Problems? The NRL is doing just fine

I wish NSW and QLD were just AFL states as well. I am from a non Australian background and clearly AFL is more entertaining. Most people that like NRL were most likely brought up watching it. As a non Australian I was brought up watching soccer but AFL is by far the best sport because of the diverse set of skills and athleticism in the game and anything can happen. The only problem AFL has is that the population of Australia is not that big therefore talent is hard to come by. Just imagine if this was Americas main sport and having all these super athletic Americans taking massive hangers!

Should have read down by up to 25,000 not to 25,000 at ANZ.

Andrew Alias you haven't been trying too hard. Cut the deflections and being disingenuous. A fact is a truth not an excuse. Fact: No one expected 80,000 at the CC.Expectations 30,000 and 50,000 pls turned up. Fact: Comparing the last time Catalans played at Wembley(84,000) in a 2007 Final shows zero research.The stadium was brand new, only opened in March of that year. Many more people came due to that fact and St Helens being involved with a bigger profile than Warrington.It happened when our Olympic stadium opened for an NRL double header over 100,000 and i was one of them.Didn't involved my team. Fact: All Blacks(the highest profile rugby franchise in the World) crowds at ANZ v Wallabies have dropped,They used to sell out, not anymore.Down sometimes to 25,000 . Fact : Nearly 5,000 French fans came over to the game.A letter of support also from President Macron. Fact: There are plenty of reports about the match in various French press outlets,which you ignored .As well as the Pommy print media. Fact: The French Govt has granted access into the primary and high schools for rugby league a couple of years ago,apparently for a game you say doesn't exist.ROFL Fact: To state rugby league doesn't exist in France ,is a straight out lie.Just like some of your porkies on the Toronto side. Reality check:Denver has zero to do with the CC Final.If the promoter loses $1m it's as relevant as the ARU losing $40m in a couple of years.As is the 2025 RLWC which will be played ,even if the USA doesn't eventuate. NRL,AFL,A league and S15 clubs lose money regularly.Nothing to do with the NRL situation or indeed the Challenge Cup..Typical deflection on your part. LOL rugby league in England has supposedly been at death's door since I popped into this world.It's ESL clubs whilst not having in the main, big crowds are at least breaking even with the Tv monies.TV monies they get ,because the ESL outrates club RU there. The game is played at amateur level and indeed in London in far greater numbers than before.The female side is booming also.Keep up the guesswork. The British Govt is providing P30m for the 2021 RLWC,for a code you say is at death's door. Keep up the deception, deflection and straight out falsehoods,it undermines any argument you throw up.

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And the reason the crowd was down Clip,it involved a team outside the country.The crowd drop was hardly unexpected.In fact many though it would be lucky to crack 30,000.It got over 50,000.I was surprised it ended up at that figure. I didin't mention the war, but the Pommy press did on at least 4 occasions did so and the parties responsible.They know history, you deny it. Plenty of French media reports on the result.Coverage money can't buy. I'm more than content rl is getting into French schools from 2015 ,after being denied so for 70 years.Could your code progress for 70 years without schools access Clip?

Not always ,Canberra Raiders are not making the semis, and got nearly 16,000 last weekend. The Storm did not have the funding these AFL clubs have ,no where near it,They did not get the Tv and print marketing these Qld teams did. The Lions won a couple of G/Fs. The Storm have more members than the Swans did for the same length of time.The Swans have the Sth Melbourne base also as a boost. The Storm got nowhere near the media coverage ,the Lions ,and GC did or does in the local papers. The Storm have never had to poach an AFL player to boost their image and marketability. Juniors (rl)are increasing in Victoria and including female participation. You'd better hope there is not a 2nd Brisbane NRL: side introduced, What the Storm's presence has done ,is create interest for the SOO,which engenders crowds of 80,000 at the G.The AFL has no SOO.Perth the OO is on the way to a sellout. Sand receives big TV ratings in Vic if they play in the G/F. We can all play the Clipper spin game mate.Each code has its plusses and minuses, although we know you look only for minuses in rugby league.

I think you should check the media reports in both the French and Pommy papers.Mr Alias. Considering they were expecting about 30,000 and got over 50,000,in London involving a team from France,I doubt they were crying.

Crowd was down 18k on last year, so supports your theory about France. Just don't mention the war, I think I did once and don't know if I got away with it.

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Isn't it obvious that if a team doesn't do well support drops? Having both QLD teams down the bottom for many years is why the crowds are bad. Still, juniors are increasing, the womens game is going well. If they had the run of the Storm, obviously crowds would be much better, although, even though the Storm has been the best Australian team for the last decades, they still aren't better attended than the worst AFL team in Melbourne.

Andrew for a"non existent sport" in France ,rugby league is doing Ok in the media after the Challenge cup win.Le Figaro,Liberation,L'Equipe,La Provence. Now finally in the last 3 years securing access to primary and secondary schools for their sport.Affter being refused access since 1946 ,to do so.

crowd I read was actually 50k..more than I expected..pretty good..

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When it comes to NRL crowds, what people need to take into account is that roughly a quarter of the NRL season's matches are played in undesirable timeslots such as Thursday 8 pm and Friday 6pm. Manly attracted over 6,000 in their last home game. But really, should we be surprised by that. They are near bottom, the game kicked off at Friday 6pm, their coach wants to walk out and Brookvale Oval looks like a venue from the 1980's. I started watching the old NSWRL where it had one game Friday night, one Saturday afternoon game live on ABC, and the remaining six games were played Sunday at 3pm. There's a reason why most of the games were played at Sunday 3pm.

Farmer I've been to England and France,and watched rl games in England.The games are structured in a pro semi pro and amateur basisYou can argue about the size. Geez even in London there is a couple of semi pro teams and a number of amateur clubs underneath, PNG has a pro team the Hunters,and a structure underneath.It is the national code of that country.And one doesn't have to visit that country to understand that view. What Tonga has in regards to their pro team, does not detract form the fact the game is structured in Tonga with a number of clubs and juniors.Fiji has a growing club competition, with number of local players involved in their national team.In fact the very fact Tonga did so well in 2017 has increased the profile of rl in Tonga,where it is now booming. And comparing local AFL crowds at the G on occasions, with a Wembley match involving a French team and a English team both fully pro,.is laughable.There is zero pro and semi pro clubs outside this country for AFL. The president of France Macron, has acknowledged the efforts of Catalans getting to Wembley. The next 10 years will indeed be interesting, with the way growth is proceeding in many countries for rugby league, from a small beginning.New stadiums at Parramatta/Nth Qld/SFS and ANZ finally after waiting for yonks. And of course NRL expansion .

i don't mean to be disrespectful but no one under the age of 35 gives a hoot about contested scrums in League, only David Lord and his ilk think scrums are going make rugby league great again.

is getting 80k every few weeks to the same stadium in Melbourne such a big deal though? Would AFL ever pull 80k anywhere else in the world? unlikely.... RL may not be setting the world on fire but it has professional teams in more than 4 countries something AFL will most likely never have

@ Farmer The most attended and highest TV ratings of any football code in this country is Rugby League's SoO This years average was 75,000 people per game. The SoO TV ratings were the most watched show of 2018. Any code that can do that year in year out is doing something right. AFL fails in compassion.

When I question the international profile of RL, I am looking at where the game is played in a structured competition format. NZ, NSW, Qld, north of England and a limited extent in France. As for PNG - the fact that it is regarded as one of the big 5 RL playing nations - really? Have you been to PNG? To quote McEnroe - you can’t be serious. Other island teams Tonga etc are made up of NRL players rather than any local in country competition. Nothing I will say will change your mind, so let’s just agree to disagree. The next 10 years will be interesting.

So the game is doing fine? Okay, so why is there no expansion agenda? Why are Sydney clubs being less supported? Why hasn't the scrums joke been dealt with? Everything is great north of the Qld border but elsewhere it's a bit sad really.