A few weeks ago there were two (yes two!) articles about rugby league in Tasmania.
One of these was posted on the NRL Tasmania Facebook site. It caught my eye and reinvigorated my interest in The Roar and the endless debates that occur here about footy.
For several years (2009-2013) I was President of the Tasmanian Rugby League (as it was then known). To describe it as a thankless task would be an understatement.
Working full time in my day job and devoting 20 hours a week to the fruitless exercise of trying to maintain a competition down here was, in hindsight, probably not a wise investment of time.
But gee we had some fun.
Over that period of time we managed to form seven clubs (losing three on the way), play interstate and intrastate matches, get some under 18 stuff happening, and get to spend every Saturday over summer watching true amateurs playing the greatest game of all purely for the love of it.
We made lots of friends (and enemies) and a small band of people worked tirelessly to keep the game going until the comp folded early in 2015.
So what went wrong?
They say history has a tendency to repeat itself. Sadly, for Tassie rugby league, this is very much true.
The first rugby league competition was played here in the 1950s and early 1960s but died for reasons hidden in history.
Two more attempts were made to grow the game in the early and late 90s. At one stage there was a genuine state wide competition with ten clubs. I even remember seeing women’s league down here and a reserve grade comp at one stage.
Super League put paid to one incarnation of the game here.
To make matters worse, rugby union is weak down here with ten clubs state wide playing one grade and very few junior teams. It is a great comp to play in but playing numbers are low.
There is actually no reason why rugby league cannot grow and thrive here in that environment. But, sadly, at the moment there is no regular full contact rugby league played anywhere in Tasmania.
So why is that?
Here are some interesting facts and figures which demonstrate that there is a spark that could be ignited down here to get the game rolling again if the powers that be can be bothered.
First of all, WIN Television advised me three years ago that a regular audience of 10,000 viewers watch NRL on Fridays and Sundays.
Secondly, State of Origin matches down here regularly attract television audiences in excess of 40,000 – as does the NRL grand final.
Thirdly, we had a trial match down here between the Storm and Broncos on February 18th 2012 (my birthday) at the North Hobart Football ground which drew in the vicinity of 15,000 people (official attendance was 11727 but the crowd was much larger than that).
We played our grand final prior to that trial match at 12 noon (the Storm match was at 4 pm) and it was estimated (not by me) that over 3500 people arrived early at the ground to watch that game simply because local league lovers had a chance to watch a game of footy.
Then what happened? Nothing. And slowly but surely league died in Tassie again.
On February 18th 2017, five years to the day the last game was played (and yes it’s on my birthday again) the Storm play the Canterbury Bulldogs in a trial match at North Hobart Football Oval. Its déjà vu all over again.
However, unlike last time, I and most of my league-loving friends will be just casual observers.
Crowd estimate? Your guess is as good as mine. But there is no doubt that the ball was dropped badly in 2012 and if the fans don’t flock to the game this time then the NRL will need to think about whether it should drop the ‘N’ in its name and re-title itself the MRL as in ‘Mainland Rugby League’ – and yes I am half serious about that.
A lot has been said about television deals, bunkers, player contracts, grassroots, development officers, referees, naughty players and the like over the past five years since the Storm last played here.
But in a time of declining participation rates in traditional markets, a potential player base and market sits here pretty much ignored.
If the national body is serious about becoming the number one code in Australia, then it must have a presence in every State, including dear old Tassie, which goes beyond counting touch football players and kids attending school clinics.
Your kidding
Guest
It's more likely for the AFL to have a third team in NSW than for the NRL to have a league team in Tassie.
Justin Kearney
Roar Rookie
We live in hope my friend!
Big Daddy
Guest
Maybe with all that tens of millions of dollars Todd Greenberg is handing out that now is the prime opportunity. Go for it. Keep us posted on your progress.
Justin Kearney
Roar Rookie
It wasnt player numbers that killed the comp.
Big Daddy
Guest
If you don't have enough players to conduct your own comp where else is there. Just offering an alternative.
Justin Kearney
Guest
Why on earth would we enter a side in the vrl?
Big Daddy
Guest
The only avenue for Tassie to get into this game is to put a team into a Victorian rugby league comp. The big question is who is going to finance it and after a few floggings interest will start to drop off. That has been one of the problems with a lot of rugby league clubs including some of NRL clubs. But Justin I wish you the best.
Justin Kearney
Guest
Not suggesting we get a relocated team. Just suggesting the nrl invest here and build a market via a club playing a roster game here and the nrl investing in building a comp here and junior pathways.
andrew
Guest
I enjoyed reading that (much more than the two articles by the same chap a month or so back. But those numbers, 10,000 people watching Friday night football - not really selling the idea to me i am afraid. As you have just written above, some partnership with and NRL club for one or two games a year is probably the best that can be done in the foreseeable future.
Robby Ramone
Roar Rookie
The only way there will be a NRL or AFL team in Tasmania is if they relocate - same for Northern Territory and of course WA doesn't have a NRL team either- Unfortunately due to poor Test Cricket crowds you might even loose your Test to Canberra(Manuka Oval) - i.e only 10k watching the NRL weekly isn't going to get the NRL excited about expansion in Tassie and if the AFL hasn't expanded into Tassie by having a team based there the NRL won't be- it wont even be on the NRL's agenda
Justin Kearney
Guest
Actually they have been on the increase, from a low base mind you, for some years now in non traditional areas particularly in victoria wa and the nt. Its NSW where they are dropping.
Swanny
Guest
Rugby league player numbers are declining in every state bar Queensland , so why should tassie be different . Would love to see tassie in a national competition , I think the A league will get a tassie team in within 2 years .
Justin kearney
Guest
I agree with you rob9. The best we can hope for down here realistically is for the storm or another nrl club to adopt a similar model to north melbourne or hawthorn. The storm are definitely interested. Apart from that a statewide comp and junior pathways are ideal.
Rob9
Roar Guru
Interesting read Justin. Thanks for your insights and the invaluable contributions you’ve made pushing the game forward in your neck of the woods. Its foot soldiers working tirelessly like yourself that have a real impact and I can imagine the struggle being real. Regarding the two articles that you’ve mentioned, I truly believe an NRL presence in Tasmania is dream-land stuff. And it’s not a ‘Rugby League thing’, it’s the fact that the numbers just don’t stack up for a professional club participating in a national league being based from Tassie. It’s a beautiful place that I love visiting but there are reasons why even the AFL which is like religion down there only flirts with the Apple Isle. Currently Tasmania has a population of around 520,000 which represents just over 2% of Australia’s population of 24 million. And Tassie’s representation of Australia’s population will only continue to diminish. In 20 years time Australia will have grown by 8 to 9 million people and only 100,000 to 150,000 of that increase will be living in Tasmania. It’s currently Australia’s oldest state in terms of median age and the current state of the economy and its future prospects don’t look anywhere near as fruitful as the mainland states and territories. The regional markets the NRL will look at in the future will be Central Queensland, Far North Queensland, the Sunshine Coast, the Central Coast and a full time presence in Illawarra. As well as these regions being RL heartlands, if they aren’t already they will be as big or bigger than the entire population of Tasmania and the ongoing growth prospects for their population and economy are far greater than that of Tasmania’s. The new markets they will look towards outside of the heartland will be Perth and Adelaide. That’s not to say Rugby League has no place in Tasmania and its people like Justin that will continue to push the barrow there and hopefully achieve some great results as has occurred in the past. It would be great to establish a sustainable state-wide competition that provides the opportunity for Tasmanians to play Rugby League from juniors up to opens. It would be great to see the Storm continuing to play trials in Tassie and although I think a fully professional club competing in the national league is out of the question, may be one day a team in a state league will get off the ground.
Hammerhead
Guest
Tasmania is the forgotten state. It's bad enough for rugby league in WA (even though there's probably more support for league over here than in Melbourne). And the AFL continues to pay Tassie lip service and will only ever pay it lip service. This is why Robert Belteky and Harry Stamoulis are so hell-bent on bringing the A-League to Hobart. Twelve games of A-League per season as opposed to three North Melbourne home games per season? It's enough to give the AFL nightmares.
BigJ
Roar Guru
correct as the Sunshine Falcons are a feeder club there. Melbourne should do more in Tassie to expand the game, but it comes back to dollars and cents.
justin kearney
Guest
Agree with all of that mate. You will notice elsewhere on this thread my references to the great job Hawthorn and North Melbourne AFL teams have down here.
justin kearney
Guest
Tasmania is the only State or Territory not to have a rostered NRL game this year. And it has no contact football played at this time after a thriving competition fell over. I am suggesting we need more commitment from NRL House to develop the game down here. The Mainland Rugby League bit was written mainly as a joke. Sorry you did not get it.
BrainsTrust
Guest
The AFL is paid about 6 million dollars a year in Tasmania, a rugby league team is viable with a subsidy of 3 million cheaper than paying the AFL. Why would the AFL put a team in Tasmania, when the state government pays them a fortune for a few games. They are paying the AFL a fee essentially to avoid having a team. As far as the NRL putting a team elsewhere the team would have to fund itself, in Melbourne the cost of ground hire would be susbstantial, in Perth I am not sure it might be just as expensive. In Adelaide it would be relatively less but the ground has poor corporate facilities,making earning money there difficult. Brisbane would be the worst the rent at Suncorp is probably the most expensive in the world, would bankrupt any team with crowds less than 20 thousand. Tasmania is the only place willing to really support a rugby league team.
Justin Kearney
Guest
Participation rates in Victoria are steadily rising. There were over 220 teams in the Melbourne comp last year across all age groups and two new Clubs formed. Victoria is doing okay. More grassroots funding would help. With the Storm being there so long they are having a similar impact to playing numbers as the Swans are for AFL in Sydney.