The League Media

[Braveheart81]

Rugby union around the world is incredibly healthy and growing in popularity in many new markets.

I wouldn't point to the Auckland Nines as anything remarkable. The Coca Cola World Sevens that started the preseason used to be very popular too but after a few years people lost interest and it died a death. Don't be surprised if that happens to the Nines in a couple of years.

Where is this impetus for a hybrid game going to come from? Australia where rugby is struggling to maintain its popularity?

Innovation will always be driven by the most powerful in the sport.

How is every other sport reinventing itself?

Rugby has gone through significant change in the last two decades and favours the attacking team well.

 

[RugbyReg]

While he's certainly been guilty of anti-rugby trolling in the past I reckon he's actually somewhere near the money this time. We all need to start hoping (or praying if that's your thing) thr poms have one of their rare Indian Summers 'cos if it's wet & miserable it could be every bit as dire as he's suggesting.

Just out of interest (and I know it's a training shot, but surely you train the way you intend to play?) can our resident front- and second rowers please have a look at the attached and tell me is this one fucked up scrum setup or am I just an ex-back who doesn't understand the dark arts therefore should STFU.

yep, Sharpie's head is way too high.

 

[Dan54]

Wamberal , I not answering for anyone else, anymore than I assume you feel you speak for everyone when you suggested a hybrid game, all I said is once you take up your suggestion of said game it is no longer rugby and so would have no one else to play. I stand by my comments that I am quite happy with a game where you can play either wide open or tight rugby, and I believe that is one of beauties of the game. Because you see PI and Maori kids who you believe are going to league, you are quite happy to change game to keep supposedly keep them? Oh and by the way mate I seen kids that play soccer (and that pretty big numbers) as they think perhaps there is less chance of getting injured, so I assume this hybrid game of yours is going to take some of tackling out of game to attract them as well?? As I said, just leave rugby as it is, and by all means go off and start another sport, but not sure who will be playing it!

 

[mxyzptlk]

We all need to start hoping (or praying if that's your thing) thr poms have one of their rare Indian Summers 'cos if it's wet & miserable it could be every bit as dire as he's suggesting.

It shouldn't be too rainy during the summer. Occasional showers, sure, but nothing horrible, it won't be like winter. And that's the thing -- when the weather is good, you see more running rugby in the Premiership and Pro 12 (not sure about Top 14; only Toulon and Clermont seem to care about running rugby). So it's not like the northern hemisphere just doesn't play running rugby; they play to the conditions, just like they do in other places around the world. Australia just generally has better weather than most other places.

But it's not like league has beautiful off-loading multi-pass rugby on every phase. No sense in going over it again, but there have been discussions on these boards before comparing the passes between tackles in both league and union, and they're not all that dissimilar. But one code has more kicking options.

 

[Pfitzy]

Wamberal: what everyone is saying, and I back them up entirely, is that your continued moaning about how rugby is dead is just completely unfounded. In Australia, its struggling. Everywhere else it is gunning along; yes there are challenges in our market, but those are ours to deal with.

Wouldn't you just be happier watching the NRL? I'm sure they have a forum you can complain on.


That scrum picture has a few things I don't like:

1) Locks aren't bound tight enough (amount of daylight between their torso)
2) Loosehead lock's head is too high
3) Crotch bind by loosehead isn't optimal - if he got his head lower he could comfortably bind the leg
4) Rocky Elsom

Fuck hasn't Slipper lost some weight?

 

[Wilson]

He's certainly spent some time in the gym since then.

 

[Happy]

I noticed this story a week or so ago, but it wasn't picked up by any other media outlets and seems to have been quietly buried:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...m-profit-in-2014/story-fnp0lyn3-1227252728989

As well as saying the NRL had a 55% drop in profit last year, it also points out the fudging of crowd figures to show an increase in crowd numbers, when in fact there was a substantial drop.

All is not well in League land - increased expenses, reduced profit, lower crowd numbers, lower tv ratings, clubs struggling to survive. Add to this the top handful of players for each team sucking up all their salary cap, and it is not surprising their best players are looking further afield.

 

[wamberal]

All is not well in League land - increased expenses, reduced profit, lower crowd numbers, lower tv ratings, clubs struggling to survive. Add to this the top handful of players for each team sucking up all their salary cap, and it is not surprising their best players are looking further afield.

And you could pretty much say exactly the same thing about our game, couldn't you?

The big difference is that they have every game televised either live or on a short delay, with two a week, sometimes more, on FTA.

They are already crowing about their next media deal. If they do get anything like the $2 billion that is being spruiked, they won't have to worry about us as a competitor, the weight of money will ensure that they get - or should I say, continue to get - the lion's share of young talent from here and, sadly, the Pacific Islands.

They lose far fewer of their top players proportionately than we do.

 

[TOCC]

They lose far fewer of their top players proportionately than we do.

That is a reflection of the global appetite for rugby league players rather then the salaries of the top players from either codes.

 

[Happy]

I agree that you could say the same things about our game. The point, though, is that League is nowhere near as healthy as it tries to make out. They constantly mention their "1 billion dollar TV deal" on their telecasts, when it is public record that it wasn't that much - it was 830 million from memory, plus 150 million free advertising on Channel 9.They are desperately trying to make out that they are as successful as AFL, when plainly they aren't.

Who is going to pay them $2 billion for their next TV deal? There is no international coverage of their game. It is ridiculous listening to Ray Warren explaining the game during a telecast to non-existent international viewers.

Which of the FTA networks will have that much cash to spend on a product that has falling ratings? Nine and Seven are both broke. Nine can't afford to lose the tv rights, so they may be tempted to pay overs to keep it from going to 10, but they have new owners who bought their debt a couple of years ago, and may not be too keen to take on more.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

It seems that the Mungo press are good at counting to five. Numbers bigger than five would require them to use their right hand as well, and based on much of their output, it would seem that that is often otherwise engaged.

It is often said that the first casualty of war is the truth. In the war to keep their jobs, and to hype up their game for their target demographic, the truth may not be a casualty, but it has been seriously injured by their inability to deal with numbers larger than 5, and rounding things up to a larger numbers to sound impressive and to simplify.

$830m rounded up to the nearest billion dollars is $1billion. Fact.

As well as the decline in the TV and newspaper advertising revenue and sales, the Bob Carr Pokie tax is causing Loig clubs some serious grief in NRL clubland, resulting in most of their Football clubs having their hand out to the NRL, and State and Federal governments.

 

[Marcelo]

And you could pretty much say exactly the same thing about our game, couldn't you?

The big difference is that they have every game televised either live or on a short delay, with two a week, sometimes more, on FTA.

They are already crowing about their next media deal. If they do get anything like the $2 billion that is being spruiked, they won't have to worry about us as a competitor, the weight of money will ensure that they get - or should I say, continue to get - the lion's share of young talent from here and, sadly, the Pacific Islands.

They lose far fewer of their top players proportionately than we do.

Besides their rivals are weaker (Kiwis & Pommies) and they have more depth

 

[qwerty51]

Interesting, league participation is down in England and they lose govt. funding because of it.

Dan Roan ‏@danroan 5m5 minutes ago
I understand Sport England taking funding away from swimming, rugby league, gymnastics & equestrianism for missing participation targets

 

[Pfitzy]

They constantly mention their "1 billion dollar TV deal" on their telecasts, when it is public record that it wasn't that much - it was 830 million from memory, plus 150 million free advertising on Channel 9.

Actually i think the split was 80/20 for the "free advertising". What bollocks.

More made up shit.

Yes, wamberal, we're not out of the woods either. But we've got a growth market internationally (and domestically) and despite all the rule changes you want-

actually fuck it - just go find any of my last 4 posts addressing you on this matter.

 

[wamberal]

Meanwhile, the NSW Opposition Leader is pledging $55 million for the NRL to help them "expand their community programs" ( whatever they are), if the ALP wins the next election.



But that's okay, rugby is thriving. We don't need any outside help.

 

[Pfitzy]

Turn it up. NONE of us are saying that. None of us are saying rugby is ticketty-boo and that nothing at all is wrong.

And the NSW Opposition Leader can pledge all he wants. Election promises only matter if you're elected, and the ALP aren't sitting pretty from here. They can't rely on the current government being a pack of dickheads (unlike the Federal ALP) because Baird seems to be doing the right things.

But fuck starting a political thread on GAGR - we know how that ends up.

 

[wamberal]

Turn it up. NONE of us are saying that. None of us are saying rugby is ticketty-boo and that nothing at all is wrong.

And the NSW Opposition Leader can pledge all he wants. Election promises only matter if you're elected, and the ALP aren't sitting pretty from here. They can't rely on the current government being a pack of dickheads (unlike the Federal ALP) because Baird seems to be doing the right things.

But fuck starting a political thread on GAGR - we know how that ends up.

I look forward to the day when either side of politics does something for our game.

 

[papabear]

Nobody thinks rugby league is going gang busters, read the leagueunlimited threads on crowds / memberships etc.

As for TV the live sunday telecast has apparently increased their numbers.

Rugby Unions issues are different, as the world changes it does not appear to want to change with it. Pretty much the same issue since day dot, and really if it moved with the world rugby league wouldn't exist and who knows how many other football codes borne out of union might not exist and one global rugby sport might be dominating the globe.

But no, that did not happen.

 

[wamberal]

Whether we like it or not, professional sport is primarily about entertainment.


In an apparently ever-faster changing world, the challenge is to provide what the hoi pilloi wants to watch.


It's okay to maintain an elitist view of what the buggers should want to watch, but unfortunately that does not put the meat and potatoes on the table for very long.

The day we went overtly professional is the day that everything changed. For the worse, if you are a traditionalist.

Australia has always been a test market, for cars and other technology. In some ways we have been the test market for rugby - the "Australian Dispensation" is the best example of where we have been at the forefront.

Others are welcome to differ, but from where I sit we need to do whatever it takes to keep the game as entertaining as possible. Meaning that the average Joe who watches television can understand it, become interested in it, and enjoy it.


That's a big ask, given where we find ourselves, with virtually no rugby on FTA any more, and a diminishing presence in the state school systems.

 

[RugbyFuture]

most of the problem with being entertaining is simply the interpretation of the game from a back focused culture point of view. other rugby societies who havent had the focus on the back play don't have the same problem with being "entertaining" because they appreciate the value in the forwards set plays.

Even if it was because the game wasn't entertaining most of the push back is from a football code war point of view. we eliminate the antagonisation and "comparing" of the codes and you'd find yourself on the front foot.

I still advocate a restructuring of how the code is run from top to bottom however and until we finally get rid of the power (not necessarily tradition) of the private school boys then we'll never move anywhere.