Probably something to do with the attendances, tv ratings, merchandise sales, media rights deals, social media interactions, and any other measure you care to think of.

Do you have any evidence tho?

Spot on!
By the way, passing through sydney airport the other day i noticed ALL THE SHOPS Selling sporting goods or souveniers has Izzy and the wallabies to the fore and ONE had a couple of roos shirts at the back. Surely the NRL could stretch to having their own store at the airport? I mean to say, League is obviously streets ahead of union in aussie but a tourist wouldn't know that and unless the NRL are happy to keep flogging NRL stuff to the same audience for more money,something needs to change to get NEW FANS

RL in Australia has the same problem it has here. Yes it's very popular, but it's also unfashionable and terrible at PR which makes outsiders not realise how popular it is or want to be associated with it.

Whenever I tell people that RL is massively more popular than union in Australia they're always surprised, they assume union is the major code of rugby there because of the wallabies.

It's quite amazing it is costing a national team 1.4 million Aussie dollar per year to entice a player from club rugby in France. Is it me or is that quite wrong? Sure, pay them well but they should want to play for their country. Giteau retired from rep footy three years ago.

Now union or 'rugby' as it is referred to by many is in the olympics this will widen the gap even further in terms of increasing worldwide participation/competition and thus less money at national/club level.
The idiots in charge can't see that even with a lumbering, labouring sport such as union, it is a juggernaught with such backing (from all avenues political and otherwise) that it will inexorably keep our sport from flourishing.

That the Southern hemisphere refer to RL as league or footy and not 'rugby' league has a negative impact on our sport all on its own.
As mentioned above the marketing and PR of our sport is so shambolically amateurish it makes lawn bowls look like a world leading sport by comparison.
On the Hull Fc board there's a thread highlighting even the ineptitude right down to introducing new officials to the sport and the support network and funding (or lack thereof) which has a huge impact further up the chain..there are so many things wrong but because it is an amazing viewer and participation sport it's kept going.
it just won't ever develop in the way we'd like it to do.

Quote ="gutterfax"Spot on! By the way, passing through sydney airport the other day i noticed ALL THE SHOPS Selling sporting goods or souveniers has Izzy and the wallabies to the fore and ONE had a couple of roos shirts at the back. Surely the NRL could stretch to having their own store at the airport? I mean to say, League is obviously streets ahead of union in aussie but a tourist wouldn't know that and unless the NRL are happy to keep flogging NRL stuff to the same audience for more money,something needs to change to get NEW FANS'" Lol. Well if the popularity and success of a sport is measured by which section of an airport shop merchandise is displayed in then union would be killing it It may interest you to know that during the World Cup the socceroos gear was at the front, during the bloody slow and lions tour wallabies and during the RLWC and 4 nations the kangaroos and other league gear. Go figure! Seems they might need to push that wallabies gear a bit harder! With an annual growth rate of 11.53 per cent, the NRL licensing fees amassed a staggering $166.5 million. Predictably, the Australian Rugby Union managed a paltry annual merchandise revenue of only $2.4 million. rugbyleagueweek.com.au/nrl-smash ... abric-war/

Quote ="gutterfax"Spot on! By the way, passing through sydney airport the other day i noticed ALL THE SHOPS Selling sporting goods or souveniers has Izzy and the wallabies to the fore and ONE had a couple of roos shirts at the back. Surely the NRL could stretch to having their own store at the airport? I mean to say, League is obviously streets ahead of union in aussie but a tourist wouldn't know that and unless the NRL are happy to keep flogging NRL stuff to the same audience for more money,something needs to change to get NEW FANS'" Lol. Well if the popularity and success of a sport is measured by which section of an airport shop merchandise is displayed in then union would be killing it It may interest you to know that during the World Cup the socceroos gear was at the front, during the bloody slow and lions tour wallabies and during the RLWC and 4 nations the kangaroos and other league gear. Go figure! Seems they might need to push that wallabies gear a bit harder! With an annual growth rate of 11.53 per cent, the NRL licensing fees amassed a staggering $166.5 million. Predictably, the Australian Rugby Union managed a paltry annual merchandise revenue of only $2.4 million. rugbyleagueweek.com.au/nrl-smash ... abric-war/

Slightly off topic, but while driving to work today (not a union stronghold at all) there was a massive billboard advertising the union WC. Got into work and the front and back cover of the metro was taken up by WC advertisement. We're still a year out it.

It was just a reminder of the absolute wealth in the other code. The RFL's entire marketing budget was probably the same as what the RFU paid Charles Dance to appear in their marketing video.

Despite the enormous amount of wealth, England could still have a back line where 3 of the 7 players were developed by league. Shame they don't spend a lot of their wealth on junior development.

I'm sure when the union WC is over, some will gloat how much more well attended the union WC was than leagues. But with their budget, is it any wonder!

The original article talked about the massive amount of money in French rugby union -- not in Australian rugby union -- which is damaging rugby league.

It might have added Japan into the big money mix as well.

However the evidence of anyone who has spoken to or read the accounts of some of the dual code players, as I have, is that the biggest lure of rugby union over rugby league is not the money --- the NRL can offer close to rugby union these days --- but the international stage, with the regular international rugby union games being played in front of huge adoring crowds. In rugby league only State of Origin can compare to that. (Russell Crowe said that if Sam Burgess had been allowed to play State of Origin he would probably not have left rugby league).

The RFL wizards made sure that rugby league cannot compete with northern hemisphere rugby union when it reintroduced promotion and relegation at the expense of licensing. That put paid to the long promised introduction of Toulouse, and potentially more French clubs in the future, into Super League. This betrayal of Toulouse made clear that building the game in France is not a priority for the RFL any more. Nigel Wood and his cronies are not only treacherous, they are also very dumb. They are making sure that rugby league will never compete with rugby union in the northern hemisphere for the foreseeable future.

RL has always been run by the clubs with a focus on the domestic comps over the international game. It's frustrating and back in the early 90's I remember going to GB v roos games with big crowds and thinking it might finally have changed,sadly SL undid that and clubs reverted back to being the decision makers of the game in the leadership void that news ltd created.
I had hoped the arlc would take up global leadership of the game and in a union loving dave smith we would have seen more emphasis on international RL but despite his bluster once again the ashes tour is cancelled and the roos will not play int RL next year. Very disappointing and frustrating.

On players signing, French RU and Japanese RU are as big a threat to the NRL as the Aleague lol. RL players have gone to union for as long as they have been able to throw money at them, just as union players did in the 80's and 90's, neither code has really suffered and great or lasting damage.

If it ever was a real threat the NRL has more than enough money to bring in a marquee signing grant and sign anyone they choose. They put $50mill in the bank last year as a future fund!

Quote ="JB Down Under"Lol. Well if the popularity and success of a sport is measured by which section of an airport shop merchandise is displayed in then union would be killing it It may interest you to know that during the World Cup the socceroos gear was at the front, during the bloody slow and lions tour wallabies and during the RLWC and 4 nations the kangaroos and other league gear. Go figure! Seems they might need to push that wallabies gear a bit harder! With an annual growth rate of 11.53 per cent, the NRL licensing fees amassed a staggering $166.5 million. Predictably, the Australian Rugby Union managed a paltry annual merchandise revenue of only $2.4 million. rugbyleagueweek.com.au/nrl-smash ... abric-war/'" big fish in a small pond.......shame nobody knows about the pond.

Quote ="JB Down Under"Lol. Well if the popularity and success of a sport is measured by which section of an airport shop merchandise is displayed in then union would be killing it It may interest you to know that during the World Cup the socceroos gear was at the front, during the bloody slow and lions tour wallabies and during the RLWC and 4 nations the kangaroos and other league gear. Go figure! Seems they might need to push that wallabies gear a bit harder! With an annual growth rate of 11.53 per cent, the NRL licensing fees amassed a staggering $166.5 million. Predictably, the Australian Rugby Union managed a paltry annual merchandise revenue of only $2.4 million. rugbyleagueweek.com.au/nrl-smash ... abric-war/'" big fish in a small pond.......shame nobody knows about the pond.

NRL Biggest domestic rugby comp in the world. Must be a decent sized pond to grow a fish that big.

The RU World Cup is undoubtedly more established and has more 'major' nations than ours, but after a successful League World Cup last year I don't think we are as far away as we once were.

Union are doing exactly the same as RL by playing the lesser fixtures at smaller grounds in the heartlands midweek such as Georgia-Namibia at Exeter, which makes common sense. After this initial rush there will be a lot of discounts on offer though (as with our World Cup) even though the likes of the All Blacks are a draw, its a massive task to fill the Millennium Stadium for them playing Georgia on a Friday night, and no doubt discount codes and Groupon etc will be used to fill it you can already buy 15 tickets for that game, whereas for the big games its a limit of 4.

The main difference is they have a much better '2nd tier' of nations such as Argentina, Scotland, Italy who will still draw a crowd and compete but won't be anywhere winning the thing. RL badly needs the likes of Scotland, France, Fiji, Samoa, Wales etc to improve and grow.

Don't believe the hype! www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/di ... FWdpmvuADN www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugb ... bs-6468100

Don't believe the hype! www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/di ... FWdpmvuADN www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugb ... bs-6468100

Quote ="JB Down Under"Don't believe the hype! www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/di ... FWdpmvuADN'" the biggest shock for me in that article is that New Zealand scored 18 points in a game without scoring a try! top entertainment!

Quote ="JB Down Under"Don't believe the hype! www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/di ... FWdpmvuADN'" the biggest shock for me in that article is that New Zealand scored 18 points in a game without scoring a try! top entertainment!

Who doesn't like penalty kicks in a game of rugby (sic) lol!

Quote ="JB Down Under"Don't believe the hype! www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/di ... FWdpmvuADN www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugb ... bs-6468100'" Lol The welsh rfu turns.over more than the rfl and the.bloodyslow still outdraws.the.anzac test in the stadium and on TV........ As.for the 15 rugby world cup.and discounted . I suspect.they might sell a few more than we did.2013 AND 2008....

Quote ="JB Down Under"Don't believe the hype! www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/di ... FWdpmvuADN www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugb ... bs-6468100'" Lol The welsh rfu turns.over more than the rfl and the.bloodyslow still outdraws.the.anzac test in the stadium and on TV........ As.for the 15 rugby world cup.and discounted . I suspect.they might sell a few more than we did.2013 AND 2008....

Union is doing really well in Australia it seems. [iWallabies crowd for Argentina clash the lowest this century Only 14,281 patrons turned out at Cbus Super Stadium to watch Australia survive a late Argentine onslaught and win 32-25 on Saturday night.[/i Read more: www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union ... z3DEnLwdjo

Union is doing really well in Australia it seems. [iWallabies crowd for Argentina clash the lowest this century Only 14,281 patrons turned out at Cbus Super Stadium to watch Australia survive a late Argentine onslaught and win 32-25 on Saturday night.[/i Read more: www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union ... z3DEnLwdjo

Lol the bledisloe cup has dropped from an audience of 1.5mill to 625k, less than your avg NRL game. The super 15 final featuring nsw attracted 325k, less than your avg pay for view NRL game. Bloody slow used to be the only relevant union event in Australia but even that has diminished to levels that will soon be eclipsed by the socceroos pushing union to 4th place In the Australian sporting landscape. Steve Allen, managing director of media firm Fusion Strategy, is not so sure. “It’ll be a great effort if they get [a national TV audience of 800,000 on Saturday night. “It just isn’t one of the top-tier sports on TV any more.” www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/ev ... kMDFgEzQGL

Lol the bledisloe cup has dropped from an audience of 1.5mill to 625k, less than your avg NRL game. The super 15 final featuring nsw attracted 325k, less than your avg pay for view NRL game. Bloody slow used to be the only relevant union event in Australia but even that has diminished to levels that will soon be eclipsed by the socceroos pushing union to 4th place In the Australian sporting landscape. Steve Allen, managing director of media firm Fusion Strategy, is not so sure. “It’ll be a great effort if they get [a national TV audience of 800,000 on Saturday night. “It just isn’t one of the top-tier sports on TV any more.” www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/ev ... kMDFgEzQGL

Quote ="JB Down Under"Lol the bledisloe cup has dropped from an audience of 1.5mill to 625k, less than your avg NRL game. The super 15 final featuring nsw attracted 325k, less than your avg pay for view NRL game. Bloody slow used to be the only relevant union event in Australia but even that has diminished to levels that will soon be eclipsed by the socceroos pushing union to 4th place In the Australian sporting landscape. Steve Allen, managing director of media firm Fusion Strategy, is not so sure. “It’ll be a great effort if they get [a national TV audience of 800,000 on Saturday night. “It just isn’t one of the top-tier sports on TV any more.” www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/ev ... kMDFgEzQGL'" Im not sure where anyone said union in aussie wasnt a basket case. As for globally, bot games are minnows but compared to each other internationally, union is absolutely huge by comparison. Pulling random bad news stats out of a hat proves nothing........rwc2015 will already have sold more tickets than 2013 rlwc.....cold hard facts on the glo ba stage is where it matters

Quote ="JB Down Under"Lol the bledisloe cup has dropped from an audience of 1.5mill to 625k, less than your avg NRL game. The super 15 final featuring nsw attracted 325k, less than your avg pay for view NRL game. Bloody slow used to be the only relevant union event in Australia but even that has diminished to levels that will soon be eclipsed by the socceroos pushing union to 4th place In the Australian sporting landscape. Steve Allen, managing director of media firm Fusion Strategy, is not so sure. “It’ll be a great effort if they get [a national TV audience of 800,000 on Saturday night. “It just isn’t one of the top-tier sports on TV any more.” www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/ev ... kMDFgEzQGL'" Im not sure where anyone said union in aussie wasnt a basket case. As for globally, bot games are minnows but compared to each other internationally, union is absolutely huge by comparison. Pulling random bad news stats out of a hat proves nothing........rwc2015 will already have sold more tickets than 2013 rlwc.....cold hard facts on the glo ba stage is where it matters

Why would I care how popular RU is in argentina or japan? I have as much interest as how popular basjpketball is in Greece or archery in butan. I care about how RL is travelling in every country And especially in Australia where I live. I love how you spout on about the superiority of union yet when I bring up about it in my country you go off all global lol like I care. I have little interest in how big the RUWC will be, I am just really pleased the RLWC was a great success for our game. When I get chance to lol at union I will enjoy it given the sht they have tried to heap on RL over the years.

LOL away at union......meanwhile the facts never change in regards which sport is better or which sport is bigger. Your supposed aloofness does little to hide your insecurities about how local league is.......maybe if they give you the western nrl team you crave you can at least say its a national game

But with all that wealth, theystill have to poach league players and let's be honest, union in the north is slightly more popular as league in the south.

If the RFL had the money the RFU did, and we had to rely on poaching other talent, and not really made any gains on the non-heartlands, they would be uproar on here.

Of course the union WC will dwarf leagues WC in terms of attendances and profit, but te 2013 WC made further gains on the international stage. Shame we lost Sally Bolton which is typical of RL.

LOL away at union......meanwhile the facts never change in regards which sport is better or which sport is bigger. Your supposed aloofness does little to hide your insecurities about how local league is.......maybe if they give you the western nrl team you crave you can at least say its a national game