A couple of questions about the NRL?

[Asnito]

Living in the US I don't get the up close coverage you guys get and I've only been following the NRL for a few years but:

1. Do the Bunnies, Roosters or Dogs have their own stadiums or are they locked into ANZ/Allianz? It seems the fans are more engaged/louder when I watch the Sea Eagles, Eels, Panthers, Cowboys...

2. Why aren't there teams in Perth, Adelaide, Cairns or Darwin?

3. What's up with assigning the number each week. The league comes up with multiple unique jerseys/jumpers such as Idigenous, Women in league, Superman etc.. but then you have guys that play with 3-4 different numbers during the season so which jersey and number do you buy?

4. Why don't they use gloves? I see them use the spray multiples times a game but the gloves they have now are really tacky and consistently so even when wet.

5. Why don't they track solo tackles? From watching the games it seems like a pretty important stat as most solo tackles stop a line break, end a line break or allows your team to reset the defensive structure when you're scrambling.

Thanks

 

[madunit]

1. Souths & Roosters don't have their own stadiums. Bulldogs have Belmore as their former home ground which I believe they may be returning to. Souths used to have a ground at Redfern decades ago.

2. Superleague played a big role there. It is looking likely that a Perth team will be added to the comp in the next few years. Adelaide is a very AFL dominated area which isn't demanding a side like Melbourne did.

3. Official jumpers aren't sold with the number on the back. You can choose to add it. The numbers are locked to the position and only change if a player changes position or a player has replaced a player after the squads have been announced.

4. Gloves would be seen as a sign of weakness i'd imagine. The players wear bugger all padding as it is. I guess thats why the Americcans who do watch it see it as some sort of extreme sport

5. Solo tackles are counted. If you look at player stats at nrlstats.com, they are listed as 1 on 1 tackles

 

[Asnito]

I appreciate the response. I understand the thinking for the numbering on the jumpers, it just seems from a marketing/revenue stand point that you would increase sales if you had the name and number on the jersey like with Origin jerseys. I don't know the Australian market though so maybe that's not something people want.

Also the gloves don't offer really any protection hust thought they might cut down on the handling errors.

 

[Evil Homer]

UK Super League has set numbers and player names on the back of jerseys, Australians have always just named a 1-17 each week.

 

[goodplayer]

Perth reds kangaroos, Adelaide rams, had teams in the competition in 1998 , but stopped playing in the big league . there are competitions in each city, state, but not all citys, states, have teams in the big league NRL

there use to be 22 teams at 1 stage

each team has there own home ground, but a few teams, like dogs,rabbits,only play in the big ANZ stadium, they use dogs belmore park, rabbits redfern park, as there home base training

 

[sensesmaybenumbed]

The jersey number discussion has been around for decades.

A vocal and very small minority would love the personalised numbers, but positional numbers are here to stay and most are fine with that. If a number is the difference between buying an NRL jersey or not, I'd say your answer should be no regardless.

Team>player.

 

[carcharias]

1) people ( apart from the odd gen y cruiser drinking Facebook addict ) rather those smaller
Traditional home grounds.
Sadly a few teams have had to go to stadiums to survive.
It looks like death on TV.

2) Perth smerth.
Didn't work last time , doubt it will work if they try again.
They will end up with the left overs....I might get a gig there .

3) numbers are like letterbox numbers

4) gloves? Do you like to wear a condom?
Same dif.

 

[GW.]

GW here.

I believe in regards to the gloves they were banned about did een years

Ago.

Lockyer was big on the gloves and a lot of players were wearing them but nrl thought it was performance enhancing and put a stop to it.

Otherwise 100% at least one nrl player looking for an edge would be wearing that stuff

 

[Canard]

Perth reds kangaroos,

They were never called the Perth Red Kangaroos.

GW here.

I believe in regards to the gloves they were banned about did een years

Ago.

Lockyer was big on the gloves and a lot of players were wearing them but nrl thought it was performance enhancing and put a stop to it.

Otherwise 100% at least one nrl player looking for an edge would be wearing that stuff

I don't remember Locky wearing gloves at all? Any source for that claim?

Almost no-one wore them (a lot of players??) Scott Mahon wore them during the SL season for a bit but that was it.

 

[Asnito]

GW here.

I believe in regards to the gloves they were banned about did een years

Ago.

Lockyer was big on the gloves and a lot of players were wearing them but nrl thought it was performance enhancing and put a stop to it.

Otherwise 100% at least one nrl player looking for an edge would be wearing that stuff

I figured it was something like that. I watched a Challenge Cup game last year between Hull FC and Catalon and it was hot, humid and raining and nobody could hold on to the ball.

Had to have been 20+ knockons. It was so painful to watch.

 

[madunit]

Gloves have been worn but not to enhance performance (regarding handling), only to provide warmth in games played in the snow.

 

[Asnito]

1) people ( apart from the odd gen y cruiser drinking Facebook addict ) rather those smaller
Traditional home grounds.
Sadly a few teams have had to go to stadiums to survive.
It looks like death on TV.

2) Perth smerth.
Didn't work last time , doubt it will work if they try again.
They will end up with the left overs....I might get a gig there .

3) numbers are like letterbox numbers

4) gloves? Do you like to wear a condom?
Same dif.

I agree with you as far the stadiums go, watching 15k in a 70k+ stadium doesn't give the best appearance but I guess you gotta do what you gotta due.

As far as the gloves, can't stand wearing a rain jacket, but the gloves the have now are so advanced that I figured it would speed up the game, less handling errors, and also make for more dynamic plays(dives for a try, one handed grabs etc..)

 

[madunit]

In one sense, if you reduce the human errors in the game, it could see the game become too robotic and predictable, some may argue.

 

[Asnito]

The jersey number discussion has been around for decades.

A vocal and very small minority would love the personalised numbers, but positional numbers are here to stay and most are fine with that. If a number is the difference between buying an NRL jersey or not, I'd say your answer should be no regardless.

Team>player.

I agree completely with the notion that the logo on the front is more important than the name on the back. But with how valuable merchandise sales is to professional sports as a means of revenue the NRL in poker terms is "leaving money on the table""

 

[Asnito]

In one sense, if you reduce the human errors in the game, it could see the game become too robotic and predictable, some may argue.

You definately know more about the game than me but wouldn't a cleaner game make it faster and put more stress on defenses?

 

[Asnito]

Perth reds kangaroos, Adelaide rams, had teams in the competition in 1998 , but stopped playing in the big league . there are competitions in each city, state, but not all citys, states, have teams in the big league NRL

there use to be 22 teams at 1 stage

each team has there own home ground, but a few teams, like dogs,rabbits,only play in the big ANZ stadium, they use dogs belmore park, rabbits redfern park, as there home base training

Do you do to games? I was just wondering what the difference in experience is between going to a game at ANZ or say Manley or Parra.

 

[madunit]

I'm not arguing your point.

I guess what I'm getting at is that game is run by people who don't want core components of the game to alter from when it first began, things like pads, gloves, helmets etc etc.

The Australian people generally tend to be traditionalists and so any dramatic change from what they are used to would generally be met with opposition.

 

[madunit]

I agree completely with the notion that the logo on the front is more important than the name on the back. But with how valuable merchandise sales is to professional sports as a means of revenue the NRL in poker terms is "leaving money on the table""

yes and no. Most sporting codes have teams who stick with a jersey design for many years and have only 2-3 variations of the jumper.

NRL clubs change their jumpers anywhere between every 1-3 years and have several variations of their jumper (Home strip, away strip, heritage strip, women in league strip, aboriginal recognition strip to name the minimum)

What the NRL may be losing in numbers on jumpers, they'd be making up in jumper variations probably.

 

[Asnito]

I'm not arguing your point.

I guess what I'm getting at is that game is run by people who don't want core components of the game to alter from when it first began, things like pads, gloves, helmets etc etc.

The Australian people generally tend to be traditionalists and so any dramatic change from what they are used to would generally be met with opposition.

Makes sense and I appreciate your input. I imagine the banning of the shoulder charge wasn't very popular. We had a similiar problem here with college football and the targeting rule. Everybody was pissed when it was put in but looking back at it it needed to be done. Sometimes you have to step in and save a player from himself.

 

[Asnito]

yes and no. Most sporting codes have teams who stick with a jersey design for many years and have only 2-3 variations of the jumper.

NRL clubs change their jumpers anywhere between every 1-3 years and have several variations of their jumper (Home strip, away strip, heritage strip, women in league strip, aboriginal recognition strip to name the minimum)

What the NRL may be losing in numbers on jumpers, they'd be making up in jumper variations probably.

Let me ask you, I know he's left for Bath/Sale? but if you were a fan of Sam Burgess what number, if you wanted one, would you buy? 8, 10, 13.