But the total lack of recognition walking around Sydney sat-mon that a gf was taking place convinces me that either
the game has some massive importance issues in Sydney,
the city is massively complacent that it gets to host this amazing event
and/or that the nrl have no idea or see any value in promoting itself to the wider non RL public.
A bit of all 3.
The NRLs promotion and lead-in events could certainly be better. Seem to rely on the sport selling itself, which it usually does for Origin and GF day.
Re points 1 and 2 - The myriad of entertainment options and cultures in Sydney makes it a lot harder for 1 sport of limited international relevance to hold absolute sway.
A whole range of things contribute to this.
-Our own fans and media building a constantly negative news cycle - every week amazing games are squashed in the news and conversation around the game by overblown crisis'. No better example than week 1 of the finals.
-Lack of attendance culture in Sydney Rugby League - too many fans have convinced themselves it is "a TV game" which isn't helped by the NRLs TV exclusive timeslots. This attitude flows into the finals, especially for 'neutral' games.
-Refusal to expand the competition to 2 of 5 major cities allows it to be seen as still a merely regional event (despite the 2 teams involved) rather than one of national or international importance.
-Refusal to give the international game presence and breathing room adds to the above - we don't engage Sydney's increasingly multicultural population as well as we could. I have no doubt an improved international scene would result in an increased following of the club game.
