Has the Sleeping Giant Finally Awoken?

[LeagueXIII]

The atmosphere last night was similar to the games at the MCG in 1997 and 2001, the best atmosphere I have ever experienced at any football match in this country. It is the corporate dollar that sports are fighting for and in this regard it is AFL and union that will feel the most, it as the big companies ie. banks etc don't support league.
League is used to being in a competitive market whilst AFL is not.

 

[Dogaholic]

Between Union and Rugby League?

lol You know exactly what he means but are just too stubborn to acknowledge it.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

lol You know exactly what he means but are just too stubborn to acknowledge it.

So, did you see the telecast on SBS last night and the Australian players that called it Soccer?

That's what acknowledgement is mate....

They know it's called Soccer here and accept it.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to explain it fully then.

1. Players who played in the WC qualifier against Urgay last night are quite happy to call Soccer Soccer. They called it Soccer because they know it as Soccer and always have, just like 95% of the Australian population.

2. There are people on this forum who think that the Socceroos were wrong to call it Soccer.

I dunno, but I reckon I'll take the players words over yours.....

 

[dubby]

EA, you really have a bite to your posts dude...

 

[sooperdooper]

Between Union and Rugby League?

no union and football. as in soccer....
action is being taken to make this happen

 

[sooperdooper]

So, did you see the telecast on SBS last night and the Australian players that called it Soccer?

That's what acknowledgement is mate....

They know it's called Soccer here and accept it.

the game itself is football, recognised as football around the world. and now in australia we have changed the federations name to football, which is how is should be

 

[Raider_69]

the game itself is football, recognised as football around the world. and now in australia we have changed the federations name to football, which is how is should be

Not in australia, its soccer here, and personally i dont see why calling it soccer is such a big deal. The majority of the australian public know it as soccer as "football" or "footy" is either League, Union or Aussie rules, pending your preference...

the assosiation can call it what ever they like, its soccer to the majority of australian public and infact the players themselves as E.A has pointed out... Even my soccer mad mates call it "Soccer" as in penrith, football is League

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

no union and football. as in soccer....
action is being taken to make this happen

hahahaha

What action?

You're going to get every dictionary ever made to change Football from a generic term to only describe Soccer then go to the countries that call it Soccer and beat them into submission?

There are a few idiots in LU, you are their king. Congrats.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

the game itself is football, recognised as football around the world. and now in australia we have changed the federations name to football, which is how is should be

It's not recognised as Football in a few countries, and it's not reconised as the sole owner of the name Football in any dictionary I've seen. You call it Football in the NRL section of a Rugby League forum and you'll get the same reaction you'd get if you were talking in a Pub to people who follow Rugby League. Derision.

"I'm going to stamp my feet until you stop calling it Soccer and call it Football"....

LOL

 

[Mr Saab]

the game itself is football, recognised as football around the world. and now in australia we have changed the federations name to football, which is how is should be

In Australia it is soccer
In America it is soccer
In the UK it is mostly referred to as soccer.

 

[Raider Ultra]

"I'm going to stamp my feet until you stop calling it football and call it soccer"....

...

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

EA, you really have a bite to your posts dude...

There is a point to most of them, getting that point across is important.

I'm a fan of Soccer, just not A League Soccer.

What irks me is the attitudes of a few Soccer supporters who do a Recoba and actually think they have a divine right to call Soccer Football and other code's supporters should just accept it.

The fact is that calling its Football here is nothing more than ignorance and arrogance. If it's good enough for the blokes who got us to the WC finals to call it Soccer, why should a few pissants on a Rugby League forum not accept it as Soccer?

Because John O'Neill said so......

He'll call it Football for as long as they pay him. He called Union Football while they were paying him...

 

[LESStar58]

A-Leage still has a long way to go before it challenges RL, AFL and yawnyawn for supremacy. Mind you i think last nite's result is wonderful!

 

[ali]

Right on the money - the ARU have 'tried' to be the nation's favourite sporting team behind the cricketers but their 'international' competition is looking decidely thin compared to Soccer's. Lucky for us Leagueites our international game has been considered sub-par by many yet this hasn't had one negative effect on the domestic comp's popularity.

League will continue to be huge whereas the Wallabies may now be overwhelmed as the bandwagon followers lose interest.

I think Union should be very scared. There were thousands of Wallaby jerseys out there last night, I'd say a fair proportion of the wearers were not hardcore union fans, but the bandwagon jumpers from the world cup. I think Union will lose a fair portion of it's bandwagon supporters. People will start buying Australian soccer jerseys, not Wallaby jumpers. When we start getting regular home internationals against Asian sides, people will have to decide between going to a Union test or the soccer.

I've got no doubt League and soccer will coexist fine. Many League fans play soccer. In fact I believe if you surveyed the average Cronulla crowd, you would find more current and former soccer players, than current and former league players. I play soccer, and most of our pre-game chat usually centres around the weekend NRL matches.

But anyway I think this is going to hit Union at the gate, and even more so in merchandise. And yes, I do believe soccer will become bigger than Union in Sydney. In fact when you look at it's national appeal, it's probably already ahead of Union Australia wide.

And as for AFL, they are coming from a position of absolute domince in their core markets. So I'd expect they will lose some ground.

 

[eelandia]

I dont think people should be seeing it as a threat. Just because its great news for football and the sports future in this country doesnt mean it has to be a threat to other codes.

Fact is, is that it only takes half as much skill and ability to play Rugby League as it does football so once kids get to a certain age most of them probably realise that their main chance to make it big in sport is at League or AFL. There's plenty of chunky Mark O'Meleys around who can catch a ball and run into a wall of people, but there are very few Harry Kewells.

However, the way football will become successfull is if/when the momentum gained from WC entry and then the Asian qualifiers results in more sponsoship/money for the A-league so that the A-League can provide the up-and-comers who arent quite Harry Kewell with a league they want to stay in...rather than go to play in the Swiss or Belgian leagues in Europe. Or a league that they can come back to once they've given it a shot overseas.

Last night was definately a huge long-term psoitve and not just abit of short-term hype.

Half as much skill....that's amusing because I personally find it easier to kick a round ball than a) kick a League ball accurately and b) throw a spiral pass 20m onto someone's chest whilst running a full pace. This whole skill factor stuff is nonsense.

I also noticed the kicking wasn't that accurate, especially from corners, last night. Although intensely exciting, the crispness of the kicks was below par imo.

 

[Tommy Smith]

In Australia it is soccer
In America it is soccer
In the UK it is mostly referred to as soccer.

:lol: Funniest thing i've ever heard. Thanks for the laugh mate.

Ive lived there for a decade and i dont ever once recall ifootball being referred to as soccer.

There's surely nothing worse than someone with no idea who sprouts alot of BS as if its fact.

 

[Tommy Smith]

Half as much skill....that's amusing because I personally find it easier to kick a round ball than.... a) kick a League ball accurately and b) throw a spiral pass 20m onto someone's chest whilst running a full pace. This whole skill factor stuff is nonsense.

I also noticed the kicking wasn't that accurate, especially from corners, last night. Although intensely exciting, the crispness of the kicks was below par imo.

Why no mention of accuracy when kicking a round ball? So you can just kick that one anywhere can you?

I knew i'd hurt a few peoples feelings over that comment. It's a simple matter of motor skills really. Its much easier to do things, or control a ball, with your hands (which is largely what league is about) than it is to do so with your feet. And it takes no skill at all to catch a ball and run into a wall of people. You do have your skill positions such as halfback but on a football field everyone (at the top level) has to be able to kick/control a ball properly.

But anyway the only reason i brought that up is because i was simply stating that junior playing numbers, even if they change alittle, shouldnt impact on league too much because there will always be enough capable of playing the sport. And its much more body shape specific. You're not going to get the huge kids all of a sudden wanting to play football.

 

[sharkadelic]

It will attract its share of bandwagoners that will hardly detract from Leagues core audience. However, League must keep on the ball in development to keep it that way. I have heard stories of AFL sniffing around in League Heartland up north.

While I am happy for an Aussie team (that isn't a Union team) to have won, I didn't even bother getting a score check when I went up to the main bar for a beer. The game bores me to tears. Despite the publicity machine that seems to have gone into overdrive, I find I still don't care in the slightest.

 

[ucantseeme]

When i was in high school, most people played touch footy at lunch & recess except when the soccer world cup was on then for 2 weeks everybody played soccer instead before going back to touch footy. It reminds me of yo-yo's, every few years they would make a big comeback in schools and everyone has one then a couple months pass and people just lose interest in them.

Is soccer a threat to NRL? I say no because NRL offers one thing soccer doesnt. Action, and lots of it. In last nights game there was 2 hours of game time and only one point scored. So, if you were watching the game for the 2 hours how much action had you seen?

To compete with soccer in regards to juniors I feel RL should try to push touch footy more as it offers the same peace of mind to players and their families as soccer does. That being, "The chances of getting hurt is pretty low" and "I might get fit too".

The biggest threat to RL would be if soccer,rugby union & aussie rules joined forces to wipe out RL once and for all. Which they probably would try to....the bastards.