New Zealand 2 will deal a massive blow to NZ rugby

[Gobsmacked]

It's a shame about the Warriors ANZAC stance.

This was a unique match up that AFL couldn't replicate

This was one of the biggest club games of the year, and the atmosphere at AAMI was incredible, and the Storm built this from nothing.

Nah. Warriors will pull in Melbourne regardless and sell out the Storm game due to Kiwi expats and now they'll sell out the ANZAC day game too.. so they just added a sell out. Now the Warriors get one and have made a great call taking it to Wellington, which will probably be 34k sell out..
It's a win win.

 

[Wb1234]

In your opinion should they?

They don’t need too

Qrl funds most of the development and they partner with a number of qrl clubs like Burleigh and Sunshine Coast I think

 

[Wb1234]

You might have misunderstood my point.
The same problems in the game in NZ that exist today are brought up in an article from close to 35 years ago and adding an NZ team didn’t solve them- will NZ 2 do any better?
You could even argue some aspects have gone backwards- the article lamenting half the Kiwis team played for Aus teams, this year we were down to 2 from the Warriors.
The ABs aura and decline comment is laughing at the predicted decline many have been saying for years and in this case they had arguably their most dominant era in later years

Take out the super league war and league would be massive in nz now

That first season of the warriors showed the potential

Plus super rugby saved unions bacon for a good 20 years but going forward it won’t

There’s a huge void that can be filled at club level by league

 

[Matiunz]

Take out the super league war and league would be massive in nz now

That first season of the warriors showed the potential

Plus super rugby saved unions bacon for a good 20 years but going forward it won’t

There’s a huge void that can be filled at club level by league

The Superleague war went largely in noticed in NZ compared to what I later learned its impact on Aus.
General NZ public was largely unaware of what was seen as infighting between Aus power brokers as long as we got to see the Warriors and the kiwis play we didn’t really care what went on with the ARL- I’m not sure sky even showed ARL? Only non Superleague game I remember seeing on TV was highlights of the rest of the world match but even that may have been on the news.

some keep thinking it’s one or the other but most NZers are happy to have both NRL and Super Rugby one doesnt have to replace either

 

[Matiunz]

That first season of the warriors showed the potential

That was the tragedy- they would have been a powerhouse if they’d been set up similarly to the Storm, or even got some pointers from one of the main centres union set ups. Instead they got appointed a guy who not only turned up to the wrong City but also the wrong Island to spearhead the team…

 

[Gobsmacked]

Tha Warriors are a massive brand now! Absolutely massive and for the folks on here that doubt the impact NRL is getting in NZ..
Just take a moment, take a deep breath..
They haven't even won a comp yet...

Can you imagine them winning a comp ?

 

[Matiunz]

Tha Warriors are a massive brand now! Absolutely massive and for the folks on here that doubt the impact NRL is getting in NZ..
Just take a moment, take a deep breath..
They haven't even won a comp yet...

Can you imagine them winning a comp ?

Has anyone doubted the Warriors being a massive brand? Yes it will be huge if (would love to confidently say when )the Warriors ever win it as the first team I ever supported it will be a dream come true and the biggest sporting moment for me.

 

[Matua]

I have been a fan of the game a long time …even from the opposite side of the Tasman… it seems to me a stretch to suggest the game of RL in NZ is not now experiencing its greatest popularity ever .. that may not manifest itself in every metric you could nominate though … I’m sure you can always find something to criticise if you look hard enough …same as in Australia even ..the decline of the country/ regional competitions are often brought up for example ..

Your comments around the arricle implying decline about the ABs 30 years ago are to me similar to what I mentioned about the media comments in Aust following the Rugby Union World Cup in 2003 about how they were taking over from RL .., seems absolute laughable now that those opinions could be expressed when you compare the merits of the two games in Australia 22 years later

Don't you think your final paragraph gives some perspective to some of the hyperbole going on in this thread. You rightly point out Oz rugby didn't take over league after a bumper period in the early 2000s. In 1992 that article was saying the same thing about league in NZ and that opinion too was laughable. Ergo, is this popularity of the Warriors now somehow different than when it had it's greatest popularity in 1992, and 1995, and the early 2000s etc?

There is also the fact that the Warriors are experiencing high popularity now (I don't think it's higher than the early 2000s/1995 though), but that's not the game of RL in NZ.

 

[Matua]

The Superleague war went largely in noticed in NZ compared to what I later learned its impact on Aus.
General NZ public was largely unaware of what was seen as infighting between Aus power brokers as long as we got to see the Warriors and the kiwis play we didn’t really care what went on with the ARL- I’m not sure sky even showed ARL? Only non Superleague game I remember seeing on TV was highlights of the rest of the world match but even that may have been on the news.

some keep thinking it’s one or the other but most NZers are happy to have both NRL and Super Rugby one doesnt have to replace either

I think Sky was Murdoch owned then so they wouldn't have been playing the ARL but I can remember watching some games and the final so maybe one of the free to air tv channels picked it up.

But you're right, it had no effect on the trajectory of league in NZ, probably helped out a bit because we got to trounce some English teams by big scores.

Can you imagine them winning a comp ?

Sadly, no one has that good an imagination.

 

[Perth Red]

Increased funding to the nzrl

when does that start? it wasn’t shown in Last nzrl annual report.
How much is the funding?

 

[BuffaloRules]

Don't you think your final paragraph gives some perspective to some of the hyperbole going on in this thread. You rightly point out Oz rugby didn't take over league after a bumper period in the early 2000s. In 1992 that article was saying the same thing about league in NZ and that opinion too was laughable. Ergo, is this popularity of the Warriors now somehow different than when it had it's greatest popularity in 1992, and 1995, and the early 2000s etc?

There is also the fact that the Warriors are experiencing high popularity now (I don't think it's higher than the early 2000s/1995 though), but that's not the game of RL in NZ.

There are plenty of threads here on these forums that contain hyperbole..so nothing unusual about this one.

Unlike a few here ..I’ve never claimed that League was dethroning Union in NZ ….said the opposite in fact … I’ll go you one further and say that in my lifetime , one code of “football” has never dethroned another one in any country or significant region anywhere in the world …so yeah a pretty stupid article …just like those media articles about Union “taking over “in Australia were…. You live in Australia now right ? You see yourself how much Union has fallen away now and is dwarfed by the NRL ….Union made some headway for a couple of years off the back of Super League and the 2003 World Cup which was more of a success in Australia at the time than I thought it would be ….but that’s a long time ago now …. There is another World Cup coming up here… but they are going to have to play a lot better than they are now for it to cut through to the locals in a meaningful way..

The media profile, crowds and ratings of the Warriors has increased significantly from a decade ago…in my opinion it’s higher than it ever has been … even in Australia though interest in the highest level of the game takes from the lower levels unfortunately ( see what happened to Brisbane and Newcastle comps when they joined the NRL..the game now in the bush is not what it used to be,,)…

On the positive side … NZ are providing plenty of playing talent for the NRL competition …that’s probably never been higher and it’s worth plenty

I see the Warriors are spruiking here a 62 percent crowd increase since 2019….averaging 25k a year now … that’s impressive right ?

Warriors' total crowds up by 62 per cent in six years

One New Zealand Warriors’ phenomenal 62 per cent growth in attendances in six years.

www.warriors.kiwi

 

[Perth Red]

All blacks humiliated by England, oh dear lol

 

[BuffaloRules]

All blacks humiliated by England, oh dear lol

Obviously soccer dominance not impacting Union over in England apparently.: just League ?

 

[jolly boys outing]

Obviously soccer dominance not impacting Union over in England apparently.: just League ?

Football dominates everything in England but rugby union is far bigger than rugby league over here so it fares slightly better.

 

[Canard]

There are plenty of threads here on these forums that contain hyperbole..so nothing unusual about this one.

Unlike a few here ..I’ve never claimed that League was dethroning Union in NZ ….said the opposite in fact … I’ll go you one further and say that in my lifetime , one code of “football” has never dethroned another one in any country or significant region anywhere in the world …so yeah a pretty stupid article …just like those media articles about Union “taking over “in Australia were…. You live in Australia now right ? You see yourself how much Union has fallen away now and is dwarfed by the NRL ….Union made some headway for a couple of years off the back of Super League and the 2003 World Cup which was more of a success in Australia at the time than I thought it would be ….but that’s a long time ago now …. There is another World Cup coming up here… but they are going to have to play a lot better than they are now for it to cut through to the locals in a meaningful way..

The media profile, crowds and ratings of the Warriors has increased significantly from a decade ago…in my opinion it’s higher than it ever has been … even in Australia though interest in the highest level of the game takes from the lower levels unfortunately ( see what happened to Brisbane and Newcastle comps when they joined the NRL..the game now in the bush is not what it used to be,,)…

On the positive side … NZ are providing plenty of playing talent for the NRL competition …that’s probably never been higher and it’s worth plenty

I see the Warriors are spruiking here a 62 percent crowd increase since 2019….averaging 25k a year now … that’s impressive right ?

Warriors' total crowds up by 62 per cent in six years

One New Zealand Warriors’ phenomenal 62 per cent growth in attendances in six years.

www.warriors.kiwi

One thing to note, Union only ever made any inroads in Sydney, post 2003 and the SL war

Even during peak popularity it was swinging in the wind in QLD and all the non-RL states.

I also did jack shit in rural NSW.

For some reason, Sydney is the most fickle sporting fanbase in Australia

 

[BuffaloRules]

One thing to note, Union only ever made any inroads in Sydney, post 2003 and the SL war

Even during peak popularity it was swinging in the wind in QLD and all the non-RL states.

I also did jack shit in rural NSW.

For some reason, Sydney is the most fickle sporting fanbase in Australia

I’ll disagree with your first comment …Union starting making inroads in the 90s … we can debate whether SL had anything to do it …in my opinion it helped … it was also the high point of the Wallabies on field success ..two world cups and lots of bledisloe wins compared to their 20 year drought this century… that success didn’t last much past 2003… but that might have been the high point

 

[Canard]

I’ll disagree with your first comment …Union starting making inroads in the 90s … we can debate whether SL had anything to do it …in my opinion it helped … it was also the high point of the Wallabies on field success ..two world cups and lots of bledisloe wins compared to their 20 year drought this century… that success didn’t last much past 2003… but that might have been the high point

I'm not disagreeing with your timing.

I'm stating that the only "inroads" it really made where in Sydney.

League was always king in QLD and regional NSW

 

[RL The greatest game]

With the continuing demise of the AB's i make New Zealand.2 then slight favourites to be the next NRL club after Perth and PNG, but I'm sure a Brisbane club will increase their efforts to become Brisbane.3 before them.

 

[Gobsmacked]

With the continuing demise of the AB's i make New Zealand.2 then slight favourites to be the next NRL club after Perth and PNG, but I'm sure a Brisbane club will increase their efforts to become Brisbane.3 before them.

The Perth bid was terrible. So bad in fact that the NRL literally did it themselves. The bidding process proved to be just that, bring bidders into the room so the Perth government would feel pressured enough to contribute some cash for the franchise.
So the NRL had kinda already decided that they were going with Perth.
The NRL already know where they want the next franchise, all you'll see leading up to that will be a ploy to extract as much cash for that expansion as possible.
South Island is obvious, but Brisbane 3 will put pressure on a bid, government and broadcasters to put up some cash.

I don't think that the NRL care what Union is doing, they know that if they keep working hard to make NRL the best product it can be, there's no stopping it.

 

[Wb1234]

Seeing all the whining on x from kiwi fans about one ab loss really makes you wonder how much of a bandwagon it is and if they became like the wallabies where that would leave the sport