Rugby League 2003 - What Rugby U**** World Cup?

Jeffles · Post by **Jeffles** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 8:43 pm

I know there are some Rugby U**** fans on this forum and I am certainly not one of them.

But I would just like to point out how great the year has been for RL thus far, when many people, including many prominent Sydney media personalities, predicted a lean year because of all the Rugby U**** "World" Cup hype.

1) Crowds set to surpass record average levels by the end of the year.

2) As of last Thursday 55 of 104 maches decided by 6 points or less. And only 6 30+ point blowouts (17 last year at this time).

3) Sales of Big League (equivalent of Football Record) at record highs ( and your truly writing Letter of the Week this week

)

4) 8 clubs averaging 14,000 plus this year as of last Thusday (4 this time last year)

5) Aggregate attendance for State of Origin set to reach 180,000 plus, beating the record aggregate of 178,252.

6) The first State of Origin outrated all three matches last year (and the first one is traditionally the poorest rating). The figure was 120% higher in Sydney than the figure for the Australia England Rugby U**** Test match played at Telstra Dome.

All that's left is to fix up that internaional scene. Hopefully the Test against New Zealand on July 25 will get 30,000+. The Rugby U**** equivalent, the Bledisloe Cup will get 80,000 the following night (ratings on TV will be about equal though.) If we had a more competitive international RL scene, the crowds would actually fork out the money to go to games. But still, all I've said thus far for the year has been encouraging for the 13 a side game.

I love Rugby League.

Jeffles · Post by **Jeffles** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 12:23 am

Also found this.

http://www.nrl.com/news.cfm?ArticleID=5868

Origin I viewed by more than 3.5 million
12 June 2003

The opening match of the 2003 Harvey Norman State of Origin Series has attracted a massive Australia wide viewing audience of 3,534,883 people.

As well as a capacity crowd of 52,000 people at Suncorp Stadium last night an estimated 2million viewers watched across the five capital city markets and a further 1,514,213 across regional markets.

In Sydney the match peaked at 1,252,810 viewers and averaged 1,177,504 for the telecast of the match itself. The figure was above all three Origin matches last year.

In Brisbane the match peaked at 823,362 viewers and averaged 781,495 from kick off to full time.

Regional NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania audiences provided another 1,514,213 viewers. In Northern NSW the peak viewing audience of 574,000 was an all time Game 1 record.

The overall figures still do not take into account viewers in New Zealand or other overseas networks.

“It was an incredible match and further proof of the unique place the Harvey Norman State of Origin Series holds in Australian sport,” ARL Chief Executive, Mr Geoff Carr, said today.

_________________________________

To put things in perspective I've heard the AFL Grand Final rates about 3.5million. It's a shame that my sport does so well in the TV market but not so in attendances. I think the AFL sporing culture of actively supporting your team works a treat. Then again you guys had essentially the same competition from 1925-1987. Such stability is great for tribalism and building crowds. RL had clubs added in that period in 1935, 1947, 1967, 1982.

But to put it in even BETTER prespective I'll say this. Last year's Bledisloe Cup Rugby U**** match attracted 1.4 million nationally. And the Aust. record TV ratings for a Rugby U**** match is 2.1 million for the third Test between Australia and the British Lions in 2001. Like I said at the start - What Rugby U**** World Cup?

I love Rugby League.

Jeffles · Post by **Jeffles** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 12:30 am

One more thing

Accoridng to http://www.nrl.com/news.cfm?ArticleID=6084 Origin 2 attracted a peak audience of 2,193,688, while the average number of viewers was 1,742,704 (Sydney Melbourne and Brisbane). This does not include other cities (I doubt they'd be good ratings because of the timeslot) nor does it include regional areas (which would attract great figures in country NSW and Qld).

You guys must be getting sick of me. So I'm off now.

I love Rugby League

Mr J · Post by **Mr J** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 7:20 pm

pardon my stupidity as im not a rugby supporter. What is the difference between union and league (rules wise)

from wat ive seen union seems to be the better one. I dont know why but it just does. League seems somewhat boring.

yob · Post by **yob** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 8:16 pm

Well from what I can gather, the difference is that in League they stop to sniff each others bums while in Union once someone gets the ball it's stacks-on until he coughs it up?

Jeffles · Post by **Jeffles** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 10:40 am

A world of difference my friends. Too many to explain. But here are the basics.

League has 13 players a side (6 forwards, 7 back), U**** has 15 (2 extra forwards)

League has tackles that stop players. Once a player is tackled, they must get up and 'play the ball' (pass it under their feet). A team must surrender possession or score before they are tackled 6 consecutive times. In U****,once tackled the players "ruck & maul" (bum smelling). Teams have unlimited possession and usualy surrender the ball by kicking because they make such little ground running. Here's why.

In League once a player is tackled, the defensive side (minus two players) must retreat back 10 metres from the tackle. Anyone who does not, is offside. In U****, the defence does not have to retreat hence they make such little ground running.

Essentially League is more of a running game. U**** has a lot of dead play because of the rucks and mauls and many kicks into touch (out of bounds). I think this expansive play explains why U**** shorts have pocket in them and League shorts do not. The U**** backs rarey get the ball and must keep their hands in their pockets to keep warm

There are plenty more rules but I can;t really explain themi a short period of time or outside the context of a match. I strongly suggest you guys watch a few matches of League to understand the rules. That's how I learnt about Aussie Rules.

Egan · Post by **Egan** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 9:20 pm

According to Channel nine Perth who broadcast the State Of Origin 2 at 6:00am two days after it finished is that it rate so poorly, they said that people in Perth simply do not watch it. So maybe you had all those people on the eastern seaboard but knowone in Perth watched it, simply due to the unreasonable timeslots ( State Of Origin 1 3:30am). I personally prefer Union over League as it is more similar to Aussie Rules. Rugby League is like tabletennis, to quick to know what is happening.

Jeffles · Post by **Jeffles** » Thu Jul 03, 2003 11:23 pm

Yeah I heard that too on a Rugby League forum. I've said before that the West got shafted in the aftermath of the Superleague drama, and we won't go into it here. But I'm sure it would rate better if there was more consistent coverage to get the people keen. Channel 9 have a lot to answe for regarding RL on the box IMO.

Misty Bee · Post by **Misty Bee** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:20 pm

That's right. The GF rates very well,so why Origin isn't given the due status it deserves is beyone me. I imagine less demand events, such as Bledisloe Cup, get better timeslots. The NRL is certainly not helping it's cause out of the eastern states.

Having said that, I am certain that the NRL Grand Final will outrate the Union World Cup Final, unless, by some miracle, Australia is in it.

Jeffles · Post by **Jeffles** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 11:58 pm

I hope the administrators seriously consider putting this piece in the news section. It all looks credible but the merchandise bit is doubtful (about outselling AFL (I think it is for NSW,Qld,ACT only).

http://www.rleague.com/article.php?id=13682

NRL reaches new heights
Thu Sep 11, 12:39am (NSW)
Written by: Steven Birchall

Rugby League is back on the rise with the National Rugby League recording excellent growth for the 2003 season in both television ratings and people at the games. A new record average attendance was set for 2003 of 14,456, beating the previous record set in 2000 of 14,372 and the highly successful 1994 season of 14,215.

The average attendance is also up 10.5% of the 2002 season, meaning over 2.6 million people attended NRL matches in 2003 (an average of 100,079 per week). This together with the record crowds for the State of Origin series, (183,691 people attending the three matches) makes 2003 possibly the best supported League season in Australia ever.

Television ratings are up 5.37% in Sydney and 8.75% in Brisbane, strengthening League’s hold of the two eastern cities. League again continues to be one of the top rating sports on PayTV, and has strengthened the need for cable television to have an association with the sport, based upon the sheer interest it draws.

State of Origin again continued to be some of the top rating sports programs in Australia, and even out-rated the highly successful ‘The Block’ program, showing that the series has again recaptured the imagination of sports viewers.

The one international played so far this year between Australia and New Zealand out-rated all of the Australian Rugby Union test matches this year in terms of television support and with ticket sales going strong in Britain, this years Kangaroo tour will be a huge event.

Merchandise sales are almost $2 million up for 2003, and League again continues to outsell the other three codes of football in terms of annual sales. The Telstra Premiership road train added another 80 km’s of travelling to its journey, and have now reached over 180,000 people

And to top it off, positive growth in Rugby League juniors since the launch of the National Junior Development Programme, ‘Kids to Kangaroos’ and the $1.9 million grant from the NRL to developing the future of the game.

All in all, the season has been a fantastic success, and whilst there is still room for improvement, it is great to see the game back on track and moving forward.

Tonic · Post by **Tonic** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 9:35 am

From The Age:

Nine's controlling shareholder Kerry Packer must be regretting his network's decision not to bid more aggressively for its share of the TV rights to AFL football. Channel Ten paid more than Nine and snared the rights for five years to all of the AFL finals, restricting Nine to coverage of the home-and-away season. Now Ten is reaping the rewards. Saturday night's Sydney-Brisbane preliminary final was the third most-watched program in Melbourne last week, with an average audience of 678,668 viewers and a peak audience of 837,292. Nationally it averaged 1,642,767. The Collingwood-Port Adelaide match on Saturday afternoon averaged 1,160,989 nationally and 471,963 in Melbourne.

The value of those rights to the AFL finals is highlighted by the gap between the ratings for the two preliminary finals and the National Rugby League finals, which are televised by Nine. The Sydney-Brisbane game on Ten was the ninth most popular program on Australian TV last week, the highest-rating NRL final came 88th with 811,670 viewers, only 36,667 of whom were in Melbourne.

argee · Post by **argee** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 12:36 pm

Well, that Melbourne figure is predictable. I thought Melbourne celebrated all sports. Obviously false advertising by them.

argee · Post by **argee** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 12:41 pm

Oh and on the reason for Channel 9 not spending as much as 10 on AFL: I get the feeling that Channel 9 is saving up its big bucks for a run at outbidding Channel 7 when the next round of Olympic broadcasting rights are negotiated. Channel 7 is only guaranteed 2004, 2006 and 2008. The next round will encompass 2010, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 2020 Summer and Winter Games.

SNogan · Post by **SNogan** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 3:42 pm

Indeed it has been a good , successful year for league. Attendances are up, many have jumped on the penrith, canberra and other bandwagons ;which has raised the average crowd figures for the year. The well respected channel nine crew has become even more biased and the footy show is running out of material, even with tacky segments such as Mathew Johns'.

What has sales of 'big league' got to do with a successful season...?

All that's left is to fix up that internaional scene.

fix up? How about create one first...

ratings on TV will be about equal though.

Since when can that be considered a judge...how hard is it to turn on a television compared to turning up to support your team. The ARL can't sell-out Aussie Stadium, not even with bondi freeloaders so surely thats all the proof you need to know the 'international game' isn't around, nor that it will ever rival that of rugby.

prominent sydney media personalities

Who would listen to Sydney radio/television 'personalities' ...their views are idiotic and a waste of time to listen to and merely serve as motivation for those who they are directed at. Eg. All the negative comments directed to Canberra ( nrl) & the Swans (afl) at the start of the year.

In the case of comments such as "RWC 2003 will blow league out of the water" and all that tripe;that will never happen and as I said before- it just serves as motivation. Rugby will never blow away league because of its (leagues) appeal to a certain demographic, why do you think League thrived through the depression years?

I think this expansive play explains why U**** shorts have pocket in them and League shorts do not. The U**** backs rarey get the ball and must keep their hands in their pockets to keep warm

, goodone

I personally prefer Union over League as it is more similar to Aussie Rules. Rugby League is like tabletennis, to quick to know what is happening.

Great logic there

I am certain that the NRL Grand Final will outrate the Union World Cup Final, unless, by some miracle, Australia is in it.

It probably will but why not also compare the money made from RWC and "RL World Cup", and you will see a stark difference- this is before you consider the international audiences of NRL g.f. and RWC grand final

argee · Post by **argee** » Fri Sep 26, 2003 8:44 am

Am I on glue or did you just knock 'Trent' the flight steward and 'Reg Reagan'. Thats it: we have to BRING BACK THE BIFF!!!!!! because they are the only two characters that make the Thursday night Footy Show even remotely watchable.