declining interest in matches involving neutral teams

[_Johnsy]

I don't relate to this at all. Still love watching every game of footy that I can.

Agree 100% Walt.

 

[SBD82]

One of my favorite things about watching neutral games is that I sometimes surprise myself about who I will support.

For example, I loathe everything about Melbourne, but found myself supporting them when they played the bunnies a couple of weeks ago. Turns out I hate the bunnies more. Genuinely surprised.

 

[Diesel]

I was thinking the same thing just the other day, I have more important things going on than the NRL but I still enjoy watching what I can. The biggest problem for me is Ch9 (I don't have Fox, but I do have the digital pass but watching on an iPad or iPhone isn't something you want to do for 8 games a week).
Ch9 force me to watch pretty much the same teams every weekend, and this arvo we have Roosters v Dragons, a few weeks ago was Manly & Knights, hardly an advertisement for the game. Sunday arvo used to be the match of the round, it should be as close as possible to that match and made into an event, but it's not. The game fi is he's and there no 10 minute post match program/review of the round and points table like in the past. The other two things are KO's on Thursday/Friday being around 8 and the 30 minutes of pre-match bullshit and the commentators, mainly Rabbs & Gus's bickering about anything.

 

[Apey]

It's because your team has sucked for a long time and neutral games don't mean anything for your team.

 

[dogz08]

i thought friday night's game was 10 times better than my teams game on thursday night

 

[Wizardman]

I cannot get enough league...love it. While the Thursday timeslot is not my preference, I do watch it every Thursday night. I watch Friday night games and Monday night without fail. I also watch the Saturday morning ESL game without fail.
I watch most Saturday games but miss them on the odd occassion. I tend to watch the early Sunday afternoon game a lot but miss the late Sunday afternoon game for some reason.
As a neutral, I like watching the Raiders play and make an effort to watch them every week. I tend to not have as much interest in Knights and Saints games.

 

[Front-Rower]

For mine, it's the fact that every game, every week is live on TV. It's nearly to the point of over saturation. And as someone else mentioned previously, Thursday - Monday scheduling makes it feel like there is no separation between rounds. The circus just rolls on and on.

 

[T-Boon]

It is called getting old.

You will have more things to do and more responsibility now so games take on less importance.


Plus it was better when you were younger.
Said every old man about his chosen sport.

Thats pretty true, though I find myself still just obsessed with sports generally - I've just spread the love out to American sports. I don't find my interest in test cricket diminishing.

 

[some11]

It is called getting old.

You will have more things to do and more responsibility now so games take on less importance.

Plus it was better when you were younger.
Said every old man about his chosen sport.

Exactly, you don't think there's kids experiencing right now what you describe as the good times?

Also guarantee when your team is flying your interest in other games goes up immensely.

 

[Last Week]

I've found that yes I'm watching less football, but that's mainly because of other things in life taking priority. Normal things. I still enjoy the on field product.

A couple of things that are concerning is that the game needs to be very careful not to price itself out of it's market, and the apparent attitude that the game has towards the fans.

It's fair to suggest that the NRL's fans are mainly middle to low income earners. The game can be quite expensive to follow fully. Season tickets for the family, Foxtel subscription, tickets to matches in general including rep games and finals, merchandise, junior registration, etc etc. These things are of course all optional but it's ultimately what you want isn't it? You want your customers to purchase as much of your product as possible.

If you're going to price your product like that, you need to make your product as accessible as possible. Thursday night, 6pm Friday night and Monday night football makes it extremely difficult to follow and access. Yes we need to have a balance to maximize income from TV rights, but how much of sport and business are we?

Personally, I've been close to giving the game away. I'm a Parramatta fan so there's all that. But I'm gobsmacked with several decisions that have been made such as how Greenberg was appointed as CEO after a world wide search, how Tasmania Rugby League was allowed to die, the 6pm Friday games, the obvious favorable leg ups that certain teams get, the clusterf**k that are 3rd party deals, etc etc.

I don't know. I just feel like that the game isn't fan friendly anymore. The independent commission was supposed to fix that but it just feels like a more polished version of what we were under News and the ARL.

 

[taipan]

Watched a neutral game today Raiders v Eels,throughly enjoyed it.

 

[Raiderdave]

The Raiders rescued Rugby League in 1987 when they arrived on the scene & played an exciting fresh brand of football , breaking the cycle of flat boring defensive football which had dominated for the 5 years previous. They lifted the game & fans enjoyment of it for almost a decade after & other teams had no choice but to follow their lead & play attractive football.

Here we are nearly 30 years later & it looks like the Raiders are about to do it all again.
There is no better team to watch in 2016
They are entertaining , a little frustrating & never die wondering with ball in hand.

The Green machine will fix it again guys.
: )

 

[macavity]

declining interest in RL full stop, as my club has no chance of winning games, let alone competing for a premiership.

 

[Warriors Fever]

I find myself just looking out for teams that are exciting to watch. Obviously I get excited for Warriors games every weekend, although I need a quadriple by-pass most of the time. Other than that I have loved watching the Raiders, Panthers, Eels, Sharks and even the Titans and Roosters. This changes every year, but I hate how many games Souffs and Illawarra get on FTA TV.

 

[Rhino_NQ]

fantasy football will make every game interesting

 

[Medievalknight]

If the champagne football the Knights are putting forward

And that era was ????????????

 

[Valheru]

TBH, for me personally I am always interested in the neutral games to start the season and then from there my interest is a direct correlation of how the roosters are doing. The last 3 years for example I watched the vast majority of NRL games when I have been home, this year much less so.

I will always watch the finals matches though.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Sunday arvo used to be the match of the round, it should be as close as possible to that match and made into an event, but it's not.

Mate, the Sunday afternoon games have not been the "match of the round" for nigh on 20 years (if not longer). Friday night, and Thursday night games are now the match of the round. I doubt it will ever go back to Sundays.

 

[Timmah]

Not sure if someone covered it as I skim read the thread - but the Youtube issue in the first post is simply down to rights - the NRL/Telstra simply won't allow alternative copies of matches on other platforms if they can help it. Once they became aware of "illegal footage" it was all over.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

One of my favorite things about watching neutral games is that I sometimes surprise myself about who I will support.

For example, I loathe everything about Melbourne, but found myself supporting them when they played the bunnies a couple of weeks ago. Turns out I hate the bunnies more. Genuinely surprised.

I generally go for the team that would benefit my team winning, if that makes sence.
If Team A and Team B are playing, Team A is out of running for the 8, but Team B is a threat, I'll root for Team A regardless of who they are.

If the two teams playing don't affect my team, generally I go for whoever has links to my club, whether its players who are joining us next year, players who have played at my club OR whomever generally has the more Kiwi players.

I find the 9s to be more neutral, less of what happens on other results will directly affect my team