AFL wanna grind RL into the ground

[El Diablo]

I wonder how much they fork out to the media for these stories?

they'd also have to be forking out a bit so they don't give much coverage to their numerous scandals

 

[Brutus]

What's the latest with Swans legend and AFL head coach hopeful Darren Cresswell?

I hear he was being accused of sexual assault.

 

[El Diablo]

the media don't like to report stories like that, so who knows.

 

[nqboy]

i can tell you that about half are from Vic/SA

And most of the rest would be event s**ts.

 

[joondalup_giant]

why arent we doin this but in WA,NT,SA and Vic??

 

[LeagueXIII]

AFL is a part of Vic culture, way of life. This has been fostered for 100 years.

What I want to know is what are our plans, what direction are we going in? The biggest thing we lost out of the SL war was the feel good factor for our game. We seem to be making things very easy for other codes. With everything going national or global we decide to concentrate on NSW and QLD, how is this attractive to future sponsors when AFL can offer national exposure? I remember reading an article a few years ago which forecast that RL would become just pay TV game and we are seemingly being positioned as the third or fourth football code. It may not worry us now but in 20 years where will we be?
It is a concern that the game is run by people who have TV interests first and the game second.
Why aren't we killing off other sports opportunities eg games on sat, mass radio coverage etc. Wherever union and AFL get coverage put league up against it.

 

[fanatique]

Living in Victoria, my observation is that people down here are fanatical about their AFL and will follow it no matter where they live: attending games is central to that.

Judging by AFL's poor TV ratings in NSW, it leads me to believe that most people who go to Swans' games are probably ex-pats from Victoria. This would account for the fact that the crowds are always pretty good, whereas your born and bred Sydneysider probably doesn't care enough to attend/watch the games.

Unfortunately, this is also the trend in RL - they don't care enough to attend the games (or it's not in the culture to attend as much as in AFL).

The fact that TV ratings are always good for RL though indicates that the interest is there - it's just shown in different ways to AFL where attending is seen as probably the main way to express support.

When you think about it saying "its not in the culture' is the same as saying "they don't care'

its not in our culture to support baseball and hey we don't care about it. it is in our culture to punt horses and hey we do it!!1 See my point?

I support a Sydney NRL club. I always will. I care less about whether AFL does well in Melbourne and would like to see Storm do well there BUT I live in the real world. Swans are bigger than Storm. AFL in NSW is bigger than League in Victoria. A poorly supported Swans would attract crowds my club would give its right u know what for.These are facts and only the Swans in Sydney can dare to use homebush in a stand alone fixture and hope to fill it.

Why? 2 reasons.

1 Sydney league fans are too often lazy besterds lying on a couch at home.

2 AFL beats NRL into the dunces corner at marketing the product. Thay are walmart to our corner shop and until we wake up, stop pretending we are doing as well as them and start to really market what we have we will be where we are now which is in second place eating their dust.

I hope what I've written upsets you because if it does then you care enough to try to change things. If told its not in the culture to support your club here baseball fans in Boston USA, ice hockey fans in montreal, soccer fans in Manchester would conclude we simply didn't care enough. Imagine that bulldung reason being wheeled out to explain stay aways at english soccer or NFL or dare i say it AFL. Bulldung from laxy no marks who won't go is what it is.

 

[Brutus]

I'm tipping another "AFL is taking on RL in Sydney" story in the Sunday papers.

 

[LeagueXIII]

I think we may not have the care factor/passion to the same degree as the other sports you mention fanatique, after all would Collingwood Man Utd, Boston allow themselves to be sold out in a merger like St.George did?
We have no leadership and are run by people with self interest and taking the easy option as their style. There are few thought provoking intelligent people in the game. They are all puppets or tabloid journos.

 

[Ice777]

I'm tipping another "AFL is taking on RL in Sydney" story in the Sunday papers.

I hope there is and i hope they keep continuing with those stories. The only reason for that is if they do keep running them then the NRL might do something to at least try and combat the AFL instead of just sitting on their hands like they appear to be doing.

Most people here are dirty on the AFL for throwing their money around trying to expand the game, but it's the NRL you should be pissed off with. If the AFL want to spend up in Sydney and Brisbane particularly then they're entitled to do so just as the NRL are entitled to as well but they don't want to loosen the purse strings. Why the hell did it take them so long to put money into junior development down here in Melbourne?

Of course you have to take care of the heartlands but if you want the league to truly thrive not just now but years down the track then you have to take care of EVERY area just as the AFL are. The difference between the two leagues is one of them want to grow the game to be the biggest and best it can be all over Australia and the other one seems happy to just exist.

 

[LeagueXIII]

Mate people aren't annoyed at AFL as such, mainly the media for treating the two differently, league is constantly made to look negative whilst AFL is all roses eg. the way player behaviour is dealt with, AFL is twice as bad as league yet the perception is that league is on the outer.

 

[El Diablo]

which means the media condone the deplorable and criminal behaviour of AFL players or the AFL pays them not to report on it.

There is no third option.

 

[j5o6hn]

The difference between the AFL and NRL in outlook is the AFL can see further ahead than the end of next week, they are looking 10,15 yrs down the track,the NRL is lucky if they are looking any further than the end of the finals so far as promotion of Rugby League in Australia,where else can you have a major sport made inaccessible to 3 states in Australia on the FOX cause 9 say so, its a bloody disgrace and the NRL or however did it should be hung out to dry

 

[Perth Red]

In the West it was saying that the AFL is targetting South Africa as well with a possible team based there in the next 20 years. Apparently there are 2500 players and 18 leagues already!!

Amazing what a difference a good TV deal can make!

 

[fanatique]

I think we may not have the care factor/passion to the same degree as the other sports you mention fanatique, after all would Collingwood Man Utd, Boston allow themselves to be sold out in a merger like St.George did?
We have no leadership and are run by people with self interest and taking the easy option as their style. There are few thought provoking intelligent people in the game. They are all puppets or tabloid journos.

You hit the nail on the head. Old clubs merged without so much as a by your leave. Souths marching the streets then never appearing for a game, Awful fixturing, self interested short sighted leadership and let's face it poor lukewarm TV bound support.

its a wonder we have a league at all. I'd have a clean out top to bottom.

 

[tiburon]

In the West it was saying that the AFL is targetting South Africa as well with a possible team based there in the next 20 years. Apparently there are 2500 players and 18 leagues already!!

Amazing what a difference a good TV deal can make!

I heard from a mate (AFL fan) that AFL had taken over rugby league in popularity[FONT=&quot][/FONT] in New Zealand also...:roll:

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

I hope there is and i hope they keep continuing with those stories. The only reason for that is if they do keep running them then the NRL might do something to at least try and combat the AFL instead of just sitting on their hands like they appear to be doing.

Most people here are dirty on the AFL for throwing their money around trying to expand the game, but it's the NRL you should be pissed off with. If the AFL want to spend up in Sydney and Brisbane particularly then they're entitled to do so just as the NRL are entitled to as well but they don't want to loosen the purse strings. Why the hell did it take them so long to put money into junior development down here in Melbourne?

Of course you have to take care of the heartlands but if you want the league to truly thrive not just now but years down the track then you have to take care of EVERY area just as the AFL are. The difference between the two leagues is one of them want to grow the game to be the biggest and best it can be all over Australia and the other one seems happy to just exist.

What a load of sh*t.

Where is AFL growing to?

The NRL has a new team in 2007 and has places lining up after them including Wellington and Gosford. Even Perth is a shot in the future.

Who is lining up for the next AFL side?

The next largest area for them to put a team is one of three place, Gold Coast, who they are treating with contempt by sending their pariah team there, Western Sydney, which will be a disaster and which they seem very reluctant to do anything about, and Newcastle, which is laughable.

They've already accepted that Tasmania isn't big enough.

So, where are they growing to?

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

In the West it was saying that the AFL is targetting South Africa as well with a possible team based there in the next 20 years. Apparently there are 2500 players and 18 leagues already!!

Amazing what a difference a good TV deal can make!

If you read bigfooty you'd think that AFL was dominating the planet.

It dominates Nauru.

Nowhere else.

And any talk of having x amount of teams anywhere but Australia is bullsh*t. It's nothing more than an expat sport everywhere else in the world and is played at no better than kick and giggle.

 

[BuffaloRules]

I'm tipping another "AFL is taking on RL in Sydney" story in the Sunday papers.

Wrong- it appears that RL is already out of the picture...Its Soccer to take on AFL ...:sarcasm:

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,20425695-23215,00.html

By Philip Micallef
September 17, 2006
FOOTBALL Australia is bracing itself for all-out war with the AFL for the hearts and minds of western Sydney.
The AFL has announced bold plans to spend more than $100 million in five years to develop the so-called indigenous game in eastern Australia.
"It's terrifying," outgoing chief executive John O'Neill conceded yesterday at the FFA's College St bunker. "But we'll win the war.
"We can't go head to head with the AFL on dollars.
"So we have to compete smartly, innovatively and on the powerful messages that football is receiving.
"Such as growth in football in GPS schools the AFL would give its right arm for.
"They're spending a fortune trying to crack this jewel in the crown.
"They're targeting participation numbers at 700,000 but ours is 1.2 million. They're spending $9 million a year (to achieve this) and that expense will double.
"We've got a terrific product that gives us a World Cup and an Asian Cup every four years. We are a mainstream sport now and well placed."
O'Neill said the FFA's next priority was to establish a coaching, development and talent identification program to help offset the AFL's advances.
"The grassroots unfortunately was somewhat neglected as we sought more important targets such as joining Asia, starting a league and reaching the World Cup," O'Neill said.
"Critics claim our development systems are fragmented and dysfunctional. They say we need to do it the Brazil or Dutch way.
"Some say we should take a leaf out of the French football academy.
"But what these people fail to realise is Clairefontaine's budget is bigger than that of the Australian Institute of Sport, which caters for some 32 disciplines.
"Probably it (the grassroots matter) should have been addressed earlier but we had neither the time nor the resources to do it.
"But now I am glad to say that this is our next big target. After achieving our first aims we are now in the next tier of priori

 

[Neatoboy]

I think the AFL deserves the success it has received in growing it's code Australia-wide. Personally I dislike the game but I wish the NRL would learn from them.

Bring back Perth and Adelaide!