How league can become a bit more popular

[deluded pom?]

'Tis a reference to Parramatta's maiden NSWRL Premiership in 1981 after choking twice in row in '76 and '77... Jack Gibson announced to the crowd afterwards: "Ding Dong the witch is dead"...

Yes, I did know that ca81, just me being facetious about Australia being behind the times. ;-)

 

[bazza]

I'm currently in London and am struggling with the lack of media coverage at the moment for SL and next to no NRL.

Anyone else in london get out to quins or skolars games? Thinking i might head out on friday to the quins v catalan game.

Myself and Ali get to a few Skolars games. The next one is on Easter Monday at 3pm

What part of London are you living in?

 

[Evil Homer]

Here it is: One small step for RL...

As I said before, it's good news but nothing at all worth crowing about. It should have been done years ago and quite honestly it is an embarrassment that it has only just been done. I'm not sure why you are boasting about this on the forum.

 

[cumberlandsashes81]

As I said before, it's good news but nothing at all worth crowing about. It should have been done years ago and quite honestly it is an embarrassment that it has only just been done. I'm not sure why you are boasting about this on the forum.

Of course it was embarrassing... to the people who run the Times website, not our game.

It's something small but postivie for the game in the UK. Hence why I said it was "one small step" in terms of mainstream media coverage...

...it was also done because lots of people complained to the Times and the paper itself has begun to realise that RL is of interest to its readers and potential readers.

I like to see prejudice breaking down like this.

Pretty self-explanatory I would have thought. :roll:

 

[cumberlandsashes81]

Yes, I did know that ca81, just me being facetious about Australia being behind the times. ;-)

Yes, last time I was in Kingston upon Hull it was like looking into the future... :lol:

 

[deluded pom?]

Yes I suppose it must have been like that for an Aussie. Have you really beeen to God's country ca81 or are you just telling porkies?

 

[Hindyscrack]

Myself and Ali get to a few Skolars games. The next one is on Easter Monday at 3pm

What part of London are you living in?

just dossing in stockwell at the moment, got down to the game and met some great londoners who love their league... will be back again soon for sure

 

[Th1rteen]

Here it is: One small step for RL...

Phew! The amount of work that went into getting that changed! But people power always win! :crazy:

 

[Evil Homer]

Of course it was embarrassing... to the people who run the Times website, not our game.

It's something small but postivie for the game in the UK. Hence why I said it was "one small step" in terms of mainstream media coverage...

...it was also done because lots of people complained to the Times and the paper itself has begun to realise that RL is of interest to its readers and potential readers.

I like to see prejudice breaking down like this.

Pretty self-explanatory I would have thought. :roll:

I understand what you're saying, but every single other national newspaper has an RL section on their website, as did the Times but it wasn't properly linked. It's pretty much a given that RL has the right to a section, it's not like it's a new sport in a new country or anything like that, it has been a consistent entity in the UK for over a century. RL still doesn't get the coverage it deserves in any of the papers, all that this means is now The Times is giving us as much exposure as the other papers on it's online section. It was an absolute pathetic disgrace that there was no RL section on the Times website, so I don't view it as a positive move, more the Times' obligation. In that way, it's not symbolic of any sort of gain in popularity or anything like that, it's just a reshuffle of one national newspaper's online section.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a very positive person about expansion and the future, I just don't think this is particularly good news and certainly nothing to be gloating about. There are far more positive RL stories every week, and while this is good news it's more the correction of a massive injustice than anything new and positive. If that makes sense.

 

[ali]

just dossing in stockwell at the moment, got down to the game and met some great londoners who love their league... will be back again soon for sure

As Bazza said, I'll be at most Skolars matches and some Quins games as well. We are also currently planning an Oztag comp for the summer. So pm if you are interested in any of this.

As for watching NRL, the walkabouts show games as soon as they open on Saturdays, and Sundays too if a match was shown on Setanta. They also replay all NRL matches throughout the week.

Overall though the media coverage is terrible. If you scratch the surface though there is plenty going on beneath. When all the kids currently being exposed to the game by the development officers and all the new junior clubs start coming through as senior players, fans, sponsors etc, then the media coverage will improve.

 

[deluded pom?]

. If you scratch the surface though there is plenty going on beneath. When all the kids currently being exposed to the game by the development officers and all the new junior clubs start coming through as senior players, fans, sponsors etc, then the media coverage will improve.

If only ali, if only. I recently e mailed the BBC to complain about their sports coverage on the Sunday evening programme. We would get the obligatory Premiership results with goals from matches played that day and even goals from a match still in progress. Then we'd get the rah rah results and then zip even though there were three SL games that had been played that day. This happens week after week. They are a national disgrace for the country's flagship broadcaster which we all pay for whether we like it or not . I'm still awaiting a reply.

 

[ali]

If only ali, if only. I recently e mailed the BBC to complain about their sports coverage on the Sunday evening programme. We would get the obligatory Premiership results with goals from matches played that day and even goals from a match still in progress. Then we'd get the rah rah results and then zip even though there were three SL games that had been played that day. This happens week after week. They are a national disgrace for the country's flagship broadcaster which we all pay for whether we like it or not . I'm still awaiting a reply.

Well yes, it's a big if. But I don't know what other option there is other than to build from the ground up. It's just my theory that this is the only thing that will change the media coverage, actually having RL people in influential positions of society in the south. We are nowhere near this yet, but with more and more kids getting exposed to the game in schools, or joining clubs as players, things are heading in the right direction.

Reasonable coverage in the Metro today though, with small match reports on all 6 games. Still, as far as i can tell they don't have a Rl reporter, they just nick the reports from sportinglife.com.

 

[Evil Homer]

http://www.superleague.co.uk/article.php?id=10137

That highlights the problem really. RU gets substantially more coverage in the media and on television however.

 

[deluded pom?]

Then we can only assume that the more extensive coverage afforded to rugby union is purely down to media bias. They try to tell us that we're just a Northern sport with limited appeal. Strange how no fecker was interested in Rugby Special but they managed to broadcast it countrywide on Sunday afternoons and not simply show it in the South with national repeats at 1.30 am. :x

 

[ali]

http://www.superleague.co.uk/article.php?id=10137

That highlights the problem really. RU gets substantially more coverage in the media and on television however.

Yes it does. It's part bias, and part too much coverage for Union. Ours should go up a little, there's should go down a lot, outside of 6 nations time.

It's weird down here. I've met a few people who say they follow Union, just cos they hate what soccer is all about. There is definitely people following Union just cos they want to be or are part of a certain class. Sponsors would perceive this too, hence unfortunately some of the reason there is more money in union.

The northern bias that RL fans go on about is certainly not made up. It definitely exists from what I've seen.

 

[deluded pom?]

We've been saying it for years ali. The media, the BBC, especially is biased against league. Geographically league and union are mirrors of each other but because union is stronger in the South they have the hearts and minds of the tv and newspaper editors.