More proof that the NRL got it right

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

I'm currently dipping in and out of Australia v Denmark. After watching most of England v Nigeria earlier. Both games have been poor on any measure.

I'm guessing the standard hasn't attracted much negative comment in Oz media or from Matildas fans. People have probably made up their mind to enjoy the tournament for what it is.

Can you imagine enthusiasm like that in RL? Any shortcomings in our game are jumped on.

There just aren't that many existing "fans" who really want RL to succeed. We need a whole new audience for women's RL. Building that takes time. Even for a global game like Soccer it was a long haul with plenty of false dawns along the way.

At least now NRLW is in there pitching.

 

[aqua_duck]

NRLW is bloody painful to watch. Not sure what you're watching.

If you’re watching it expecting it to be like NRL you’ll be disappointed but in my opinion it’s a very good brand of footy, the good players typically get their hands on the ball abit more and therefore have more chance to shine

 

[mongoose]

yeah from what ive watched i'm actually a little shocked at how good some of the players are... some real footy players amongst the girls. No disrespect ofcourse....

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

The entertainment value of NRLW is not helped by nit-picking referees. Several forward passes called in games at the weekend looked level at worst. Creative play halted in its tracks. These injustices on top of all the imaginary knock-ons and obstructions that get called. Seems at times the refs are only happy when players are doing nothing with the ball.

Could get worse after the meltdown over the missed forward pass in the men's Raiders v Tigers game. By contrast, when a pass is wrongly called forward, the incident is quickly forgotten. No media inquisition for Annesley to deal with. This is why officials make so many calls on mere suspicion. They're terrified of missing anything.

Skill levels in NRL are high enough to withstand obsessive compulsive refereeing. More difficult for female players to use the ball or vary the pattern while keeping officials out of the game.

 

[The Penguin #6.]

Two rounds into NRLW 2023 and any dispassionate observer would conclude that this year's expansion is a substantial success.

What next? I believe 10 teams at this stage is optimum. Maintains standards and affordability. Major flaw in no imminent further enlargement is the absence of the Warriors. They need to be back in NRLW for the good of RL in NZ.

Who then for the twelfth franchise? There's a strong case for Melbourne.

V`landy`s was very keen to reintroduce and promote a reserve grade competition to supplement first grade and provide more content for match-day attendees and I suspect to boost crowds.
I sincerely think he underestimated how entertaining the women`s comp is and I believe now they should be eventually aiming for an 18 team NRLW to provide an entertaining double-header every week for each club.
Double-headers with first and reserve grade would be good, but I think a double-header with the NRLW offers more, and a point of difference than just with more men`s League.
The doubleheaders seem to be working for the crowds for the women`s game as well, with people just turning up earlier to catch the women`s game.

 

[The Penguin #6.]

The entertainment value of NRLW is not helped by nit-picking referees. Several forward passes called in games at the weekend looked level at worst. Creative play halted in its tracks. These injustices on top of all the imaginary knock-ons and obstructions that get called. Seems at times the refs are only happy when players are doing nothing with the ball.

Could get worse after the meltdown over the missed forward pass in the men's Raiders v Tigers game. By contrast, when a pass is wrongly called forward, the incident is quickly forgotten. No media inquisition for Annesley to deal with. This is why officials make so many calls on mere suspicion. They're terrified of missing anything.

Skill levels in NRL are high enough to withstand obsessive compulsive refereeing. More difficult for female players to use the ball or vary the pattern while keeping officials out of the game.

Sometimes I wonder whether these up-and-coming referees (and touchies who are often the worst offenders for calling forward passes) officiating these games also want to prove how sharp eyed they are, hence the nit-picking you mention.

 

[___]

Personally, I find women's RL very painful to watch, because the big hits and run-downs in the NRL are better, the kicks are bigger, the intensity is better. I prefer watching women's soccer because they don't tend to dive like the men do - they just want to play and get on with it.

 

[10$ Ferret]

The men must dive a lot then, in the little I have seen of the womens world cup, there has been more than enough. I do think the standard has improved over the week or so and while I am happy for the excitement it really does not appeal to me at all, either mens or womens. But that just me.

When people come on and say they don't like women's RL because XYZ thats quite valid, not everyone has to like it.

I do think the excitement is there for the NRLW, just not on the scale of a world cup. Just see the looks on the faces of young girls watching it Also the media has massively built the WC up and created heros. The RL media much prefer to tear things down

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

but I think a double-header with the NRLW offers more, and a point of difference than just with more men`s League.

Pros and cons with men's/women's double-headers. I'm undecided. Awkward balance between at-the-ground exposure (no tittering please) and TV coverage in a market saturated by men's RL.

Five-game NRLW rounds have inevitably led to some overlap with NRL fixtures this year. Raiders v Tigers NRLW ran simultaneously with Eels v Dragons NRL on Sunday. I think in previous seasons all NRLW games were played in free air time.

Maybe concentrate on Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes for TV. Try to build an audience specifically for NRLW in these timeslots where the baseline at the moment seems to be around 40k on Fox. Then schedule the other NRLW games purely for the benefit of RL fans at the stadia.

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

Sometimes I wonder whether these up-and-coming referees (and touchies who are often the worst offenders for calling forward passes) officiating these games also want to prove how sharp eyed they are, hence the nit-picking you mention.

RFL and NRL livestream commentators routinely praise inexperienced officials for seeing and calling things. Despite replays proving the things they saw didn't happen. Obsessive compulsive calling seems the way to gain respect and rise through the refereeing ranks.

Nowadays, they even make a call when they play on. It's non-stop babble when they're mic'd up. A player simply passes the ball and they shout "pass is good". A player offloads and they shout "keep going". Since when did players need to be told to "keep going" after a pass out of the tackle? Why would you not keep going?

This deranged behaviour derives from our media and fans incessantly demanding calls. Before new officials are let loose in the middle, they need a frontal lobotomy to clear their brain of RL crowd culture.

Over here, some of our women's SL refs look about 12 years old. Hard not to wince when one of these juveniles is laying down the law to a woman in her thirties. She must feel like smacking him in the chops.

 

[10$ Ferret]

I disagree as much of the banter is between touchies and the ref. Players also like a ref that talks as long as its relevant.
One thing you do notice that that touchies talk more than you think, but unfortunately refs don't always listen
(thats all grades and genders)

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

I disagree as much of the banter is between touchies and the ref. Players also like a ref that talks as long as its relevant.

Are you saying that passes and offloads need verbal approval from the ref?

I'm not criticising relevant communication between officials and players. Quite the opposite. Particularly useful at the ruck where it forestalls infringements. I preferred two refs for that reason.

One thing you do notice that that touchies talk more than you think, but unfortunately refs don't always listen

Thank goodness. Ignore them. Unless the advice is "Play On".

 

[The Penguin #6.]

Maybe concentrate on Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes for TV. Try to build an audience specifically for NRLW in these timeslots where the baseline at the moment seems to be around 40k on Fox. Then schedule the other NRLW games purely for the benefit of RL fans at the stadia.

I think that lunch time weekends are always going to struggle to get numbers, same for anything in the early afternoon really. I wonder whether the League would be better off to have a match of the round on Saturday night prime time, promote it, and try to make it a 200k audience for that one game. If Nine want to continue to broadcast all other games live at whatever time, well then that`s fine by me, but I do wonder whether a little bit like when League first came on Tv, we had one game per week and that was the focus for the comp it would be a good way to introduce the public to this new comp.

 

[Pneuma]

Personally, I find women's RL very painful to watch, because the big hits and run-downs in the NRL are better, the kicks are bigger, the intensity is better. I prefer watching women's soccer because they don't tend to dive like the men do - they just want to play and get on with it.

I find your posts painful to read

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

I think that lunch time weekends are always going to struggle to get numbers, same for anything in the early afternoon really.

Maybe just accept that lunchtime kick-offs are a struggle and go for quality over quantity. With ratings climbing slowly but surely as the effects of the female participation boom feed through. Alternative weekend timeslots will unavoidably clash with men's games. When the ninth NRL game arrives, unless they bring back Monday nights, the most likely schedule will be three games on both Saturday and Sunday. Far more of a struggle persuading the current fanbase to choose a women's over a men's game.

Up the page, I mentioned false dawns in women's Soccer. Around the world, leagues and teams were launched with great fanfare, then collapsed. Players gave up their jobs for pro Soccer then had to scramble when the sums didn't add up. Predicted sell-out games were played against a background of acres of empty seats. Until quite recently, these were regular occurrences.

In England, the 2012 Olympics gave them a major boost. Then it appeared to go downhill again. The WC in Canada 2015 was generally regarded as a setback.

Rugby League is late to the women's sport party. We just have to be patient. A substantive international calendar could help a lot. Extrapolating from the chronology of women's Soccer, might be another 15-20 years before women's RL really turns a corner.

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

I find your posts painful to read

Look on the bright side mate.

A prick to kick against is grist to your mill.

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

I wonder whether the League would be better off to have a match of the round on Saturday night prime time, promote it, and try to make it a 200k audience for that one game. If Nine want to continue to broadcast all other games live at whatever time

A Saturday night NRLW FTA game would be in direct competition with the NRL game on Fox League.

Would you trust Nine to stay the course?

 

[siv]

A Saturday night NRLW FTA game would be in direct competition with the NRL game on Fox League.

Would you trust Nine to stay the course?

This is going to be the ongoing issue

NRLW are already competeting with NRL in the 3pm Sat and 2pm Sun slots with NRL, and NSW Cup/Qld Cup

Its already eveident that development pathways are going to be just as important in fact more important than in the mens, due to the higher turnover rate

I expect we will need to prepare for what will look more like a standalone sport with

NRLW / W-RG / W-U19 / W-U17 and strong A- grades

Just doing a simple extension of adding W-RG means you will struggle play NRLW as a NRL pre-game, and you will need second venues. And 3 venues during junior rep season

 

[10$ Ferret]

Are you saying that passes and offloads need verbal approval from the ref?

I'm not criticising relevant communication between officials and players. Quite the opposite. Particularly useful at the ruck where it forestalls infringements. I preferred two refs for that reason.

Its not approval, but players like a ref that talks, constructively anyway.
Some of it you may find pointless, but pointless is better than missing.
Personally I dislike the referees calling players by name though.
Two referees gave us more inconsistency than we have now, if thats possible.

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

Personally I dislike the referees calling players by name though.

Probably would be better if refs addressed players by number. Easier to do when they wear positional numbers.

If a tackler needs to be called out quickly to avoid a flop penalty, the ref would remember a name more readily than a squad number.

France and Brazil got a rough deal at the women's WC. They were conceding ruck infringements because, unlike all the other teams, most of their players couldn't understand and heed the calls of English-speaking refs.