Ideas for NRC 2015

[terry j]

Maybe I'm out of touch but I don't get the sentiment or know anybody who thinks along the lines of "oh, there's only one game, so I'm not interested in going" which is why I don't understand how you would expect to get any more fans.

I, for one, am not particularly thinking it is a magic bullet, but it could be. None of us will know the answer till it is tried surely? (has it been tried btw??)

We could just as easily turn your argument around. How about (and not saying this is the case, only that we can just as easily construct a different hypothetical) 'geez, was not that keen on going, but now that there is two I think I might just make the effort'.

And, in keeping with the thrust of this thread, and acknowledging that neither you nor I actually know how well this would be received, how about the ARU do a survey?

You know, get off the arse and actually find out what the fans want or do not want??

Is that NOT what this thread about? (not a go at you btw, just 'come on fellas, have a bit of initiative and enlist the fans to what they want as THEIR competition')

Whilst the double headers may (and that's a big may) project well they could impact on the bottom line for the teams which is a big concern.

OR, maybe (just maybe) it could turn out as a way to increase the revenue? All the costs are 'cut in half' (except maybe wages if any as they work twice as long) but all else surely is only a single expenditure as opposed to 'twice of the same thing'. Heck, maybe they could get a discount as the pie truck gets to sell for twice as long to (hopefully) more people.

Anyway, I am not sure we should automatically poo pooh an idea without exploring it.

I drove to orange to watch a game (only an hour away), I could very well be tempted to drive to sydney if it was worth my while (three hours away).

 

[TheBigDog]

I think the double-header concept would work at treat being played out of Ballymore with Qld Country playing in one game and Bris City the other. There was a good spread of players from across the Brisbane Premier Clubs in each team this year which meant local club supporters having blokes to cheer on in both sides.

 

[Quick Hands]

North Harbour's jersey is disgraceful. I bought a hat and polo shirt but until they have a decent design I'll give it a miss.

Designed by a comittee no doubt - you're right it was appalling. A class of 10 year olds at your local primary school could have come up with something better.

Or they could have gone to google images for some inspiration.
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...a=X&ei=B9JZVOPKA4G4mwWRmIKgCA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg

 

[Train Without a Station]

The harlequin design is a very rugby centric tradition in their defence.

 

[Quick Hands]

The harlequin design is a very rugby centric tradition in their defence.

Perhaps, but I think they could have done better. The French top 14 clubs have a good mix of tradition and new designs in their jerseys. It doesn't have to look like dog vomit, but hopefully they can do better than the Harlequin strip next year.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Agree lot of tradition with harlequin design...I actually like NHR's jersey...

 

[Jagman]

I'm don't think we'll see any double headers next year due to the RWC. TRC and NRC won't run concurrently I'm assuming.


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[Rugbynutter39]

TOCC....good points on double header esp opportunity to get 2 games broadcast as broadcast exposure key....ie battle for eyeballs....

Don't agree with your points on marquee though as exposure it brings would enable the club to benefit from sales/revenue in gate takings and wider benefit of exposure it brings not only to club but NRC comp generally...the marquee would be more about profile and attracting people to come to the game...this brings them the revenue they desparately need and basic player base to build on as need more to market and bring people to the game and high profile personalliies like Chabal and Wilkinson would do it (have players at end of careers but high profile names)

Success of A-league and crowds they got and exposure / awareness was built on by marquees of DP, Ono and Hesky and brought huge benefits....

Just imagine a richie mccaw, johnny willkinson cameo appearance in NRC for a season.....and media circus and exposure it would bring to NRC>...huge.....

 

[Quick Hands]

Agree lot of tradition with harlequin design.I actually like NHR's jersey.

I think we can do better. Most of the big jersey makers actually have software to help you design jersey, shorts and socks.

It took me 10 minutes to create 3 different designs using NHR colours on this site. Let's use our imaginations.
http://www.cccteam.com/design-your-own/

 

[RugbyFuture]

asics designs them in consultation with the teams. They can print them because they're all subliminated and can do whatever they want. I think you're underrating some of the value that came with the harlequin design. But I agree that the designs were all uninspired

 

[Quick Hands]

For example

 

[Quick Hands]

asics designs them in consultation with the teams. They can print them because they're all subliminated and can do whatever they want. I think you're underrating some of the value that came with the harlequin design. But I agree that the designs were all uninspired

I appreciate the tradition of the Harlequin design and it has it's place in rugby. It's never really been a tradition in Sydney though.

 

[TOCC]

Success of A-league and crowds they got and exposure / awareness was built on by marquees of DP, Ono and Hesky and brought huge benefits..

Just imagine a richie mccaw, johnny willkinson cameo appearance in NRC for a season...and media circus and exposure it would bring to NRC>.huge...

Yes i absolutely agree that those soccer players have been of a benefit to the A-League, but we are comparing apples and oranges. A-League teams have revenue of $10-$20million so they can afford to play a marquee player $500'000/annum. NRC teams have revenue of maybe $100k - $200k, so paying a player like Wilkinson or Richie McCaw $200'000 raises obvious issues.

Even if those clubs increase their revenue to $1million/annum, it still doesn't make a lot of sense to pay one individual $200'000 when half of the squad are only earning $100/game.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Biggest problem with marquee players IMO is that if 1 or 2 teams have one the rest may feel that they simply MUST have one, regardless of whether they can afford it. This is the reason NZRU have set min/max salaries for ITM Cup sides & capped salary expenditure at the lesser of (from memory) $1.3M or 25% of TOTAL revenue.

 

[Omar Comin']

TOCC fair points regarding the positives of a double header. I didn't consider the potential cost savings and how it would enable additional games broadcast.

I do consider getting as many games on TV as possible to be a top priority.

The other thing is that with 2 matches you can create much more of an event. It's longer, there's a gap between games etc. You can just do a lot more to make it a real day out. More than watching 2 games of rugby. Plus with a bit of lead time you could market it over a couple of months. Maybe open the NRC season with them. Cross promote the double headers at Waratahs and Reds matches and across all the various digital platforms.

It could be a real festival of community rugby in both Sydney and Brisbane. Encourage players and other people involved in subbies and junior clubs in NSW and QLD to attend wearing their jerseys or club colours. I mean there's lots of possibilities and I think 20k would be possible in both Sydney and Brisbane with some clever promotion.

People want to attend games where there's a good atmosphere. And TV viewers want to watch games with a good crowd in the background and plenty of noise from it. A double header round might achieve this. Worth trying anyway.

 

[RugbyFuture]

For example

no offence, prefer their design.

 

[Quick Hands]

no offence, prefer their design.

I take no offence. I'm sure people can do a better job than I can.

 

[Lee Grant]

The first thing I'd like to see is a review of the law changes used this year and an acknowledgement of those that will be kept and those that will be discarded. Maybe with input again from the fans as we were involved in the suggested changes this year. For mine, I'd like to see all goals reduced to 2 points.

I wish that the points system had not been changed.

More people than not would challenge my view and point out the number of tries scored—as if that answered anything.

If you want more tries scored as the main thing you want, fine—the scoring system used in the NRC this year will produce more of them. And if you want more tries for the reason that you want to bring more punters to the ground or to watch it on TV, again, fine: I understand the logic.

It depends what you want the NRC for. When people start projects they don't always list their priorities, or not correctly: they sometimes think of a dozen of them before they start something, but don't appreciate that some purpose they are looking at, conflicts with another purpose.

They didn't need changes in the scoring system in the ITM Cup or Currie Cup this year to produce some cracking games and compelling viewing, especially in the finals.

If one of the principal aims of the NRC is to develop inexperienced players for Super Rugby and to assess them for being signed up, or not; or to assess Super Rugby fringe players to be in matchday teams, you should use the points system used in Super Rugby.

Then the whole process you use to get points in Super Rugby will be used in the NRC and the players judged on their performance in that environment, not an artificial one.

We've had a look at the NRC scoring system in operation—fair enough, it was worth a try.

Let's see it with the normal scoring system next year and compare the outcome with this year, but first decide on what is the main thing we are looking for.
.

 

[Train Without a Station]

The other thing is that with 2 matches you can create much more of an event. It's longer, there's a gap between games etc. You can just do a lot more to make it a real day out. More than watching 2 games of rugby. Plus with a bit of lead time you could market it over a couple of months. Maybe open the NRC season with them. Cross promote the double headers at Waratahs and Reds matches and across all the various digital platforms.

It could be a real festival of community rugby in both Sydney and Brisbane. Encourage players and other people involved in subbies and junior clubs in NSW and QLD to attend wearing their jerseys or club colours. I mean there's lots of possibilities and I think 20k would be possible in both Sydney and Brisbane with some clever promotion.

People want to attend games where there's a good atmosphere. And TV viewers want to watch games with a good crowd in the background and plenty of noise from it. A double header round might achieve this. Worth trying anyway.

That's the part I disagree with. How's that festival of rugby 7s going down the road?

From what I have seen people don't want to go to all day events. Look at how T20 has overtaken ODI cricket. If the event is too long it will more likely scare away more potential attendees than it will attract based on the wane in popularity of whole day sorting events. They seem to work for 1 offs like F1 but people just don't seem interested in whole day events for sports they regularly go see.

People who want to lap up all the rugby they can get would already be there. Now it's a great thing to do for the consumer base, but I'd be skeptical about it helping expand it.

 

[Strewthcobber]

The other part of the equation is that under the current NRC model, the home team gets to keep the gate. So unless you get twice as many punters through the door, the two home teams lose out on revenue. (Might be offset by savings on ground rental etc, but for example in Brisbane, Ballymore wouldn't cost teams much would it?)

They only get 4 games a year to make their money, it would be a tough sell to get a "popular team" to risk some of it with a split.