Should NRL sponsor Touch footy?

[East Coast Tiger]

But the point is that people are saying we should buy Oztag or sponsor touch, somehow. I'm saying we have our own version already, it's growing and it's the closest to RL of all of them. LeagueTag was introduced specifically to get women and girls involved. So far it is not used to provide a non-contact alternative to RL for grown men. But if the ARLC is going to consider crazy ideas like buying Oztag or throwing money at touch it should think about developing the modified game it already has as an alternative to both. At the same time it needs to be remembered that it is a development tool to help get people involved in RL, not to provide an alternative to RL.

 

[jonno_knights]

Touch is nothing like league, it's for skinny blokes with not much skill, anyone with a good football brain would be wasted in touch.

Who is to say a Skinny bloke can't have an excellent league mind? I'm sure there are plenty of people who have been restricted by their size.

Same as there are players running around the NRL who dont have great minds when it comes to League and rely on size and simplicity.

Also I've seen many ex NRL players playing touch footy locally. John Simon, Matt Head are two off the top of my head. Being halfbacks they must have an idea of how the game works, and they aren't exactly skinny these days either.

And to say touch players dont have much skill is a bit off the mark. Its all about speed, agility and ball playing. I must admit though, Unless attacking the line its a little boring with the fast one out play.

 

[KnightsMan90]

LeagueTag would be the best form to use. as a lot of potential, and could be a big weapon for the ARLC in developing and promoting the game. The non-contact nature and need for less equipment would make rego and insurance costs significantly less.

Arguable the best way to utilize it would be to introduce it into every primary school around the country to get a form of RL into the faces of every school child. By having every kid introduced to it and playing it from grade 4, it would allow kids to play it for 2-3 years before hitting high school, leading them to be more inclined to play full RL at high school, and be more inclined to give ti a goat club level, naturally increasing participation at those levels.

Would also be a great tool to massively expand girls and women's league's. If reports that 50% of NRL's viewership are female is true then that's a huge potential market, would also be the ideal form for over 35's and over 45's leagues as well.

Given Leaguetag is a less physical and thus exhaustive form of the game could also be utilized to create a summer league, played at say 7/7.30pm Friday and/or Saturday nights, providing year round ability to play RL.

Just a few thought.

 

[innerwestrabbit]

Too me it's a no Brainer. That you want a comp that boys and girls can participate in that is linked to the NRL. be it linked to NRL club etc. The more people playing a version of RL the better for potential audience to the game.

 

[Loudstrat]

A) Most of the kids don't touch the ball much more than once or twice a game early on apart from the best ones.
B) Mums will be more likely to let kids play.
C) Girls can play after U/12s.
D) Time becomes much more flexible (you can play on a Wednesday night).
E) People keep playing. I don't know about you guys but I'm 23 and a combination of being a fast bowler and a horrible defender in footy means my knees are shot.
F) Little kids become encouraged, and it promotes evasive running rather than biggest kid wins.
G) If it's 5 or 6 a side then every kids is going to get a turn, rather than what happens a lot where you get a few kids playing and the rest bored playing with the grass or their socks.
H) Cheaper, you just need trackies and some runners, you can have heaps of games on the same oval, insurance would be cheaper, etc.

Then they hit 11 and they can either switch to full contact or keep playing tag/touch. Because it's more flexible kids who might like other activities as well can keep going.

Mini and mod league addressed most of these issues (apart from your crap knees). Besides, its the cheapest sport to play up here because of CRL funding. Evasive running is the biggest thing as kids havent the defensive skills, nor the flexibility in the heavier kids.

Besides, kids want to tackle!

 

[Lambretta]

Touch is nothing like league, it's for skinny blokes with not much skill, anyone with a good football brain would be wasted in touch.

Yes, agreed. Players such a Shaun Johnson and Benji Marshall who grew up playing touch football haven't got a clue how to play Rugby League. They just bamboozle players with swift footwork and run right past them without being touched. Oh hold on?


You're right that Touch and League aren't the same game - and at an adult level they're definitely different games, but the trick with Touch, OzTag, LeagueTag, FagTag and RagTag is to get the kiddies in early. Obviously the ones that play FagHag might prefer Kylie to Rugby League, but the ones that choose OzTag, Touch and LeagueTag will learn some of the basic concepts such as passing the ball, angle running and tackle evasion. All useful skills for League players to gain at a young age.

The NRL definitely needs to promote a version of Touch / Tag football and sponsor things such as balls, kits etc to get kids at schools playing the game.

 

[H.H]

Touch is nothing like league, it's for skinny blokes with not much skill, anyone with a good football brain would be wasted in touch.

Mate, that is just so wrong...so so wrong.

Possibly the wrongest thing I've seen on this forum....and that's saying something.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

I reckon the ARLC should create a professional Touch RL competition, involving all 16 NRL clubs, during the summer months. Men and women players can enter it. Good public relations will be drawn from a Touch RL competition that's open to both sexes. It'll give boys and girls a reason to play our game, even if it's just at the Touch RL level. Strategically, it's a good way of countering Auskick and keeping the game relevant during the off-season, as it can be heavily promoted in schools as a safe alternative to RL, RU, fumbleball and soccer. I'd make it so that around 4 or 5 NRL contracted players from each club can play in it to give the competition validity.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

I reckon the ARLC should create a professional Touch RL competition, involving all 16 NRL clubs, during the summer months. Men and women players can enter it. Good public relations will be drawn from a Touch RL competition that's open to both sexes. It'll give boys and girls a reason to play our game, even if it's just at the Touch RL level. Strategically, it's a good way of countering Auskick and keeping the game relevant during the off-season, as it can be heavily promoted in schools as a safe alternative to RL, RU, fumbleball and soccer. I'd make it so that around 4 or 5 NRL contracted players from each club can play in it to give the competition validity.

I like this idea...

All for something like this. I like the summer idea, although winter could work too.

 

[Rugged Rigid Robust Roy]

The NRL is touch footy.

 

[siv]

There is a NRL Touch competition

 

[Dark Corner]

Yes I think they should sponsor Touch footy, I play touch footy here in Perth and some of the young talent would be prime candidates for NRL but because the NRL doesn't have a presence in WA those kids end up playing other sports not realising how good they could be at rugby league.

You think these kids who play Touch Rugby and their parents would do a little research on the internet and see that there is a Rugby world out there be it both codes.

 

[Dark Corner]

Rugby league already has its own version of Oztag. The CRL has LeagueTag and if the NRL IC or whatever it wants to call itself has any idea it will expand this right across the country. ARL development also uses it. Not only is it even closer to RL, but it conforms with and expands the development system already in place. If it was rolled out correctly it could usurp Oztag, which is essentially little more than a franchised business. A subsidised LeagueTag competition would be able to offer the same game, roughly, for a cheaper price and that would attract people from touch and esspecially oztag. The beauty of LeagueTag as it has been used with women and girls in the CRL is that it is linked to local senior clubs so women and girls are able to be part of the local club, play in its colours, on the same day as the men and pool resources. Every senior men's club in the country should have or aim to have a women's LeagueTag side run alongside it. And that's just for starters.

First thing is I used to like Touch Rugby but now its like massive Cardio 3 drives bore and played by middle class snowflakes at my local club and its just not fun plus the English Rugby Union have the rights to it with O2 Touch.
Secondly I think there are too many types of non contact versions with Touch, Tag, OZtag, LeagueTag, Xleague ( granted that is semi contact I think).
We just need one Touch type of Rugby but a tackle needs to be 2 handed and a semi contact clamp tackle game for the more ex full contact players and both games need to be unified and spread between both Rugby codes at every Rugby playing school, College, University, forces and clubs be it social, amateur, semi pro and pro and with that set up it could compete against AFL, Soccer and BastardBall.

 

[unforgiven]

I reckon the ARLC should create a professional Touch RL competition, involving all 16 NRL clubs, during the summer months. Men and women players can enter it. Good public relations will be drawn from a Touch RL competition that's open to both sexes. It'll give boys and girls a reason to play our game, even if it's just at the Touch RL level. Strategically, it's a good way of countering Auskick and keeping the game relevant during the off-season, as it can be heavily promoted in schools as a safe alternative to RL, RU, fumbleball and soccer. I'd make it so that around 4 or 5 NRL contracted players from each club can play in it to give the competition validity.

They already did this a couple of years ago and had the games as curtain raisers and broadcast of FOX

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

They already did this a couple of years ago and had the games as curtain raisers and broadcast of FOX

It would have been better if they played by the rules of Touch RL rather than touch football, during the summer.

 

[T-Boon]

Like DarkCorner said there are too many versions. But if we committed to another version (Touch RL like you said) and actually forced clubs to have the NRL players involved together with the elite touch players, it could really kick start it as THE version and a pathway to rugby league support/participation.

 

[kdalymc]

What ever happened to that cringe fest hat backward karmichael stepping comp they had a few years back??