Yet there are record ratings now ? So I’m not buying your arguments about the general perceptions of the game or that they are narrowing their supporter base … personally I think there are issues with the refereeing standards as a whole … lot of games only 1 team seems to get penalised for ruck infringements ( normally the weaker side) and also when they get the penalties/ six agains ( first or last tackle ) is critical in who ends up winning the games
The fact that the NRL's ratings are higher now than ten years ago is no more evidence of the competition on the field being better quality today than ten years ago, than the fact that McDonald's is the largest restaurant chain in the world means that their food must be the highest quality in the world...
Marvel is another example if you don't like the Maccas one. It's the most successful movie franchise of all time, but nobody in the right mind would say that means that their movies are the best quality.
Many factors go into a product being more or less successful other than just their perceived value. That's especially true of an entertainment product where the reasons why people are attracted to them can be quite esoteric.
PVL's whole agenda is prioritising the "tradition" and "tribalism". He's been tapping into that niche and cementing institutional power since he started, and it's left most of the people outside the Qld and NSW RL fraternity bubble as even more of an after thought than we've been in a long time. The ACT may as well not exist to the people at head office, and the Raiders only rate a mention when they have something to offer the NRL (like the ability to take a home game to Magic or Vegas), and it's not just us either.
Comparing the NRL to the NBA, NFL … that’s heady company there ..I think an NBA game may as well start at the two minute to go mark and playing 82 generally meaningless games sure ain’t my bag …, but to each their own … and like the rest of the world I love the NFL …
I didn't compare the NRL to the NBA or NFL...
I simply said I find some of the current events in those sports, and others TBH, more interesting than the goings on in the NRL at the moment.
Word is now that Perth NRL won’t be announced anytime soon … like a year or two … maybe they might start again in the meantime
That's not the word I'm hearing.