Channel 9 wants to kill of a sydney club

[adamkungl]

If u kill one Sydney team I think you kill RL

You're gonna stop following Rugby League if Manly or Easts get the punt?

 

[Quicksilver]

Maybe all Sydney RL fans are just closet afl fans waiting for an excuse to jump ship?

More like pushed off the ship and had their head held under the water.

 

[greenBV4]

I think this threat that gets thrown out there that if a Sydney club gets dumped its fans will jump ship to AFL is a very good reason to increase representative RL and decrease NRL. Give these fans other levels of the game they can get hooked on. The NRL comp should be shortened in part to accommodate more representative RL.

Itll be too late, they'll all be hooked on AFL fans by then and wont care about the kangaroos or blues, they'd rather watch the All Australians compete, oh wait..

But yeah a more stable internation schedule would be great, maybe shave a round or 2 of the regular season to accomodate it

 

[T-Boon]

You're gonna stop following Rugby League if Manly or Easts get the punt?

Surely the way to do it is relocate clubs. As an eels fan I just see no reason why I wouldn't keep supporting the eels if they where to relocate (obviously this is unlikely). I am not from Parramatta and I don't care about the area much. If they were to merge (with Penrith) I would probably dump them because I would not support the Parramatta Panthers.

If you relocate a club you will only be upsetting the die hard locals who go to the game a lot and there doesn't seem to be many of those types. You could even keep many of those on board by doing it respectfully.

 

[unforgiven]

If the NRL doesnt have a club in my suburb im gonna follow the AFL which only has a club in one suburb

They must have been huuuge RL and Bears fans to follow a completely different sport instead of continuing to follow their club that still exists in second grade.

If the NRL disregards my 40 years as a supporter of my team, the huge amounts of $ I have injected into the game, the voluntary hours I have spent supporting the game and the love I have for the game why would I continue to support the NRL? They will have made it clear that they don't want my support .

 

[Quicksilver]

Tom Malone was quoted in the Herald today saying he was disappointed that "emotion" was injected into his proposal (specifically in response to Scott Morrison's comments about potentially axing the Sharks). I mean, really?! WTF is this guy on? If people didn't feel emotionally invested, they would not follow a team, nor the game, hence they would never watch it in the first place. This guy comes across as a complete moron.

Exactly. One minute the story is “tune in, get behind YOUR TEAM!!”

Next minute, “oh, none of that really matters. Just consume whatever we want to feed you”

 

[greenBV4]

If the NRL disregards my 40 years as a supporter of my team, the huge amounts of $ I have injected into the game, the voluntary hours I have spent supporting the game and the love I have for the game why would I continue to support the NRL? They will have made it clear that they don't want my support .

What if your team were to go bust and/or chose to relocate on their own accords? Would you support the relocated team on TV and with an away membership for sydney games?

 

[unforgiven]

What if your team were to go bust and/or chose to relocate on their own accords? Would you support the relocated team on TV and with an away membership for sydney games?

I would not support a relocated team
Thinking about that for a moment more , I may watch their games on t.v. but all financial involvement in the NRL would cease.

 

[adamkungl]

If the NRL disregards my 40 years as a supporter of my team, the huge amounts of $ I have injected into the game, the voluntary hours I have spent supporting the game and the love I have for the game why would I continue to support the NRL? They will have made it clear that they don't want my support .

Personally my great love for the game isn't limited to having a top-tier professional club in my backyard.
If my team got punted tomorrow I probably wouldn't follow the NRL, but I certainly wouldn't suddenly be wearing a f**king Swans scarf. Rugby League is bigger than 1 club in 1 comp.

 

[unforgiven]

Personally my great love for the game isn't limited to having a top-tier professional club in my backyard.
If my team got punted tomorrow I probably wouldn't follow the NRL, but I certainly wouldn't suddenly be wearing a f**king Swans scarf. Rugby League is bigger than 1 club in 1 comp.

I would still watch my hometown team when home visiting family, travel up to their Grand Final appearances like im doing this weekend but NRL would be gone for me!

 

[adamkungl]

I would still watch my hometown team when home visiting family, travel up to their Grand Final appearances like im doing this weekend but NRL would be gone for me!

That's very different to suddenly becoming a member of a different sport which you were never interested in before

 

[Eion]

If my club goes I won’t be watching the afl. I don’t think I’ll be watching anything other than an increased interest in Union and maybe soccer.

But I will be hoping the afl takes over and the nrl drifts off into obscurity because I’ll be a petty, bitter and twisted merkin.

 

[Generalzod]

f**k the game if it ain't saying nothin'

 

[TheRam]

In last years annual report Victorian registered players went ahead of WA for the first time ever, and I know we've been getting some really good growth over last few years so they must be doing well. They're U18's State side is now the strongest of the expansion States.

In regards to Vic jnrs making NRL it really is a numbers game. Storm are pumping money into their jnr system at U16's and U18's level but you need enough milk in the pot for the cream to rise. In the 7 years we have run an SG Ball side we have only had two players make it as NRL first graders. But leaving that metric aside the development of these kids has been great for the WA comp and the standard there has notably improved and we have had a couple of dozen make it at NSW and Qlnd cup level. I'd imagine Victoria would be the same. Think how many kids play RL in NSW, how much money is pumped into Jnr football by NSWRL and LC then look at how many NSW kids make first grade (not sure of your comment about polynesians but Id say the majority in NSW are also PI background). You need a lot to produce a little.

Thanks for the reply. You don't know the actual numbers of registered players though do you? The reason I mention Islanders and Maoris is because RL hasn't actually converted those kids into RL followers/players, it is in the their traditional DNA. But if we have any other race of players coming through then that is a new pickup for the game and a sign that the game is heading in the right direction in that State.

But yes it is a numbers game and we are yet to see any come through at the NRL level, which I find very concerning and a little baffling to be honest.

 

[carcharias]

Personally my great love for the game isn't limited to having a top-tier professional club in my backyard.
If my team got punted tomorrow I probably wouldn't follow the NRL, but I certainly wouldn't suddenly be wearing a f**king Swans scarf. Rugby League is bigger than 1 club in 1 comp.

Would you encourage your kid to follow Souths instead?

 

[Travitoh]

Thanks for the reply. You don't know the actual numbers of registered players though do you? The reason I mention Islanders and Maoris is because RL hasn't actually converted those kids into RL followers/players, it is in the their traditional DNA. But if we have any other race of players coming through then that is a new pickup for the game and a sign that the game is heading in the right direction in that State.

But yes it is a numbers game and we are yet to see any come through at the NRL level, which I find very concerning and a little baffling to be honest.

Junior set ups take years to build and longer to produce. The fact that there are prospects around the mark is a strong achievement after 20 years.

The Victorian state side was a joke 10-15 years ago so if they are now competing with WA and NT who used to put cricket scores on them is a big leap in the right direction.

Race doesn't matter. Having the numbers available to build a big enough local competition that allows for awareness and opportunity to play RL in Victoria matters.

 

[Timbo]

Is Tom Malone on the spectrum or something?

He's made these comments and is reacting with shock that everyone isn't like 'yeah, good point mate, kick my team out because its better for your business model'.

How can a television network sport director be so completely tone deaf to how sport actually works? His comments seem to indicate he genuinely believes that if you punt Manly or Cronulla for some made up Brisbane Bandicoots then all of those fans will just switch to another team too. It's bizarre how poorly he understands it.

 

[Angry_eel]

You're gonna stop following Rugby League if Manly or Easts get the punt?

Manly dying would kill the greatest rivalry for Parramatta. I for one will not be happy with it.

 

[TheRam]

I reckon Greenberg or Beattie would have leaked something to Nine. I doubt Nine would just come out and suddenly say "we want a 2nd Brisbane team". Just a hunch but I would say this is Greenberg putting Sydney clubs on notice and getting his mates and stakeholders to put pressure on them.

Or Greenberg's/NRL's cowardly way to put feelers out there to test how the public will react to it.

These guys in head office a pathetic politician types that fear any public backlash and do nothing because of it. Useless.

 

[Timbo]

It's just so strange that everyone can see the obvious solution - expand to 18 with Perth and Brisbane2 - except for Nine and the ARLC.

There are plenty of young players wanting to step up. People point to how weak the Titans are as an example of the depth not being there, but the reason that the Titans suck is because it attracts players who are more interested in getting on the tiles after the game than digging in and playing good footy.

The depth is already there. Every year half a dozen blokes get found in reserves - guys like Rueben Garrick and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad - and step up when presented with the opportunity. Yes, there will probably be a few lean years whilst they're getting into gear, but that's not a reason to not pull the trigger.

And get the league onto Seven or Ten. Nine is an absolute cancer on the sport.