid, and the frantic code war antics of the NRL since the last TV rights deals were signed. One guy calls it falafel land and it got blown out of proportion. In this case, he wasnt talking about rugby league, he was referring to GWS taking players from other clubs to play for a club based in what he erroneously believes to be western sydneys demographic. If anything he's provoking a war with kevin sheedy. The fact they could buy league stars is an indictment on the NRL not the AFL. The AFL wants the best athletes it can get, for playing and marketing purposes - the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, which is why the AFL has recruited from soccer, atheltics, basketball, american football, rugby union, gaelic football and even hurling. Plenty of league juniors have gone on to AFL careers, its just the first time we've seen senior players sign on. Its not always about the NRL. Id get used to the likes of kennett and mcguire throwing crap at GWS if I were you.

Roy Masters whinge mode. Roy Masters has said next to zilch about AFL over the past few weeks,talk about the usual suspects creating an ogre that is really just a snappy puppy.Roy would leave the majority of sporting journos dead for his accuracy in reporting.He was on the Australian sports commission,coached first grade sides,involved with the media for yonks,knows the game's history.He makes the odd blunder,as do all of us.What he says in the main is spot on,and obviously is not the dancing music some want to hear. Appears the AFL loves the NRL,they took 2 of their top players,and then expect no one to discuss this,no one to discuss the last TV deal when Tv stations are fighting for a slice of both codes.I would prefer they did not BTW,but understand why . Reality check needed. Get a life ,RL journos are doing nothing different than AFL ones,when talking about Tv rights.There is little difference in relation to the aggregate Tv ratings when all are taken into consideration.The sycophantic approach of Melbourne journos is sickening at times. To listen to Caroline Wilson the Age and Outsiders AFL tragic on ABC,you would swear there was only one popular code in existence. Her famous quotes on rl"how many hits can this game take"',whilst completely ignoring her own backyard.She makes more errors and false comments on rl,than a weather forecaster. BTW you don't have to be a journo,but sportng people,administrators and the man in the street,based on TV ratings alone,to know "we wuz in fact robbed'.Roy is hardly a lone voice in the wilderness on that point.

Doesn't explain Jaredsbro how "They did it first with the VFL before the split off from RU.” How could rugby league do that before rugby league was born?

Ah Rugby League. There's always been this Us vs Them in RL, many fans claim it (adversity) has made the code stronger. But my point was basically that RL tends to pick fights, just as the players approach their opponents as tho all their opposition is just a stone on which to whet themselves. If there's no natural adversary/adversity RL folk tend to go looking for it.

Jaredsbro says "They did it first with the VFL before the split off from RU." I thought your taling about rugby league but this doesn't make sense. Who is "they"? and what are you talking about?

Come on the AFL ignited all this totally, they are buying RL players and paying them a squillion, stealing local RL teams colours, and making fun of the local RL stars (Hindmarsh) nd the local community (falafel land). Give us a break.. Their diplomacy is a complete failure I'm afraid. The Swans have never acted like this. Then they are beating their chests about the $200 million they've got to spend. It is the whole fibros v silvertails all over agian.

Too true. The problem is that there is already many precedents in RL culture/lore/tradition of looking at the fat cat and trying to fight it, even if that only means shadow boxing. They did it first with the VFL before the split off from RU. Then they did it with the NSWRU and consequently the GPS types. And now here we are doing it all over again with the now Australian Football League. But besides other sporting rivals (usually protrayed as the big kids versus RL the small fry or underdog etc) there's the tendency to create adversaries out of certain demographics for e.g. big business (a la Manly) and failing that they make their opponents on the other side of the field into the scum of the earth, and by doing this they say that their adversary gives them strength etc.

RL journos love the AFL.... it's all some of them talk seem to talk about....the old 'we wus robbed' diatribe whinging about the NRL's broadcast rights deal....e.g. Roy Masters trotting out erroneous, incomplete and irrelevant statistics to weave his increasingly bizarre conspiracy theories .... where would a journo like Masters be without the AFL?...he'd have nothing to whine about...he should send the AFL a cut of his salary....

Except he signed a 4 year contract.....

I agree constant mentioning of AFL in an NRL story is getting boring,but I laugh at the tired and at times loosely described "rl friendly media comment.Tonight ch10 the AFL station and the sports guy an AFL fan,made the point of Hunt against Folau((who wlll not play BTW),with the NRL logo in the background.The code secured the services of the NRL players,use them for PR purposes,and ,maybe we should therefore expect mention of their code at times on NRL stories,.that is what they wanted I suggest. The comment they are targetting millions in the West who don't give a stuff about league or union,is a bit over the top.Millions !!!! All the codes are competing for the young talented athletes,so one can't glibly ignore the competition.Banks don't ,supermarkets don't and neither should sporting codes.it is a nonsense to suggest otherwise.If it were to be softly softly,the other code wouldn't be expending $20m pa there. Anycase the Tiogers and Parramatta are able to stand on their own two feet,with the exceptional athletes they have in their squads.

Jake I was looking at the issue of raising another sport purely from the media point of view. The NRL admin do a lot of talking about the AFL also and the perceived threat to the NRL of the establishment of GC Suns, GWS and the Sydney AFL Academy.

Of course they are relevant. They are competing within the same market, for the same junior players and for the same corporate dollars. Its a war which the rugby league will win comfortably. The AFL has no chance in Western Sydney. Folau will be back in the NRL within 2 or 3 years.

It really, truly, absolutely is.

This is a complete w--k isn't it, this code war stuff? The Giants aren't out to steal away NRL fans, they're targeting the millions of people in the area who don't give a stuff about League or Union. They can thrive in that part of Sydney without attracting a solitary fan away from League or Union, so the whole thing is redundant. No one should be mentioning NRL in AFL colums, or AFL in NRL comments because they are completely irrelevant to each other.

Redb you're right but it's not to help the game of rugby league, it is help themselves. http://forums.rleague.com/showthread.php?32234-Mortimer-pleads-for-new-leadership.&p=626531 The former NSW halfback said the consequences were dire if a new independent commission wasn't quickly convened. "I see this Steeden football that is deflated and dead, and I see these vultures picking at it - like News Ltd, Channel Nine and 2GB," Mortimer said. "What I'm saying is they have picked what they wanted for their own benefit and when there is no carcass left, they will fly away."

That's exactly what the NRL related media want.

NF I used to think that too. But the amount of ridiculous mentions of AFL and GWS in NRL stories is just turning everyone I know off any casual interest for AFL and GWS. That works against the AFL's interests. Most of my NRL mates at the pub blame the AFL for the overkill but I don't think it is the AFL's fault. I think it is just Sydney NRL media looking for a cheap and easy headline or story idea in between waiting for the next JT beer flicking scandal.

SportsFanMelb you need to differentiate between NRL media, NRL fans and NRL admin. They are all 3 different things. Just because reporters who write on NRL feel some need to mention AFL in everything they write doesn't mean NRL fans are all talking about AFL. As a NRL fan I've had enough already in 2011 of going to catch up on my NRL news fix and find that I have to put up with references to AFL and code wars that simply only exist in the mind of the person who wrote it. If you're a NRL journo just write about the NRL players and game please.