Which sports are dying in Australia?

Not sure that "huge" is the right term? Maybe "bigger", but you are right, the game has definitely been ground down of late (and Kiwi coaches and administrators have played a part). AFL and Cricket can probably claim the "huge" mantle (from an Australian perspective).

Pedro we were huge then.. the League wars had put us in good position. So they have really had to work at it to destroy the game... but they got there ..

2 decades ago, Australia were very good with 58 medals being won. From 58 gold medals in 2000 down to 29 medals in 2016 Summer Olympics, this represents a steep decline in the number of medals being won. I know that AUstralia has about 400 athletes in one team but why is it very hard to win more medals, especially in hockey, basketball, soccer, table tennis and in badminton? 2 decades ago, TV ratings for the 2000 Olympic Games were astronomically high with more than 6 million Australians watching the Games, but 4 years ago, the ratings start to decline. I think many other countries (e.g. China, Singapore, India, Sweden, Finland, Canada) are starting to become much stronger. As much as I like the Olympics, I think that Australia will only win 25 medals with 6 gold, 9 silver and 10 bronze. They start off well in races but suddenly, they start to falter and lose ground, which will have a strong impact on winning gold.

Country/outback Australia do a phenomenal job at supporting their teams. I'm just sceptical of the AFL's expansion. Gold Coast is a weird place, and a graveyard for sports franchises. GWS will never be successful as western Sydney don't care about it. I mean rugby union can't even get people in western Sydney (apart from kiwi & PI migrants) interested in their sport, so how do the AFL assume GWS will be successful. There's just this bizarre obsession with expansion. It was a breath of fresh air to hear the NRL boss talk reality about a Perth NRL team.

Micko, I hardly ever go to an AFL match though I live just over an hour from Melbourne, but I've been to many country venues to watches my son play. Any village of any size has an Aussie Rules team (and a Football/Netball club) and in Victoria there are hundreds matches every weekend from Juniors through to Seniors. Senior players are paid, some so well that I wonder how a small town can raise their salaries (it's done by gate receipts, sponsorships and tireless fund raising). Aussie Rules (AFL) has so many teams because people at the grassroots in all states except possibly NSW and Qld. are passionate about it.

It's on this Saturday. A double header because the South China Tigers are playing all their home games in Australia or New Zealand because of the Corona virus. See you there.

Pure hearsay and media beat up

Adelaide has a smaller comp than most cities, but they still field 5 teams. We get a few transfers from time to time in WA

They would do well to get a good, slick game out including all the teams and all the players – it’s the biggest of the entertainment industries, several times larger than the movie industry by way of profit and reach.

Exactly. They need to STOP trying to compete with England, France , Japan. All this does is bankrupt rugby union in Australia & NZ. They're vastly overpaying SR players (too many in Oz, ALWAYS should've stayed at 3 SR teams!) and ignoring the grassroots. Now look how desperate the aussies and kiwis are to get a new international comp going. They're desperate for the cash!!!

Craigo, why do you bother?You're not interested are you, so don't be bitter. I do remember attending international League matches in the 60s, when France and England schooled the Kangaroos in how to play the game. The landscape certainly has changed. I'd just like Rugby Union to survive, because, though I came to it late, I think it's a much more interesting game requiring a wider range of skills and strategies than does League. I'm always sad when I see the simpler, less challenging version outsell the full version of anything. The AFL is my second favourite code, because I watched my son play it for about 18 years, and learned to like it. It is the all moving no stopping game that delights the huge crowds. I reckon it should have more rules than it does :stoked:

I think the NZ game must have been the one I saw back then, because it did have SH teams. Rugby really does need some smart, entrepreneurial business people to market it and ensure its survival.

Adelaide!

2003? Gee, it's taking a long time to die!

Pedro -- Rugby in decline since after the last successful Rugby World Cup in Australia. Instead of building on the success of THAT World Cup, the people in charge at the time sat back, pat themselves on the back, told the world how wonderful they were AND did not enough to build rugby in AUS. AND NO Castle were not part of THAT group!!

Purdo unfortunately ‘the’ Rugby game that gets around these days is rubbish and doesn’t include the Southern Hemisphere comps, or at least the licences. There was a game called Rugby Challenge a few years back developed by an NZ company which was a far better representation of playing the game, and included Super Rugby and (at the time) Tri Nations licences (but not the NH). It’s all a bit of a mess, and would need WR and/or the player’s associations to take the reins I think to get every player on a game in the way FIFA does

You won’t regret it mate GRR is great fun, the kids love it. I took my boy along to the Force kids open day on Saturday. Players were all mingling with the fans, completely approachable and engaging with the kids.

You might be surprised, Pedro. I mean is it something that normally comes up in conversation? What area are you in? The Broncos (my club) have gone from 12 - 14 blokes slogging it out on both offence and defence to over 100 registered players in the space of 10 odd years, with the major growth being in the last 5 or 6.

It was played across the Perth summer months though due to lack of grounds, so it couldn’t’ve been fun for them guys running around in summer wearing all that crap they make them wear! It’s still played in summer, but we’ve mostly moved to night games now. Still it can be pretty testing on the back end of a 40 deg day with a 5pm kickoff

Interesting take. I don't follow AFL and I can't stand the "look at me, look at me" way that sport operates but I wouldn't say half the country hates it. It's reasonably popular in parts of Sydney and Brisbane and I think the NRL are making a very dumb decision not putting a team in Perth.