You keep saying this, yet you have failed to mention why it matters if they are of islander background or not.
It only matters because it means that the game has advanced and captured the hearts of the wider community of the Victorians.
In other words to state the bleeding obvious. New Zealanders and Islanders already have a disposition towards Rugby and Rugby League, so it isn't an indicator of how the game is going in the hearts and minds of the Victorians when a NZer or Islander come through, not that they have had many of them come through either, but if we start getting other descents coming through, it actually shows the game IS growing in the Southern State.
You know just like how the AFL have managed to get some of our best athletes of different heritage to the elite ranks of their Sydney and Brisbane teams. For all the money that we have put in down there so far it hasn't amounted to much at all for the Storms survival in a junior sense. They still have to go out and get virtually all their 1st graders from QLD, NSW, NZ or the Islands.
That to me and any other non bias judge indicates that the AFL has really entrenched itself into the hearts and minds of the parents and kiddies of our league territories. League can not boast this with any real tangible markers. Just because the storm are a great team and people will always go and watch a winner doesn't in itself mean that the Victorians really give a shit in real numbers sense and a heart felt emotional sense.
As it has been reported and spoken by the NRL itself, to get people to embrace and really love a sport the sure fire way is to get them to play it for a number of years. Then those people will always be interested and will be considered rusted on supporters. The Storm is not producing juniors after all these years and to not see this as a MAJOR problem for the game down the road, is frankly niave.
Did you watch 360 on Fox this last week. They discussed the direction of the game. They said among other concerning things, that 20 years ago it could be debated which code League or AFL was the more popular sport and there was no clear winner. Not now, now AFL wins hands down on all the crucial markers and that it will not be to long before league will be a distant 2nd or 3rd...like in 10-15yrs, unless we have a change in administration and direction in how we spend our funding. I mean 5yrs and a billion dollars later and the league is broke, needs to get a bridging loan and has nothing, no assets to show for it.
Club and player greed and a weak and useless admin have seen to it. The game is slowly being replaced and the people who are meant to foster it and expand it don't care enough. All we get is self interest, lip service and disinformation.
