FACT - NRL is bigger than French Top 14 rugby union

[mangeur de grenouilles]

You think wrong.

Not totally false.Potentially the rugby union in France is more important than the rugby league in Australia.

 

[Titanic]

Let's just declare war on France ... bunch of twig frogs jumping around picking their noses and taunting people ... the single most conquered country in world history.

Their plonk is akin to extortionate vinegar, their grub has too much garlic, their sheila's are over-rated and under-sexed, their friggin' tower is rusty, their national anthem cliched, and ... hold on, they've just taken two of the biggest wankers off our shores (and one of them is a Kiwi anyway) and they even want big little-willie ... I love the French.

 

[griff]

Not totally false.Potentially the rugby union in France is more important than the rugby league in Australia.

Potentially yes, in actual fact, no.

 

[Yngwie_70]

Potentially yes, in actual fact, no.

The old NSL decided a few years ago that a major re-structure was in order. They achieved that and despite the best players in Australia playing overseas the game is thriving. Rugby league needs a major restructure but one thing is clearly evident; RL salaries are way out of kilter for what they game produces. We expect poker machines to proper up the likes of SBW and Willie Mason then we are in a dream world.
Soccer Australia has placed a cap of $1.5 million on its players and they still lose them overseas but the game is growing. Albeit we do not see the best players in the competition but tribalism is what keeps it going. Let us remember that RL is only the national sport of PNG, and nowehere else does it dominate its market.

 

[Noa]

pillaging? wtf?! Players were not slaves... if old union blazers refused to hand over money to their players then the union mob got what they deserved... RL didn't steal anybody... the union mobs treated their athletes so badly they left of their own accord...

Plus the fact ALOT of these Union players only took up the sport when they were shipped off to pwivate school.

Scott Gourley,Craig Wing ,Ryan Cross,Wally Lewis,Ricky Stuart etc,etc were all league juniors.

Hell all the Ella brothers were league players until 17 years of age.

 

[griff]

The old NSL decided a few years ago that a major re-structure was in order. They achieved that and despite the best players in Australia playing overseas the game is thriving. Rugby league needs a major restructure but one thing is clearly evident; RL salaries are way out of kilter for what they game produces. We expect poker machines to proper up the likes of SBW and Willie Mason then we are in a dream world.
Soccer Australia has placed a cap of $1.5 million on its players and they still lose them overseas but the game is growing. Albeit we do not see the best players in the competition but tribalism is what keeps it going. Let us remember that RL is only the national sport of PNG, and nowehere else does it dominate its market.

Virtually none of that is true.

Soccer has great publicity at the moment, but it is largely illusory. The A-league grand final got slaughtered in the ratings by a RL trial game. All A-league clubs are running at large losses.

Tribalism is not what keeps the A-league going. They sacrificed the tribalism to bring the sport together.

If anything, RL salaries are under what the game produces. Fox Sports and Foxtel are only making money off the back of RL subscriptions. They aren't paying the NRL what the game is worth.

RL dominates the Eastern seaboard of Australia, the largest market in the region.

 

[BuffaloRules]

According to our mate Peter Fitzsimmons, the TV rights in France are huge - of course he is never one to exaggerate is he?

http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news/bpeter-fitzsimonsb/2008/07/28/1217097149949.html

The second source is the sporting sugar-daddy to beat them all: television. When I was in France, we were on TV once or twice a season. Now, every first division game, every week, is on the tube and achieving good ratings, so the networks are happy to pay huge amounts for the broadcasting rights

.

Huge amounts?? I guess its all relative...

 

[VictoryFC]

Virtually none of that is true.

Soccer has great publicity at the moment, but it is largely illusory. The A-league grand final got slaughtered in the ratings by a RL trial game. All A-league clubs are running at large losses.

Tribalism is not what keeps the A-league going. They sacrificed the tribalism to bring the sport together.

If anything, RL salaries are under what the game produces. Fox Sports and Foxtel are only making money off the back of RL subscriptions. They aren't paying the NRL what the game is worth.

RL dominates the Eastern seaboard of Australia, the largest market in the region.

Shows how much you know. Most of the A-League clubs had 5 year plans to break even - anything else was going to be a bonus. We're now approaching the 4th year, and everything that should be going up in order to make that break even point is. And a couple of hundred thousand in losses after 3 years isnt exactly "large losses" when you have multi-millionaire and billionaire backers. Melbourne Victory, in only its 3rd year, became profitable. Agree about ratings though, League is dominant on Pay TV.

 

[Brutus]

No, but if you want to look into history, we have been pillaging rugby players for 90 years and we didnt mind one bit.

But that's because union was a backward amateur sport and players wanted to join the pro world. It was natural that some union players were keen to earn a buck from playing sport rather than risking injury for no real reward at all. Not everyone was a high-flying doctor or lawyer.

 

[Brutus]

Plus the fact ALOT of these Union players only took up the sport when they were shipped off to pwivate school.

Scott Gourley,Craig Wing ,Ryan Cross,Wally Lewis,Ricky Stuart etc,etc were all league juniors.

Hell all the Ella brothers were league players until 17 years of age.

great point.

 

[Calixte]

French union is a fraction of the size of Australian RL.

:lol:

 

[Brutus]

So really the Les Catalans crowds are not that different to French club rugby union crowds.

Bring on another French team in the ESL!

 

[eelandia]

pillaging? wtf?! Players were not slaves... if old union blazers refused to hand over money to their players then the union mob got what they deserved... RL didn't steal anybody... the union mobs treated their athletes so badly they left of their own accord...

Yes...any organisation who's motto is "...if you can't afford to get injured, you shouldn't be playing..." deserve everything they get / got.

The whole tit for tat argument is flawed.

****

 

[RL1908]

Yes...any organisation who's motto is "...if you can't afford to get injured, you shouldn't be playing..." deserve everything they get / got.

The whole tit for tat argument is flawed.

****

Totally agree - not one RU player was ever "poached" (by that word they mean "stolen") by RL.

The whole misguided premise is based on an inference that every RU player who crossed to RL was a poor simple fool, who didn't know what they were doing, and were dragged away to RL against their free will.

Today is a completely different situation - players are free to earn a well paid salary in RL, or an obscene amount at the top of RU - hardly comparable to pre-1995 situation of RU players earning nothing, and then being offered a fair reward for their labour by playing RL.

 

[Pass the Ball]

Totally agree - not one RU player was ever "poached" (by that word they mean "stolen") by RL.

The whole misguided premise is based on an inference that every RU player who crossed to RL was a poor simple fool, who didn't know what they were doing, and were dragged away to RL against their free will.

Today is a completely different situation - players are free to earn a well paid salary in RL, or an obscene amount at the top of RU - hardly comparable to pre-1995 situation of RU players earning nothing, and then being offered a fair reward for their labour by playing RL.

It is exactly the same situation....it is all relative...

SBW has not been dragged away against his will either..

 

[Titanic]

The whole argument begs the answers to: (a) How many top paying positions are really available to RL players in Yawnion? (b) How many of those would attract experienced Yawnion players before they would look further afield at RL players? (c) Do French Yawnion or ESL really want or need to be full of ex-NRL players? (d) How many NRL players are actually good enough to adjust?

Imho this is a quantifiable group which once the French and ESL have had their fill then that door will be nearly closed and only a handful of players will be able to take advantage of the big pay outs. For those who don't get in quick then they will have to wait for the SBW and Gaz's to retire, get hurt or out of favour before they get a chance.

There may well be flood of players wanting to jump ship and get a huge pay increase but the buck stops somewhere. You can bet that the guys who are paying it out didn't make it in the first place by being stupid. Just think back to Stupid League in Oz and all the rosier pictures that were painted by the "rags to riches" lobby but didn't come to fruition. News is still extracting its pound of flesh from the NRL because of the idiotic geese that thought they had found the golden egg.

 

[griff]

The whole argument begs the answers to: (a) How many top paying positions are really available to RL players in Yawnion? (b) How many of those would attract experienced Yawnion players before they would look further afield at RL players? (c) Do French Yawnion or ESL really want or need to be full of ex-NRL players?

Imho this is a quantifiable group which once the French and so on have had their fill then that door will be nearly closed and only a handful of players will be able to take advantage of the big pay outs.

So true.

 

[Yngwie_70]

Virtually none of that is true.

Soccer has great publicity at the moment, but it is largely illusory. The A-league grand final got slaughtered in the ratings by a RL trial game.

Have a comparison of the Victory crowd over the Storm. Remember, the Storm are far and away the best team in league and if they arent getting crowds now, when will they?

All A-league clubs are running at large losses.

What losses are RL clubs running at. You heard Fitzgerald complain about Parra, Souths have problems, Tigers need a club extension, Saints, Melbourne lose millions per year. Be fair at least mate.

Tribalism is not what keeps the A-league going. They sacrificed the tribalism to bring the sport together.

Really, Sydney FC vs Victory is tribalism isnt it?

If anything, RL salaries are under what the game produces. Fox Sports and Foxtel are only making money off the back of RL subscriptions. They aren't paying the NRL what the game is worth.

In the end it is still chicken feed. Mark Gasnier left because the so called thrid party sponsors could not produce the money. Like it or leave it, RU and Soccer has money behind it.

RL dominates the Eastern seaboard of Australia, the largest market in the region.

Last time I looked Victoria is on the Eastern sea board and they are parochial AFL supporters. The divide between popularity between RL and AFL is slowly moving north mind you. I know you mention Fox ratings but have you had a look at the Friday Channel 9 ratings lately? Sydney swans crowds are huge, as are most AFL games.

Now I know I will get get sworn at, flamed etc but you need to realise that I love RL but to quote Clint Eastwood; " Youre a good man, and a good man always knows thier limitations". RL is fighting well above its weight but will definitely struggle if money becomes an option for players as it seems to be.

 

[Calixte]

Last time I looked Victoria is on the Eastern sea board and they are parochial AFL supporters. The divide between popularity between RL and AFL is slowly moving north mind you. I know you mention Fox ratings but have you had a look at the Friday Channel 9 ratings lately? Sydney swans crowds are huge, as are most AFL games.

Now I know I will get get sworn at, flamed etc but you need to realise that I love RL but to quote Clint Eastwood; " Youre a good man, and a good man always knows thier limitations". RL is fighting well above its weight but will definitely struggle if money becomes an option for players as it seems to be.

Check out the Lions and Swans ratings, genius.

More at the game than watching on TV.

Non-entities in 58% of the country...

 

[Yngwie_70]

Check out the Lions and Swans ratings, genius.


More at the game than watching on TV.

Non-entities in 58% of the country...

Just in case you need reminding, the Rugby on Saturday drew a record crowd for a Fox show this year. We cant hide from this. RL needs to do something except no one knows what. By the way, calling people names says more about you than me.