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Passionate RL fan must vent before he explodes

I Bleed Maroon

Referee
Messages
26,587
The rot has set in.

Personally I really don't think it's rocket science. What is there to be optimistic about for Rugby League fans in Australia? That Rugby Union is doing even worse? Set that bar any lower and you're gonna need a limboist. The AFL is kicking the NRL's ass in pretty much every facet and it's not a fun thing to witness. Crowds, ratings, media coverage, they dominate all of it, and not because they necessarily deserve to do so, it's just that the NRL is so ineptly administered that 90% of the time, it's own goals that are damaging them, not anything the AFL is doing. We have State Of Origin for f**k sake, easily the biggest sporting event in the country involving a ball and still we can't bruise the chip chasing Seagull filth down south.

Todd Greenberg is out of his depth, it's as simple as that. All of this new shit like the RL commission and finally being free of Newscorp and their garbage, all of these big changes that were supposed to give us cause to think big about our favorite sport and all of it has gone off like a fart in a balloon. And don't even get me started on recent rule changes.

The way the NRL have been f**king with the rulebook in recent times just goes to show you how lacking in vision they are in everything else. The 2 referee system sucks and doesn't work like they said it would, neither does the bunker (what a monumental disaster that has turned out to be after all the hype), the 7 tackle set has ruined the playmaking potential of sides in attack because nobody wants to risk giving away an easy out of the opposition half with a flashy move into the in goal, the shoulder charge rule, well where the f**k do you start with that. Taumalolo had a textbook one on the weekend and he is playing next week. So what the f**k is the point then?

I could get into Melbourne and their bullshit style of play that the NRL allows them to strangle the comp with but I've given up expecting anything to be done about that. It's old man shouting at clouds stuff at this point. I understand that people will read this and think it's just raw cynicism, I get why you would think that, but I really don't like it being that way. I love this sport with all my heart, and I want it to be the best it can be always, but it has gone nowhere but backwards in recent years and that is only accelerating. The JT/Cronulla fairytales don't do much to help the idea that the NRL have agendas they try to fulfill at the expense of others either, so why be so surprised that people are disenchanted.

Before the dogpile begins, I'll say right now that the Broncos could win the Grand Final in 2 weeks and my opinion would not change one iota. This isn't about club loyalty, not a bit, this is about loyalty to the sport, and the desire for it to thrive instead of being throttled every week with either bad press or poor quality games.
 

ReddFelon

Juniors
Messages
1,485
Poor quality of the games? The NRL hasn't had a single blow out final this year. Every AFL final except the Eagles/Power game was an absolute blowout. This past week the NRL beat the AFL in both crowds and ratings numbers. In terms of casual fans, the AFL does have a leg up, they have a very simple reason; every team outside of Victoria is a composite team. Inside Victoria their big push is that going to AFL games is something Victorians should do regardless, they get huge crowds because a large number of the fans don't support either team, but have been conditioned into going because the game itself is the event.

Compare that to the Parra/Cowboys game, casual fans who don't really align with any team were far more willing to jump on the bandwagon once they were the only Western Sydney team left. Arguably a composite Western Sydney team or two might draw larger crowds than the four teams currently playing. Granted the NRL hasn't done the best job convincing Sydneysiders that going to games is something they should do regardless of who's playing, although the Super League report from the 80's suggested a reduction to four teams. Honestly though, it isn't that bad, League is still winning the ratings war, it just needs better marketing and organisation, personally I would reduce the number of Sydney teams, and to show I'm not biased I'll gladly suggest that my team having the smallest membership would arguably be up for the chop.
 

King hit

Coach
Messages
14,248
This has been a very good finals series all the games have been good to watch and there hasn't been a runaway winner in any of the games. The NRL crowds were bigger than the AFL crowds and Origin smashes the hell out of that shit game from Victoria moron.

Yeah the Cowboys and Cronulla just won to fullfill an agenda. Nothing to do with the simple fact the Sharks were the best team of 2016 and the Broncos f**ked up in 2015. Don't you think it's a good thing clubs won their first premiership?

Another stupid IBM rant
 

ReddFelon

Juniors
Messages
1,485
One thing the AFL obviously does better is tradition. The NRL seems to have change for change sake and of course we have the TV tail wagging the NRL dog.

I find this to be a weird statement given that they have endless rants about the changes to their silly bounce down thing which is apparently going to be a basketball jump from next year onwards. They change just as much if not more, the difference is that RL changes are usually designed to help refs, even though it doesn't always work out. Methbourne ball makes changes to curtail playing styles.
 

M2D2

Bench
Messages
4,693
its-a-conspiracy.jpg
its-a-conspiracy.jpg
 

mongoose

Coach
Messages
12,502
The way the NRL have been f**king with the rulebook in recent times just goes to show you how lacking in vision they are in everything else. The 2 referee system sucks and doesn't work like they said it would, neither does the bunker (what a monumental disaster that has turned out to be after all the hype), the 7 tackle set has ruined the playmaking potential of sides in attack because nobody wants to risk giving away an easy out of the opposition half with a flashy move into the in goal, the shoulder charge rule, well where the f**k do you start with that. Taumalolo had a textbook one on the weekend and he is playing next week. So what the f**k is the point then?

The bunker hasn't been perfect but it is clearly better than what we had before.

Fans complained about teams being kick happy in the opposition 20 so they brought in the 7 tackle rule, now we're complaining that we should go back to that style? typical NRL fans confused about what they want...

The shoulder charge rule has been poorly policed, however the Taumololo one I think you are referring to was perfectly okay and should not be a penalty. But there have definitely been some soft ones that have been pulled up.
 
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