Adam SutcliffeThe National Rugby League?? Why AFL beats NRL in national popularity.
December 23rd 2006 11:53
If the National Rugby League ever hopes to compete with the Australian Football League for the crown of Australia's number one footballing code, than they must seriously consider expanding their competition within the next five years.
The NRL currently encompasses three Australian states and one New Zealand island, but yet still promotes itself as a national footballing league, ignoring the fact that there are four other states that are not represented. While South Australia had the Adelaide Rams, and Western Australia had the Western Reds for a short time throughout the 1990's, the NRL has quite rightly chosen to shore up the games popularity in it's own grassroots regions before expanding nationaly.
With the birth of the Gold Coast Titans in 2007, the NRL have ensured that they have created a local team in one of Australia's fastest growing areas, thus beating the AFL and ARU to the punch. However, the popularity of the rugby union's Western Force in their innaugral season last year, has taken away all the hard work and money that rugby league pored into the previously ignored rugby region in the West, and it now seems that the Force, the Fremantle Dockers and the West Coast Eagles have all but monopolised this region.
The Melbourne Storm have acheived great on field success in thier limited lifespan, yet still find it hard to acheive recognition in the predominantly AFL state. What is encouraging though for the NRL, is that through their on field success, the Storm crowds are increasingly growing on a week to week basis, and hopefully with a bit more media exposure, more spots mad Melbourne fans will be keen to adopt them as their own.
Figures released last week show that the AFL dominates the NRL in terms of club member numbers by 5:1, and this is because of the AFL expanding into five Australian states. If the NRL ever hopes to catch up, than they must re-establish a team in South Australia, and even captalise on their tentative foray into the Northern Territory.
The NRL should be financially strong enough by 2009 to announce the birth of an Adelaide based club and a Darwin based club, ready for the 2010 NRL season. While Penrith and Melbourne played a trial match in Adelaide earlier this year in front of a modest 7,017 strong crowd, it should be remembered that this was only a trial match, devoid of most clubs stronget players. Adelaide is a big enough capital to sustain another footballing team, so re-establishing a team back in the city of churches is imperative.
As a territory known for it's proficient sporting talent, the Darwin area is so far an untapped resource in terms of a national sporting franchise. Just like News Limited took a gamble establishing teams in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, the NRL need to take a gamble and establish a franchise in one of Australia's abundant sporting heartlands. Just the sheer prescence of a national sporting club would inspire the top ends youth to aspire for sporting greatness.
What are your thoughts?
Cheers,
StephenP
The NRL currently encompasses three Australian states and one New Zealand island, but yet still promotes itself as a national footballing league, ignoring the fact that there are four other states that are not represented. While South Australia had the Adelaide Rams, and Western Australia had the Western Reds for a short time throughout the 1990's, the NRL has quite rightly chosen to shore up the games popularity in it's own grassroots regions before expanding nationaly.
With the birth of the Gold Coast Titans in 2007, the NRL have ensured that they have created a local team in one of Australia's fastest growing areas, thus beating the AFL and ARU to the punch. However, the popularity of the rugby union's Western Force in their innaugral season last year, has taken away all the hard work and money that rugby league pored into the previously ignored rugby region in the West, and it now seems that the Force, the Fremantle Dockers and the West Coast Eagles have all but monopolised this region.
The Melbourne Storm have acheived great on field success in thier limited lifespan, yet still find it hard to acheive recognition in the predominantly AFL state. What is encouraging though for the NRL, is that through their on field success, the Storm crowds are increasingly growing on a week to week basis, and hopefully with a bit more media exposure, more spots mad Melbourne fans will be keen to adopt them as their own.
Figures released last week show that the AFL dominates the NRL in terms of club member numbers by 5:1, and this is because of the AFL expanding into five Australian states. If the NRL ever hopes to catch up, than they must re-establish a team in South Australia, and even captalise on their tentative foray into the Northern Territory.
The NRL should be financially strong enough by 2009 to announce the birth of an Adelaide based club and a Darwin based club, ready for the 2010 NRL season. While Penrith and Melbourne played a trial match in Adelaide earlier this year in front of a modest 7,017 strong crowd, it should be remembered that this was only a trial match, devoid of most clubs stronget players. Adelaide is a big enough capital to sustain another footballing team, so re-establishing a team back in the city of churches is imperative.
As a territory known for it's proficient sporting talent, the Darwin area is so far an untapped resource in terms of a national sporting franchise. Just like News Limited took a gamble establishing teams in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, the NRL need to take a gamble and establish a franchise in one of Australia's abundant sporting heartlands. Just the sheer prescence of a national sporting club would inspire the top ends youth to aspire for sporting greatness.
What are your thoughts?
Cheers,
StephenP
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Comment by The Footy Blog
Nice Post some good points. Currently the Lions get about 30,000 to their games while the broncos get 25,00 and QLD is supposed to be a NRL state. Also the afl grand final was the most watched show on tv in 2006. We get at lease 20 to 25 thousand to each gme not 6 or 7 thousand
Cya
Comment by Anonymous
As much as I respect the history and talent in RL, the core problem is that it's key advantage is also its key weakness - ie is not a National game, but has been partly insulated from this harsh reality by being a Sydney based competition lucky enought to be in a nation where the Media is very Sydney-centric.
This has made it very easy for the NRL and its supporters to overestimate the breadth and depth of its appeal; and to underestimate the degree to which Australian Rules football is ingrained elsewhere.
A mate of mine, a guy from Sydney - told me that when he was growing up that he didnt know that Australian Rules had huge stadiums and 100,000 crowds - the impression in Sydney was that it was some minor regional sport played locally. It was quite a shock when people discovered the AFL had two 70,000 stadiums in Melbourne alone and attendances 3-4 times bigger than RL. (Im just using this as an illustration of the insularity of NRL culture, not to open a debate on crowds etc per-se)
The problem for the NRL - an impossible dilemma is that since the last time it tried to go national the environment has changed. The AFL is genuinely national, its transition (the work of 25 years labour) is complete- and new national traditions established. This was not quite the case back in 1991-96; and RL could at that time compete on a more equal basis. Alas that time has passed; the market is no longer virgin; AFL support in 'expansion' markets is now 'rusted on', and has an increasing sense of its own history and place in popular culture. Its now a much tougher market for RL to enter. You've then got the additional problem of whether the product itself, the game of RL, is actually as good as the Australian Rules product: which any objective observer would have to agree is debatable (just look at any key indicator of interest/support). The only area it competes is in the area of TV ratings- but that again just brings us back to the fact its a Sydney based league in a country that has Sydney based media: its a useful, but ulitmately misleading indicator of RL support nationally.
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Comment by QUACK
Comment by Go the Swans!!
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Comment by Anonymous3
You've hit the nail on the head.
NSW'ers and QLD'ers can think that RL is more popular because of the exposure and lack of AFL in their media...but the sad reality is that RL have ignored the rest of the country for years and their best idea for expansion was to put a team in the AFL heartland?
While in monetary value that may just work out (Vics have an insatiable need for sport and can support more than one code) it has tarnished the game's expansion by ignoring areas like NT and TAS who quite honestly need more national league teams in any sport, but have been avoided by every major code by way of their numbers.
Comment by anonim
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Comment by Anonymous
the NRL is not a minor alternative
Its the most popular sport in 3 states which holds over half the nation's population.
BTW, The Broncos DO get larger crowds then the Lions.
Comment by Anonymous18
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Lets not even mention the fact that the Roosters and Sharks are losing their major sponsors as NRL is gaining the reputation of having shady players who get up to all sorts of illegal and immoral activities...
Comment by topbloke
The question now for the ARL is whether it allows itself to become a minor or second tier sport like soccer or try and regain some market share that is slowly getting chipped away .
Comment by MumbleDuck
NRL alltogether, have had mad more mistakes then AFL over the years. (Even their whole staff group). This has effected them. And by them (NRL) only mainly sticking in Queensland and New South Wales has effected them. I myself find that the style of play NRL has to offer compared to AFL, is worse, no way near as exciting, this could also effect it.
And also the image of NRL, compared to AFL is worse.
If NRL don't do anything (which I dought they will), they never will become the 'national' game. I can't see them doing that...AFL is just gonna keep growing.
Saying that, I go for one of AFL's smart choices of moving a team from Melbourne to a NRL city, Sydney!!!! Lol. GO THE SYDNEY SWANS!!!!!!!!!
Even my dad who grew up around Sydney, was a large NRL fan at the time, but after living in WA for a while, he prefer's AFL. "It's a much better game".
Comment by MumbleDuck
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Anonymous
All nsw, qld state afl rep teams are full of league, union and soccer players lol! shet afl are now buying league players for big money.
I dont care how popular afl gets I will never bring myself to watch that utter boring boys pretending to be men pansie shet!
Comment by Anonymous
soccer, AFL and NRL are all highly skilled sports played by professionals. To call AFL pansies and gayfl just shows your ignorance of what is a skillful and FAR more hard hitting game than soccer for example. and finally wasn't Ian Roberts a legend of NRL openly GAY ???
Comment by Aussie Patriot
Comment by Annon
2010
Brisbane lions afl peak in brisbane - 95,000
Melbourne storm afl peak in melbourne - 203,000
2010
Brisbane Broncos lowest viewers in brisbane - 93, 000 (highest 380,000)
Brisbane Lions lowest viewers in Brisbane - 10,000
Queensland is ALOT more one sided than any of you think.
Melbourne Storm, 2010, made the biggest membership and ratings jump in history, growing 60%
Paramatta Eels 58%, Wests Tigers 38%
Point being all NRL clubs made a membership rise.
AFL 2009 grandfinal, Geelong vs St Kilda (i watched it, and they called it "the game of the century), peaked with 2.7 million viewers, 1.5 million being Melbourne based viewers.
NRL 2010 State of Origin 1 (used as the example as both games were played in all states, live)
Peaked with a massive 6.6 million viewers and just under a million viewers were from Melbourne. Only 500,000 less than the AFL grand final.
(now take into account that State Of Origin has ALWAYS had higher ratings in games 2 and 3)
2010 saw NRL announce 3.6 million dollars worth of new sponsors, and Hervey Norman adding another 1.3 million to it's sponserships in NRL (Victorians may have noticed their June catalouge contained pictures of NRL S.O.O in all the T.V's for sale)
AFL viewings and tv ratings are all mainly higher than NRL, except QLD and NSW. take that into account NRL is not shown live in Victoria, W.A and S.A. There is more add space due to an add every goal kicked and the games being nearly twice as long, so more adds means more money. AFL's bread and butter of cash. So NRL really does keep up with ratings since it's shown to lesser audience.
Isreal howeveryouspellhislastname, has just signed to AFL and will make 4 million in 3 years, making the two NRL players in AFL the highest paid, NRL supporters (and apparently teammates) laugh that isreal will play 3 years, make 4 million, and make a return to NRL at 23 years of age after playing less than 50 games. NRL fans find this hilarious.
Melbourne Storm have 10,000 members signed up for the 2011 season, More than the Melbourne Demons already.
Melbourne unveiled Storms new stadium in 2010, playing an internation between AUS and NZL, in which 38,000 Victorians attended.
NRL played a Meet-an-greet with kids in the 2010 offseason (pre-season) in Adelaide and saw South Australia reviewing financial support for Junior RL.
Basically, for those who think NRL is dying, you are horribly mistaken. Taking into account that NRL is played in Australia, England, New Zealand, Ireland, France, P.N.G and other areas in Europe, and AFL's attempted showing in Japan was a horrible failure, NRL remains highest rating internationally.
Gold Coast will fail, i grew up in QLD and now live in Victoria, friends in Gold Coast say everyone loves the Gold Coast Titans too much to care about the AFL team.
Give it time, it's coming.
Comment by Annon
And the Dragons are adding a 36 million upgrade package to their stadium, making it near state of the art to assist how many fans can attend due to higher demand.
NQL Cowboys (who i support) are looking into the same thing within the next 5 years, just not on such a large scale)
I grew up playing AFL in Queensland simply to get out of school on a friday, it was called off after two games due to lack of school interest, and kids not knowing how to play, with every tackle being "too rough" or a "spear" while we hated the fact they were telling us to pretty much mount eachohther with the reach around to do a traditional AFL tackle, some kids were taken off during the game with parents calling it "GAYfl"
NRL will win this war in the long run, like it or not, i guess.
Comment by Anonymous
Record home crowd at ANZ Stadium:
25,065 v the Bulldogs, 15 March 2008.
Record crowd at Cumberland Oval:
22,470 v South Sydney, 26 April, 1971
so in the space of almost 40 years their record crowd attendance has grown by 2595 people, and you say the NRL is GROWING !!
no doubt lots of people watch the games on t.v but why don't you passionate supporters
go to the games if its so good ???? easy to sit on your couch and say your a supporter but then no one goes to the games !!
Comment by Annon
Opened 1986
Owner Parramatta Stadium Trust
Operator Parramatta Stadium Trust
Surface Grass
Architect Civil & Civic
vvvvvvv
Capacity 21,487
^^^^^^
Are you reading capacity?
Are you keeping that in mind?
They've been selling out seats for over 40 years to the extent they're cramming people on the hills?
That's straight from parramatta stadium wiki.
You're saying they've been overselling tickets for 40 years!?
yewwww! eels are more loved than i thought!
Comment by Annon
and the 82,500 crowd at the Grand Final versus Melbourne. (finals)
Also off their website, did you even read it?
Television Audiences:
• The Parramatta Eels had the following “Free to Air” Television viewers in 2009
o Regular Season 4,895,000 (Average 350,000)
o Regular Finals 7,848,000 (Average 436,000)
This was an increase of 44% on 2008 figures.
• Parramatta had the highest overall average viewers per match of all Sydney clubs on free-to-air television.
o The average of 436,000
• Cumulative audience figures for the season across free to air and pay television, ranked Parramatta second highest across all the NRL, AFL, A-League and Australian Super 14 teams for the 2009 season.
(St George Illawarra 1st)
These also off their website, even i'm starting to see how huge NRL is.
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Annon
Collingwood Magpies AFL - 11 - 603,881
Collingwood lead the way with fans attending, two teams play each game and over 11 games only 600, 000 attended. That doesn't really impress, with 19 sports in total outranking that. (top 6 are american though, lmao -_-)
AFL has a distance advantage. I'm not 100%, but aren't like 10 teams all within an hour of eachother in the melbourne area alone?
Home games in NRL and you can REALLY tell who the home team is. In AFL it's diffrent.
3,081,849 NRL game-go-ers less than hlaf way through the season isn't bad at all, if that keeps going that will be over 1/3 of the population going to see a NRL game. Add to that the 80-90, 000 stong crowds origin gets, and the 40-50, 000 international games get and NRL holds it's own.
Not to take away from this forum though.
NRL had an exibition match in the 2010 pre-season in Adelaide, and 7-somthing- thousand people went along. Make it an Adelaide team and you may well get 10, 000. I think it's a great idea, and Adelaide are more AFL crazy than perth. Top of the state up in QLD and they mainly support North Queensland Cowboys, so i say throw another two teams in the comp, Adelaide and Perth. Let the fans pick the team name to get them all talking an see how it goes. AFL is doing it's best to get a Gold Coast team and a New Sydney team after seeing how much speed the NRL is picking up. If they wanna play in NRL backyards, i say NRL plays their turf while they're away.
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Annon
You're forgetting what i previously said. gah.
AFL has a distance advantage. I'm not 100%, but aren't like 10 teams all within an hour of eachother in the melbourne area alone?
Home games in NRL and you can REALLY tell who the home team is. In AFL it's diffrent.
Each NRL home game is completely biased, it's all one sided. AFL isn't because over half the competition takes place within an hour of each team. NRL has teams in rural areas. where capacity is 22, 000.
Brisbane is averaging 38, 000 a game.
NRL dominates consistancy ratings, lower peak views but more consistant viewers. Meaning NRL fans watch the whole game, not 10 minutes and turn off. Considering AFL is twice as long, NRL is streaming ahead.
I'm sure i don't need to remind you that around 1/3 of AUSTRALIA watched origin, ratings AFL will never in their life time acheive, their "game of the century" didn't even get close to half the origin views.
So really that shows when both games are played live nation wide, it clearly shows which is prefered. AFL may also be slipping....
"NRL games must go live into Victoria.
If Channel 9 or the NRL needed more convincing that Friday night football should be shown into Melbourne then hopefully they have finally got the message following the success of the ANZAC Test.
30,000 fans attended the new AAMI Park for the Australia and New Zealand match which was shown live and watched by 257,000 fans in the city.
I think the old saying that “nobody in Melbourne cares about rugby league” has now run its course and it’s time the administrators finally, after 12 years of the Melbourne Storm in the competition, get serious about
broadcasting the game into the southern capital.
It was a winner for rugby league in the ratings with the match watched by over 560,000 fans in Sydney
and just shy of 400,000 fans in Brisbane. Adding in the Melbourne figure, the match was the third most watched show of the night with over 1.2 million people watching"
(Might i add this was the night AFL pathetically dashed into promo mode, having the pink lady on the field at "one of the games of the year" a week afew South Sydney Rabbithos started wearing the ovarian cancer ribbon imprinted on their jerseys. and NRL announced women of league)
That's a Melbourne paper calling for it to be live, with patitions and channel 9 reviewing it on the success of the rest of the origin games, and the grandfinal.
Ratings have more than tripled in melbourne in the past year. So AFL might not hold onto it's little title for much longer if melbournians keep chosing to switch over to RL. Look it up, it's everywhere.
Comment by Hawkboy
Comment by Aussie Patriot
One thing tho...AFL is recognised internationally in many, many countries..despite the fact they dont care about it and it is still shown proves the AFL's might..countries around the world no about AFL but close to none know of NRL until they visit (or they are poms in northern england)
Oh and NRL converts are not the highest paid..they are paid highly but not the highest..Brendan Fovola earns at least 1.2 mil a year (closer to 1.6 mil) Chris Judd likewise...Gary Ablett has been offered almost 2mill a season..these new teams can offered this cash because they have salary cap exemptions particularly GWS
Comment by Annon
It's all but played in one state of Australia.
I just searched everywhere and i cannot find one place outside of Australia that's big on it.
Since AFL is what, over a hundred years old and doesn't have an international game, how crazy are you to think it's appreciated in other states?
There is nothing i can find about international AFL, sorry.
NRL
Nation 1st Playing Year RLIF Rank
Australia 1908 1st
Cook Islands 1988 14th
Fiji 1992 4th
France 1934 5th
Great Britain * 1908 n/a
New Zealand 1908 2nd
Papua New Guinea 1975 6th
Russia 1991 13th
Samoa 1988 10th
South Africa 1995 23rd
Tonga 1988 8th
GB has the super league, just like the NRL only the england version, and attracts pretty huge crowds. Look it up.
At the end of the season NRL premiers go over and play the SL premiers and it gets crowds of 100k
NRL will never be as big as soccer in england, but the fact it's even there makes a statement.
AFL is dominant in ONE state of ONE country. How can you compare their international status? If you want to debate facts, please make sure you actually have facts.
It's going nowhere in QLD and NSW, TRUST ME! I grew up in QLD and NOBODY want's anything to do with it. How many premierships did the lions win? Still in brisbane it never came close to touching NRL's standards.
Sure, falou got AFL some publicity, but next week it will be forgotten, same as every other media scandal. All it shows is AFL will throw more money at NRL stars than it will at it's own, and living in victoria now, i'll tell you AFL fans are not at all impressed, neither is anyone in any other state.
Comment by Hawkboy
Comment by Annon
SA
Derr, was i not just saying Adelaide is all AFL. I'm pretty sure i mentioned that. Thus saying it is a market NRL should tap.
I'm from Queensland originally, i lived in brisbane for 10 years, then out up near Rocky. AFL was not big there, and with cousins in Cairns who are all heavy NRL and say AFL isn't big there either, well, yeah. lived there for 18 years, Regardless, the ratings don't lie. I stand by the fact that QLD is an NRL state, if you choose to like it or not, because you are sadly misinformed.
W.A
Once again, it's obvious it's not played live there, nor are there any NRL clubs, ofcourse it's AFL heavy.
So i retract saying it's dominant in one state, mind-blank. But as for calling AFL international, yeah, that's a load.
Oh boy, don't tell me NSW is AFL dominant too, are you american or somthing, wow.
If you're talking about small rural teams, maybe, but for all i knew NRL was big there too. Regardless, NSW is the home of NRL, especially Sydney.
No, i don't belive that at all. Geelong Cats came out saying they have the highest club membership count at around the 35, 000 mark. Last i checked, if they're the biggest, 1 in every 38 is not a member. Either check your facts, or check the Australian population.
As for 1 in every 38 PLAYING, you also are incorrect, very, incorrect.
Hunt & Foleau are simply puppets, and amongst the NRL world, people laugh that Foleau will play less than 50 games, make 6.6 million and make a comeback to leave by his 23rd birthday. I really hope your stars, like Ablett and Judd and Franklin are in disgust at the sums of money AFL are throwing at NRL player. But it shows AFL needs to pay mega bucks to get publicity like that. WIth NRL fans hating it, parents will be furious, and kids will follow that lead.
I'm not against it, not at all. I'm against this Anti-NRL media driven market in Victoria. I'm against pig-headed people like you calling it a truely Australian game. Cricket is our national sport. The phrase "nothing like backyard cricket and a bbq" should be abandonded simply cause we didn't invent it?
Take that up with the Australian population mate. I'm against codes with deep pockets stealing away players who make the game better simply as a publicity stunt. Hunt & Foleau are both talented players, and AFL is happy for them to waste away simply so they can try convert people to their code. It makes me sick. I'm sick and tired of AFL fans who cannot accept anything else but what they like. AFL games get played live in QLD. NSW and N.T, where regardless of what you say, are NRL dominant states. Yet, NRL isn't given a chance in Vic, Adelaide or W.A.
But strangely enough, one thing is..
30,000 fans attended the new AAMI Park for the Australia and New Zealand match which was shown live and watched by 257,000 fans in the city.
NRL 2010 State of Origin 1 (used as the example as both games were played in all states, live)
Peaked with a massive 6.6 million viewers and just under a million viewers were from Melbourne. Only 500,000 less than the AFL grand final.
(now take into account that State Of Origin has ALWAYS had higher ratings in games 2 and 3
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^
(though i've seen stats saying 3.8 mill watched, 8.8 mill watched. ectect. I only trust this as it was directly from WIN)
I state this in my words as i can't recall where i saw the stats, but somthing like 200, 000 people from each Adelaide and Western Australia watched Origin aswell.
In closing, if AFL is so dominant, why does it get these figures yet Victoria ignore it?
My guess, AFL probably pays them not to air it. Like Andrew D-somthing said "the AFL has very deep pockets indeed"
Also, how heavily did you get dissed at school being an AFL fan in NSW haha?
Over half of NSW watched origin, and 1/4 tunes in every weekend to the Footy!
Comment by Hawkboy
Adelaide 48354
Brisbane 28512
Carlton 43294
Collingwood 56981
Essendon 40601
Richmond 41535
North Melbourne 28518
Hawthorn 53138
Melbourne 33047
St Kilda 40009
Geelong 39353
West Coast 54201
Port Adelaide 31388
Fremantle 43666
Sydney 29562
Western Bulldogs 33978
Overall total 646137 paid up members
divide that into Australias population of 22000000 equals one in 34 Australians are members of an AFL club not 1 in 38 as previously stated my apologies!!
Also the 2010 world club challenge was attended by 27697 at Elland rd against the Leeds Rhinos score 18 to 10 dont know where the other 72000 were!!
In regards to Queensland it is proping up the NRL But have you ever heard of Cazalys Club in Cairns or Southport Sharks on the Gold Coast ? Tell them that there is zero interest in AFL in Queensland. Also check out attendances at games between the AFL and the Irish Gaelic teams at Croke park usually 70000 people there who dont know AFL !! Check out the TV rights deal if nobody watches AFL why are they currently paid 780 million with one billion tipped for the next rights deal And in regards to my personal preference II played union as a kid for 4 years in Melbourne before playing AFL no good at either game but know AFL is hrader to play and more skilled
Comment by Aussie Patriot
I'll repeat what I said not what you interpreted..International rules is a mickey mouse compition just as rl is internationally...all those countries that supposdly have rep sides in rl are aussies and poms with decendants from these countries...it is no more prestige playing for Aus in rl than it is international rules..AFL is also number one in little nation Nauru...
10k for lions tv ratings I find that very hard to believe that is lower than attendences..you probably got that from the daily telegraph the same paper that printed the nrl final outrated the AFL one and you probably still believe that..this paper has got to be the one that has the most appearances on media watch...
Read my posts I never said AFL was bigger than rl in QLD I have only suggested it is bigger than sydneysiders claim it is..AFL is more advanced in QLD than it is in most of NSW
Also the new stadium the storm use was built for the demands of the A-League team the storm were simply in the right place at the right time..you wanna talk about giving other codes a chance just look at most rl followers who dont watch anything else and hate football without giving it real go!!!
Comment by Annon
I just tried to cross what's been going on between 2009 vs 2010 AFL/NRL ratings.
It's seriously messed up ahah.
This year they've added..
Fox ratings, Free-to-air, this set top box/hi-def chanels, but only within massive citys, can you believe that? Being somewhat in a country area myself, i am offended.
As for your question about where i get my stats.
NRL.com, AFL.com, talkingfooty.com, and various newspapers, not articals.
Why? because all of them are lisenced by the two codes to give stats, insuring they are correct or they can get sued.
It's too hard to start a ratings debate.
AFL has more games played, more areas, blah blah blah!
NBUT, GENTLEMAN!
NRL is now being played on teh television in S.A, W.A and VIC!
RD one had 6, 000 viewers in perth and adelaide a peice and melbourne had 20,000
(the fox ratings aren't included for nrl :c )
those games are played after midnight, (bving a victorian now, i was up until 5am wacthing the games yesterday, lol'd when jarrad hayne headbutted billy slater and billy punched him and then it all went off ahahha)
but that's good, it's getting it's props
That was this weekends game, and melbourne ratings are "TBA' (BULLSHGITTTT!)
adelaide 7, 000 and perth 17, 000
so their ratings sure are picking up for like half a year later!
AFL brisbaneeeeeeee
Man, look it up, they really do only hit between 10-12, 000 views, highest is 85, 000 and lowest is 1, 000 (NAB CUP, so who cares)
Member the hawks at NAB in tassie? ahaha it looked soooo odd it was like, where is the crowd? O_O
UMMMM, SUPERLEAGUE!
I WAS NOT INCORRECT! 100, 000 FANS AT THE GAME, but i was looking at soccer HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!
but all the same lads, all in the detailsss!
heres somthing you guys will like
NRL ratings are up in melbourne, perth and adelaide
AFL ratings are up in sydney and brisbane
It's liek, switching places ahahahaha.
Cazalys Club in Cairns or Southport Sharks., never heard of them, ever, is one a bar and one like, the junior cronulla team?
None of us give eachothers codes a go, wer're loyal and passionate,,regardless of figures and stats we stand by our codes and teams, and that why australia is great. Face to face we'd probalby forget stats and throw windmill punches. we no l0onger hae the ashes, so atleast these two codes we can rightfully say "we are sustralia, and we will kick the shit out of you on the scoreboard!"
I just bought a wicked pair of attack attack shoes on line, BRILLIANT!
Truthhhh be told, i'd be dissapointed if either codes went out, i put on the AFL yesterday over a moive, damn chick flicks, answer me thjis, will any of us EVER get the cxhance to do a slow walk away? you know the one i mean, you pull like a one liner and slowly walk away with sad music playing, dammmint@
bahaha, i work at a bar fellllow gentleman, andmy boss said if he put me on an extra three hours he'd let me choose betwen pay and a slab of jimmy, i went with the latter!
ahh, AAMI statium, incoorect lad, it was built for the melbourne rebels, the new union team. new dude is also a melbourne storm fan and let tghem use it too. soccer was at the right place at the right time
i had a really good joke to telll you and ai just forget it :c
an aussie point, i am too scared to go to nbed, my fiance hods it against me for weeks if i get held back late and crawl intobed at an early hour, thats horrible right?!
OH SPORT!
kay, in sumary, NRL will always be around and so will AFL, neither is going anywhere, this i s an unwinnable war
Oddly, AFL and NRL ratings are both up by about 100k a year ontop of last yearr. maybe immagrants or somthing or yeah.
PEACE OUT HOME-DIDDLYS!
Comment by Hawkboy
Comment by Annon
Well, regardless of anything, both sports are really getting more people behind them. Hey, maybe one day we'll just play them all live and we can flick between ads and halftime to watch them both. I still think AFL is gayFL but there are DEFINATLY worse things to watch, like masterchef and so you think you can dance.
Stats are undenyable and both codes have gotten massively bigger, NRL RD 1 was up 400k on last year and AFL was around the same, attendance and membership too. Whoever mentioned Gaelic footy is a genius, that game is like, amazing, it's boxing, AFL, soccer and RL all mixed into one.
Also, i must add it's amazing that people can debate on a forum without steeping to questioning ones sexuality and immature insults. sall in good fun!
My step dad is a massive hawthorn fan and the rest of my family comes from QLD, so the good old' AFL/NRL debate runs through my veins. I'm in desperate need of cigarettes and maccas brekky, have a good one ladskies.
Comment by Aussie Patriot
Well AAMI park is sorta right on both accounts..I looked it up in more detail..the vic gov confirmed it should be made after loosing the bid for the last super rugby franchise to perth because the stadium was one of the deciding factors...it was originally gonna be a 20k stadium but the Victory would not be a tennant unless it was at least a 30k ground cause they get over 20k average since 2006. So the storm is the only freeloader at the moment...as for the new Melbourne Heart team well we will find out in due time
Comment by Aide
Comment by Anonymous
Goldcoast afl will need constant interstate funding. 4 rl teams failed in gc, brisbane teams played there once or twice there was more ppl on the field than in the stands.an afl teams got no chance. But afl will probably bail it out annually to save face.and tell everyone in Vic that qlders love afl. Laughed my ass off @ 35000 ppl in south africa play afl. i never knew there was so many vic's ova there.
Comment by Hawkboy
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I live in Adelaide and it's crazy over here; we love our footy. Western Australia is just the same. Both states average 38,000 per week.
Now, about Isreal Folau and Karmichael Hunt. They aren't getting paid 4 million for skill and knowledge of our game. The AFL are using them for public relations and as a lure to get bums on seat's and guess what, they did it!
They converted. And the game will continue to grow. Now, granted; there are a few stadiums in the NRL that seat about 25,000.
But you have a fantastic facility called ANZ stadium that no one goes to. I remember flicking through the channels at 2.30 in the morning and on came an NRL game. It looked empty. So I looked up the crowd figures on the internet. I think it was about 14,500. In an 80-85,000 seat stadium.
But outside the State of Origin games, who has drawn the biggest crowd at ANZ Stadium this year? The Sydney Swans vs Collingwood with about 45,000. They've had two other game's there with around 35,000 and they host a final at ANZ Stadium next week which will pack to near capacity.
I can't be bothered typing much else at the moment, but you rugby league fans should just give it up. This isn't even a debate. A debate is a formal dicussion with two comparable topics, and this is a no brainer. Rugby League doesn't come close to the AFL. Australian Football has been; and always will be, the biggest game in the country.
Rugby League fans are in denial.
So much so, that I feel sorry for them and the outlook for the future of their code.
All the best.
Comment by Anonymous
Does the name"Ian Roberts" ring a bell to any supporters of that poor excuse for a suburban passtime called nrl ?
Last I checked AFL players dont go around fingerfucking their opposition either.
Also , I find it hilarious the sydneysiders here refer to the AFL the way they do.....Forget you reside in the GAY capital of Australia,did you? LOL
Comment by Aussie Patriot
also the reason nrl cant buy afl players is because they cant afford it plain and simple! As nrl superstar gi says the AFL is 30,25 years ahead of the nrl. Want proof..why cant nrl clubs buy union players either? they cant afford it...
and yes that hoppawatti guy shows which sport is for homos fuckin poofters!!!!
Comment by Anonymous
2)To all those AFL people who keep saying their game is the best. I say good, then you dont need me do you?
3) Majority of league followers dont want teams based in Adelaide, Perth or Melbourne anyway. They are not "grassroot" RL areas and they dont deserve to be part of our comp.
4)Storm was manufactured from no base, by News LTD . They are cheats like their owners and should be kicked out of the comp . No one watches them anyway.
5)Swans games are mainly attended by ex Melbournians and little old ladies who got nothing better to do on a Saturday arvo.
6) Where the hell is Fremantle or Colingwood? But then again who cares? Dragons v Roosters YEAHHHH
7) Up here, news papers and stations are starting to shove it down our throats. Now they are reporting; "over the top" AFL award nights, grand final street marches and badly behaved players. That's why I boycott Ch7 and Ch10 news programs.
Comment by Hawkboy
Comment by Anonymous
Former Sydney Swans player Peter Filandia has been suspended for 10 matches after being found guilty of biting the testicle of an opponent.
This incident was overshadowed by the hopoate episode but goes to show how selective the afl supporters memories can be, as a side note filandias explanation was" I felt something in my mouth so I bit down"== total gayness.
In more recent times we saw 4 afl players in three rounds reported for " hair pulling" midway through the 2010 season , I think this
is a result of the increase in gayness of Aussie rules caused by the ever softening rules.
I grew up in wagga wagga and moved to Melbourne in 1999 , I have since managed to convert quite a few Victorians to rugby league mainly by explaining the rules to them so they can make an informed decision, my wife , born on the Morninhton peninsula, now hates afl even more passionately then I do, she didn't even watch the grand final despite growing up as a collingwoid supporter.
I now realize after 12 tears of arguing with Victorians over which sport is better that their is no pointin comparing them anymore as one is a full contact sport(rl) and the other is a rough game of touch(afl) , it's like trying to compare soccer to union or tennis to grid iron, theirs just no point
Comment by Hawkboy
Comment by Anonymous
AFL wants to destroy our unique sporting traditions up here and replace it with something thats totally foreign to us.
RL will survived because it is the truest of sports.We are like the cockroach. Small, resilient and able to survive any onslaught. The Nazis French Rugby Union , AFL# early 1900s#, English soccer and union all failed to kill league.
So watch AFL , Western Sydney will be your Vietnam
Comment by Hawkboy
Comment by Anonymous
Because these supporters come from oppressed societies, they tend to relate to League which has also been persecuted by rich and powerful forces. For its supporters, league embodies the qualities of struggle, toughness, endeavour and courage. As well as skill and athletism
THe problem with AFL coming to Sydney and for that matter NRL going to Melbourne or Perth is that eventually it will lead to a fragmentation of fan support which will have serious consequences on the popularity of all football. Victoria up to now has only had one code of football and that is probably why it pulls the crowds. It has been this cohesive support in one code of football. But as soon as you bring in another code running a competition in parallel then your neigbour may not bother to discuss football with you because your dont follow the same code he follows....know what I mean? This the problem Sydney and Brisbane have had for 100years...too many sports.
Comment by Aussie Patriot
also Melbourne have had association football in their city for some time now..do teams like South Melbourne ring a bell? MV is now the cities second team with MH still to find their way but only time will tell how this goes.
As for the Rebels I predict they will be a success as there is a big nz community.
The AFL is not out to destroy other sports..it doesnt need to the way some of them are run. The AFL only cares about its product and doesnt care what the others do. With the nrl on the other hand ive simply lost count how many times they compare themselves to the other. They give AFL publicity. Phil Rothfield rl journo shit one at that last year trumpeted the RL gf outrated the AR one which was wrong. This made the nrl types look completly stupid and doesnt help them. M. Searle wanker always brings the AFL up in his speeches. Why do that?
Comment by Anonymous
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Why would most people elsewhere, care about Colingwood anyway? I've never been there and got no idea where it is.
You guys are so self centred.
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How would you like it if we started doing shit like that to you down there,
Comment by Aussie Patriot
As for the supposed old farts who follow ar in qld go have a look for yourself it is actually the old farts who still follow rl.
and yes vegimite has lost its Aussie appeal. just not as much as holden which lost it decades ago
Comment by Hawkboy
Comment by Aussie Patriot
however in regards to the WC which is the biggest sporting event this planet has to offer i think that the ffa has gone about it the wrong way..i blame a lot of footballs errors on ben buckley who is not a j.o'neil, he would have got the job done properly. They stupidly tried to claim the hq of the AFL as a venue without consulting them first..they should have simply gone for the upgrade of Melbournes rectangular stadium instead..it would be a much better venue anyway..but i do hope Australia gets this event because the entire global focus will be on our great nation for that one month..tourism will boom stadiums will get upgraded etc..everytime Australia hosts a global event they are always if not the best definatly one of. this is one event that we should not lose! go Aussie!!!!
Comment by Kiwi
Nobody in NZ knows anything about Aussie Rules, it gets about 1 minute on the sports news every year after the grand final when the sports commentator will mention two teams you have never heard of and show men jumping around in gripper shorts and singlets.
AFL not played really at all in other countries and is really not very big in QLD and NSW. Considering the fact that more and more of Australia's population (23% currently) is coming from immigration, i'd imagine that in the future soccer (unfortunately well over a billion people watched the WC final) will become the nations biggest football code, followed by rugby union and league.
The domestic Grand final is as big as it gets in AFL, at least in League there is State of Origin and a World Cup. Rugby Union is by far the most popular egg shaped ball game in the world.
Comment by AFL USA
mate, u new zelanders have to keep to ya selves.
and for all u nrl surpporters, just give up ok. the afl arent out to get you or steal your supporters. just want to introduce people to another game and they can choose for themselves. and obviously more and more are switching to AFL face the facts. AFL will always be the dominate sport of this country.
and how can you call nrl a national game when its only played in 3 states?????
and for all you people who say afl isnt international well....think again. i lived in usa for 12 years and helped establish a league there. weve gone from just 8 blokes to now over 5000 in less then 10 years.
im not saying afl is better then nrl. jst saying the fact, nrl has no chance.
Comment by Aussie Patriot
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Comment by Anonymous
Their very existence will come under threat when they will need to reinvent themselves and inevitably realise that their position in world sport is of a "boutique" nature very much like Rugby League.
Comment by Hawkboy
Comment by Anonymous
Screw international competition. No one cares about it in this scenario. The NFL in the United States is massive and it's the only country where the sport is played professionally. Just like Australian Football in Australia.
Crowd figures: 2010
AFL-7.1 million people (37,500 per match#
NRL-3.5 million people #17,000 per match#
Participation:
Australian Football- 675,000 #150,000 adults#
Rugby League- 417,000 #46,000 adults#
Membership Average:
AFL: 34,500
NRL:8,500
No, these satistics are actually correct.
My god! Really?! Are we that incompetent we can't support our own team?! #good impersonation)
Yes, you ARE that incompetent!
Australian Football is the biggest. By a country mile.
I hope that settles it.
Of course it won't, because Rugby League fans can't accept their shit hole sport played between not-so-important "athletes" gets crapped on year in and year out by everyone in this great country.
Stats don't lie.
Have a good one, all.
Comment by Aussie Patriot
Comment by Anonymous
AFL has had it easy up till now but wait till they face the big bad world out there.
Comment by Anonymous
AFL has had it easy up till now but wait till they face the big bad world out there.
Comment by Anonymous
AFL has had it easy up till now but wait till they face the big bad world out there.
Comment by Anonymous
AFL has had it easy up till now but wait till they face the big bad world out there.
Comment by Anonymous
NRL - Jessica Malboy with a recording of Snoop dogg being played over LOOOOOL
AFL - INXS for the draw, Lionel Richie for the second grand final.
NRL like the aleague is dieng, its a shit sport. Look at the crowds for sydney swans, they average bigger then nearly all the NRL teams.
So even your dominate states (sydney, queensland) are turning to AFL.
I have a feeling that in 15 years nobody will know wtf 'NRL' is.
STATS DONT LIE MOTHERFUCKERS
Comment by Anonymous
As for GWS I joined a group today on facebook called "Why are they making a new gAy-FL team in Sydney? We already have Mardi Gra!" I mean with this new attack on nrl in sydney... it's only making me become a better nrl supporter i went out and bought 30 season tickets today for me and my mates. And I'm not the only one responding in this way. If anything this is becoming a good thing for nrl. Were not going to sit there and watch the rich barstards try and ruin our game you greedy faggots!
Comment by Aussie Patriot
second of all sport is a business with yours living just above the poverty line...the AFL GF had this rule written long before you were even born in case you hadnt noticed draws are an extreme rarerity in ar...take your rl SOO which btw was yet another concept stolen from ar..the same two teams year in year out.. who will be in next years rl SOO finals.take a wild guess??? talk about ripping off fans...
thirdly wasnt that shit about an rl IC meant to be up and running by now hahaha just shows what type of class follow that joke of a sport..the type with 3 front teeth and can only count to 10 with their hands or bare feet (for the ones that were fortunate enough not be as deformed as the rest).
also this is Australia its ARSE NOT ASS YOU TWAT!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Convert
Comment by Levi
1. If you have the ball, try not to drop and and kick it to a bloke who has some space.
2. If you dont have the ball, constantly touch and shove the guy next to you like a homo in an attempt to make space. Then try to catch the ball, but drop it 95% of the time. Spend the next 10 minutes trying along with 12 other homos to pick up the ball but failing spectacularly.
RL has bombs, line drop outs, 40-20's, grubbers, chips, cut-out passes, dummy half runs, strips, overlaps, chargedowns, and a plethora of other tactics too numerous to mention here.
Unfortunately for AFL fan boys out there, RL requires greater intelligence, strength, fitness, skills, and mental toughness than any AFL player can hope to conjure, which is why they don't play rugby league. It would simply be too hard for their mummies to watch their little fag boys get smashed into oblivion.
This debate will go on for as long as the sun rises (or until the chinese take over, at which point we will be playing whatever it is they play) and each will remain to their own i suppose. RL will continue to be played by men and AFL will be played be homo-repressed mummies boys.
Comment by HLIPS
Comment by Anonymous
So if rl require so much intelligence then how come those who run it (most former rl players) are so retarted?
Which sport had a bloke fingering other blokes arseholes?
AFL players wont go to nrl simply cause the nrl cant afford them. The highest earner in the AFL earns about 4 times as much as the highest earners of nrl (Shows yet again where the intelligence is; organising salaries and not losing star players).
So yes your sport is the one for the homosexuals. POOFTERS!!!
Oh and btw the Chinese wont take over Australia. She will be long conquerd by the yanks before then.
Comment by Levi
HAHA wow you guys actually bounce the ball while running. Even basketball players can do that. What a retarded game. Is it ping pong, basketball, football or soccer? Kind of a faggish mix between the lot. AFL is just a sport to keep cricket players fit in the off season, thats how it started wasnt it? and they are still bigger homos than michael clarke. Simple fact is league is just a better game, plain and simple, regardless who plays it.
And while AFL players do earn more than NRL players does that make them heros? Is Ralph Norris the CEO of commonwealth bank more awesome simply because he earns more money than the CEO of hmmm the AFL? haha no only fags talk in terms of pure monetary value. Truth is AFL players are too gay, weak and unskilled to ever make it in rugby league, i doubt they could even handle touch rugby, too rough for the little pussies.
You can keep going on about hoppa all you like, everyone thinks hes a wanker, not just AFL fan boys. Thing is i'd like to see you or any AFL player for that matter call him a fag to his face. He would break your skull like the thin wafer of shit it is.
You homo's can stay in victoria, the cold bleak overpopulated miserable shithole that it is. I'll stick to QLD with its sandy beaches, coral reefs, climate and everything else that makes it better than AFL territory. Oh and before you call QLD shit, why is it that half of you victorian fags live up here. And you bring your bullshit game with you. Very symptomatic of how much of an inferiority complex you have, Andrew Demetriou confirmed that with his little homo erotic speech he gave about never wanting AFL to be second best. Poor buggers, it must be hard being so insecure and lame that your sport is a regional shitbox of a pursuit with no international following.
Enjoy your shit heap losers
Comment by hawkboy
Comment by Levi
Lived in three Australian states and worked in all of them, worked in Africa and Europe too so keep your generalisations to your self. The valley is for fuckwits no doubt, but its far less populated with poser faggots than lygon street or kings cross wouldnt you agree? If you are so well travelled theres no denying QLD shits on the rest of the country in terms of liveability. And with a better state comes a better game. That's why all the losers from Vic move up to the Gold Coast hey, or did you forget that little point? If you will scroll back a few comments i think you will find your AFL mates are the homo-repressed ones. Then again I was always told you shouldn't argue with an idiot because they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience, which is exactly what is happening now.
If you think that running around handballing and kicking the ball like some giant game of force-and-backs is entertaining then i would assume you have the mental capacity of an 8 year old. Even the biggest rugby thug can boast a level of development greater than that. If you want to talk thugs lets talk Barry Hall. The big hero smacks people in the head when they're not looking as if he is some kind of big hero, then goes on TV, a grown man crying about his "problems" like a little boy who's just been yelled at by the head master. And after all that the pussy was still one of the most popular players going around. Goes to show a lot about the mindset of AFL supporters, just dog acts and posturing but crack when you're under any real pressure.
The floods are great mate long overdue water although being a Melbourne-loving latte-sipper you couldn't care less for the rest of the countrys problems could you. Have fun in your ethnically divided, overcrowded, poorly planned shit box of a city where kids minding their own business get stabbed and smacked with meat cleavers by asian gangs (i assume you read the news from time to time). Your main attraction is a dying river and the best thing you have to look forward to each summer is raging bushfires killing the dumbarses too slow to leave their houses. Probably too busy sitting at the computer pulling themselves with their mates telling each other how good AFL is and how pretty they think nick riewoldt the rock spider is.
In summary buddy, as i have said before, you play an inferior game that is truly an embarrasment to Australia, even more so because it was invented here. All the money in the world can only buy you so much popularity, but because it is such a flawed concept of a game it will get to the point where it will be like trying to push shit uphill with a stick. Some people might be dumb enough to watch it but not everyone fortunately. The intelligent ones moved north a long time ago.
Cheers,
Comment by hawkboy
Comment by Aussie Patriot
Oh yes and ar was made for cricketers to keep fit. Good work you know some facts can you count to 10 without your fingers or toes?
What about rl wasnt it made because the peasents that couldnt afford to play the real rugby had to make their own shit up. Fact is it is a peasants game. Make sense simple minded types play and follow it.
XXXX beer isnt even qld anymore it is owned by foreigners.
There is a massive difference between bouncing a spherical ball and an oval ball you twat. Dont even bother making that comparison.
Keep saying all you want about why ar players wont play rl but it has been mentioned by someone with a brain. Your just in denial. Seriously why would you change jobs to get paid less and get treated like shit by your employers. Back to your comparison so you this doesnt hurt your brain too much. Why would Ralph N go be the ceo of the AFL? It doesnt make sense. The only kind who go to the nrl are those juniors who nobody wants or the old folk whos careers are washed up.
Truth is rl is for homos the players speak for themselves!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Levi
And its funny that even in Rugby League's "dying" days it is still at least as popular nationally as AFL. The first state of origin game routinely smashes the AFL grand final in TV ratings, and thats only the first game, ratings are always bigger in the 2nd and 3rd games. Hawkboy, adding together the population of Tasmania, SA, WA, and NT still doesnt even account for QLD's population, so your argument is yet again retarded. All your argument states is that people in the backwater states like AFL. As for Gordon Tallis, at least it was a one on one fight with no sneaky bullshit. Barry Hall is a king hitting dog act. Soccer is an immensely tougher game than AFL by any standard, even with all the faking.
Tree trunk legs? cant tell the different between fat and muscle hey dip shit? You need that muscle to change direction and accelerate quickly, as well as attempt to tackle the bloke in front of you. When i say tackle i mean real tackle, not wrap him up from behind trying to touch his arse, and then whoops, ball goes loose and everyone and their dog is chasing it like headless chooks. Or an under 6's game of bullrush. Yet again no skill required. Drop, handball, kick, catch is the extent of the skills required to play your inferior game, those skills having been developed by the age of about 6.
Funny you take your statistics from an obviously biased website. One only has to scroll back through the posts on this forum to counter your inept arguments. Interesting to note that Rugby League is growing quicker in Victoria than AFL is in the northern states. I thought you guys were all "Aussie Patriots" who would never betray AFL. haha you make me laugh. The storm cheated the salary cap and they are still making inroads into your precious home territory. GWS and Gold Coast are destined to fail, a massive publicity stunt that relies on the talent and fame of NRL players to get them off the ground. Folau is laughing all the way to the bank. Gets paid more than most AFL players could ever dream of and has never kicked a sherrin in his life. Goes to show you the superior talent and athleticism that goes into NRL players. You can argue the point all you like but it wont make what you believe true.
Now look i know you guys are a bit tender that when you travel overseas people refer to Aussie Rules as that "faggish little game that no one cares for" but hey it will be ok. Never mind that AFL is not played professionally in any other country despite the 100-odd years it has had to secure dominance in its own conutry, which it has still not managed to do despite all the money and positive media coverage invested. You guys carry on about who cares if RL is played professionally in PNG, NZ, Great Britain and France. Thats still 4 more nations than you can hope to achieve. Not to mention countries where it is and always will be more popular e.g. Samoa, Tonga, Lebanon, South Africa the list goes on. Even the USA has more respect for Rugby League than the AFL. Their football players wear armor but still think your game is for pussies.
I know you fellas will comes back with some lame replies to this post but its probably just time to concede you are beaten.
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Aussie Patriot
If you know how to scroll up on the page go up and I give you all the info about how rl is not an international game!!!!!!!! You say France plays it..they are english and aussies with French decent from 5 gens before who have never set foot in the country and know no French!!!!!!!!
AR is the number one game in Nauru (who i assume you know is a country otherwise you would not have made such stupid comments about AR being a one nation game) i go on to say. My point is playing international rl is no more prestige than playing international rules. They are both mickey mouse on the global scale.
Another wrong statment you make..the AFL GF was one of the most watched sporting event of 2010 with over 1mill more views than SOO. SOO (a concept introduced by ar and copied by rl) only had 2.5mil.
What your mixed up with is pay tv ratings. Yes pay tv ratings trounce that of the AFL. What this shows is a) rl should be taken off FTA and shown only on paytv or b)it should be completly owned by News Corp. Maybe they might have a some chance.
Swans crowds ~30k tv ratings have declined but still far ahead of rl in melbourne
Storm crowds ~15 if lucky!!!
Qld considerably bigger than nsw in AR.
GC will be a success..GWS looks very shaky. Which brings me to my other point. KH was identified as a junior talent when he played. IF is squarly promotional purposes. Massive difference. In IFs case i think it was a mistake. However as the league steadily increases the cap more and more players will be on this type of coin. So no its not only a dream.
If ya cant admit many rl players are fat than what chance in the world do you have at life.
Like i said before rl is for those who cant play the real rugby!!!!!!!!
Oh and in the yanks case. Many of them know what AR is despite not taking much interest. They have no idea in hell what rl is. They do know of rugby. Hell even the ones Iv met in Qld think rl is the same as rugby thats how much of a joke it is.
Does the truth really hurt you that much that you have to make up that much bullshit for yourself to believe?
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Anonymous
A couple of gorillas running into each other of a bunch of seagulls fighting over a chip.
Comment by Anoymous
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Comment by Anonymous 321
Oh yeah Im from Sydney, 8P
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Comment by Aussie Patriot
And to the idiot who posted "SO MUCH BAD GRAMMER" this is a forums page for opinion not a sight for academic journals. Dickhead!!
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Comment by Anonymous
I really hope Nrl grows in the years to come, but seriously I think guys we've lost the good fight. Afl just seems to strong now to ever come back against.
Doeh!!!!
Comment by Go Western Bulldogs
Comment by Anonymous
I enjoy AFL but im not a massive footy fan i prefer surfing. I don't mind putting a bet on NRL but too me i havent grown up with it and i personally think its kinda boring after a while. Also im tall and skinny not like the NRL players who could eat me in one. So i dont see the point of watching something when you know your shit at it.
Comment by b2ee
Honestly, after I watched many games of NRL and AFL. I love AFL much more than NRL. From my personal view, AFL is more entertaining and skillful. For the guys playing in NRL, they looks too strong and tough which let me think the game is far away from my own physiques. And in personalities, the guys in AFL is more like our normal people and looks much smarter in mind than NRL players who looks rather having much more stronger body. There are a lot more unexpected turns in AFL game, but NRL looks a little boring.
Some NRL guys say AFL is gayfl. The call looks very funny and how those guys make mind like this. As a migrant, I can't see any clue about gay. Both of NRL and AFL are very man. I'm more interested about those parents' personalities and their culture orientation.
Comment by Carn The Blues (carlton)
The reason the VIcs are worrying them is because the culture. Sydney lacks major sporting events and since the very successful Olympics (2000) there has been an obvious decline in its importance.
All the big sporting events are dominated by Victoria. Why? because Victoria appreciates them.
-F1 Grand Prix
-Australia Open (Tennis)
-Masters
-Galaxy vs Melbourne Victory (december)
-Boxing Day Test
-Commonwealth Games
-World road cycling championships in Geelong
-MotoGP (philip island)
We even regularly host a state of origin for rugby.
On top of this we support a successful NRL team (who are ostracized by the rest of the NRL), 2 soccer teams, with the Victory sporting 15000 people at each game.
What needs to happen is for Sydney to get back their sporting culture. (The Olympics were the best of all time, so whats happened since then?). When this happens, we will hopefully see more people heading to games and less reliance on pokies.
In terms of AFL not having the history of the NFL, remember that the AFL is the oldest form of formalised football in the world and is a direct descendant of the aboriginal game Marngrook making it possibly thousands of years old. Yet it still continues to evolve. League must adopt this mentality, it must become more adaptive to the needs of its followers. If it does not it will become old hat and a second tier sport.
There is plenty of room for AFL and NRL in australia but NRL has to stop being so inflexible and ignorant to the current market.
-The first step should be to completely revamp its footy show. The boys have done a great job, now its time to step aside and blood it with new faces.
-Then the NRL needs to address its salary cap issues
-Then it needs to address the people at the matches. Get the excitement back in the stadiums. Sure you can open up TV rights but if you can't protect your patronage then the code will suffer.
-Lastly the NRL needs to focus on building a a code for the current and future supporters.
Comment by Carn The Blues (carlton)
Its because its so cheap there. Most people from Vic ans NSW are thinking about making Queensland get their own currency. You could peg it with the Paso. We will get 600 Queensland Paso's to the Aussie dollar.
The reason we move up there is to buy your cheap ass land, steal your women, pillage your resources and dump our senile and elderly.
To be honest your tourism is screwed, your last election had both warrick cappa and pauline hanson as candidates, your state is filled with old people and without the natural resource sector we would have to send you relief like east timour.
Comment by Anonymous