the NRL is a dead man walking

[Bob dog]

Looks like someone is deliberately trying to scare everyone off, what is the NRL doing to encourage crowd numbers?

 

[Alexander the Great]

Scanlens footy cards. I had Terry Lamb in Wests colours

Did they have the chewing gum i the back of the packet?

 

[Alexander the Great]

Just like the kennel

 

[Mr Invisible]

Doesn't help when you've had to apply for $30 million loans just to pay clubs funding.

 

[Dogzof95]

Super League coming back to a home near you!

 

[Freakzilla]

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.

You need to turn this into the new version of "We didn't start the fire".

 

[blueyedsamurai]

Super League coming back to a home near you!

 

[Rodzilla]

others things are more interesting, like soccer and basketball

i even enjoy an average afl game more than the average nrl game, its really exciting stuff

 

[Heckler]

You need to turn this into the new version of "We didn't start the fire".

 

[Delta]

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.

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

Yes right, the tazos went up till 2011 until they decided to drop the fucking idea and returned in 2013 but put it into tip top bread packets. Like who the fuck wants to buy a loaf of tip top to get one tazo. bag of chips is like 1.50-2. loaf of fucking bread is like 3. No wonder why their marketing is so bad. They changed it because they were concerned of health and shoplifitng lmao.

 

[Stinky Wizzleteats]

I know you can't really compare the NRL to US based sports, as they have a bigger population base to work with.

Their tickets would be more expensive, food would probably be cheaper, they sell FULL STRENGTH FUCKEN BEER AND SPIRITS! and getting tickets to all their sports games is near impossible if you're not a season ticket holder.

FMD, even their college ball games sell out!

 

[NickT]

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.

Yawn. Still not the same product. The packet is empty.
Corporate jargon for just keep smiling, everything's going to be fine.

 

[NickT]

I know you can't really compare the NRL to US based sports, as they have a bigger population base to work with.

Their tickets would be more expensive, food would probably be cheaper, they sell FULL STRENGTH FUCKEN BEER AND SPIRITS! and getting tickets to all their sports games is near impossible if you're not a season ticket holder.

FMD, even their college ball games sell out!

NFL is a huge money making beast.
Players never bitch at the refs.
If they beat the crap out of their missus, abuse drugs, racially/sexually slur another player or walk out on a contract they're gone for good-FOR GOOD.
They have a proper draft. (It's on prime time)
Their finals system is for the best teams only. Not the top half of the comp.
They play 16 games per season.

 

[Dogzof95]

They should do a home and away, each team plays each other twice and like European football, the team on top of the ladder at the end of the year wins the comp! Wont suit Desball, but then again what does?

 

[Oatley Dog]

Yawn. Still not the same product. The packet is empty.
Corporate jargon for just keep smiling, everything's going to be fine.

What does that mean? Are you trying to say you just don't believe the facts no matter what? Is it that you can't see another side to a discussion? Is it just a default position to adopt like F... Des? So 200,000 more people actually paying for memberships is corporate speak? Huh? It's OK to focus on crowds halfway through a season where the NRL has no control over scheduling but it's not OK to look at the underlying drivers of the game? Nowhere have I suggested everything is fine but neither am I falling for the immature henny penny scenario either. Just because a journo with a vested interest in failure and controversy points out an issue doesn't really mean the world is coming to an end.

 

[Oatley Dog]

NFL is a huge money making beast.
Players never bitch at the refs.
If they beat the crap out of their missus, abuse drugs, racially/sexually slur another player or walk out on a contract they're gone for good-FOR GOOD.
They have a proper draft. (It's on prime time)
Their finals system is for the best teams only. Not the top half of the comp.
They play 16 games per season.

You kind of have it right. The refs don't get bitched about because they have time to review every call and overturn the bad ones. We do not have nor would want that facility as it would artificially slow our game even more. Yes they have a great draft. We don't have one because of our ties to junior football whereas the NFL is a single team franchise, privately owned. They also have 132 college teams that feed into the draft we have 16 currently in the U20s. Their finals have 12 teams out of 32. They only play 16 games in the regular season and only each other once because they are split into 2 conferences each with 4 divisions where the divisional winners go directly into the playoff series with the wild cards where they go through 9 playoff games that culminates in the Superbowl.

 

[Oatley Dog]

They should do a home and away, each team plays each other twice and like European football, the team on top of the ladder at the end of the year wins the comp! Wont suit Desball, but then again what does?

We had that in 1938. Was boring then and is boring now. What's the point of having a premier determined 3 or 4 games before the end of the season? So you play well early in the season and then fall over towards the end and are still the best side? Na.

 

[NickT]

You kind of have it right. The refs don't get bitched about because they have time to review every call and overturn the bad ones. We do not have nor would want that facility as it would artificially slow our game even more. Yes they have a great draft. We don't have one because of our ties to junior football whereas the NFL is a single team franchise, privately owned. They also have 132 college teams that feed into the draft we have 16 currently in the U20s. Their finals have 12 teams out of 32. They only play 16 games in the regular season and only each other once because they are split into 2 conferences each with 4 divisions where the divisional winners go directly into the playoff series with the wild cards where they go through 9 playoff games that culminates in the Superbowl.

Not quite. The play clock goes on as soon as the refs place the ball. The coach can review or time out. Only scoring plays are auto reviewed.
Any player bitches at a ref and he's out.
There are controversies on calls but the coaches don't speak about it, the players too show self control. There is a penalty call for taunting. So as a professional you have to act like an upstanding member of the community. Even in the midst of intense competition when a game is in the balance. It's a cultural thing. A culture that is instilled from high school football upwards. They have had commissioners who are qualified corporately but who also and above all care for the health of the game. They have also made adjustments in regard to player safety but have maintained what all football fans are attracted to, and that is physical confrontation and heavy contact.
Now consider the Fafita boys, Barba, SBW, Ferguson, Greg Bird, Gallen-Blokes who not only are able to continue playing club footy but then go on to rep footy. You have Kiwis and Fijians playing SOO and for Australia.
Let's not delude ourselves. The NRL has cheapened the product. It's like hitting Maccas, seeing pictures of great looking burgers. But eating dried out paddy with limp greens on a soggy bun. Yeah I'll fill you up but it won't satisfy.

 

[Oatley Dog]

Not quite. The play clock goes on as soon as the refs place the ball. The coach can review or time out. Only scoring plays are auto reviewed.
Any player bitches at a ref and he's out.
There are controversies on calls but the coaches don't speak about it, the players too show self control. There is a penalty call for taunting. So as a professional you have to act like an upstanding member of the community. Even in the midst of intense competition when a game is in the balance. It's a cultural thing. A culture that is instilled from high school football upwards. They have had commissioners who are qualified corporately but who also and above all care for the health of the game. They have also made adjustments in regard to player safety but have maintained what all football fans are attracted to, and that is physical confrontation and heavy contact.
Now consider the Fafita boys, Barba, SBW, Ferguson, Greg Bird, Gallen-Blokes who not only are able to continue playing club footy but then go on to rep footy. You have Kiwis and Fijians playing SOO and for Australia.
Let's not delude ourselves. The NRL has cheapened the product. It's like hitting Maccas, seeing pictures of great looking burgers. But eating dried out paddy with limp greens on a soggy bun. Yeah I'll fill you up but it won't satisfy.

I agree with all of that, but it still overlooks the fact that in NFL refs have the capacity to review every contentious call off their own bat and it doesn't interrupt the flow of the game so it limits the concerns of the players and coaches. There's no doubt our refs would stop and review most of their calls if it were stop/start like NFL but the strength of our game is that it is continuous action and so the last thing we want is to build artificial breaks in to stop momentum. It is also why captains have a strategy of questioning our refs. It is designed to slow the opp momentum. I think our game leaders care just as much if not more for the game than the NFL. Don't forget the only interest they have is the NFL itself, not college, high school or weekend football, unlike the NRL who have grass roots responsibilities. I'd be happy for players bringing the game into disrepute like many you have mentioned being banned for life and the sooner they do it the better. The long term health of the game would be much better if they did. No Kiwis/Fijians or even Victorians can play SOO, but the Test match quals follow the Olympic model so it is fairly standard and NFL doesn't have anything like SOO.

I'm old enough to remember just how poorly the ARL and NSWRL were run many years ago. Even at District level today there are archaic rules in place to prevent kids moving from one team to another that ignore the mobility of families. Despite all the romance about Quayle and Arko and company, it was the arrogance of the groups they headed that created the superleague war and gave rise to player power by paying key players around $700k a year 20 years ago. The power of social media if around in those days would have completely destroyed their credibility.

 

[DT]

Go down Victoria on a game day near a stadium its fucking insane the amount of people that go to a regular round

Have you been to Melbourne on a Saturday, there is NOTHING else on but afl then everyone goes to the casino , thats Melbourne!
The weather is shit, there is zero competition to afl and watching it on tv is hopeless, you need to see how huge the ground is and there are players everywhere.
In Sydney most weekends the sun shines and there are rival codes everywhere .
Nrl is better watched on tv sadly and it is most definitely the cost factor that keeps people away.
Paying $12 for a crap slop burger and $7 for a drink, come on, its a disgrace.
Then we Doggies fans have to try and digest that rubbish watching a Hasler coached team of boring robots.
No thanks, i wont go unless its a freeby ticket these days.
As for origin, they killed that by making it a qld thing and price wise it is also a disgrace.