The numbers decline of adult men playing Rugby League

[kbw]

I agree OZtag is rugby league almost. But from an administration or corporate pov the NRL took over touch in Australia.

Senior amateur sides matter a huge amount, its just the NRL doesn' see it. Senior teams in a junior club give the kids something to aspire to if they are not going to become professional. Senior players often give back to the club and are an important part of the community aspect of their club.

Building junior number is great, but they peter out and disappear then that is not growing the game in its entirety.

 

[adamkungl]

Will Rugby League need to become less intense, less brutal to survive?

Only as an alternate option for those who aren't cut out for the main game.

At local/grassroots level there should be a range to cater for all levels (Skill, fitness and time commitment being the key barriers to entry):

* Weekend, full A Grade Rugby League + Reserve grades
* Weekend, LeagueTag 10s (a new non-contact form of the game that is as close to Rugby League as possible. Compared to Oztag, Larger squads, full fields, and high kicks)
* Mid-week, new short-form version of contact Rugby League (9-11 a side, 5m rule, shorter game time, shorter competition size and length)
* Mid-week, League Tag and Touch.

I'm only 28 - I've given up playing for 2 reasons.
1) ive torn my ACL twice. It simply isn't worth the risk of full contact sport anymore.
2) I'm shithouse. The time commitment and injury risk isn't worth it for my skill level.

I play Oztag twice a week running around low divisions with my mates. I feel like I'm still playing RL but I'm not counted in the NRLs numbers nor are the hundreds of other people running around our comp.

But what I'd really love is something in between pub division Oztag and full-season Rugby League. Social Oztag at low divisions doesn't quite fill the competitive void. One of the two options i've highlighted above.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Good points here. Touch is definately under-leveraged by the NRL. It should be the vehicle that penetrate the non-RL states and also hugely boost female participation. With touch alone, the NRL brand could strengthen overnight in areas that it has little impact.

 

[adamkungl]

Good points here. Touch is definately under-leveraged by the NRL. It should be the vehicle that penetrate the non-RL states and also hugely boost female participation. With touch alone, the NRL brand could strengthen overnight in areas that it has little impact.

Counting the touch numbers is nice for annual reports and sponsors, but one of the points of this is how to improve the numbers of people playing actual Rugby League, or as close as possible, which is a far better indicator of the health of the game. Both are important.

There's a gap between touch and full RL that a short-form version of the game and/or a long-form version of Tag could fill.

 

[Hawkins]

I read the headline and was thinking, they got old and fat.

Just me then

 

[Frankus]

As a 31 year old living on the Central Coast NSW I'd love to but have no idea how to get into it or if I'm too old.

Mate, you wouldn't be too old.

For info on your local comps check this out. http://www.oztag.com.au/index.php?page=5387

I played either touch or Oztag until my early 30s - gave up 2 years ago. Not to say that the risk of injury is any less. I did my medial playing Oztag several years ago. It is supposed to be somewhat non-contact but there are alot of heroes that play particularly at the Homebush comp.

If you want it to be super social and have some friends who would also be keen, enter yourselves into a mixed comp. Alot more fun and far fewer idiots.

 

[LineBall]

Only as an alternate option for those who aren't cut out for the main game.

At local/grassroots level there should be a range to cater for all levels (Skill, fitness and time commitment being the key barriers to entry):

* Weekend, full A Grade Rugby League + Reserve grades
* Weekend, LeagueTag 10s (a new non-contact form of the game that is as close to Rugby League as possible. Compared to Oztag, Larger squads, full fields, and high kicks)
* Mid-week, new short-form version of contact Rugby League (9-11 a side, 5m rule, shorter game time, shorter competition size and length)
* Mid-week, League Tag and Touch.

I'm only 28 - I've given up playing for 2 reasons.
1) ive torn my ACL twice. It simply isn't worth the risk of full contact sport anymore.
2) I'm shithouse. The time commitment and injury risk isn't worth it for my skill level.

I play Oztag twice a week running around low divisions with my mates. I feel like I'm still playing RL but I'm not counted in the NRLs numbers nor are the hundreds of other people running around our comp.

But what I'd really love is something in between pub division Oztag and full-season Rugby League. Social Oztag at low divisions doesn't quite fill the competitive void. One of the two options i've highlighted above.

Having more options for people is always valuable, but aren't we just splintering the game? Shouldn't our main goal be more people playing 13 a side Rugby League?

I wonder if any of these questions are being thought about by the Commission?

 

[OldPanther]

Mate, you wouldn't be too old.

For info on your local comps check this out. http://www.oztag.com.au/index.php?page=5387

I played either touch or Oztag until my early 30s - gave up 2 years ago. Not to say that the risk of injury is any less. I did my medial playing Oztag several years ago. It is supposed to be somewhat non-contact but there are alot of heroes that play particularly at the Homebush comp.

If you want it to be super social and have some friends who would also be keen, enter yourselves into a mixed comp. Alot more fun and far fewer idiots.

I'll check it out. All my mates live in QLD so I'd need to make friends.

 

[adamkungl]

Having more options for people is always valuable, but aren't we just splintering the game? Shouldn't our main goal be more people playing 13 a side Rugby League?

Splintering is a concern. If people gave up playing the main game for midweek half comps that would not be ideal. The aim would be to provide a version of Rugby League for those who don't quite reach the bar for entry of the full game.

On the other hand a shortform game might act as a gateway for some players.

I don't see a lot that can be done to get more people interested in playing full Rugby League through their 20s. The tides of cultural and lifestyle change is pushing against it.
We can't even get people to attend games in the numbers we'd like!

 

[Cumberland Throw]

How many american males play Gridiron / NFL once out of college / high school.. ?

 

[Frankus]

How many american males play Gridiron / NFL once out of college / high school.. ?

Or baseball. I don't think there are organised comps for adults wanting to play baseball socially. Its basically pro/semi-pro or playing catch with your mates.

 

[T-Boon]

Will Rugby League need to become less intense, less brutal to survive?

If it became more skill based, more passing less hit ups (like the early 90s except even more passing) it would take over rugby union world wide and would put a big dent in AFL nationally. It is a great game at its best but has become clogged over the last 15 years with dumb self interested coaching concepts.

 

[Billythekid]

For most of us the risk of injury is just too high. I still play but I've considered giving it up and I know most of my friends have for that reason. Shift work means I can barely play anyway.

Most people seem to move onto soccer or some variant of touch at some point.

How many american males play Gridiron / NFL once out of college / high school.. ?

This is a pretty good example IMO. High playing numbers amongst adults isn't necessarily all that important.

 

[LineBall]

Or baseball. I don't think there are organised comps for adults wanting to play baseball socially. Its basically pro/semi-pro or playing catch with your mates.

Interesting. Should the NRL care about how many adults play, and instead focus heavily on Junior participation? You would think doubling junior numbers would naturally increase the adult numbers and those who don't play as adults will more likely remain followers of the game.

 

[T-Boon]

Shouldn't our main goal be more people playing 13 a side Rugby League?

why 13? That's too many.

 

[RockWheel]

why 13? That's too many.

Because 13 is the number of players on a rugby league team he wasn't picking a random number

 

[T-Boon]

Because 13 is the number of players on a rugby league team he wasn't picking a random number

The game would be better if it was 10 or 11 aside.

 

[T-Boon]

Interesting. Should the NRL care about how many adults play, and instead focus heavily on Junior participation? You would think doubling junior numbers would naturally increase the adult numbers and those who don't play as adults will more likely remain followers of the game.

You run the risk of over 25s taking up another code and then watching that on TV but you can counter that by building over age touch etc.

 

[POPEYE]

Takes most NRL players well into their mid 20s before they think like adults because the process limits their exposure to real life . . . if the game keeps getting faster much older than that they won't be able to keep up anyway

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Touch or Oztag is no more rugby league than union is.

The NRL pissing money away by buying touch in Austsralia means jack shit. In every other country on the planet that has touch it has nothing to do with RL. In fact in many countries it is owned, run or affiliated with union.

If these non-contact games are RL, get rid of RL altogether and then put them on TV and see how many people watch.