the NRL is a dead man walking

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Wolfmother

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Crowds are going down , i mean only 7,100 fans on a friday night for souths v titans not to mention only 4,000 for the 6pm match betwen sea eagles n knights.

Junior football clubs are getting smaller and smaller every year
This year most clubs have only one division per age group as opposed to the previous years where 3 was the norm.

Another huge sign that the NRL is dying is the talk about whether or not the stadium will get the crowds for soo2 on Wednesday night .That was unheard of say 3 years ago.

Whats happened to the greatest game of all?
 

Wolfmother

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I guess it's a combination of a couple of things:

- Bad marketing
- Bad stadium entertainment
- Constant change of rules
- Inconsistent refs
- Overpriced tickets
I think its bad marketing tbh. Whatever happened to the footy cards in the chip packets that was the best marketing ploy of all time.
 

diddly

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Its too expensive - tickets, transport/parking, food and when watching in big stadiums just too far away from the field. As long as TV ratings are up ( I dont know if they are or not) I doubt they'll change anything. The souths titans game was one of the worst first grade games I have seen in many years. The Saturday games - Sharks/Tigers and Storm/Cowboys were great games to watch.
 

Heckler

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It's fast becoming the WWE of the codes. Predictable BS penalties. Make up rules as you go along. Blow penalties that haven't been applied since 1917. Taking away home games to Timbuktoo. Changing jerseys every half. Listening to TV commentary that resembles AM talk shows. Picking 18 year olds to represent great club’s from Mickey Mouse 20s competitions. Giving out million dollar contracts to niff nuffs. Ringing bells before Grand Finals. Not being able to recite the NRL promotional campaign because there isn't one. Allowing bitches to fall down and dive because they got nicked by a breeze when they let in a try. Gambling. Beanie days. Ribbon days. Wrist ban days. Extra time. KFC. Tony Archer. Please add.
 

Wolfmother

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It's fast becoming the WWE of the codes. Predictable BS penalties. Make up rules as you go along. Blow penalties that haven't been applied since 1917. Taking away home games to Timbuktoo. Changing jerseys every half. Listening to TV commentary that resembles AM talk shows. Picking 18 year olds to represent great club’s from Mickey Mouse 20s competitions. Giving out million dollar contracts to niff nuffs. Ringing bells before Grand Finals. Not being able to recite the NRL promotional campaign because there isn't one. Allowing bitches to fall down and dive because they got nicked by a breeze when they let in a try. Gambling. Beanie days. Ribbon days. Wrist ban days. Extra time. KFC. Tony Archer. Please add.
Less is more
 

Delta

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I think its bad marketing tbh. Whatever happened to the footy cards in the chip packets that was the best marketing ploy of all time.
That got me into League. Remember pulling my first in 2008 as an 8 year old, it was a Tony Puletua Panthers Modern Legend.
 

Wolfmother

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That got me into League. Remember pulling my first in 2008 as an 8 year old, it was a Tony Puletua Panthers Modern Legend.
Yeah pretty much . ive heard that type of story many times ..
the nrl have lost touch with reality and couldn't give a shit about future fans it seems.
 
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south of heaven

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That got me into League. Remember pulling my first in 2008 as an 8 year old, it was a Tony Puletua Panthers Modern Legend.
Fuck you just made me feel old lol, i remember the old coner shop near my school where we used to buy the cards before school around 84 with a 10c mixed bag of lollies haha
 

Alan79

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So many reasons for it to fail right now.

From a family perspective.
Ticket food and travel prices are sky high unless you are very well off.
Gambling coverage now teaches kids that it's normal to take a punt on the game. I'd not wasn't my kids learning st a young age that gambling is normal if I had kids.
Scheduling makes it hard for families to attend as well.

From an old timers perspective.
Rule changes mean the game is a lot different and closer to ballet than the hard sport it once was. Coupled with the fact that the salary cap has killed player loyalty, many old timers might despise the lack of player and club loyalty towards players.

From those who focus o on fairness it seems quite obvious that referees are one sided. Most games will see one team amidst anyways penalised into fatigue really in with a late square up of the penalty count late in most games when they're beyond winning.

Shit grounds also make it less enticing to see live at the game. When I was a kid it was a tribal affair with great home grounds like Belmore being fortresses. Now you could take a shit on a seat at some home games and the closest fan to you would be too far away to notice. So basically the atmosphere at home games isn't there anymore if you aren't in a designated fan zone like the kennel.

I've touched on scheduling, but really it's fine now to fit the profitability of rich broadcasters. Foxtel would see huge benefits in having a Thursday or Monday game where people can watch from home and improve their ratings, but most people will balk at writing a full day then going out before having to work again the next day. So again crowds aren't going to be high.

I could go on about reasons.
 

Oatley Dog

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All this negativity yet you missed one really important statistic. This week we exceeded the record for paid up members of NRL clubs. We now have over 300,000 members across the 16 teams. When you consider that probably a decade ago it was little more than 100,000 that is a huge lift in people who actually pay to go to the game. So despite all the doom and gloom that pervades this site things aren't really all that bad. When you consider every game is televised live rather than just a selection like other sports that is a great effort. No doubt the 6pm Friday game isn't working as well as it could and the weather has been less than perfect and that impacts on attendances. The other thing that is often overlooked is the teams that attract crowds in Sydney. Parra, Dogs, Souths are the top 3 Sydney sides for attendances and all of them are struggling this year. When they are going well the crowd numbers go up dramatically.
 

Mr Invisible

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Any notice a direct correlation between the demise of the NRL fanbases, and the introduction of not only betting partners but betting sponsors in the game? Think about it.

Souths vs Titans - Souths without Burgarse, Titans with a Qld Cup side. Friday night, freezing cold. No thanks.
Manly vs Knights - Friday 6pm most people are still on way home from work. At Manly, so Knights fans won't make the game unless they didn't work. Freezing cold.
Tigers vs Sharks - Middle of winter and fucking freezing at 6pm, even worse at Southern Cross Group Stadium which is right on the bay. Windy and cold as fuck.

Add in dodgy refs and blatant "sculpting" of games for a favourable outcome.
Add in teams exhorbinant salary caps being overlooked.
Add in food and drink and ticket prices ..
 

Trafford10

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Crowds are going down , i mean only 7,100 fans on a friday night for souths v titans not to mention only 4,000 for the 6pm match betwen sea eagles n knights.

Junior football clubs are getting smaller and smaller every year
This year most clubs have only one division per age group as opposed to the previous years where 3 was the norm.

Another huge sign that the NRL is dying is the talk about whether or not the stadium will get the crowds for soo2 on Wednesday night .That was unheard of say 3 years ago.

Whats happened to the greatest game of all?
Whenever Canterbury play in Melbourne, I go with a Friend who is also a dogs fan along with my son and/or dad.

Also I usually get to Sydney for 1 to 3 games per season.

For me the two biggest issues are:-

1. The pathetic refereeing. Far to often their incorrect calling is deciding the outcome of a match. Don't we bulldogs fans know that!

2 the massive dickhead factor in Rugby League. Perfectly illustrated by the channel 9 commentary team!!!
If you go to and AFL match in Melbourne almost 50% of the crowd are women.
And belive me l, the price of food, transport & tickets is no different to Sydney.
 
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Alan79

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All this negativity yet you missed one really important statistic. This week we exceeded the record for paid up members of NRL clubs. We now have over 300,000 members across the 16 teams. When you consider that probably a decade ago it was little more than 100,000 that is a huge lift in people who actually pay to go to the game. So despite all the doom and gloom that pervades this site things aren't really all that bad. When you consider every game is televised live rather than just a selection like other sports that is a great effort. No doubt the 6pm Friday game isn't working as well as it could and the weather has been less than perfect and that impacts on attendances. The other thing that is often overlooked is the teams that attract crowds in Sydney. Parra, Dogs, Souths are the top 3 Sydney sides for attendances and all of them are struggling this year. When they are going well the crowd numbers go up dramatically.
Good points. I still think that the nrl should make it financially feasible for families to attend games. And I think the gambling sponsors aren't a good thing either. Massive conflict of interest to take a share of the gambling agencies profit margin and to my way of thinking it entices the NRL to be open to match fixing. I really think its visible in the refereeing that something isn't quite right.

As far as centralizing the bulk of home games to a neutral venue also removed the tribal aspect and takes away from home ground advantages which used to once shape the game.

Regardless of all the issues I still can't abandon my team. It just pisses me off that the NRL seem to focus less on fans these days.
 
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Wolfmother

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Whenever Canterbury play in Melbourne, I go with a Friend who is also a dogs fan along with my son and/or dad.

Also I usually get to Sydney for 1 to 3 games per season.

For me the two biggest issues are:-

1. The pathetic refereeing. Far to often their incorrect calling is deciding the outcome of a match. Don't we bulldogs fans know that!

2 the massive dickhead factor in Rugby League. Perfectly illustrated by the channel 9 commentary team!!!
If you go to and AFL match in Melbourne almost 50% of the crowd are women.
And belive me l, the price of food, transport & tickets is no different to Sydney.
Yeah I don't get why afl pulls in so much of a crowd ,
Is there any betting on afl?
 

south of heaven

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Yeah I don't get why afl pulls in so much of a crowd ,
Is there any betting on afl?
Go down Victoria on a game day near a stadium its fucking insane the amount of people that go to a regular round
 

maroondog72

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Fuck you just made me feel old lol, i remember the old coner shop near my school where we used to buy the cards before school around 84 with a 10c mixed bag of lollies haha
And the 10c bag of lollies was as big as your head
 
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