Why don't we ever "raid" Union?

[T-Boon]

Lmfao… the dude who talks up inbred redneck hillbilly college football derbies from Mississippi to Alabama…

has no idea about an actual world event which was last held in Japan… which had a total attendance of about 1.7M people over the tournament…

Well there is a lot more college football on television than any kind of rugby you twit. Honestly rugby just isnt on television anymore because it is pure garbage.

 

[edabomb]

I wonder how much Suaalii is going to love playing for the Waratahs.

He'll have plenty of time to check his internet banking while scrums are resetting.

I also don't like the title of this thread. Don't give Sticky any ideas that Union is the new England.

 

[roughyed8]

I had a look recently and there's 18 Rugby clubs with higher salary caps than the NRL. The Top 14 French clubs and four Irish clubs. The English just cut their salary cap. Yes, there are top ups for international matches etc. But I'd say for roughly 8
70 to 80% of all the rugby players at next world cup, they would make more in career earnings playing NRL than they would in rugby.

Those salary caps are to cover squads of 40-50 players due to the "Specialist" position reqirements , so they may be higher in total but need to spread a lot further.

 

[roughyed8]

Sadly it’d be the third biggest international sports tournament in the world. How if don’t know, it’s painful to watch.

It would be well behind the UEFA Euro championships in total attendaces( including qualifiers) and TV viewers.

 

[docbrown]

Those salary caps are to cover squads of 40-50 players due to the "Specialist" position reqirements , so they may be higher in total but need to spread a lot further.

I actually hadn’t considered that, it was hard just finding the current salary cap numbers themselves. Maybe the better way to look at it is what’s the median salary for a player? It may even be higher for the NRL despite the currency difference.

 

[Foreign Legion]

Because they can't even win the Bledislow

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Rugger WC being the third biggest international tournament is a myth. As someone said the UEFA cup would top it, as would the Copa America.

If you wanted a sport outside soccer I'd suggest both the t20 and ODI world cups world have more viewers (1.3 billion obsessed fans in India alone).

 

[Pneuma]

Rugby Australia haven’t posted a super rugby crowd figure since 11 March and that was 6000.

They are in huge trouble.

Rugby Union Results & Attendances | Austadiums

List of latest Rugby Union results including attendance figures.

www.austadiums.com

 

[Brian potter]

Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers

They always come back home to league in the end

Well past their prime.

 

[docbrown]

Rugby Australia’s haven’t posted a super rugby crowd figure since 11 March and that was 6000.

They are in huge trouble.

Rugby Union Results & Attendances | Austadiums

List of latest Rugby Union results including attendance figures.

www.austadiums.com

They’re just hoping to limp along until a cash injection in 2027. But they will piss it away like the last war chest and it will be 20 to 30 years before the next World Cup here.

There will be 3 or fewer Australian Super Rugby clubs by 2035. Potentially even zero.

 

[Billythekid]

The question is obviously in reference to poaching top line established RU players. The popular opinion on here is no doubt that they couldn't make the transition and/or are inferior athletes.

That is just not true, a lot of them would do well in rugby league. The real reason is we simply don't have anything to offer said players that would make them want to switch. The RU carrot to NRL players is a) cash and b) the RU World cup. We can't match them on either.

There’s more to it than that. It’s also a riskier proposition than just buying league talent. The top union players cost just as much and there is no guarantee they make the transition. That’s not a dig at union btw, it’s more just a question of why you’d raid their top players when you can get top RL players for the same price.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

There are 2reasons the nrl doesn't raid.

1. There's nothing worth raiding.

2. We're not insecure about our standing in the world. Australian rugger has to raid because they're desperate for relevance. This latest player they've signed from league is massive coup for the few thousand rugger fans but 'meh' for league fans.

 

[Wb1234]

He’s one of us. On ya albo

 

[beave]

Cheese sums it up perfectly IMO.

 

[Dark Corner]

It would be well behind the UEFA Euro championships in total attendaces( including qualifiers) and TV viewers.

Maybe but it's still a massive world cup and it continue to grows.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Edited. Beave had already posted it up thread (https://forums.leagueunlimited.com/threads/why-dont-we-ever-raid-union.488928/post-15616576)

 

[Wb1234]

In terms of global tv audience, revenue and fan attendance? I wouldn’t think so.

Rugby union calculator has sucked you in

the actual ratings for a final is like 70 million people

they quote ratings as cumulative for the entire event … after they divide each game into four and count the ratings four times

India alone would put cricket way ahead of union

the Super Bowl would be far bigger too imo

 

[Wb1234]

Will Freddy be dumb enough to pick him now for origin

I think once a player goes to union they should be ineligible for origin when they come back

the qrl seems to have an unofficial policy of this which they nswrl should adopt

indeed they probably shouldn’t be allowed back at club level either

mercenaries like sonny bill Williams are all about their inflated egos rather than rugby league

the game produces these guys all the time if they want to be purely selfish rugby league shouldn’t be a doormat to them

 

[taste2taste]

Rugger WC being the third biggest international tournament is a myth. As someone said the UEFA cup would top it, as would the Copa America.

If you wanted a sport outside soccer I'd suggest both the t20 and ODI world cups world have more viewers (1.3 billion obsessed fans in India alone).

You can add the basketball FIBA world Cup, the audience in China alone would dwarf the Rugby World Cup.

World rugby and rugby fans love quoting that 857 million people watched the last world cup. This number is pure fantasy but the rara fans lap it up. I can just imagine that 10% of the world was glued to the RUWC ... it's all anyone was talking about across Aisa, Africa, Europe and the America's

Union are like that annoying 5ft 7inch guy at the gym who walks around with his chest pumped out thinking he's bigger than everyone else.

 

[Bazal]

In terms of global tv audience, revenue and fan attendance? I wouldn’t think so.

Literally 1 billion people watched ONE MATCH of the 2015 and 2019 Cricket World Cups....you "wouldn't think" that's a little more than RU?

50 cricket is in trouble but ultimately it still has India behind it, it will always punch well above most sports except soccer. Cricket also has two world cups (which I think is pointless but the sponsors and fans don't).

RU is probably 4th or 5th though.