20 teams and 20 rounds

[DIOGENES]

And yet Newcastle/Hunter/Central Coast (pop must be close to 850K) could not field 6 U19 Rugby Union teams EVEN playing on a Saturday.

 

[Stallion]

Get them to move to WA, we play on a Saturday, must be why the game is doing so well lol

Apathy prevails once again!

 

[Stallion]

I remember back in the day as an up and coming cadet journo I found myself at a lunch that included Rex Mossop and Ron Casey (sorry for the name drops). Even though I swear they hated each other, they agreed on one thing and that was that the NSWRL as it was back then should be a national game if it was to ever to be considered a national sport - which by their numbers would have meant a 20 team comp.

Despite those that may argue to the contrary there is enough talent around the country to do it. I've covered league all my life and been to places that are in the back end of nowhere and have witnessed some extraordinary people that, for one reason or another, didn't get a guernsey.

Sure we'll carry some teams/ states for a while but that's all part of the games development. Maybe I'm in the minority but I do think we can manage it within a regular season especially if teams are split into Divisions similar to NFL.

Anyway great to see this forum still running strong.

Crusher signing out.

Absolutely agree with all of what you have stated. Great to see!

 

[Stallion]

Please don't hit him with facts - they don't fit in with his usual catch phrases..... he will continue with them ad nausium though

Funnily I've provided statistics on showing the drop off in junior rugby league numbers since the 1970s at my local junior RL club but still this has gone through to the keeper!? Some on this website are proving to be hypocritical when it suits?

 

[Stallion]

And yet Newcastle/Hunter/Central Coast (pop must be close to 850K) could not field 6 U19 Rugby Union teams EVEN playing on a Saturday.

The local union club has consistently had more than double the numbers required to field an under19s team and at the same time the local rugby league club has had to go searching for players in other outer suburbs! And I suggest you look up the dropoff in junior rugby league numbers in Newcastle over recent decades and then relate this back to your denial/deflection .Remembering that rugby league is a far more superior code to play than union. (IMO)

 

[Perth Red]

Funnily I've provided statistics on showing the drop off in junior rugby league numbers since the 1970s at my local junior RL club but still this has gone through to the keeper!? Some on this website are proving to be hypocritical when it suits?

We're not sure your sample size provides any rigor. Maybe your club is just crap and no one wants to play for it?

With such a number of variables you would need to look at:

RL participation rate decline v's general sport participation decline
RL participation decline v other specific sports registrations
Reasons cited by parents for children no longer taking up RL

Only then could you come to a conclusion on if it is:
Day of the week
Cost
Attractiveness of other sports
risk of injury
general public perception of RL
ease of access to a club
availability of volunteers to run clubs
availability of officials
etc etc that are the main reasons for the decline.

 

[Perth Red]

Back to the OP, the game needs 4 new clubs
Perth
Brisbane2
Adelaide
NZ2

it can only get where it needs to be by eventual replacement or relocation. Cold hard choices to be made.

 

[Stallion]

We're not sure your sample size provides any rigor. Maybe your club is just crap and no one wants to play for it?

With such a number of variables you would need to look at:

RL participation rate decline v's general sport participation decline
RL participation decline v other specific sports registrations
Reasons cited by parents for children no longer taking up RL

Only then could you come to a conclusion on if it is:
Day of the week
Cost
Attractiveness of other sports
risk of injury
general public perception of RL
ease of access to a club
availability of volunteers to run clubs
availability of officials
etc etc that are the main reasons for the decline.

Valid points however even recent media announcements have rugby union sprouting about the progress union has been making in the Newcastle area. There are numerous pub teams and at least 9 top division clubs fielding at least 4 to 5 teams. Most union clubs are thriving in the inner city areas where the District RL clubs often play on Sundays.

 

[Stallion]

Back to the OP, the game needs 4 new clubs
Perth
Brisbane2
Adelaide
NZ2

it can only get where it needs to be by eventual replacement or relocation. Cold hard choices to be made.

No it doesn't! Additional clubs yes! However without the loss of existing supporter bases and rivalries is the smart way to go.

 

[Stallion]

We're not sure your sample size provides any rigor. Maybe your club is just crap and no one wants to play for it?

With such a number of variables you would need to look at:

RL participation rate decline v's general sport participation decline
RL participation decline v other specific sports registrations
Reasons cited by parents for children no longer taking up RL

Only then could you come to a conclusion on if it is:
Day of the week
Cost
Attractiveness of other sports
risk of injury
general public perception of RL
ease of access to a club
availability of volunteers to run clubs
availability of officials
etc etc that are the main reasons for the decline.

My sample size relates to inner city Newcastle. The clubs further away play on Saturdays and are not suffering from poor junior numbers.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Back to the OP, the game needs 4 new clubs
Perth
Brisbane2
Adelaide
NZ2

it can only get where it needs to be by eventual replacement or relocation. Cold hard choices to be made.

This is pretty much my list also in terms of what we need to do to give the game a national footprint in Australia, consolidate our place in NZ and lay the foundations for continued future growth.

We need Fiji to join PNG in the second teir to support those two to reach their potential.

We are in a stalemate at the moment in Sydney which is preventing growth and expansion and holding larger Sydney clubs back. We need to clear that blockage one way or another so that the biggest Sydney clubs can become the beheamoths of Australian sport that they should be and the game of RL and the NRL brand can grow in the rest of the Australiasian region.

 

[Stallion]

This is pretty much my list also in terms of what we need to do to give the game a national footprint in Australia, consolidate our place in NZ and lay the foundations for continued future growth.

We need Fiji to join PNG in the second teir to support those two to reach their potential.

We are in a stalemate at the moment in Sydney which is preventing growth and expansion and holding larger Sydney clubs back. We need to clear that blockage one way or another so that the biggest Sydney clubs can become the beheamoths of Australian sport that they should be and the game of RL and the NRL brand can grow in the rest of the Australiasian region.

Unfortunately you underestimate the significance of all the Sydney based clubs. They all have the advantage of widespread popularity and notoriety as a result of the massive tv coverage that helped grow the code in the 19 70s onwards. These clubs exist in the Australian sports public psyche. You dispose of such clubs : you lose a significant amount of supporters. From my point of view,if I'm a businessman, I don't discard my assets. Their familiarity and reach within the general public is way too important to lose. These clubs create the beauty and fabric of this competition. Very underated given the quick undermining of such/some clubs courtesy of poor administrative decisions of the past (mostly super league inspired thru News Ltd)

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Unfortunately you understeer the significance of all the Sydney based clubs. They all have the advantage of widespread popu laxity and notoriety as a result of the massive tv coverage that helped grow the code in the 19 70s. These clubs exist in the Australian sports public psyche. You dispose of such clubs : you lose a significant amount of supporters. From my point of view,if I'm a businessman, I don't discard my assets. Their familiarity and reach within the general public is way too important to lose. These clubs create the beauty and fabric of this competition. Very underated given the quick undermining of such clubs courtesy of poor administrative decisions of the past (mostly super league inspired thru News Ltd)

I don't propose discarding of any clubs.

 

[Stallion]

I don't propose discarding of any clubs.

Any club merged or put to a lower tier has been discarded. The general public or 'Jo ' in the street will tell you that. Their identity and status is paramount to a fans recognition and support for most people.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Any club merged or put to a lower tier has been discarded. The general public or 'Jo ' in the street will tell you that. Their identity and status is paramount to a fans recognition and support for most people.

Wrong (insert Trump meme here). A team that proves that they are not up to a national competition moving forward, should, for their own sake and the game as a whole play NSW Cup. That is not discarding a team as they still exist and probably at a level more appropriate for them.

North Sydney for example are not dead, they play NSW Cup, as do Newtown. The game is bigger than ever today.

 

[Stallion]

Wrong (insert Trump meme here). A team that proves that they are not up to a national competition moving forward, should, for their own sake and the game as a whole play NSW Cup. That is not discarding a team as they still exist and probably at a level more appropriate for them.

North Sydney for example are not dead, they play NSW Cup, as do Newtown. The game is bigger than ever today.

Trust me North Sydney as far as the general public are concerned are dead till they are back in the top flight! That is reality not a token form of existence in reserve grade .Top flight or no flight. That's the way it is on OZ.

 

[DIOGENES]

The local union club has consistently had more than double the numbers required to field an under19s team and at the same time the local rugby league club has had to go searching for players in other outer suburbs! And I suggest you look up the dropoff in junior rugby league numbers in Newcastle over recent decades and then relate this back to your denial/deflection .Remembering that rugby league is a far more superior code to play than union. (IMO)

Wht didn’t they enter a second team and the comp may not have folded? What did they do with the second XV - tell them to piss off or were they all waiting on the sideline waiting for the chance to play in such a dynamic competition?

 

[Stallion]

Wht didn’t they enter a second team and the comp may not have folded? What did they do with the second XV - tell them to piss off or were they all waiting on the sideline waiting for the chance to play in such a dynamic competition?

Yes they were. They roster these players to play on a fortnightly basis. The numbers have consistently looked like this : the under19s local union team has 40 local players that get rostered to.play whereas the local rugby league under19s draws about 3 local players and scouts to areas in Newcastle's outskirts for players to make up this squad. This has been going on since the inception of the district under 19s competition some 4 to 5 years ago.

 

[DIOGENES]

So the RU club deliberately let the competition fold despite having 40 players?

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Trust me North Sydney as far as the general public are concerned are dead till they are back in the top flight! That is reality not a token form of existence in reserve grade .Top flight or no flight. That's the way it is on OZ.

Wow! The loyalty of the millions of Bears supporters is so strong that they don't acknowledge that their clubs is still playing every week. That is the kind of fans we need back in the game

BTW, luckily you are incorrect, the hard core bears fans do realise their team still play every week. There are just not that many of them around.