The Big Bash League was the biggest non-event since Y2K and the footy seasons are still a month away, so what better time for a code war than the middle of a busy A-League campaign?
Batten down the hatches, dear readers, because you know what’s coming!
There we were, minding our own business and enjoying the pleasant afterglow of Friday night’s pulsating Melbourne derby, when The Daily Telegraph’s sports editor-at-large Phil Rothfield goes and ruins it all by saying the Sydney derby had been “embarrassingly shunted from the ABC’s main station to the national broadcaster’s secondary kids channel, ABC Me”.
Fighting words from Buzz, although he neglected to mention that having only agreed to a last-minute deal to screen the A-League after negotiations with Network Ten fell through, the ABC invariably had pre-existing broadcast obligations in place.
Nor did he mention that all anecdotal evidence suggests that it’s football fans leading the charge and signing up for streaming services like Kayo and Optus Sports in significant numbers.
And in fairness to Rothfield, nothing he wrote in his splash for the Sunday paper – which most A-League fans were only aware of because Fox Sports commentator Simon Hill took a photo and posted it on Twitter – was anything we hadn’t read countless times before.
But it wasn’t so much what Rothfield said, but rather why he said it, that should interest football fans.
There’s no denying A-League metrics aren’t great right now.
And Rothfield is right when he says competitions like the increasingly popular NBA hold widespread appeal to a younger demographic.
Realistically, though, that impacts the NRL – which for years has skewed towards a middle-aged, middle-class viewership with the disposable income to shell out for newspaper and Fox Sports subscriptions – more than it does the A-League.
It’s worth remembering that in cities like Sydney and Brisbane News Corp remains committed to trying to drive newspaper subscriptions by aiming plenty of content at NRL fans.
However, a quick look at a few other facets of the code suggests it’s not all roses and sunshine out there in rugby league land.
(Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Take the club Sydney FC currently share their Jubilee Oval home in Kogarah with. Last season the St George Illawarra Dragons played just five games at the venue, attracting crowds of 10,080, 13,409, 9645, 6532 and 9087.
Sydney FC have already drawn crowds of 16,116 against Melbourne Victory and 17,421 against Melbourne City this season and were expecting a full house for the postponed derby against the Wanderers.
To an outsider it would appear that one of these clubs is decidedly more popular than the other. However, that’s not a suggestion you’ll often see made in the mainstream media.
Yet the Dragons will soon have some added company in Kogarah, because Rothfield’s beloved Cronulla Sharks will spend this season playing out of the home of their most bitter rivals. That’s because the Sharks are effectively homeless, have no licenced club and no current chief executive to speak of.
Problems? The A-League ain’t the only place with them.
But highlighting as much is to miss the bigger picture. It’s not by peering over the fence that the A-League will solve the issues in its own backyard, because football doesn’t need rusted-on rugby league journos with no skin in the game and no desire to see it flourish to tell us what we already know.
This is a big year for Australia’s national teams, with the Olyroos, Socceroos and hopefully the Matildas all set to take part in significant international tournaments.
But Rothfield’s not wrong when he says the A-League’s struggling.
And while it’s all well and good to rage against the mainstream media machine in the comments section of online columns like this one, there’s an even better way to help prove the A-League’s doubters wrong.
It’s to attend a match, watch the broadcasts and return to once again doing what football fans do the world over: support.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
My point was that their crowds are just under 13k (whether it's their overall average or their Sydney based average is neither here or there really as they're so similar). Which, while poor by AFL standards, is reasonable when you compare it to NRL teams.
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
wasn't you original point the crowds were 13,000? If we are going to be pedantic.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Yep - you've just provided further evidence for my point. Which was that GWS's overall and Sydney average attendances are higher than their Canberra average attendance. Using 2019 figures... Overall average: 12,267 Sydney average: 12,411 Canberra average: 11,884 At the end of the day there isn't much of a difference, but if we're being accurate, the Giants' Canberra crowds bring their overall crowd figure average down.
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
I just did again 12,411.375 18/08/19 Australian Football AFL: GWS Giants v Western Bulldogs 10,139 03/08/19 Australian Football AFL: GWS Giants v Sydney Swans 16,116 20/07/19 Australian Football AFL: GWS Giants v Collingwood 15,467 07/07/19 Australian Football AFL: GWS Giants v Brisbane Lions 12,268 01/06/19 Australian Football AFL: GWS Giants v Gold Coast Suns 7,581 19/05/19 Australian Football AFL: GWS Giants v Carlton 9,599 06/04/19 Australian Football AFL: GWS Giants v Richmond 12,697 24/03/19 Australian Football AFL: GWS Giants v Essendon 15,424
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
You might want to check your maths. Austadiums' figures match the ones from afltables.com - the three GWS home games in 2019 average is 11,884.
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
AusStadiums
chris
Guest
I read somewhere that the number of AFL volunteers outnumbers the entire population of Australia.
The Joy Of X
Roar Rookie
@ Chris You are the deluded one. The figures I quoted come from the official FFA and AFL 2018 Official Participant Reports these organizations publish. The links of both have been produced in numerous other articles in The Roar. I'm sure you know that, and recall the figures.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Joy.... I did mention the coaches/refs/volunteers in the comment earlier: Munro Mike Roar Rookie February 12th 2020 @ 11:21am only thing is there was a typo!!! "not" instead of "now"........dilutes the impact of the statement below: Okay – they
not(NOW) list coaches, referees and volunteers!!! Hang on – they weren’t in the list in 2016. That’s +69K out of nowhere. But still – there’s another almost 400,000?Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
No idea where you got that figure from... GWS 2019 average Home game attendance: 12,267 Manuka Oval 2019 average attendance: 11,884 Source: afltables.com
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
it doesn't, it is 12,400 I checked
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
If you like. If that's the case then the Giants' average goes up. Their Manuka Oval average is below their overall home average.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Chris To whom are you commenting?
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
Because the original comment was regarding Sydney based teams, wouldn't it only be right to therefore count Giants Sydney match averages and not combine them with the Canberra crowds as well?
chris
Guest
You seriously just make things up. You are really just delusional
The Joy Of X
Roar Rookie
@ Munro Mike Good statistical analysis. You failed to mention that the FFA also includes, in its latest 2018 official report, the number of volunteers who assist in community soccer. Thus, its 2018 (and previously) official participant figures of 1,851,683 include all volunteers, coaches and referees. In contrast, the AFL does not count/categorize Australian Football volunteers, coaches or umpires in its official participant statistics (which in 2018 were a total of 1,649,178 participants) If these 3 classes were counted, then official Australian Football participant numbers would probably surpass official soccer participant numbers in 2018. As you correctly state, both the AFL and FFA (and other sporting organizations) have very rubbery official numbers- more than 50% of their counted "participants" are not playing in a club, or school, full season competition. Volunteers in Australian Football would far exceed soccer volunteers. Do you have any official numbers for volunteers in Australian Football? (I recall seeing a figure of about 80,000 volunteers in about 2008, contained in an AFL report)
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Why does that matter? Quite a few teams across many codes play out of several locations.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
More, we might be heading for a roar record
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Maitland Mauler I bought/read that book (cricket - going back to 2005/06) when it came out - actually worked with De Moore's nephew. It's a good book. The key is that Aust Football was essentially derived from a number of English school games - including Rugby. However - were it to be essentially derived from Rugby then we'd see some of these misssing elements: - throwing - cross bar - off-side - on-side - 'touch' Amongst others. The reality is that in Melbourne - unhindered by the burdens of the rivalries of English Schools (read from around 1860-64 the observations of John Dyer Cartwright, esp in The Field), they WERE able to pick and choose and develop something that served the local purposes (of men, rather than school boys). In England we know that attempts were made at Cambridge to create a common code of football - - and theoretically they did. And many people refer to these rules and theoretically they might be seen as precursors to the London FA rules......but alas - no one played it. (read "Beastly Fury: The Strange Birth of British Football") The 'old boys' from the various schools retreated "into their own footballing ghettos". But the Autumn of 1863 Cartwright observed "It is impossible to report progress: the matter stands in precisely the same position as it stood years ago". You can at least in Australia check the NLA Trove newspapers - bells life in Victoria (I'm editing a bunch of chapters from Cartwright running in the 1864 editions - it's interesting to a degree - - alas he's more verbose than I am!!!!).
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
Well.....the 'lazy' point re the 3 rectangular codes is that you'd think they'd be the 'BIG' stadiums, for the big internationals. But Rugby Union for example just drops into the AFL/Cricket venues as required. My lazy point in the first place was - let me put it this way - was that it's perhaps counter intuitive. To an English person- the cricket venues over there are 'boutique' and the Soccer stadiums are the big venues and Wembley the biggest of the lot for the FA Cup final etc. To tell that English person that the opposite is the case in Australia despite having RU, RL and Soccer - that could be argued - as I do - that it is somewhat odd. To that Englishman he'd expect Marvel to be a rectangle stadium on the city doorstep in Melbourne (actually Jeff Kennett was originally pushing for that but couldn't attract the financial backers). I really don't think it's that ridiculous.