we may whine about union but the fact of the matter is.....

[jase]

before everyone starts to bag me i am a league supporter but i was in sydney on saturday night and the support there for the wallabies was amazing this would have to scare david gallop into some action.
there needs to be a bit of action taken if we are to be any chance of holding a world cup in 2007.
1.every union supporter tries to get to wallabies matches we have to try and get this fantanical about our national team it seems to me nrl supporters do not give a hoot about our national team.
2.play more top level internationals a three test series annually against nz is a must while new guinea must be put back on the agenda.
3.we must try and get france totally professional otherwise they are going to struggle to beat nz gt brtain and oz(this is a must) any time soon look at the result in the euro cup final this was a totally homegrown team.
4.the idea of a south pacific test team has alot of merit and has potential.
5.union is starting to make inroads into our juniors so we must stage international more at the top level so kids can aspire to play for the kangaroos and not wallabies.

 

[dimitri]

yes we need to do all that

we need to bring up britatin, france and png in my opinion

we need clubs like utc and bridgend in the super league

when we have aus,eng,nz,png,france,wales and maybe more all with professional clubs international league will be much stronger

 

[gaterooze]

There's a lot of support for the Wallabie because they're an AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM. Most of those 'supporters' might watch 3 games of Union in an entire year, if that. Club rugby gets barely any support (their grand final could only manage a crowd of 2,500), and the Super 12 has absolutely terrible TV ratings.

The Kangaroos lack as much support because lately they haven't had much competition to barrack against. Hopefully that will change soon -- from the displays of both the Lions and especially the England A team, the future of GB looks amazing. And now NZ is a serious challenger once again (considering Leuleui can step into Stacey's boots when he hangs them up). In ten years, maybe even Russia and Lebanon will provide some entertaining matches against us.

The international scene of Union is clearly not as strong as it was made out to be (the current World Cup is ample evidence of this), but it IS stronger than League's.

But the domestic scene of Union doesn't even rate as a blip on the radar compared to League, and that will never change -- because League is a tribal game, with a heart that extends very deep in our culture.

Same as AFL in the South -- can you imagine a Collingwood supporter ever giving up supporting their team in favor of a Rugby team? Uh-uh. What about a Panthers fan turning their back and following a Rugby team instead? You gotta be kidding. This is why the ARU is so scared of League and always has to try and diminish it or steal from it.

The 2003 NRL season was so far ahead of any level of RU, in every way, week in and week out -- blinding skill, toughness, endurance, passion, upsets, tension and tight games that went to the wire, catharsis, heartache and uplifting joy. We really were spoilt all year.

And look at that first Origin game... my God. How can you compare?

The two semis of the WC were dreadful to watch... Yes, even the Aus/NZ game -- my wife couldn't believe they stopped play SO MUCH -- you would have five straight minutes of lineouts, scrums, kicks, etc without a single pass! There is so little actual play-time, it's painful. Australia scored *22* points, and only had *1* try. Their defence was good, but NZ just fell to bits. Australia's attack was mundane, only Mortlock and Tuquiri (assisted by Rogers) doing much (is it just me, or does Mortlock remind you a lot of Beaver?), but NZ was worse -- they would have 10 or 12 phases and not go anywhere. It became so monotonous... And the Eng/Fra game -- 24 points, NO tries. 'nuff said.

And you can't use the rain as an excuse for such a poor game Sunday -- the Panthers/Roosters NRL Grand Final was played in pouring rain, and it was such an incredible display of skill and toughness, thrilling from start to finish.

What was I talking about again?

Oh yeah, the original point was -- League still has a way to go to get the international game in order, no question. It's definitely making progress though and signs are extremely good.

Until then, let's just sit back and enjoy our domestic comp, because you won't find any better in the world.

 

[Rooster Lozz]

I totally agree with what you have said. Yes you do have to give credit where credit is due and be honest about the situation that league is in Internationally.
I think the biggest thing that gets people fired up and give Union large doses of bagging is the way the game can be played and then union fans arrogance and snobiness. I mean when its good its really good, attacking union where they aim to score tries is great to watch. But when its bad and they kick penalty goals and field goals its really bad.
Thats the biggest advantage that League has, is the product we are showing off is for the majority of the time attractive to watch and consistant. Union is technical and you almost need a dictionary to understand some of the calls where as league you can just sit back relax and for the majority of the time understand what the hell is going on.
If anything League has the upper hand and 4 years to really try and gain momentum when it comes to International Football.

 

[The Q Facor]

Rugby League is like Pizza....

even when its bad, its still pretty good! :lol:

 

[Eskimo Sharkie]

I totally agree with what you have said. Yes you do have to give credit where credit is due and be honest about the situation that league is in Internationally.
I think the biggest thing that gets people fired up and give Union large doses of bagging is the way the game can be played and then union fans arrogance and snobiness. I mean when its good its really good, attacking union where they aim to score tries is great to watch. But when its bad and they kick penalty goals and field goals its really bad.
Thats the biggest advantage that League has, is the product we are showing off is for the majority of the time attractive to watch and consistant. Union is technical and you almost need a dictionary to understand some of the calls where as league you can just sit back relax and for the majority of the time understand what the hell is going on.
If anything League has the upper hand and 4 years to really try and gain momentum when it comes to International Football.

I agree with all the sentiments as well.

If it wasn't for Gordon Bray's commentary, I really would have been lost. That England v France semi-final was about as exciting as watching a chess match, which it was basically a footballing equivalent of. Play for position and try and gain a penalty through some obscure technical infringement. One try for the game and that was by the losing side.
The Australia v New Zealand game was better because there were quite a few passages of multiple phases of play, but only two tries scored.

At the international level, neither code is ever going to compete against soccer and this means that they are just trying to divvy up the rest of the market. I really don't know what the answer is for rugby league and I think that, journalistic efforts to talk up the RWC aside, most people can see through the veneer of how truly international rugby union is. Only the dominant countries have professional leagues and there are very few of those. Great Britain plays as England, Wales and Scotland to create the appearance of more countries participating, yet if they played as a combined squad they would probably enjoy the kind of dominance that Australia enjoys in rugby league.

The RLIF is starting to put some effort in, but it has been a long time in coming. The Mediteranean Cup was a good idea and rugby league is growing in places like Russia, Lebanon, USA, Italy etc. The US remains one of the best prospects as the AMNRL is starting to create an impression and has the kind of money and market where even small inroads can be very lucrative. It is also a superior product to the NFL and, in time, could gain some of its support base, but the problem is that the frequent stoppages in gridiron make it a sponsors' dream.

I've made comments in other threads about directions I think the RLIF need to go and they are essentially:

1. Push into or seek expansion in countries with good records of corporate sponsorship and broadcasting equability. These should have codes similar to rugby league, such as rugby union or gridiron; meaning the focus should be the US, Russia (mainly for the dollars and because league now has a foot in the door there), France, and South Africa;
2. The NRL, as the strongest domestic league competition, should establish club alignments with other competitions. Align an NRL club with a club in the ESL, the AMNRL, and in other countries. This is a two way deal that would create Australian interest in the aligned club in the other country and vice versa; and
3. Seek to establish cross code linkages. A novel idea where the rival codes work together for market share rather than compete against each other for it. This could occur at a club level, ie members of the Swans attending Roosters matches for free, use of club facilities etc and vice versa (example only - I am a Sharks' fan) or the code level and could occur theoretically across all the football codes. I'm sure that there are many of us that half-heartedly follow an AFL and club rugby team and this would just tap into that. For the record, I follow Cronulla (numero uno), but have a fondness for Hawthorn and Southern Districts.

What I am basically advocating is a bit of strategic thinking that doesn't entail short term gimmickry to steal fans from one code to another for a while. And to build on this to then develop the game at an international level so you wouldn't have farcical situations like playing Ashes Tests and RWC finals on the same day.

 

[gaterooze]

Great post, Eskimo, with some good suggestions.

 

[DIEHARD]

Support for NRL clubs is huge. I oneday look forward to a day when every NRL fan has not only a jersey of their club and State of Origin state in their closet but a Kangaroos jersey as well. We need to see those jerseys out and about.

We also need the Kangaroos talked up during the year. Back in the day, commentators used to always talk about who would win the battle for a position during games, it bearly gets a mention now. Esspecially in a Kangaroo Tour year.

Also we need a game in Brisbane, we will sell it out We havent had a game up here in eons, 1999 Tri Series not counted.

The Wannabies also get massive publicity miles out of their key sponsors. Qantas and Bundy etc. We also need big sponsors willing to push the Kangaroos. The ARU just sits back as the sponsors do most of the promotion.

Let's face it, the Kangaroos are about a thousand times more marketable than the Wallabies. The only thing marketable in the Wannabies is of League origin anyway. I want to see more billboards and ads with Lockyer in an Aussie jersey. Get that beautiful jersey into the public eye and make it available for purchase everywhere NRL club jerseys are.

There was once a nice big billboard from Holden with Darren Lockyer in an Australian Kangaroos jersey in Albion up in Brisbane. We need more of that.

 

[***MH***]

lets just boycott the rugby final and piss everyone off.... crash a car off a bridge into the train tunnel and block the main transport to the stadium.... then we can crash cars outside the carpark and start carpark rage.
that'll leave half the stadium empty and leave rugby to shame....

i dont expect anyone to actually take this seriously!

 

[Mr Angry]

The best advertisment for Rugby League, will be the Kickby final.

 

[DIEHARD]

The best advertisment for Rugby League, will be the Kickby final.

Hahaha kickby, I like that. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

 

[south leeds rhino]

I can't understand why we have nearly all the internationals over here in the UK.

surely it would make sense to have more over there in aus.

 

[Simo]

I can't understand why we have nearly all the internationals over here in the UK.

surely it would make sense to have more over there in aus.

Mate i think it is because, and no offence intended as you guys are improving, but we need to give as much advantage to the POMs and KIWIs as we can. Every time the Aussies flog you guys it hurts the game.

Over in England the last 2 kangaroo tours have been competative. Unfortunately that poor 1 off test last July set back international league here a bit as it had great TV ratings but didnt represent how far you guys had come in the last few years.

Id love to see some games here but the harsh reality is until we can be assured of a competative game on our soil it will only do more harm than good.

E.G. Before that 64-10 flogging the papers were filled with test excitement and a big back page i remember 'KING CUNNIGHAM' the highest paid player in the world.

After the match we had to put up with 'international league is dead' type crap.

Then this year we beat the KIWIS by 60.

It just cant keep happeneing as all respect goes out the window for our international game.

Can you imagine the response to a world cup where the 2 most competative nations are beaten by 60 points? Imagine the rest of the competition, it would be as bad as most of the Union games here but at least they have about 5 competative nations to fall back on.

Im all for more action in Aus but PLEASE bring competition.