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Is this worth it?

Y

Yngwie_70

Juniors
Messages
104
Sorry, not wanting to start a flame or be labelled a troll, but is this RLWC really worth it? It has barely been on TV or newspapers and people at my work who are die hard RL fans, regularly attend their clubs games do not even know who is playing, when it is on etc.
If this event was for say a sport like tennis, would we call it a success or just a poorly organised, marketed event?
Many people are telling me that the games are not even live. But in reality, tomorrow the Kanagaroos play PNG and one betting agency has them at 50+ start. Is that good for the game? The sad thing is, thats how much England was wallpoed by and the Kiwis not much better. Any way, floor is yours.
 
adamkungl

adamkungl

Immortal
Messages
42,955
Yngwie_70 said:
Sorry, not wanting to start a flame or be labelled a troll, but is this RLWC really worth it? It has barely been on TV or newspapers and people at my work who are die hard RL fans, regularly attend their clubs games do not even know who is playing, when it is on etc.
If this event was for say a sport like tennis, would we call it a success or just a poorly organised, marketed event?
Many people are telling me that the games are not even live. But in reality, tomorrow the Kanagaroos play PNG and one betting agency has them at 50+ start. Is that good for the game? The sad thing is, thats how much England was wallpoed by and the Kiwis not much better. Any way, floor is yours.
Click to expand...

Every game has been on TV. It's been in the paper every day. The people at your work are tossers, not die hard fans. If you bothered to watch any of the games other than the Australian ones you would have seen some of the best RL in the last few years.
 
A

Angry_eel

First Grade
Messages
8,604
Yes its worth it. Its worth it because the smaller nations deserve a chance to play and get noticed. Im sure many players from the minnow nations will now be hired by NRL and ESL clubs because they've been noticed.

It might not be the best world cup but its building for the future.
 
R

roopy

Referee
Messages
27,980
All the games are getting good roll ups of international fans.
As the international game grows, the number of international fans grow, and the amount of media coverage it gets grows.
There are a lot of people who didn't even know the game was played internationally 6 months ago who now bend my ear almost daily about it.
 
V

VonVolks

Juniors
Messages
191
exactly, its a building block and a so far successful one at that.

If international RL had the funds and organisation of tennis, or football or rugby union or [insert other sport name here] im sure we could justifiably complain more, but we don't and we are building such things as media support and fan recognition and new countries up.
 
R

roopy

Referee
Messages
27,980
another measurement for what it is worth - since the start of the WC this has been the most popular section of LU with around 13k posts so far.
 
Brownie.Kougari

Brownie.Kougari

Juniors
Messages
1,652
It's a fair enough call, a couple of friends of mine are diehard Titans supporters and are going to the Qtr Final this Monday, I had to explain to them who would most likely be playing and just what pools 2 and 3 were (this was on saturday as I stayed with them after the PNG game).

In terms of media exposure and general public awareness I guess a point could be made that it's a farce. However, the fanatical support given by expats and travellers for these teams, the support that the they've recieved in their home countries (Samoa, Tonga, PNG, Fiji etc), the fact we now have people talking about an annual Samoa v Tonga clash and a PNG NRL team are all indicators that it's been more than worth it.

The fact that it will make a profit to fund the international game for the next 5 years is also a bonus.

It's been worth it, but people shouldn't be called fake league fans or anything like that for thinking otherwise. It just needs to be pointed out to them that this isn't the 13th World Cup, really it's the 1st and will lay a platform for the game into the future.
 
mave

mave

Coach
Messages
13,510
I have loved it. League in the offseason, some great, free flowing play between the "minnows'. The Ireland/Tonga game was great. Been fantastic all around.

I do agree that the marketing has been poor, in terms of when each game is played and what broadcaster is showing it. I have seen a lot of ads promoting the World Cup as a whole, but nothing specific at all.

Oh, and Ch 9 sucks too.
 
deluded pom?

deluded pom?

Coach
Messages
10,897
I'm just annoyed that I now have to wait nine years before there's a chance Australia will host another WC.
 
miguel de cervantes

miguel de cervantes

First Grade
Messages
7,470
Yeah, it could have been better, but it has still been well worth it. You only have to read some of the stories on here to realise it is worth it (ie. BTJs RLWC tour).

Also, I see that the Cowboys have signed a PNG sponsor. Do you think that would have happened without the RLWC?

You can't expect complete media attention etc with the recent history of int. league, it's gonna take time and effort to rebuild those bridges.
 
N

NRLMad

Juniors
Messages
860
Is this thread for real? How many people have attended games thus far? How much did the RLIF pay for this competition? $20m

You only need to refer to an article just before the WC started to know that this would be profitable and profits would be used to fund future internationals!

I think it's convinced a hellava lot of people that there are other teams capable in 15-20 years of beating Australia.

Rome wasn't built overnight.
 
yakstorm

yakstorm

First Grade
Messages
5,705
Yngwie_70 said:
Sorry, not wanting to start a flame or be labelled a troll, but is this RLWC really worth it? It has barely been on TV or newspapers
Click to expand...

How can you say its barely been on TV or in the papers. There has been a reference to the RLWC every night on every commercial and free to air channel since the competitions start in NSW and Queensland at least.

In additional the Courier Mail has dedicated on average 3.4 pages per day to the RLWC, whilst the Telegraph is currently averaging 2.2.

Just about every regional paper in the two states has had regular information on it, plus all the major sports sites, Fox Sports, Sportal and so on have all had daily updates on the tournament.

Every game has been on TV, plus shown live on BigPond in Australia. Over 100 other nations are also watching it live, plus getting the IMG created highlight programme every day of the tournament.

We're getting almost on par NRL coverage, and almost on par NRL crowds, so I guess you could say the NRL isn't worth it, if the RLWC isn't worth it.
 
Hollywood Jesus

Hollywood Jesus

Coach
Messages
11,677
Absolutely worth it.

People here in Australia have been able to see there is more to footy than the NRL and the Tri-Series.

Sure, at first it was still a bit under-the-radar but as time has gone on I've had more and more people know what I'm talking about when I start up a conversation about it. Even better, people are now coming to me to talk about games they watched on Fox and games they saw between Samoa/Tonga/Ireland. I'm being asked what will happen to these teams in the future (ie. when will they play again?) and what the chances are of people being able to go and see them play live again in the near future.

I'm being asked when the next WC is and what other teams are there or thereabouts that might also be in the next WC. I've been able to tell Lebanese about their team, British about the Welsh team and Yanks about their competition (and the Trump rumours).

Has it been a WC that stopped the nation? No. Stopped the city? No. Stopped a suburb? No. What it has been so far is a start. A worthy start. Something we can build on.
 
brendothejet

brendothejet

First Grade
Messages
7,998
this world cup has stopped my life. The GF doesnt bother asking what we are doing on the weekend...lol
 
joshreading

joshreading

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
1,720
I fully agree I have loved it - the key after this is consistency in the season - we need to establish a pattern of end of year internationals. If it happens each year then it will become part of the RL fans life.
 
Parra

Parra

Referee
Messages
24,900
We have learnt that things we thought were important, like completion rates, competent kicking and defence, do not matter.

The WC has been good for the small nations to get to play some footy.

Only one team is playing decently & there is no competition.
 
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