titoelcolombiano
First Grade
- Messages
- 6,656
Depends what criteria you are using. To my way of thinking rugby league is not better off than it was in 1995. The only improvement has been the Melbourne Storm. The rest has been making up for mistakes (reinstating of the Rabbitohs & Gold Coast ) and continuing on with festering problems as a result of carving up the competition .(reduced rugby league footprint in the regions from Wollongong-Sydney & Central Coast plus the embarassing continuation of the Broncos monopoly of Brisbane.) To my way of thinking rugby league is not better off than it was in 1995.
My criteria as usual are the actual numbers that matter and that paint a picture of where the game is at:
- Crowds: Higher now than at any point in the 90's on aggregate and average
- Memberships: Higher now than at any point in the 90's
- Participation: Higher now than at any point in the 90's - and yes, whether you like it or not women's RL and touch NRL count as they play a key role in getting Government funding for our sport and getting more of the community involved in the game. We would be mad not to involve those groups. Todd Greeburg spoke recently about the need to include touch in our juniour systems. Like it or not, that will be a hit with soccer mums and get more kids involved. That is a good thing.
- TV Ratings: Higher now than at any point during the 90's
- Revenue: Higher nwo than at any point during the 90's
- The game internationally is much bigger and wider spread than it was in the 90's