Quick Hands
David Wilson (68)
But that's the point, he's not 3 years late, because many of the legitimate points that he makes are still current.
The Yanks like fast-food artificial sports so could see them liking Loig more than proper rugger.
How the fuck do you cast a shadow over an event that barely exists?
I wouldn't be too cocky about that with where we sit right now. I wouldn't be surprised if more turned up to the Kangaroos v Kiwis match than they did to the brilliant spectacle we saw on Saturday's Bledisloe and I would also wager it'll rate better on TV too - Bledisloe only got a little over 700k with FOX & C10 combined.
More turned up to a recent club grand final in Melbourne, and watched it on FTA. A lot of folk turning up or watching doesn't mean that it is any good.
How many people watch Home and Away and Neighbours?
Fuck where we sit. I'm cocky about where we can go!
League is a tinpot shit bucket of a sport that is popular almost nowhere.
We sometimes get overwhelmed that we have the arseholes just up the street, and forget the possibilities.
I'm feeling pretty bullish because Cheika is saying the right things. If his attitude filters down at national level like it did at the Tahs, the no-dickheads policy will fall into place as a matter of course.
If we kick some arse at RWC2015, and show those ABs they've hung onto their legends too long, we'll be ready to take back the mantle and fucking keep it. Aussies will support any fucking team that is willing to whip out the cock and have a red hot go.
FUCK league.
There are certainly bits we can copy. But we can't manipulate the game to our own ends like the NRL and AFL can - that is their major strength.
The real problem AFL is going to have in the next ten years is market saturation. That's why they're hitting western sydney so hard - they need a boost. But what happens once the Giants are established? They're swiftly running out of options. Kind of like NRL already is, and NZ Rugby has.
NRL and AFL are now pretty well on par - both with TV deals in excess of $1bn.
League <snip> have two levels of rep footy
Since Jarryd Hayne's departure, many Australian rugby league fans have shown exasperation that the Parramatta fullback has been referred to in the United States as "a rugby star".
But that's what he is.
Only in Australia and New Zealand have rugby league fans surrendered the use of the word "rugby" to union. In New Zealand it's even worse – rugby league is mostly just "league".
...........
If rugby union thinks it is "rugby" in Australia and New Zealand, they why can't we be rugby in places where neither code has a history? I can use Jamaica as an example – league is growing there and it is the only rugby many of its participants know.
Why not try to widen the pool of people whom, when they hear the word "rugby", think of rugby league? That should be our aim.
Why change our name to "league football" and start from scratch when millions of people can picture something in their mind when they hear the word "rugby"? Why discard a marketing opportunity like that?
Yes, I am advocating riding rugby union's coat-tails – stealing their IP, even. And I am simultaneously very big on governments recognising us as a separate sport, which is a major battle for rugby league of which most fans remain unaware.
Those two positions may seem contradictory. But they stole half our name in Australia – let's steal some of their IP elsewhere. All's fair in war.