Hi David,
I have just read an article by Peter Lalor in the Australian discussing your speech for the Tom Brock lecture. Let me just say, the only part of it I agreed with was this,
"league journalists have "aided and abetted" the code in its shortcomings"
This is true. Not only are they willing to publish truths in the name of selling papers, but they will not defend the game when it comes under attack from supporters of other sports. For example, I doubt there will be a rebuke in the Australian tomorrow destroying all the mistruths in this article. Journos like Steve Mascord and Andrew Voss who are well informed about RL at all levels and willing to stand up for the game are few are far between.
I follow Australian sport closely, and have a different opinion to you. There is doubt AFL is going from strength to strength. Union was doing well in the early parts of this century, but I believe they have lost momentum in the last couple of years. Crowds and TV ratings are massively down this season. There is no doubt soccer is riding a wave from the World Cup and has a great looking future due to our move into Asia and the competitive games it brings.
However your view on Rugby League reeks of long held prejudices. We have just finished a season where the NRL recorded it's second highest ever crowd average, ok down slightly on last year. The English Super League just broke their all time crowd average, for the 5th consecutive season.
But the one thing the article conveniently ignores is TV ratings. Rugby League is one of the most successful TV sports in Australia. Annually the State of Origin games and NRL Grand Final are always up the top of ratings lists, and on Foxtel, usually something like 80 of the top 100 shows watched in a year are Rugby League games. Unfortunately the southern networks have been unwilling to give the game an extended run at a decent hour like the northern networks did with AFL 10 or so years back. Though Rugby League rates well at all levels, with the recent Queensland Cup Rugby League grand final comfortably out rating an AFL semi final through Queensland.
Lastly I would like to give you a few links that may open your eyes to a few things. They are all to various threads on a Rugby League forum, but the forums are reasonably balanced with supporters of other codes regularly getting involved.
Firstly, this is a thread showing TV ratings. If you look at the recent pages you will see how well Rugby League is going, especially in comparison to the deteriorating ratings for Wallaby Test Matches.
http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showthread.php?t=104804
Secondly, you've said the 2000 Rugby League World Cup was a failure and I agree it wasn't successful. The terrible weather and a vicious slightly Rugby Union biased British media weren't helpful. In fact some of the views reflected in the British media proclaiming the death of Rugby League weren’t too dissimilar to those displayed in Peter Lalor’s article. Since 2000, Rugby League has kicked on to become one of Britain’s fastest growing sports. Critics around World Cup time such as Frank Keating have now come out and admitted they were wrong.
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/columnists/story/0,,1855265,00.html
However despite making a loss and having no money to fund international developments in the 6 years since, the game is continuing to spread. The World Cup qualifiers currently underway here and in Europe suggest the game has developed globally since 2000. Unfortunately the Rugby League International Federation has no media department to spread the good news. Nobody is arguing Rugby League is close to the size of Union, but it has its place and more and more nations are getting involving with little to no funding. I see you've written a book to do with globalisation and sport; I may have to give it a read. But if Rugby League can have around 30 countries involved at some level, with around 20 domestic competitions, with minimal funding available from the Rugby League International Federation, then I'd be interested to hear your theories on how this growth is occurring? So check out this forum for news on International Rugby League.
http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=98
Another good reference is the Rugby League European Federation.
www.rlef.eu.com
Furthermore, when comparing the indiscretions of Rugby League and AFL players, this thread may be a good reference. I have little doubt that the Sydney media sensationalises player misconduct to sell papers. I believe the Victorian media still feels some obligation to protect the reputation of “their game”. The link below is a reference for all player indiscretions concerning AFL players.
http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showthread.php?t=131608
In conclusion, I really hope the article in the Australian was sensationalised and they are not your true views on the situation facing the 4 football codes. I think you need to take a look at TV ratings and open your eyes to the various biases displayed by the Australian media. When you look at the figures, Rugby League is in fact doing quite well.
Cheers,
