Is News Ltd trying to Kill the NRL comp?

[Clevo]

The following is all theoretical but it's an interesting thought born out of a drunken discussion.

I think there is something odd going on.

News Ltd and it's papers seems to have the NRL on the hop with bad news after scandal. OK they sell newspapers and the respective editors appear independant (of which they rarely are on other topics like politics and advertorials).

With this unprecedented scrutiny from a company that actually owns half the comp and interests in four clubs you'd think they would kinda be more supportive and put some of these RL scandals in their proper place.... like in the sports section rather than national news.

Knowing that News Ltd are losing $$$ hand over fist in the poor investment RL has become there can only be two possible reasons why News Ltd would have such blatant anti league sentiments at the moment. (sorry but Mason with ADHS is not front page news really)

Keep in mind how much Aussie Rules is publicised in Tele in Sydney compared to League in Victoria....strange eh? Especially considering News ltd do have a fair bit of marketing nouse.

Main reason....

If NRL is at a stage where it is almost worthless News Ltd can cheaply buy the other part of the share. We have News Ltd owning an elite comp again and we can all say welcome back to Super League. So the main reason I reckon is Super League by Stealth.

Failing that the other extreme is wanting to get out..... News ltd would be losing heaps of cash and a low value NRL would make for a quick sale of it's share....to whom? UK Super League perhaps??? Another multi national?

But really...the way News Ltd have lead the the media frenzy aginst the NRL It makes me wonder if there is some undertow of motivation behind it.

Thoughts?

 

[Mr Angry]

Well seeing as the SMH runs the same sort of crap, I doubt it.

 

[Mr Angry]

By that I mean, I do not buy or read the Tele, I go to SMH and I am kept up to date on all this crap.

 

[t-ba]

:arrow: Controversy corner. I wish I could say something, but I tend to get a bit emotional when the S word comes up.

 

[Southernsaint]

Stuff Controversy Corner...

it's a pertinent & well thought out post. Leave it here so more people can see it...

Cheers,
Ben S.

 

[Penelope Pittstop]

SS, Controversy Corner is well known now and we are as well read here as the NRL section. CC was set up specifically for this type of discussion.

 

[andrew flap]

Clevo, that is a good train of thought.

I'd be more inclined to believe that News Ltd maked more money out of selling newspapers (or at least ad space in them). Bad headlines are good sellers. You can do the math.

I also think there is a group of people who just don't like football. Their reasons we can only guess but an interesting post about on these sites mentioned Scott Volkers and with all the trouble he'd been in lately, no one was screaming to stop kids learning to swim. Another case in point is cycling.

Despite all the hoopla, RU is still small compared to league (and AFL) and although RU is growing, has a long way to go before it can really compete with the public interest in RL.

I do think that AFL get heaps more coverage in NSW than League does in Vic but, maybe because the script/copy is already written and it's just a case of reprinting it at minimal expense in an interstate paper.

As for the S word, I see your point, News are losing money hand over fist and would certainly like to see the extinction of less profitable/troublesome clubs. ie, South Sydney. (I stress I am not down on Souths, please don't shoot the messenger) to allow their more profitable clubs a greater market share.

Their problem is, as was with the Super League, the same public that buy the newpapers clearly don't want their Clubs to go away. RL is a tribal game. Look at at the postings from each clubs website.

They'll never get rid of us, ever !!!

 

[Bengal]

Clevo, that is a good train of thought.

They'll never get rid of us, ever !!!

No only Rugby League itself is capable of that - witness the SuperLeague war and of more recent times the growing discontent of the Roosters.
The Roosters at this point in time show the most potential for ruining Rugby League in Australia.

 

[Alan Shore]

Get rid of Souths!

We cannot take another Superleague. The lessons must be learned.

 

[rossy]

Clevo, that is a good train of thought.

They'll never get rid of us, ever !!!

No only Rugby League itself is capable of that - witness the SuperLeague war and of more recent times the growing discontent of the Roosters.
The Roosters at this point in time show the most potential for ruining Rugby League in Australia.

What do you base that on? And you can't count the voices in your head.

 

[Bengal]

Clevo, that is a good train of thought.

They'll never get rid of us, ever !!!

No only Rugby League itself is capable of that - witness the SuperLeague war and of more recent times the growing discontent of the Roosters.
The Roosters at this point in time show the most potential for ruining Rugby League in Australia.

What do you base that on? And you can't count the voices in your head.

The Roosters care not for the game, only themselves. The Roosters have the same ‘god all mighty’ self serving, f*ck the rest attitude that Brisbane and Canberra shared in the 90’s. Brisbane grew tired of the Sydney based decision making process and set forth an ill-fated chain of events that set League back many years. Easts are the modern day Brisbane (in sh*t stirring terms only), how long before they too grow tired of knocking their heads against a brick wall? How long before they do something that will have a detrimental effect on the game e.g. challenge (again) the salary cap and this time knock it into oblivion. All well and good you say – the strong survive the weak die! Get rid of the bottom two or three teams and what happens? Team 11 and 12 (as they currently sit) become the down and out losers, get rid of them and the scenario rolls over until we are left with 2, 3, 4 teams, whatever the case it will be a piss poor competition that will be easy pickings for Union, AFL and Soccer.

Of course it will never get to this stage; you guys will come to your senses once the competition is down to around between 8 to 12 teams and realise that it’s better to be a glamour fish swimming in a huge fish pond rather than a big fish swimming in a goldfish bowl. A sh*itload of fans will leave the game for a while, they will be disenchanted, disillusioned or disenfranchised, but they will come back. The game will regroup and recover again, to the extent where it will be ripe for the next bunch of self-serving, grown-to-big-for-their-boots-idiots to come along and try their luck at moulding the game to suit themselves at the expense of everyone else.
And thus the cycle continues…

Oh yeah and the voices, how did you know I heard voices?
All my dead relatives, my mother (30 years service to the game), friends who died on the Rugby League pitch, ex-players who are long since gone, all these ex-leaguies who are crying out to me - here we bloody go again!