Australia's premier sport

[RoosTah]

The front page of Murdoch's national paper puts Australia's game un its rightful position at the top in their first paper since both GFs

 

[Raiderdave]

Looks like we've trumped the VFL for ratings too for the GFs

They got 4.089 Million all up
Their biggest in 10 years.

We have 3.730 Million so far with foxtel
figures still to come

Another 2nd place for the Victorian game ; )

 

[DiegoNT]

Looks like we've trumped the VFL for ratings too for the GFs

They got 4.089 Million all up
Their biggest in 10 years.

We have 3.730 Million so far with foxtel
figures still to come

Another 2nd place for the Victorian game ; )

Foxtel wasn't simulcast though

 

[Raiderdave]

Foxtel wasn't simulcast though

Oh haha
Thought it was.

 

[RoosTah]

The NRL has outrated the AFL GF for a few years running from memory, and with the Storm getting more viewers in Melbourne than Swans got viewers in Sydney, it'll be interesting to see how things look once we get all the other regions ratings in.

 

[Dodgy]

As a long time lurker. It used to shit me a lot when the idiot, hardened anti-RL of BF would crap on about how AFL was going to take over NSW. Especially using BS statistics.

Australia is one country. But there's clearly two sporting/football cultures. There's no premier code for the whole of the country. One has one side. The other has the other side. They cancel each other out.

I wouldn't get too confident with ratings figures from Melbourne. They'll plummet once Smith, Cronk, Slater and Bellamy go. Outside those 4, Brian Waldron is probably still the best known Storm associated person. Frank Pennisi would have a higher profile than most of the players.

The only thing I'll say with confidence. Is that interest in SoO is legit. Also GF without Melbourne in it. As in, two Sydney teams can genuinely hold interest.

 

[Perth Red]

They beat us for first time in while overall. We did better in Melbourne than they did in Sydney though. Sydney NRL audience really lets us down compared to Melbourne audience for AFL. If Sydney loved RL as much as Melbourne loves AFL we would hammer them every year.

Whilst I agree as of now Dodgy they have a long term plan to turn that around. You just have to look at their brand positioning to see that they do not believe that the country will always be either AFL or NRL. We still believe that whatever they do RL will always own the two states and do little to either protect this or god forbid get on the front foot and start to gain ground in their territory. Wont happen in this decade, maybe not in next two or three but they inch slowly to that goal. I saw what soccer did with EPL and how it went from popular to all dominating in UK, don't think it couldn't happen just because historically NSW and Qland have always followed RL.

 

[Dodgy]

It's not going to happen. In 30 years, they'll be saying "In 30 years..." Then 30 years after that "In 30 years..."

 

[T-Boon]

The only thing I'll say with confidence. Is that interest in SoO is legit. Also GF without Melbourne in it. As in, two Sydney teams can genuinely hold interest.

This is why we need Origin to be a better showpiece for the game in terms of the game play. It is a lot of peoples only observation of Rugby League. It should be converting Origin watches into keen followers of the code.

Yes the theatre of Origin is very dramatic and it is very high intensity. But the games themselves have been utterly atrocious as a spectacle and show piece of the skills of the game for years now.

The once a year'ers would be turned off rather than captivated.

 

[alien]

The front page of Murdoch's national paper puts Australia's game un its rightful position at the top in their first paper since both GFs

This paper came out today, the day after the NRL Grand Final, when the AFL Grand Final was on the Saturday. Maybe that has something to do with it.

 

[RoosTah]

This paper came out today, the day after the NRL Grand Final, when the AFL Grand Final was on the Saturday. Maybe that has something to do with it.

They don't have a Sunday paper, so both were just a summary of the weekend.

I'm guessing you're more an AFL fan though by the sounds of things.

 

[alien]

They don't have a Sunday paper, so both were just a summary of the weekend.

I'm guessing you're more an AFL fan though by the sounds of things.

No I follow the NRL more, but the NRL Grand Final was only yesterday so I'm not surprised.

 

[RoosTah]

It was the first chance the Aus had to report on either result - that's my point. If it were the Age they'd still front their monday paper with the AFL - that the Murdoch national paper didn't is saying something.

 

[alien]

It was the first chance the Aus had to report on either result - that's my point. If it were the Age they'd still front their monday paper with the AFL - that the Murdoch national paper didn't is saying something.

I think your trying hard to prove something that is unprovable! Since it's only the day after of the NRL Grand Final, there is more excitement and interest in the story. There would have been a lot of stuff on other media on the Sunday about the AFL Grand Final.

 

[RoosTah]

I think your trying hard to prove something that is unprovable! Since it's only the day after of the NRL Grand Final, there is more excitement and interest in the story. There would have been a lot of stuff on other media on the Sunday about the AFL Grand Final.

Perhaps. It's interesting all the same given the war-footing Murdoch seemed to be taking against our game a year ago with threats of freeze-outs of coverage and everything.

 

[Perth Red]

It's not going to happen. In 30 years, they'll be saying "In 30 years..." Then 30 years after that "In 30 years..."

Hand on heart would you say the afl is stronger in nsw and Qland now than it was in 1986?

 

[The Mad Hatter]

RL is stronger in Melbourne now than it was in 1986.

Hell, even in 1996 I never thought there was a hope in hell of a Melbourne RL team and yet here we are almost 20 years in. And some decent eyeballs on em too.

Despite the code shooting itself in the foot and a hostile media, there are still good things in RL. We really need to accentuate the positive of some of it.

 

[Teddyboy]

It's not going to happen. In 30 years, they'll be saying "In 30 years..." Then 30 years after that "In 30 years..."

It nearly did happen till Super League f**ked it up good and proper.
In a perfect world SL didn't happen and Auckland where getting 25,000 plus, Western Reds were still in Perth and Melbourne are what they are now but maybe bigger or and SOO was played like it was in the 90's.

 

[Dodgy]

It nearly never happened. It wasn't going to happen. It's not going to happen. It's not happening.

You're not getting 6mil NSW/Sydneysiders to follow AFL because something bad has happened with RL. They'll make incremental gains here and there. But in the overall scheme of things, it'll mean **** all decades from now.

In the time I've lurked in these forums. What you guys don't seem to get, and the idiots on BF as well, is that the only reason why the AFL will pepper the Sydney market (and will continue to do so forever), is because Sydney is more commercially valuable than Melbourne. As long as it remains this way, you guys up there will be forever inundated with AFL promotion.

Even if the VIC/NSW economies were exactly the same. NSW is more commercially valuable. That's just how the country has evolved. You want AFL to **** off? Reduce your economy to be comparable with Tasmania, and the AFL will **** off.

You just got to look at the teams representing both comps in opposing territory. South Melbourne Swans precarious financial situation got taken advantage of to be relocated to Sydney so as to reignite the VFL finances. On the other hand, nearly two decades later, Melbourne Storm are born. For no other reason than Melbourne is such a big city you can have a token team. There was no other reason to have a team here... even now.

 

[CC_Roosters]

Have not seen it mentioned yet but wouldn't the public holiday weekend contribute to the weaker Sydney ratings? judging by the numbers on the roads the place empties for 3 days so it surely impacts on viewing figures. I was in a very isolated camp-site which had a dozen different families in it most of which were listening on the radio. maybe the bigger teams like south's or Canterbury in the Gf keeps a few more at home to watch.

My experience of the night time kick-off is also frustrating and imo drives people away from watching as it's harder build a social event like a bbq around a 7.30+ kick-often night before a public holiday. all of the folks I know that used to have a house party or get together annually on Gf day no longer do so