union is s**t.

good level RL destroys union.

soccer will always be number 1 but RL can gain so much ground on union.

union will either end up merging with league or becoming a small sport

its just too boring for the modern day

There will always be the traditionalists who love that style of Rugby.
I can see where you're coming from but all that will happen fron your end is that Australia's national side will flop if and when it's basically destroyed in Aus. In Europe Union is simply too strong to falter internationally. At domestic level though I think we can take them, ratings/crowd wise we're not far off but in the junior ranks and playing rosters we're a long way off and the top and bottom of it is that international game.
While league fans bicker among themselves at every opportunity other sports are united.
Australia can carry on improving but we must strive to match them and for me the only way to do this is start getting athletes in schools at 11 or 12 and offer them league as a career, their chances in football are slim due to imports, lets get them playing league.

aus it will die off or be marginal/

NZ it is going nowhere

scotland, ireland ??? nothing much either

those traditionalists are getting older.

theres a really good article written by a NZ sports journalist about how union is so boring now and the NRL better to watch

union is no threat to league

if SL aims for 2nd sport in terms of money replacing cricket and union, that would be a massive improvement to now

seriously anyone that gets pleasure watching union over league has me worried

ahh but over here not enough people even know League exists let alone have the opportunity to prefer it to union.
Like I said, let's get the development officers in schools.

Someone else mentioned the whole 'taking part that counts' thing as to why we fail. I disagree, you won't find a more competitive person than me however if you're taking a sport to a new demographic you cant have bloodthirsty kids taking each other apart at 9 or 10 years old. You's may disagree with me but I reckon we get them involved in regional schools tag tournaments especially in the London/Midland/non league areas. The best and most enthusiastic kids will find themselves in proper teams soon enough. the only worry being many might have a game at school but there isn't the tiers above to carry them, we need more expansion Merit/Conference teams
If the kids the aggresive bloodthirsty type, then, well, he's probably already playing rugby of some kind

Using TV figures as a means of deciding which code is number 1 is terrible. I mean, there are programmes we have on in the household but we arent watching them.

How about Attendences? The AFL pi$$es all over the NRL, as do the super 14 attendences and lets not get into international attendences. I mean, where are these 3.4million aussies for the rugby league international games? They turn up in their droves for the union ones.

If rugby league is so popular, why dont they have a whacking great TV deal like the AFL and how the hell can they call it "National Rugby league" when its only played down the east coast of australia?

AFL will always be number 1 in Australia and it wont be too long before soccer overtakes Rugby league

No way will moronball overtake "The Greatest Game" in Australia unless they change the immigration rules!

Keep in mind the Sydney Rugby Union Grand Final got 7,000 fans through the gates.

That crowd figure even made the Sydney Roosters chuckle!

TV figures proves we're number one,out of the last ten programs RL had 7 that finnished on top.AFL wasn't even in the top 50

.I suppose you live in melbourne?the most boring place on earth ,abit like your post .YAWN.....................

You keep in mind that it is Sydney. Australia is the only country that league has any support or real clout (My appologies to PNG). As other posters keep saying Union is crap, true but it still wont alter the facts that 45,000 turned up at wembly to watch a club game a couple of weeks ago. around 1,000,000 will watch the 6 nations live in the ground the 12 guiness (a top marque sponsor) premiorship have crowds nearing & somtimes bettering super league, they have TV deals better than League They get good coverage on terestial free to air channels. I agree that thier game is pants but a lot of people like it they are not worried about breaks in play or lack or trys. Union is a threat to league but the only wat we can strike back is by keeping the international game alive & pushing the game into schools & universities out side our heart lands.

45000 turned up at Wembly followed by 8000 at the next Saracens home game. People will flock to something put on at Wembly but so far it doesnt look like many are taking their interest further than that game at wembly.Union attendances still look like they are on the way up (Well in England anyway)

As for Australia, while i was in Brisbane it looked like all the other codes were playing catch up with rugby league. The amount of league coverage was unbelivable for someone coming from NI. Then i return home and have to live with limited coverage of the British game.

the NRL is played in NZ so really it should the the IRL.

when you include both crowds and TV viewers RL is number 1.

its good to see there is a single AFL fan in england. the code is growing

weve effectively killed off union in aus, nz is going backwards

so for a sport that claims to be global, having it weak in two major countries is a problem

but hey, the game is booming in japan and russia







union wont survive against union the way it is currently played

And how many turned up the week after and how many have turned up since?
The rugby union premiership teams should be getting much higher crowds than they are. As you pointed out, they get superb national media coverage and tons of free publicity therein. The fact that some are below Super League crowds is embarrassing.
Don't forget what we're always told, that rugby league is a northern minority sport. A minority sport that has comparable attendances with the all conquering, global leviathan that is rugby union.

So where is all the chest-beating now that it turns out that the original figures were wrong? From today's Sydney Morning Herald:

"The NRL's belief strong grand-final ratings last weekend would help their next TV deal was punctured slightly with the revelation yesterday the AFL's decider had in fact beaten its rugby league counterpart in national ratings, not the reverse as had been claimed originally. Recalibrated figures lifted the AFL's ratings by almost 400,000 nationally."

Personally I don't understand why anyone would watch Aussie Rules but there it is. Clearly the NRL is not doing a good enough job selling its superior product.

I think thats a load of crap top be honest.

They were beaten by 200,000, now they found 600,000 from SOMEWHERE?

That would be like finding the biggest audience in Sydney on any given night!



It would also go against all the other indicators which indicate the NRL was the bigger event.

You may be right that Union is in big trouble in Australia but in the scheme of things Australia is a small market in the world stage the figures for internationals alone in the northern hemisphere dwarf anything League can do can do, Add to that South Africa, Argentina, & the Pacific Islands & I have not mentioned NZ. I dont like it, like you I think it is a poor game compared with league but I can not argue that a hell of a lot more people know about & follow Union than League. I would also say that even in the hot bed of british League, Hull, the numbers playing Union in the surrounding areas well out number League players there are more teams in the East riding of Yorkshire that play union most of the clubs have purpose built modern grounds with numbers that make League look small. Remember that when league split away in 1895 around 80% stayed with the Union & have played ever since. there was also a big surge in the numbers of union clubs in the 1950/60's with the secondary education expansion after the war. As I have said before we are a minority sport even compared to Union & they are dwarfed by soccer. So what happens in two states of Australia is of little consequence in the big picture, except to say that if it had not been for the ARL being a strong hold I think League in the UK would have folded as a pro sport by now.

Except when the Union boys play Internationals well over a million will attend the six nation games. they get around the same money as League do from sky plus they have terestrial channels paying to show games, two multinational brewers sponsoring them add to that the Autum International programe they knock us into a cocked hat. & with a game that is a poor spectacle compared to League, Us not likeing it cant change the facts we are a minority sport except in two states of Australia & PNG.

the whole S14 is in trouble

after australia, NZ is next

the sport isnt growing anywhere

its rules are complicated, its game error strewn and boring

as more people see RL theyll forget about union

taking out the 6 Nations union has little going for it in england either

union has good reason to fear a sport like RL

look at all the publicity sale get and their crowds have what ? halved?

newcastle crowds have dropped too

with all the media they get, you cant flog a dead horse

union gets by on a bunch of people turning out for its internationals who have zero interest in the club game

union is a minority sport everywhere except nz, some pacific islands and maybe wales

the population of nsw and queensland exceeds those above where union is dominant

union is a small sport which has to lie about its popularity

they must be cousins with the union mob,the calculator must come in handy

The fact that the BBC pay rugby league lip service and ITV aren't interested is hardly the fault of the game. I'd be looking to lay the blame at the feet of the old boys who run the said television companies.

Like I said, rugby league is a minority sport and rugby union is a global monster. The very fact that we are able to compare the two is a tribute to rugby league.

As we all knew. AFL, australias number 1 sport

maybe the NRL should come out and add another 1.5 million to there tally,the pubs and clubs would have been buzzing in NSW and Queensland,and especially in victard also.

tv rating figures are always a bit odd.

I'm sure i read something earlier today from the heraldsun that said the AFL actually rated higher than the NRL GF.