Thats why I have posted stuff regarding the NRL on the VT. No one ever visits the NRL forum these days and it's full of trolls.

Sadly any posts that seem to mention NRL get shifted over onto the NRL board now where they will never be commented on again.

But hey ho. I'm not criticising any process.

Ridiculous - internationals are mega money makers for the sport if done properly.

Yes. But to be done properly, they need to be competitive. And quite frankly, England is not a competitive nation in terms of international RL. We're a far back 3rd placed team and slipping backwards.

And IMO this is because of the geniuses who say "the reason England aren't competitive is because there's too many foreign players in SL" and so the RFL goes "right, limits on the numbers of foreign players". But what that means is that SL clubs have to fill the spare places in their teams with journeymen and guys who really don't have the talent to play beyond the Championship just in order to have enough players to compete.

Aus/NZ have the better coaches, better players and better systems for player development than we have in this country. So why would you want to limit that influence? To have a stronger England team you need a stronger SL. It's no good saying "oh but English players don't get a look in because of these overseas players coming here" because that's the insanity of affirmative action that the Americans have in employment which means that you have to employ x number of a minority over more suitable or capable people. The best players will always shine through regardless of who's already in the team. And the fact that opportunities are limited to only the best will force home grown players to up their game in order to force their way into the team and therefore will mean that the players selected for England will be of a higher standard.

What percentage of income does a FIFA world cup tournament make in terms of profit? Obviously FIFA world cups are not being done properly.

Sorry, thought we were talking about RL.

Does it not even occur to you that when people cite the value of international competition, they are talking about developing our game and its profile outside of its strongholds? You really are the definition of small minded

I do find it amusing that the three people on here complaining about trolls on the NRL forum are the three people that regularly troll this forum?

A world cup will do little to be honest to developing RL around the world

getting nations which can regularly compete with australia is difficult

the only real way is guess what - introducing clubs from new nations into SL or the NRL or taking their juniors

so say a 2nd NZ side, PNG and a Pacific islands team in the nrl

more french teams, scotland and ireland in SL.

this will develop int. RL.

I stopped reading after this line...

But if they're good enough and they play in the NRL, Australia will simply take them on their team as they'll qualify as residents.

Dunbar how have the last two world cups helped develop RL around the world?
Including NZ Warriors in the NRL arguably had a bigger impact.

Did people not read about TV aerials selling out in Fiji as their team got through to the semis of the last world cup? Streets in Suva closing so they could watch the games on big screens?

Do you think that would happen for the NRL grand final?

International RL is key to developing the sport and also to the finances of the sport outside of Australia.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people put there flatcaps back on when it suits there agenda.

True, but you have to actually look at things like population. Fiji has about 900k people. Or about a third of the population of Yorkshire.

Maurice knew this. We need him back in RL for his vision for the International game. He is so passionate about it.

Those were the days when we got 60k at Wembley and ashes tours were sell-outs.

lol

Actually the biggest boost to RL in Fiji has come from semi-pro clubs in Australia signing Fijian domestic players, not the WC. In the two years following the WC the number of clubs in Fiji was stagnant. But what has happened is that CRL clubs and a few from Sydney and Qld have signed Fijians en masse thanks largely to am initiative from the CRL to encourage this. The number of Fijians coming to Australia has gone up about 1000%. This means a better life for the players and their families and it has sparked a massive explosion in player numbers in Fiji this year. They have gone from about 12 clubs in the past decade to 30-odd this year and that's despite so many players leaving for Australia. There's probably enough for two or three other teams in the CRL alone.

wow, good stuff. great initiative

In Australia RL rates far higher than Union so it's no surprise. If ITV had rights to live Premier League football would they choose to show a RU world cup match instead?

Very good question. Would you show Man United v Chelsea or England v South Africa in Union. I reckon they'd show them both......ITV 1, ITV 2 etc....



2008 Champions League Final between United and Chelsea. 14.6 million.
[urlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/2790353/Champions-League-final-Penalty-shoot-out-was-most-watched-TV-moment-this-year.html[/url
2007 RUWC Final England lost to SA, 16 Million
[urlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/2818184/Rugby-and-Lewis-Hamilton-are-ITV-winners.html[/url

England Soccer would crap all over both the above games, but even the FA Cup final only got 8.5 million this year.

It boils down to one word: profile

The profile of RL in the British media is so low compared to other sports it borders on non-existent. And before you ask, no I don't know how to raise it, unless the RFL find a huge pot of cash buried in the grounds of Red Hall and spend it all on marketing

Is that CL figure just for ITV? Don't forget it was on Sky Sports as well so there'd be even more on top of that (same for FA Cup Final).

And what do you think sparked this initiative? Fiji's success at the WC put Fiji RL players in the shop window.

Or do you think someone in Australia just woke up one day and thought "let's get loadsa Fijians in" off the back of nothing?

1. Win the RLWC.
Simply put, England Union was the game played by toffs that got OK viewing figures for the 6 nations on the BBC, but was pretty much a small draw compared to other games.
Roll on 2003 and that drop-kick......14.5 million people were up at 9am to witness that.
4 Years later and 16,000,000 watched SA bore their way past England.
2. Get Internationals on FTA TV.
It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see that if the Challenge Cup final can get 1.2 million for the final on the BBC (average was 800k for the 89 games shown in 2009) then there's an audience there.
3. Take the highlights away from the BBC
The Superleaguie Show used to be shown in the heartlands only at a reasonable time.....everywhere else you needed insomnia. I would go as far as selling the highlights package together with the International game seperately from the ESL deal.
4. Spend some Money
As you've said, the RFL need to flash the cash, but they also need to be clever. If 'sold" correctly, SKY would probably be open to losing the highlights and internationals to another FTA broadcaster on the basis that more people may become "hooked" on the game and become full-time supporters. I don't know many people who get SKY just so they can "try out' a new sport. The RFL could then foot the bill for some of the promotional work for the new broadcaster, but the highlights programme would need to be shown in a prime slot nationally.

As you say, there's no magic formula, but it's not all about cash.

Figures differ from site to site, but is you go strictly on BARB figures then:
CL Final got 10.05 on ITV and 1.28 on SKY whilst the RWC 2007 got 13.13.
The comparison of an EPL game on FTA and an England RWC game is pointless anyway, unless super sunday has games that KO at 9.30am