NRC Crowd Watch

[Teh Other Dave]

I think the Sydney solution might be Sydney Stars and NSW Country merging to create a team based in the eastern suburbs. Both teams need a crowd and they aren't really getting them at Leichhardt/Lismore/Gosford etc. Don't like to say it but I think that's the only real solution.
The surplus players could end up with the Rays or the Rams.

I disagree, I think the stars should be based in inner Sydney, but should be run by SRU/NSWRU. Trying to get Randwick and Sydney Uni together is like herding cats.

And yes, Lismore and Gosford were a pallaver, but Dubbo and Orange had potential, and I suspect that a match at the 'gong or Newcastle may yield better crowds. I reckon NSW country ought to stay.

 

[Ash]

The Stars also need the Sydney Uni hierarchy to take the NRC seriously.

Without doubt the Stars need another Shute Shield team to go with them. The Stars have a competitive first up team, but there will be injuries and the fabled Sydney Uni depth isn't what it was 3 - 4 years ago.

It's not just getting Randwick to accept to go with Sydney Uni, it's getting Sydney Uni to accept to go with any other Shute Shield team. They'll be kicking and screaming the whole way.

The way the NRC is currently set up, I think you'll see at least a couple NSW teams in the bottom 3 or 4 teams every year, should the NRC continue in the current format. At it was this year, there was 2 NSW teams in the bottom 3, and that was with a heap of injuries reducing the strength of the Queensland sides, and also there was the horribly disappointing Vikings making it not look quite so bad for the NSW teams.

 

[Brumby Runner]

So let me get this straight. No NSW teams in the final and it's our fault that the game didn't rate well and the crowd wasn't bigger.

I suspect that if 2 NSW teams played in the final, drew a good crowd and had good ratings then that would be viewed as being part of a Waratahs/ARU conspiracy to ensure that NSW teams dominate the NRC and thus give the Waratahs a perceived advantage in Super rugby.

Some NSW fans seem to be developing thin skins judging by some reactions to the perceived bias claims. Hope you're not in that group QH?

I really don't think RR's comment was an implied any sort of conspiracy. Just an observation, in a humorous way, that probably very few NSW fans watched the game as it didn't involve any of their teams.

 

[Brumby Runner]

The problem with the Rays wasn't so much the injuries, but that in the cause of balancing players from all 4 SS clubs, the combined entity ending up being weaker than the sum of its parts.

Randwick, Easts and Uni should be in the one JV, leaving country free to be a country team.

An idea that someone floated before the NRC got underway was that maybe the NSW Country side should be based at Queanbeyan and draw its Super players from the Brumbies. Certainly, the form of the Vikings this year wouldn't suggest two competitive teams could be put on the ground in the Canberra/Southern NSW region, but it might make the issue of dividing the Tahs up a bit more equitable? I also think there would be interest in a local derby involving the Vikings vs Eagles where the Eagles were drawing on other JID teams for a significant part of their roster. I do know that the ACT Vikings are not the Tuggeranong Vikings, but there were in fact anly a few of their players drawn from the other JID teams. Would this be practicable?

 

[liquor box]

Coming from NSW I think I agree. They need 3 teams max. Randwick and Easts either sort your shit out or piss off. Rays could have another club join as injuries started to kick in.

NSW should grovel to QLD and ask how to be successful, after all QLD teams have dominated the winners circle for as long as I can remember the NRC existing .

 

[liquor box]

I wonder if when the stats are worked out whether there are more tries per game than NRL and less penalty goals?

If so this could be a great marketing opportunity to show league fans that the league media is wring about Rugby

 

[RugbyReg]

there were only 9 penalty goals kicked all season this NRC.

 

[TOCC]

tries scored is all well and good, but the real measure of success will be the 'minutes in play'... For many the minutes in play has a direct correlation to the entertainment value derived from watching a game, this is where rugby union has struggled in the past when compared to the other codes.

I'd be interested to see these statistics when compared to Super Rugby and Test rugby.

 

[Quick Hands]

2 big problems there. Been there, done that - the Fleet did not work. Where would Country source their players from?

IMO there is a lot of negativity on the Stars that is a hang over from the last decade of Uni dominance rather than for sound reasons. The Stars were severeley impacted by injuries - Dennis, Carter, Latu, Winton, etc etc. They also saw less of Betham, Willan, Clunies-Ross, Roberts, Skelton and Hickey than they might have otherwise expected. If the NRC had been played in 2013, they would have had Phipps and Foley at 9 and 10. The lesson for them is that they need better injury cover for their squad if they wish to be a 1 team NRC club.
One of the big positives for the Stars is that they have the most precious commodity in this comp, money. As a result, they must be retained. Are we sure that one of the other NSW clubs won't fall over financially before next season?
However the Stars must build a better fan base. Their crowds were not good.

But everyone gets injuries and Phipps and Foley (Phipps in particular) were nowhere near as dominant in 2013 as they were in 2014. The raison-d'être for Uni standing alone was that in years past, at the end of the super season, they could field almost a super team in Shute Shield. But the whole dynamic has now changed - not only are some other clubs catching up, but the later finish to super rugby and the advent of Argentina in TRC means that there's going to be less rep players available because of injury and other unavailability.

I agree that they possess money and resources, which IMO are wasted being aligned with Balmain and playing in the inner city. I suggested that the price for Uni standing alone was that they invest some of their resource in a growth area (I suggested Cambelltown) - rugby is already overrepresented in the inner suburbs. IMHO we don't really need more rugby in that area. Before I get howled down, just think for a moment - it would cost no more money for the team to play at Cambelltown as opposed to Leichhardt. Short term you'd probably still get the same small crowds, but done properly there is a huge opportunity to get some presence in a place like Cambelltown - and rugby goes with Balmain. Just for added irony, Balmain rugby league merged with Wests years ago in order to try to tap into the huge numbers of young kids in Cambelltown. I'm sure many rah rah types will decry letting riff raff from the south west in. Anyone catch footage of the welcome that Western Sydney Wanderers received at the airport yesterday? Rugby could do with 5% of those people and the enthusiasm it might generate.

 

[Train Without a Station]

The uni hate bothers me because I haven't heard a single complaint from the stars. Due to a large number of injuries to their own players, and wallaby injuries promoting their players, they were at their very weakest.

Let's talk about them after a second season. Id bank on them being significantly improved in 2015.

 

[Train Without a Station]

Latu, Dennis, Phipps, Foley, Kingston, Weeks, Skelton are all players that barring injury would have played every game in 2013.

Look at how the premiers played against the rising when they lost almost all their top line players for the game.

 

[Quick Hands]

The uni hate bothers me because I haven't heard a single complaint from the stars. Due to a large number of injuries to their own players, and wallaby injuries promoting their players, they were at their very weakest.

Let's talk about them after a second season. Id bank on them being significantly improved in 2015.

I have no hate towards Uni, in fact you may remember that I was advocating them to stand alone on the 3T thread before the teams were even announced. Their resources and success were the main reasons that I advocated this. I thought (and still think) that they should have been given the SW corridor from Camperdown to Cambelltown to develop as a long term venture. Long term, it would actually make their NRC team stronger. Balmain is just a dead end geographically and demographically.

 

[Jagman]

Latu, Dennis, Phipps, Foley, Kingston, Weeks, Skelton are all players that barring injury would have played every game in 2013.

Look at how the premiers played against the rising when they lost almost all their top line players for the game.

TWAS in addition to losing these pros I took a look at the stars squad when it was announced and went over the Uni team sheets from earlier in the year to find out where these guys were from. I couldn't see any locks and hookers from their 1st and 2grade teams. Many of the stars players were from 3rd grade or 1st colts. I'm not sure what happened to all their players but I think a lot of it had to do with the pathetic pitch they play on. Leota started as lock for the stars but he's from southern districts not wanted by the Rams. so they had some sort of serious player issues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pfitzy]

The uni hate bothers me because I haven't heard a single complaint from the stars.

The Stars didn't complain, because the Uni/Balmain people who wanted to succeed were running it. The Uni people who DIDN'T want it to succeed were sniping from the sidelines - in any comments section here or TheBore you'll see some people shooting down the NRC wherever possible, particularly in a Stars match report.

They're the IllUninati trying to get themselves a bigger slice of the pie.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

For someone who went to all Sydney Stars home games they definitely improved as season went on....so would not be writing them off. As first home game played rising and respectable scoreline, and other home games watched they drew with Vikings, just lost to NSW Country in tight tussle and won against North Harbour Rays. So actually were very strong at home.

Like many of the teams they need to build a fan base as crowds were generally around 700 to 1000 mark....but all the teams suffering from that problem to some extent and they have one thing others would be more envious of than anything - money.....thank you Balmain....

Hope they are successful as nice to have NRC team in my local area.

 

[TOCC]

The NRC averaged 23,000 viewers for its live games on Thursday nights with a season-high of 40,000 for the opening game between Brisbane City and Sydney Stars in Brisbane.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...in-arus-new-deal/story-e6frg7o6-1227118781996

 

[Strewthcobber]

Was there 10 games shown? So 230,000 total viewers for $1.5m.


$6.50 a viewer. No way in the world is fox sports going to keep that up.

 

[Highlander35]

9 Thursdays, plus the extra game before the Bledisloe, plus the three finals. 13 games shown.

Bluntly? What promotion did Foxtel give. There was some during other Rugby on, and one every hour or so on FSN. We need more than that. We also need buy in from all the rugby communities, to turn up and support the teams. Perhaps some sort of Streaming agreement to get all the games online.

 

[Train Without a Station]

Fox Sports didn't do much to promote it to their audience. I only ever watch Foxtel and I don't think I can recall a single advertisement for the NRC. Saw ads for Super Rugby and Test rugby though.

 

[Ash]

Was there 10 games shown? So 230,000 total viewers for $1.5m.


$6.50 a viewer. No way in the world is fox sports going to keep that up.

9 Thursdays, so 207,000 on Thursdays, play the curtain raiser for the Test, plus the 3 finals. Assuming at least another 23,000 viewers per game (estimate), that's about 300,000 viewers in toal, or $5 per viewer.

Not great, by any stretch.