What those advocating afl style expansion don't want u to know

[Poupou Escobar]

Whats your thoughts on RL only being half as popular as soccer despite the billions spent in the region? If soccer can do that with just the WSW then we obviously dont need 5 Western sydney NRL clubs.

Soccer is a sport mums are happy to let their kids play. Like netball. It's about egalitarianism and having fun. Rugby league is painful and confronting and possibly the only code in Australia where the majority of men watching the game have never played. My missus is a Kiwi and she won't let our boy play league or union. She's even reluctant to let him play Aussie rules.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Afl will never let swans lose. Ratings barely anything now..

I just checked their attendances. Down to 27k this year after five games. They're 5th on the ladder. Lions are at 24k and 2nd on the ladder. Broncos still ahead at 26k after five games and 4th on the ladder.

That’s my worry for the storm too when Bellamy goes

It's possible. We won't know until they have a dry spell.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Have we wasted billions then trying to get kids to play RL when it has failed so badly compared to soccer participation? that seems to be the argument against AFL.

It's a fair point. Does junior participation really matter when the kids with NRL potential are probably going to be playing anyway? Surely the ones not playing are better off in other sports. It doesn't mean they're not going to become NRL fans. Playing soccer hasn't converted them into A-League fans.

 

[bad boy bubby]

Since when has ex-Wallaby Peter Fitzsimpleton preferred rugby league over fumbleball?

He talks up the Swans but says nothing but nasty shit about our game.

How come the Swans have so much support on the North Shore?

The Swans drew great crowds in 86 and 87, which was when they had some onfield success. Then their crowds dropped as their success dried up. I remember watching them in the 1996 fumbleflag. Their crowds that year were great again. Since then their crowds have gotten stronger. You cannot blame it on the Bears' demise as that didn’t happen until 99/00. My guess is much of their support comes from onionball fans who hate rugby league.

You lose this one automatically by these two phrases "Peter Fitzsimons" and "my guess"
The truth is that most Swans fans support the Swans and their favourite Rugby League team, they don't follow Union at all.
Union supporters are on their own.

 

[Wb1234]

So you don't count the Broncos, Raiders, Warriors, etc, as genuine expansion by the NSWRL?

In hindsight if the NSWRL had mirrored some of the VFL's strategies when it came to Perth and Adelaide then their expansion in "heartland" markets outside of Sydney may have been significantly more successful, and RL almost certainly would have avoided the SL war.

The only miss the AFL has had in WA and SA is the Power, whom though not a failure by any means, totally underperform considering the potential.


There's no hard evidence that the Swans sudden boost in popularity in the late 90s was because of SL. It's all just lame anecdotes frankly.

People that like to push this idea also tend to pretend certain events didn't happen as they did as well. For example they like to ignore the Swans making the 1996 AFL grand final that lead into a golden period for the club that only finished recently. They also tend to ignore the fact that the Swans were absolute shit for almost a decade before 1996, and that they had a burst of popularity similar to the one in late 90s ten years earlier in the late 80s when they went well for a few years.

A lot of the timelines don't make sense either. For example people often say that the Swans growth was largely because of the disenfranchised fans of the merged and/or cut RL clubs, but their jump in popularity starting in 96 is too early for that to be the case, then there numbers start to come down until 01 before they start to build back up before jumping up again in 03, by which point it's way too late to have been because of those RL fans that had been cut loose.

Basically the SL war is a very convenient excuse for the Swans rise to some, but as far as I know there's no real undeniable evidence that it's actually the case, and I've been looking for said evidence for a very long time.

96 was right in the middle of super league war

heck I was watching afl then and I hate the sport

I was even there when plugger kicked that goal after the siren to get them to a grand final.

wow were those crazy times lol

even if you want to argue some of their success wasn’t due to super league then it’s fair to say some was.

I still maintain if not for super league they would have had minimal gains

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

You lose this one automatically by these two phrases "Peter Fitzsimons" and "my guess"
The truth is that most Swans fans support the Swans and their favourite Rugby League team, they don't follow Union at all.
Union supporters are on their own.

Fumbleball sure has a lot of support on this board...

You will find some rugby league fans who are open to watching fumbleball, but in my experience, most of us hate it. I've encountered far more support for fumbleball from onionball fans, which makes sense as the latter are from the upper class and view our game as working class. Go look at TheRoar.com.au and see how hateful its onionball community is towards rugby league.

The amount of people watching the Swans on TV sort of lines up with ratings for Waratahs.

Satiric site The Betoota Advocate wrote a funny piece on this subject.

Sydney Swans Fanbase Made Up Of Either South Melbourne Pensioners Or Bondi Tech Millionaires — The Betoota Advocate

CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT Off the back of last week’s major upset with a 38-point loss to Hawthorn at the SCG, The Sydney Swans are once again doing some soul searching. While a five-match losing streak isn’t that terrifying when compared to the other absolute losers in the competition...

www.betootaadvocate.com

 

[Perth Red]

I dont hate it but like soccer I do find it unwatchable. Shame really as I’d love to be at optus supporting a club for the last 20 years but after two games I came to the quick realisation it really wasn’t something I could watch. Each to their own.

 

[Wb1234]

I dont hate it but like soccer I do find it unwatchable. Shame really as I’d love to be at optus supporting a club for the last 20 years but after two games I came to the quick realisation it really wasn’t something I could watch. Each to their own.

Yet you can’t admit when they have failed

if people listened to you it’s like afl is untouchable in terms of Australian sports.

you should treat league and afl the same way. If you’re going to call out everything Vlandys does then call out gill for being the really bad leader he is. One that is charging the afl 2 million a year whilst abdo earns 400k and vlandys gets 100k

from the Brisbane lions, Gold Coast Suns to greater western Canberra the afl is littered with expansion clubs that range from weak to outright jokes

like afl is visionary for spending 25 million a year on gws but then mention the idea of a png nrl team and it’s a no because of poor finances

 

[Perth Red]

Yet you can’t admit when they have failed

if people listened to you it’s like afl is untouchable in terms of Australian sports.

you should treat league and afl the same way. If you’re going to call out everything Vlandys does then call out gill for being the really bad leader he is. One that is charging the afl 2 million a year whilst abdo earns 400k and vlandys gets 100k

from the Brisbane lions, Gold Coast Suns to greater western Canberra the afl is littered with expansion clubs that range from weak to outright jokes

like afl is visionary for spending 25 million a year on gws but then mention the idea of a png nrl team and it’s a no because of poor finances

Theres a big difference between a sport and a sports administration. I admire a lot of what they’ve done off the field and wish nrl was as Successful in its management. They’ve become a national comp covering all major metro markets with not one but at least two teams, taken revenue from $300mill to over $850mill in 15 years, built a significant asset base, haven’t sold their sole to tv yet still get bigger contracts, don’t let the clubs and the media run the game and the decisions they make, have a proper ladies comp Etc etc. I’d love that to have been nrl that has acheived those things in the last 25 years!!

Nothings black and white, they’ve done some really dumb things, just as Vlandys has done some really good things. But on balance I’d take their leadership over ours for the last 15 years every day of the week! Their management with our on field product, geez imagine what nrl could be!

I’d absolutely love for the nrl and it’s clubs to be so wealthy that they could throw $25mill plus at year at the game in png , perth team Adelaide. It would be awesome growth for the game, but we don’t have the money to do it. That’s a failure in comparison.

 

[Wb1234]

Theres a big difference between a sport and a sports administration. I admire a lot of what they’ve done off the field and wish nrl was as Successful in its management. They’ve become a national comp, taken revenue from $300mill to over $850mill in 15 years, haven’t sold their sole to tv yet still get bigger contracts, don’t let the clubs and the media run the game and the decisions they make. I’d love that to have been nrl that has acheived those things in the last 25 years!!

id absolutely love for the nrl and it’s clubs to be so wealthy that they could throw $25mill plus at a png team, a perth team and an Adelaide team. It would be awsome, but we don’t have the money to do it. That’s a failure in comparison.

Nrl has grown it’s revenues more. Indeed they’ve added tens of millions in gambling taxes the afl don’t get at all

gill has been in power for ages. What’s he achieved ? Lmao

vlandys got the nrl restarted form covid when everyone said no you can’t. Then the afl followed

he added a second team to Brisbane. Afl is considering tasmania

Perth or nz2 are being added soon. Afl might go to Darwin lol

under gills watch tv ratings have fallen well behind league

gill has cost the afl 10 to 15 million in wages. Sounds like a really bad investment to me

 

[Perth Red]

H

Nrl has grown it’s revenues more. Indeed they’ve added tens of millions in gambling taxes the afl don’t get at all

gill has been in power for ages. What’s he achieved ? Lmao

vlandys got the nrl restarted form covid when everyone said no you can’t. Then the afl followed

he added a second team to Brisbane. Afl is considering tasmania

Perth or nz2 are being added soon. Afl might go to Darwin lol

under gills watch tv ratings have fallen well behind league

gill has cost the afl 10 to 15 million in wages. Sounds like a really bad investment to me

has it? What’s been the nrls revenue growth in last 15 years?

 

[Wb1234]

H

has it? What’s been the nrls revenue growth in last 15 years?

Yeh it has
I remember under gallop their tv deal was almost double ours or some huge gap

now our tv deal exceeds theirs

and the problem for afl the nrl has got its costs under control, afl doesn’t. Least of all with the giants and suns. They just keep needing more money each year to stay alive

 

[Pippen94]

Theres a big difference between a sport and a sports administration. I admire a lot of what they’ve done off the field and wish nrl was as Successful in its management. They’ve become a national comp covering all major metro markets with not one but at least two teams, taken revenue from $300mill to over $850mill in 15 years, built a significant asset base, haven’t sold their sole to tv yet still get bigger contracts, don’t let the clubs and the media run the game and the decisions they make, have a proper ladies comp Etc etc. I’d love that to have been nrl that has acheived those things in the last 25 years!!

Nothings black and white, they’ve done some really dumb things, just as Vlandys has done some really good things. But on balance I’d take their leadership over ours for the last 15 years every day of the week! Their management with our on field product, geez imagine what nrl could be!

I’d absolutely love for the nrl and it’s clubs to be so wealthy that they could throw $25mill plus at year at the game in png , perth team Adelaide. It would be awesome growth for the game, but we don’t have the money to do it. That’s a failure in comparison.

Stop spinning the same old lies. Broadcasting rights bubble increased TV deal. What was nrl getting 15 years ago & what is it getting now?! Hasn't added any new metros.

 

[siv]

I see a lot of AFL support at the SCG coming from SCG members trying to get full value for their membership

You wont follow just one sport, you would go or your friend/kids might borrow your free 2 tickets as much as possible

And I think SCG members get access to the SFS events too as well as those tennis courts & pool outside

 

[Perth Red]

So

Yeh it has
I remember under gallop their tv deal was almost double ours or some huge gap

now our tv deal exceeds theirs

and the problem for afl the nrl has got its costs under control, afl doesn’t. Least of all with the giants and suns. They just keep needing more money each year to stay alive

So what’s the nrl growth in last 10 or 15 years?

 

[Wb1234]

So

So what’s the nrl growth in last 10 or 15 years?

The nrl had a gap of 250 million in tv deals to afl
Now the nrls tv deal is more than afl

so yeh

 

[Perth Red]

The nrl had a gap of 250 million in tv deals to afl
Now the nrls tv deal is more than afl

so yeh

Yeh that’s the tv deal what’s the revenue growth? Just asking you to quantify your cLiam.
ps $402mill isnt more than $473mill lol.

 

[Pippen94]

So

So what’s the nrl growth in last 10 or 15 years?

nine & fox wanted Brisbane2. Indifferent to Perth. Blows ur theory out of water..

 

[Wb1234]

Yeh that’s the tv deal what’s the revenue growth? Just asking you to quantify your cLiam.
ps $402mill isnt more than $473mill lol.

Cant be bothered looking it up soz

 

[mongoose]

Theres a big difference between a sport and a sports administration. I admire a lot of what they’ve done off the field and wish nrl was as Successful in its management. They’ve become a national comp covering all major metro markets with not one but at least two teams, taken revenue from $300mill to over $850mill in 15 years, built a significant asset base, haven’t sold their sole to tv yet still get bigger contracts, don’t let the clubs and the media run the game and the decisions they make, have a proper ladies comp Etc etc. I’d love that to have been nrl that has acheived those things in the last 25 years!!

Nothings black and white, they’ve done some really dumb things, just as Vlandys has done some really good things. But on balance I’d take their leadership over ours for the last 15 years every day of the week! Their management with our on field product, geez imagine what nrl could be!

I’d absolutely love for the nrl and it’s clubs to be so wealthy that they could throw $25mill plus at year at the game in png , perth team Adelaide. It would be awesome growth for the game, but we don’t have the money to do it. That’s a failure in comparison.

Agree with most of this except the "proper ladies comp". Their women's comp is a joke, all a bunch of virtue signalling. The NRL's approach has been better and also seems to have had more input from actual women who play the sport.