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ESPN's guide to NRL for NFL fans

Grapple

Bench
Messages
4,609
Pretty darn accurate. Gave me a good laugh for the warriors comparison. Storm the most obvious.

https://www.espn.com.au/nrl/story/_/id/28928723/nfl-fans-which-nrl-team-support

Brisbane Broncos

Now, this may seem simplistic, but it's the Denver Broncos. Both teams have a significant home-field advantage, strong fan-base and long established expectation of success, but haven't been at their expected heights the last couple years. You're welcome.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

A grand old name in the sport, the Doggies best years were in the 80s, and despite a brief renaissance in the early 2000's, they've been beset by coaching dramas, off-field and fan issues and calls to return matches to their traditional home of Belmore. The Dogs are the Las Vegas Raiders.

Canberra Raiders

From the nations capital, the Raiders were the benchmark in the 80s, before collapsing in a heap throughout much of the next 2 decades, reliving the good times. But a stunning return to form saw them narrowly lose the Premiership last season. Just like......the San Francisco 49ers.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Coastal city? Check. Took forever to finally win a title? Check. Birthplace of current NFL star Michael Dickson? Checkity-check. The Seattle Seahawks 12th man will now root for Cronulla.

Gold Coast Titans

An expansion side in a glorious beachside location, the Titans have underwhelmed year after year and they have struggled to gain traction from local fans, with the Brisbane Broncos up the road and the beach looking pretty good. They are the NRL version of the LA Chargers.

Manly Sea Eagles

So we're going down the Broncos route here. Manly have a very passionate, parochial following. They have plenty of successful years studded with the odd failure. There are some locker room questions and also a bit of a question mark over their star man Daly Cherry-Evans. Welcome to Manly, Philadelphia Eagles fans.

Melbourne Storm

The competition's benchmark for over a decade with six Grand Final appearances in 15 years, blessed with one of the greatest players in the history of the game, Cameron Smith and a master coach in Craig Bellamy. But controversy has followed them from salary cap scandals to unorthodox methods on the field, and has made them less than popular outside of their own fans. Congratulations New England Patriots fans. This is your team!

Newcastle Knights

A good working class town needs a good working class team. Sadly Newcastle haven't been consistently good for a while. For over 20 years in fact. They've struggled to regain their relevance since the turn of the century. Very much like their NFL doppelganger, the Buffalo Bills.


New Zealand Warriors

Every year you look at the roster on paper and think this could be the year for the Warriors. Big names. Big spender. Big expectations. Every year they fall in a heap. Welcome to Auckland, Cleveland Browns fans.

North Queensland Cowboys

This one is easy. Star signing for 2020 is Valentine Holmes. You remember? Running back? Jets international player? The one who wasn't Jarryd Hayne or a punter? No? Ok, not the NY Jets then. How about the Carolina Panthers? No Thurston for the Cowboys and no Cam for the Panthers, and both sides trying to recover from an awful 2019.
Parramatta Eels

Another side who experienced their best days in the 80s, and have veered between promise and desolation ever since. Questionable front office talent identification has seen some horror signings over the years. But you never know......this could be their year. Just like the Chicago Bears.

Penrith Panthers

Blue collar club who have experienced ups and downs through the years. The last premiership was a while ago, but they are back amongst the contenders once again, led by an exciting playmaker Nathan Cleary. Baltimore Ravens fans may recognise this tale.....

South Sydney Rabbitohs

One of the originals of the competition back in 1908, the Bunnies are written into the fabric of rugby league, and after a stunning revival under the stewardship of Russell Crowe the team of the people are a perennial challenger. Very much like the Green Bay Packers.


St George Illawarra Dragons

Another storied and historic team from the big city. A premiership ten years ago seemed to suggest the Dragons were on track for a dynasty but they have slipped back into the pack and seem set for another tough year as they rebuild. Welcome to the team New York Giants fans.

Sydney Roosters

The glamour team. The boys form Bondi. Powerful ownership with strong links to the league. Pots of cash. A star studded roster and storied history. The Sydney Roosters are the Dallas Cowboys. But they actually win things.

Wests Tigers

You are a super talented team in the 80's, you finally reach the big one, and it slips through your grasp, but a generation of fans live off those memories as each subsequent year offers disappointments. You are the Miami Dolphins.
 

Cactus

Juniors
Messages
677
Media Companies/Conglomerates are like hookers.

Not knockin. Just sayin. The road ahead can be interesting.
 

Hello, I'm The Doctor

First Grade
Messages
9,124
I just posted this in the other thread, but it suits this one too

----------
It isnt for the Americans, this is a clever little reversal for us....

If the title was was telling us which NFL team to follow, we would collectively respond with "yeh, alright". This one is meant to get us excited "Awww, the Americans are interested in our little game. Hey, I wonder which one is my team".

It is clever, but the giveaway is that they only cover the 16 NRL clubs. They dont cover all 32 NFL teams...
 

axl rose

Bench
Messages
4,936
Browns got kicked out of the comp and later revived only to suck even more. They also have ugly colours and a terrible logo. Souffs.

49ers-Eels. Glory days were when Sterlo didn't look like a creature from Lord of the Rings and the Apple Lisa was being released.

Philadelphia fans are a large base of ethnic minorities. Just like the good old days of 'family fun' on the hill at Belmore.
 
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unforgiven

Bench
Messages
3,138
Comparing Roosters to Dallas is ridiculous. The Cowboys haven't even been in the equivalent of a NRL prelim since 1995!
Yeah its a bit lazy, it would be like comparing Souths and Dallas because of "Pride of the League" and "America's Team"

I follow both the Wests Tigers and the Cincinnati Bengals and the similarities always amaze me. I am a former Balmain fan so excuse me going back and making comparisons with them for the purpose of this thread.

Now on the surface the Tigers logo is an obvious similarity but it is much deeper than that. Both teams finished runners up in the season 1988 and 1989 Balmain lost to Canterbury and Canberra in the Grand Final and the Bengals lost both Superbowls to the 49ers. The 90's were just shit for both teams with the only finals appearance being the Tigers in 1990 finals and the Bengals in 1991. The rest of the decade was completely forgettable for both teams.

Both teams stormed back into the post seasons in 2005 with the Wests Tigers winning the premiership and the Bengals being in top form until a serious knee injury to quarterback Carson Palmer. The 2010's were fairly successful for the Bengals with sustained playoff appearances (6 in a row) but never got past the 1st round of playoffs (they actually haven't won a playoff game since that 1991 playoff appearance). That is so similar to the Tigers repeated 9th place finishes lol.

Tigers have the NRL record for longest finals drought the Bengals own for the longest since a playoff win! Personality wise the teams are just so similar, strong attacking weapons but have mostly lacked the starch needed to compete with the big boys.

There I have people The Wests Tigers and the Cincinnati Bengals are in fact the long lost twin of the sporting world! Hell their colours are even the same so I'd say they are identical twins!
 

blue bags

First Grade
Messages
7,703
BUFFALO BILLS lost 4 superbowls 1990,1991,1992,1993 in a row,
in a total heartbreaking run
no other team has ever played in 4 superbowls in row
and still waiting for there 1st superbowl win
BILLS playoff record from that time
big time chokers or big time stumblers, 12 wins, 12 big loses

what NRL team can u relate this too ?
 

taste2taste

Juniors
Messages
1,779
Is the NRL shown in the USA ?
I remember being in a bar in New Orleans about 5 years ago and they had the NRL on...no idea what channel it was.

Last week they were talking about ESPN showing NRL, did anything come of that?
 

emesssea

Juniors
Messages
100
Is the NRL shown in the USA ?
I remember being in a bar in New Orleans about 5 years ago and they had the NRL on...no idea what channel it was.

Last week they were talking about ESPN showing NRL, did anything come of that?


Its shown on a channel called Fox Soccer Plus... which most people don't know much about. While Fox has both the rights to the NRL and AFL, it looks like they are only moving AFL games to their main sports channel (2 games last night, 1 game tonight) and ESPN.com is following suit by showing AFL scores on their main page.
 

gerg

Juniors
Messages
2,237
Its shown on a channel called Fox Soccer Plus... which most people don't know much about. While Fox has both the rights to the NRL and AFL, it looks like they are only moving AFL games to their main sports channel (2 games last night, 1 game tonight) and ESPN.com is following suit by showing AFL scores on their main page.


When I was over there a few years ago they showed a few games at the start of the year and then replaced it sporadically with AFL games. Terrible timeslot of course and no replays in decent timeslots and it was when Rupert was pushing for AFL over NRL.
 

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