City-country

[franklin2323]

OK, so what was the point of the last 5 City v Country games?

Were they trial matches for Origin? No. Not even close.
Were they a thank you for Country Rugby League? Yes
Would Rugby League in the Country be better off replacing 1 x City v Country game a season with 3 or 4 NRL games at different venues? Yes. If there is a genuine plan to replace City v Country with meaningful NRL games then I'm all for it

If there isn't any such plan, then taking the City v Country fixture off the calendar is poor form

This is it for me. I love our game in Bathurst every year more clubs should do it. The money saved here should go to ensuring country games do go ahead

 

[Timmah]

CvC has died before and been resurrected. Unless a suitable alternative (read: all Sydney clubs having a mandated country game, or the NRL holding a dedicated country round) is found, then it'll probably come back within 5 or 10 years.

 

[johnny plath]

You do realises there's 16 NRL teams and only 1 City v Country game? If all the clubs take a game to the country it will do more then a City v Country game does. I have my doubts as to whether clubs will or not but in theory it works

I think this could potentially work well during the origin rep period. 6 to 8 weeks could see a nrl game in a country centre each weekend. Crowds generally drop in this period any way so not such a hit in crowd numbers...will have its own hype in those towns and won't take anything away from origin.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

You do realises there's 16 NRL teams and only 1 City v Country game? If all the clubs take a game to the country it will do more then a City v Country game does. I have my doubts as to whether clubs will or not but in theory it works

Well I'm sure these theories will do a lot for the game.

 

[POPEYE]

It's alright to lampoon the City/Country game but you can bet your balls the NRL is shit scared to base an NRL team west of the Blueys. If Melbourne can attract players to Victoria and keep the Storm consistently the best team in the comp imagine what kind of team a RL heartland could produce.

Depriving Sydney-centric 'plastic pig' clubs of country cousins and encouraging more to play the game because they don't have to move to the Sydney shithole would have players clamouring to stay or relocate to bush footy . . . where the air is clean and boats can't reach

 

[DiegoNT]

I would have liked the city country to be just for younger players. Maybe in the under 23 or under 25. Even if it wasn't a true origin selection it'd still be useful. See how the up and coming players handle a step up, how they handle a week in camp, how they handle playing in an alien team environment.
As for the city country as an event, it could easily be replaced by more nrl games in country areas.
I think state cup teams based in rural areas would be a huge step forward for the country game

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Country v city pros and cons.

Pros:
it gives old fossils an opportunity to express their outdated views on the game
Gives the opportunity for hundreds of nrl players to enjoy a weekend off by pulling out of the fixture through injury
Gives citizens of a random country town the opportunity to pay big bucks to see a meaningless game.
Country used to have a kick ass jersey

Cons:
Not a selection trial and hasnt been since Phil Duke spilt the pill behind the goal line 30 years ago.
Meaningless game in a season that already is bloated.


The league is dying in the bush is the biggest myth in rugby league, up there with league is dying in western sydney myth.

 

[franklin2323]

I think this could potentially work well during the origin rep period. 6 to 8 weeks could see a nrl game in a country centre each weekend. Crowds generally drop in this period any way so not such a hit in crowd numbers...will have its own hype in those towns and won't take anything away from origin.

Spend a week doing school visits etc. 8k in these areas is far better then 8k in Sydney. A few players out of each team won't matter to many as it does here

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Country v city pros and cons.

Pros:
it gives old fossils an opportunity to express their outdated views on the game
Gives the opportunity for hundreds of nrl players to enjoy a weekend off by pulling out of the fixture through injury
Gives citizens of a random country town the opportunity to pay big bucks to see a meaningless game.
Country used to have a kick ass jersey

Cons:
Not a selection trial and hasnt been since Phil Duke spilt the pill behind the goal line 30 years ago.
Meaningless game in a season that already is bloated.


The league is dying in the bush is the biggest myth in rugby league, up there with league is dying in western sydney myth.

Really? Well there you go. All those people actually in the bush and actually involved must be deaf, dumb and blind or something. Apparently it's all a myth. Some guy on the interweb said so.

You forgot:

Gives twats who don't know or care about country football the chance to make ignorant statements about how "pointless" the game is despite never being to one, having nothing to do with the game or even having anything to do with the sport in the bush in general. What are merkins like you going to do now? Probably start whinging about international footy I suppose.

 

[adamkungl]

I'm not anti CvC but I'd prefer multiple NRL comp games (not just trials) going to the country every year. IF it happens, good. If it doesn't, very poor.

 

[Lambretta]

The Roosters already give up one game a year to Gosford (which to Eastern Suburbs types is tantamount to bush footy) and it's a resounding success. I love the seven hour trip to Gosford by public transport.
The game wasn't included in my membership last year and I still made the trip. Although to be honest, it only took five hours by train instead of seven.

You can get drunk as lords and by the time the train gets back as far as Hornsby you're as sober as a judge.

If we can get that far out of our comfort zone, surely Parramatta could get to Dubbo or Armidale
If Penrith play a Finals game in Bathurst, their fans can stay out there for the race on the Mountain.

 

[siv]

CvC needs to played in NSW and QLD the weekend before SOO I weekend

Then it works

Playing it after the ANZAC test has been a disaster

 

[Timmah]

It's alright to lampoon the City/Country game but you can bet your balls the NRL is shit scared to base an NRL team west of the Blueys. If Melbourne can attract players to Victoria and keep the Storm consistently the best team in the comp imagine what kind of team a RL heartland could produce.

Probably because in a business sense it's vastly different to have a team in a city like Melbourne where there are millions of people in one common area and a huge well of corporates to pull from... plus the stadia, training facilities required of a modern elite competition.

They can invest all the money they want into providing the latter into a country area, but the risk remains both attendances and generating corporate support - something much easier to do in a city than the country.

Really? Well there you go. All those people actually in the bush and actually involved must be deaf, dumb and blind or something. Apparently it's all a myth. Some guy on the interweb said so.

You forgot:

Gives twats who don't know or care about country football the chance to make ignorant statements about how "pointless" the game is despite never being to one, having nothing to do with the game or even having anything to do with the sport in the bush in general. What are merkins like you going to do now? Probably start whinging about international footy I suppose.

Are you genuinely of the belief you are the only rugby league supporter on this forum that has any sort of knowledge about the game in the country? How about dropping the us v them mentality?

 

[Timmah]

I love the seven hour trip to Gosford by public transport.

Do you take a train to Melbourne first? :/

 

[Incorrect]

The worst part of the City V Country fixture in recent times has been listening to the commentary team on channel 9 trying to talk it up and convince people that it's a worthwhile exercise with boundless credibility.... The day Kris Keating was given a "Rep" jersey in this fixture, it spelt the end of its relevance IMO.

Like many have posted here - make clubs take a competition game to the country or regional centre. 16 per year is obviously too many, but do it over 2 years maybe - 8 teams take a home game to the bush in 2018, and then in 2019, the other 8 teams take a home game outta town.... or something like that...

 

[Lambretta]

Do you take a train to Melbourne first? :/

Well someone jumped in front of a train and they cancelled trains for 4 hours while they scraped up the mess

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Probably because in a business sense it's vastly different to have a team in a city like Melbourne where there are millions of people in one common area and a huge well of corporates to pull from... plus the stadia, training facilities required of a modern elite competition.

They can invest all the money they want into providing the latter into a country area, but the risk remains both attendances and generating corporate support - something much easier to do in a city than the country.


Are you genuinely of the belief you are the only rugby league supporter on this forum that has any sort of knowledge about the game in the country? How about dropping the us v them mentality?

If you think this forum represents the views of country people or even country fans of the game, you're kidding. My views are absolutely consistent with what you'll find in bush footy circles. Yet it's not even expressed by anyone other than me on here. That sums it up. Have a look at the CRL Facebook page or even non-RL sources like the ABC and you actually get a sense of what people in the bush think of this.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Really? Well there you go. All those people actually in the bush and actually involved must be deaf, dumb and blind or something. Apparently it's all a myth. Some guy on the interweb said so.

You forgot:

Gives twats who don't know or care about country football the chance to make ignorant statements about how "pointless" the game is despite never being to one, having nothing to do with the game or even having anything to do with the sport in the bush in general. What are merkins like you going to do now? Probably start whinging about international footy I suppose.

How do you know im not involved professor? How do you know where i live, where i f**king come from or what i do brains?

The irony of someone with your limited intellectual clout calling someone ignorant would be f**king laughable if wasn't so sad.

Basically you're a whinging merkin who if something doesn’t go the way they want it to blames everyone and calls them ignorant and hopeless.

Yet you're too insubstantial to do anything about it which is the nub of your tantrum rants. You wish you had the power to change things but you don't, won't and never will. So instead you hop on your computer and rave on like the sad fool you are.

 

[RL The greatest game]

The Sydney clubs need to play at least one game a year in the bush to promote bush football.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Are you genuinely of the belief you are the only rugby league supporter on this forum that has any sort of knowledge about the game in the country? How about dropping the us v them mentality?

Do you have a clearance from your previous club to post that?