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bUt whAT AboUT mOnEy For gRassRoOts?
History made as Club Rugby League registrations reach 200,000 nationally
The National Rugby League (NRL) is today celebrating a significant milestone in the game’s history with national community club rugby league player registrations reaching 200,000 in a season for the first time.www.nrl.com
Rejoice and be glad
Rottweilers are f**king great though
Yeah they are, I've always wanted one.
I was going to mention that. Brereton also promoted the first origin game in Melbourne a few decades ago I think
I suppose he needs a few bob. He played in the broke arse ARL in 1997 instead of the rich Super League.
I don't like it when RL detractors dismiss the participation numbers of touch and tag. They are social forms of the game that engage people in Rugby League and the participants are often fans
How petty. In Melbourne heaps of ‘AFL people’ do live reads to promote the NRL. Every week. No one bats an eyelid. Surely PVL has more important things to do.The NRL and Fox Sports have been left embarrassed, with the face of Fox League,Matthew Johns, involved in an advertising campaign to promote the game’s great rival, the AFL.
Peter V’landys has spent his years as chairman of the ARL Commission taking swipes at the AFL as he tries to make rugby league the dominant code in the country and he watches every move the AFL makes like a hawk. He is also very aware of what his broadcast partners are doing and what their on-air talent are saying. Take it as fact that he will let the networks know if he thinks AFL is getting what he sees as too much coverage, let alone good coverage.
Johns is promoting the AFL on his podcast, which is sponsored by News Corp. He is not only talking up the AFL during what are known as “live reads” (ads read out live by the stars of the show), but the commercials are designed to get people to attend games in the school holidays. Johns is entitled to make money any way he sees fit, but I’ve been told he did not earn money promoting the AFL. It’s what the image-conscience NRL thinks that matters.
In the commercial, Johns talks up the good value of the AFL and the benefits of going to a game.
“Parents, the school holidays are here and I’ll tell you a good way to entertain the kids, attend a good old game of Aussie rules live,” he says. “And the best part, between now and July 21, kids 14 years and under go free, so you can enjoy the sport without breaking the bank.
“Feel the excitement together, cheer for incredible ‘spekkies’, as they call it, and experience the energy of a stadium filled with cheering fans. And it’s more than just a game, it’s an opportunity to bond, create lasting memories and share in the excitement of sport. Make the school holiday one that is talked about for years.”
The high-flying Sydney Swans and (inset) Matthew Johns.CREDIT: GETTY
There is no question that if the game’s other broadcast partner, Channel Nine, and its stars Andrew Johns, Brad Fittler, Cameron Smith or Phil Gould were promoting the AFL, the News Corp media and their magazine shows would be running wild with the story. Expect the hatchet men to keep their axes clean.
Nine is owned by Nine Entertainment Co, which owns this masthead. I also work for Nine news.
V’landys did not want to comment when contacted.
We called Johns for comment and, initially, he said he had nothing to say. He called back a short time later with the cryptic comment: “Pulled Danny”. So by that, are we to assume he won’t do it again?
It’s particularly surprising given Johns has never been very complimentary about the AFL. I’ve heard stories about Johns giving former AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan a spray at a corporate event about what he thought of the AFL’s push into western Sydney.
