The popular and correct perception is that Sydney is and always will be a rugby league heartland.
That may well have been the case when the game was bought here after the split from rugby union at the turn of the last century. Rugby league has a rich history in the Harbour City that cannot be denied, and this mantle was theirs for well over 100 years.
That cannot be said today except by those who are rusted onto the code. Today other sports have risen, and Australian Rules football continues to conquer New South Wales and Sydney in particular.
Sydney deluded itself by proclaiming that rugby league was the greatest game of all and that it was the sporting capital of Australia. If that was was indeed the case, it would have a foothold and be the major sport in most countries. It cannot be argued that that distinction belongs to soccer. The NFL in America has the largest crowds of any sport and the AFL is always in the top five on that list.
(Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
The NRL competition is rightly regarded as the premier rugby league competition, with the English Super League not able to grab decent enough exposure in that crowded market to be able to claim they are a successor to the title. That explains why they moved their competition to a summer completion to escape the glare of the winter sports in Europe.
When the Sydney Swans relocated from South Melbourne in 1982 they were a failing club with a rich history. It was a case of move or die. And they have flourished after a decade of struggle to get to where they are today as the premier football club in New South Wales. The tide started to turn from 1995 when St Kilda powerhouse Tony Lockett came to the club and the team made a return to grand final football. They’ve been contenders ever since.
That doesn’t happen without a stable front office, and in today’s rugby league environment only a few clubs can lay claim to having that.
It was also 1995 that rugby league imploded in the Super League war over Rupert Murdoch’s plan to get content for his new subscription TV venture. It can be argued that the game has never fully recovered from that. The loyal fan-base that the game enjoyed either never came back or was fractured enough to look elsewhere.
I fall into the latter category. When I was growing up I was within earshot of the old Cumberland Oval, and I remember the excitement of those early 1980s grand final days when the mighty Eels took all before them. I recall too going to Granville Park on the pushy with the Dane Sorenson Scanlens footy card pegged to the back wheel for the sound effect that followed. The site of Peter Sterling arriving in the flash yellow RX-7 was a sight to behold for the housing commission kid who was in awe of this team of superstars arriving from training from their labouring or cellarman jobs.
While I did enjoy watching Super League and pay TV in those days, the game was laid bare to greed never before seen. The ground was firm for the AFL to strike, which they did in a way that now commands average crowds of 30,000 at the SCG when the Swans are at home. They have and continue to spend millions on the Greater Western Sydney Giants in a bid to conquer the west. This on top of the king’s ransom they spend on infrastructure at grounds and on junior footy.
Other codes cannot come close to competing with this spend, and as a result AFL is the cheapest junior competition to play as it is subsidised by head office to teach, and the game keeps them hooked for life.
(Robert Cianflone/AFL Photos/via Getty Images )
The strategy is working. GWS have year on year built their following, and though it may take a generation to become what the Swans are now, that is the price you pay for success. They have already played in one grand final in their short history. The Swans boast a membership of over 60,000 when the best rugby league can do is half of that for the rejuvenated South Sydney.
Russell Crowe has proven that investment pays off. Maybe he learnt that from the AFL. Sydney has nine NRL teams, taking into account that St George Illawarra play some of their games in Wollongong. That said, the average home crowd of those Sydney clubs is 14,500. The 2019 premiers are the most efficient team in the league but the Sydney Roosters averaged only 17,251 a week.
It is said that Manly supporters won’t travel and that the at-home experience is better than getting in the car and spending a fortune to attend. The same can be said for all sports. In the UK and the US sellout crowds attend in below-zero temperatures and snow but in Sydney on a sunny day fewer than 10,000 go and watch the Saints play the Tigers. Yet across town at the SCG you might struggle to get a seat.
The AFL has done the groundwork and it has paid off in spades to establish themselves as the premier winter code in Sydney.
Cyclist
Roar Rookie
I have read many of the posts and think that this pointless debate / argument could go on for ever ... the question is which code do you love ... Me ... I love cycling ... I understand that the NRL is a business and has a product called Rugby League which they sell to the public ... In 2019 they had revenue of 528.5 m ... The AFL has Aussie Rules and their revenue was 793.5 m... If the Wealth Fairy was to give me a choice of which code I could have ( for free ) which one would I choose ????? ... Of course revenue is not they only factor to consider but its an interesting starting point ...
Doxton
Guest
Clipper: In one of your posts, You've used the word imagine Soo many times! I'm to believe that you are singing along to John Lennon's song ????Imagine?????
Adam
Guest
GWS has 31,000 members. More than nearly every NRL team
Jack S
Guest
I'm not arguing any points made here, but my point would be - there's no need for league to panic. Ultimately I think Rugby League is a sport that could easily develop a big following in the US if ever it received enough exposure and there was education it's not 'Rugby'. The revenue this could generate could be staggering with just 0.34% people in the US potentially a million new fans. Currently the average American still doesn't know it even exists. It's so close conceptually to NFL that it would probably blow their minds to think there's like a sped up version of their own sport, and it's not even in competition with the NFL - rather a summer sport for them to watch. Every redneck, college jock, combat sports fan would eat it up with a spoon if they were introduced via the right means. AFL has zero potential to take off anywhere but in Australia. Just because it was created 150 years ago in Australia and became ingrained in Australian society has never compensated for the fact it's just not a great sport conceptually. At best internationally it could be a fringe niche sport. It has very little appeal internationally. It does better with crowds probably because the game durations are longer so it's more of a day or night out, and better with representation because league is becoming a sport parents are less eager to see their children play. League firstly though has to rescue the charm of the sport. It's become too structured, and even the new rule changes haven't restored it to it's former charm. More afternoon games I think would help.
bleedsgreen
Roar Rookie
hahaha, the smarmy superiority complex of fumblers , there for all to see. Its their fall back position in every argument they lose , which is just about every argument haha. " yeah but I'm smarter then everyone else " so there !! Fact is they're bubble dwellers living in a world of delusion where everyone loves their silly little niche sport. But in reality it hasn't even caught on in half of the only country on earth its played.
clipper
Roar Rookie
As you only joined in march you wouldn't know that unless you were signed in under another name. This is the 2nd multiple alias person caught in this article - although there were many new league fans creating new accounts to express their outrage!
Parasite
Roar Rookie
Quick bud, someone in the pub switched channels whilst you were squatting in the dunny, better turn it back to 7 mate. Imba.
trilby
Roar Rookie
Crosscoder - you’ve really been caught out there. Interestingly take those 14 years off 38 you get 24 - which is the time the storm has been around, so 24 good years each
clipper
Roar Rookie
That's just the Swans trying to get more concessions and money from H/O - but you seem to take everything at face value. 'Not really have a series of bad years'!! From '88 to '94 were pretty bad - including 3 wooden spoons from '92-'94! In the first years finishing 7,11,10,10,4,4,7,7,13,12,15,15,15,12 - whatever way you look at it, that's quite a series of poor years - quite a contrast to the Storm who have only missed 3 finals. An increase from 13k to 18k is not what I'd called 'markedly' People don't drop off teams that they view have been unfairly treated, as long as they're still playing well - look at Rangers in the SPL - sent down to 4th division but still kept their fans. It's only when they play terrible that teams shed fans.
trilby
Roar Rookie
So what do you think about people getting caught out with double aliases and the valid point that the blues are like the Socceroos more than the swans?
clipper
Roar Rookie
Over 500 posts - many from the usual league suspects. You certainly riled them up, Mark - so much so that some even made up aliases to comment. At the moment, of course, AFL is not the top sport here - probably won't be, but who can say what the future has in store? Imagine when the Swans first arrived here, someone telling you that 28 years later they would be the most attended team in Sydney - surpassing every NRL team on the way - you would've fallen out of the chair laughing. Imagine if you then added that the growth in participation would be such that some clubs would struggle to find grounds to play on (due to lack of ovals). You would've thought that even crazier. Now imagine you added - such will be the success of the Swans, the AFL will add another team in Sydney. Could you ever have imagined those things happening. They did, even though it seemed a fantasy at the time. Now imagine if they had said the same when the Storm started. 28 years later, none of those metrics are even close, so people would have been quite correct at having a laugh about it.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
One more time Clipper which has a lot to do with it.38 years of either leg ups, or getting into the semis, and really not having a series of bad years. Compared to the Storm who have been around for 24 years, with yes solid years ,but a PR disaster called salary cap cheating that did little to help their situation.In a state where they have few juniors. Who really cares(except you like a long playing record), whether they overtake an AFL team in Melbourne.The Storm when they play have been an excellent boost for matches on Fox, where the real money currently is.Their crowds have increased markedly since Olympic Park, and I remember when they first came in quite a few AFL fans stated, they'd be lucky to get 5k at their games. You need to refer today to a realist from your code also in the Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/swans-chairman-fearful-of-v-landys-nrl-20200630-p557nd.html Sort of makes the threads author's comment look rather lame.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Reality check for the author and the usual anti rl zealots. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/swans-chairman-fearful-of-v-landys-nrl-20200630-p557nd.html Story also appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
I'm past responding to the usual AFL monomaniacs and indeed the author of this dreamland thread bagging rugby league, except to refer to the story below in both the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age.This might help to bring things into perspective and wipe the foaming lather of the 8 post brigade of the usual zealots who get their rocks off here.This is just one reality check for the merry band of GoGWS,Clipper,Rowdy,Gyfox, the thread's author whose name already escapes me and the band of merry followers. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/swans-chairman-fearful-of-v-landys-nrl-20200630-p557nd.html There are positives and negatives, the measuring contest is just plain childish.Ciao.
clipper
Roar Rookie
That's got nothing to do with it being a false fact. Hutch claimed the Swans averaged bigger crowds in the '90's. I proved it was false - whatever the reasons may be. You keep mentioning their good run as the reason why they've overtaken every team in Sydney - and yes they have had a good run, but nowhere near as good as the Storm, who have yet to overtake one team in Melbourne .
no one in particular
Roar Guru
I'm not the one making the claims. And it looks like the Swans chairman agrees with me, and not the premise here https://www.smh.com.au/sport/afl/swans-chairman-fearful-of-v-landys-nrl-20200630-p557nd.html
trilby
Roar Rookie
Oh, that’s embarrassing- Ukrl / m d - getting caught with two alias! The blues are a state team - you could throw in the Socceroos and wallabies if you include them
Matches
Roar Rookie
The only "proof definitive" is your primitive use of the vernacular, bleeder. It highlights that you are out of your depth understanding wit. You're half way there - That's probably wasted on you too :laughing:
UKRL
Roar Rookie
AFL is shown in 7mate in Sydney. A station which rates around 4%. While the NRL is shown on Ch 9. Why show AFL on 7mate in Sydney if it is so popular in Sydney. This clearly shows there is massive delusions with AFLs following in Sydney.
UKRL
Roar Rookie
Nobody even noticed them when they made the grand final. Had only a few hundred fans turn up for their supporter day.