Play Nice 2022 Non AFL Crowds/Ratings/Finance/Development thread

[RedV3x]

Rugby union cant afford to fight league. Hell they cant afford to fight the european unions already.

Yes, the pendulum has currently swung one way.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

That's like giving an Australian made Toyota instead of a Holden as present.
If you give something that is uniquely Australian then you are promoting Australian.
if you give something else then you are simply promoting that product.

it just goes to demonstrate something that I've often said that Sydney-siders use Sydney as synonymous with Australia.
It's a bit tiresome seeing the same old "ivons" being pumped out - Opera house, harbour bridge and Ulurlu.
In W.A. alone you have Mt Augustus, Karajini, Ningaloo and Esperance beaches.
The fact that very few people would understand what I'm talking about just serves to underline this fact.

League is bigger in Australia than it is anywhere else in the world, and it is huge in its strongholds here. It may not be as Australian as Aussie Rules, but it is very Australian.

 

[BobbyMorri]

Lols. There are three countries of significant land mass directly adjacent to Australia and PNG is a distant third in terms of importance. Talk about laughable concepts!

It shares the 2nd largest island in the world with our other important neighbour. PNG is literally a swim away from our closest islands. It also protects the Torres Straight and is our former colony(not Britain, ours).

WW2. Learn history. PNG is where we stood and fought to "save" Australia.

Indonesia wasn't worth it, the Solomons were contested/had already been occupied. Port Moresby was/is in the perfect location near our Northeast coast.

Sure there are other very important islands in the pacific (Fiji, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands) but PNG is our largest aid donor by the length of the Flemington Straight. 800Mil a year for PNG, compared to Indonesia's 400mil.

 

[RedV3x]

What is this expensive cost (dream) that is never an issue for the codes or the players ?

The situation for RL in Australia is unique and historical.
You'd be dreaming if you thought the Pacific could emulate Australian conditions.

 

[Kwality]

It shares the 2nd largest island in the world with our other important neighbour. PNG is literally a swim away from our closest islands. It also protects the Torres Straight and is our former colony(not Britain, ours).

WW2. Learn history. PNG is where we stood and fought to "save" Australia.

Indonesia wasn't worth it, the Solomons were contested/had already been occupied. Port Moresby was/is in the perfect location near our Northeast coast.

Sure there are other very important islands in the pacific (Fiji, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands) but PNG is our largest aid donor by the length of the Flemington Straight. 800Mil a year for PNG, compared to Indonesia's 400mil.

WW2: Japan went for Singapore for their own reasons.

In early March 1942, the Japanese had debated what to do now that Japan had so easily gained her objectives. The Navy wanted to invade Australia and deny the country as a base to either America or Britain. The Army felt it did not have the strength to invade and fully occupy so vast a continent.

1942 - An Overview of the Battle for Australia​

 

[Kwality]

The situation for RL in Australia is unique and historical.
You'd be dreaming if you thought the Pacific could emulate Australian conditions.

League/Union link is the same in the UK (no need for a history lesson), i.e not unique to Aus.

As for the Pacific it will continue to provide talent for both codes worldwide.

 

[Bjo187]

League is bigger in Australia than it is anywhere else in the world, and it is huge in its strongholds here. It may not be as Australian as Aussie Rules, but it is very Australian.

It's about as unique to Australia as soccer is, in fact even less so, it's not even as old as soccer in this country.

 

[Bjo187]

Do you understand why the Feds are interested in the Pacific ?

Yes I'm well aware of it. I'm also well aware of albo finding a great way to pour money into his favourite sport, whilst passing it off as politically important to our relations with PNG. It's very convenient, he seems to meet with Vlandy's all the time if you read Sydney media.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

It's about as unique to Australia as soccer is, in fact even less so, it's not even as old as soccer in this country.

Nah. The whole world plays soccer. Hardly anyone plays RL.

Might not have been formed here, but found its true home in Oz.

I'm no great fan of the game (though I think there's a case to be made it's a much better TV experience than Aussie Rules; on Friday nights I sometimes find myself switching off the AFL game if it's not the Swans playing, and watching the league instead) but it's hard to overestimate how strong it is in most of NSW and QLD.

 

[The Educator]

It shares the 2nd largest island in the world with our other important neighbour. PNG is literally a swim away from our closest islands. It also protects the Torres Straight and is our former colony(not Britain, ours).

WW2. Learn history. PNG is where we stood and fought to "save" Australia.

Indonesia wasn't worth it, the Solomons were contested/had already been occupied. Port Moresby was/is in the perfect location near our Northeast coast.

Sure there are other very important islands in the pacific (Fiji, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands) but PNG is our largest aid donor by the length of the Flemington Straight. 800Mil a year for PNG, compared to Indonesia's 400mil.

Our other important neighbor!! Learn history!!! PNG is our largest aid donor!!!!!!

 

[The Educator]

Certainly comes across as the PM's fetish rather than a justifiable use of government money. PNG is already "rugby league mad", how would spending 10s of millions a year to play a handful of games change the risk of a corrupt decision favouring china?

The Pacifika countries aren't "rugby league mad". They're rugby union mad how does the expensive cost of converting them to league shift any geopolitical outcomes? (i.e rather than the far cheaper option of supporting the existing Super rugby teams?)

What does my head in is how the government are so comfortable having this idea hawked around while they continue to play hardball on the Tasmanian stadium contribution.

You are dreaming.

List of dual-code rugby internationals - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I am still at a loss as to what you could possibly have meant by this. If I had posted "rugby league and rugby union aren't similar sports" then that would be an aggressive response but at least it would have been a valid one.

A really aggressive unprovoked response and then no explanation. Does this guy usually behave like this?

 

[The Educator]

Nah. The whole world plays soccer. Hardly anyone plays RL.

Might not have been formed here, but found its true home in Oz.

I'm no great fan of the game (though I think there's a case to be made it's a much better TV experience than Aussie Rules; on Friday nights I sometimes find myself switching off the AFL game if it's not the Swans playing, and watching the league instead) but it's hard to overestimate how strong it is in most of NSW and QLD.

It's more unique to Australia than soccer is. It is nowhere near as Australian as Australian football is. It is now the dominant place in the world with the biggest pro league but it is still essentially a dialect of an english sport that itself was first founded (i.e. 1895 breakaway) in england. Outside of the PNG and to a lessor extent small pacific islands, people would largely not readily identify it as Australian (as opposed to Australian football)

You can overestimate how strong it is in most of NSW and QLD - by equating it to the strength of Australian football south of the Barassi line which you often hear explicitly or implicitly.

 

[Bjo187]

Nah. The whole world plays soccer. Hardly anyone plays RL.

Might not have been formed here, but found its true home in Oz.

I'm no great fan of the game (though I think there's a case to be made it's a much better TV experience than Aussie Rules; on Friday nights I sometimes find myself switching off the AFL game if it's not the Swans playing, and watching the league instead) but it's hard to overestimate how strong it is in most of NSW and QLD.

Sorry but what 'cultural' part is uniquely Australian and not ripped off from the U.K or U.S? It's just justification from Sydney/ league people to diminish the cultural importance of Australian football.

The uniforms are ripped off, the cheerleaders, the terminology used, even the referees uniforms and signals.

In contrast Australian football you have distinct uniforms, cheer squads behind the goals, 'mark' used as the term for 'catch', umpires with distinct clothing and signals, club theme songs etc. Also, let's not forget the actual on field spectacle itself, distinct from anything else in the world.

Rugby league you could see basically the same thing at a rugby game or league game in Britian or an American football game in the u.s with the elements ripped off from them all.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Sorry but what 'cultural' part is uniquely Australian and not ripped off from the U.K or U.S? It's just justification from Sydney/ league people to diminish the cultural importance of Australian football.

The uniforms are ripped off, the cheerleaders, the terminology used, even the referees uniforms and signals.

In contrast Australian football you have distinct uniforms, cheer squads behind the goals, 'mark' used as the term for 'catch', umpires with distinct clothing and signals, club theme songs etc. Also, let's not forget the actual on field spectacle itself, distinct from anything else in the world.

Rugby league you could see basically the same thing at a rugby game or league game in Britian or an American football game in the u.s with the elements ripped off from them all.

Look it’s really not something I get my knickers in a knot over, but it seems to have that effect on you.

Only a fool would say that wearing short sleeved jerseys, or calling a catch a mark, are what defines the culture of our game.

The simple fact is that to a lot of rugby league’s many followers in Australia, their sport is a big part of what being Australian is about to them. Whether it’s “ripped off” is entirely irrelevant.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

You can overestimate how strong it is in most of NSW and QLD - by equating it to the strength of Australian football south of the Barassi line which you often hear explicitly or implicitly.

Yes but my point was that people in southern states often underestimate the strength of rugby league in NSW and QLD. It’s not going away anytime soon.

 

[The Educator]

Yes but my point was that people in southern states often underestimate the strength of rugby league in NSW and QLD. It’s not going away anytime soon.

A different point, I agree with this one though even in the southern states the error is in the opposite direction (i.e believing there is something like a symmetry )

 

[Aussie in exile]

It's more unique to Australia than soccer is. It is nowhere near as Australian as Australian football is. It is now the dominant place in the world with the biggest pro league but it is still essentially a dialect of an english sport that itself was first founded (i.e. 1895 breakaway) in england. Outside of the PNG and to a lessor extent small pacific islands, people would largely not readily identify it as Australian (as opposed to Australian football)

You can overestimate how strong it is in most of NSW and QLD - by equating it to the strength of Australian football south of the Barassi line which you often hear explicitly or implicitly.

Rugby league has professional teams outside Australia, Australia football doesn't

 

[The Educator]

Rugby league has professional teams outside Australia, Australia football doesn't

What is the possible relevance of that factoid apart from supporting the premise that rugby league is an english sport?

Yes, we know, rugby league broke away from the rugby football union in the north of england in 1895. The Rugby football union was formed in 1871 in England taking its name from the rugby school which was probably the primary propagator of the games that informed the rugby rules. This is why both are, in the first instance, english sports.

 

[Kwality]

Yes I'm well aware of it. I'm also well aware of albo finding a great way to pour money into his favourite sport, whilst passing it off as politically important to our relations with PNG. It's very convenient, he seems to meet with Vlandy's all the time if you read Sydney media.

IF you are well aware, your comments dont show it. Its about politics, Australia's role in the Pacific versus China.

 

[Kwality]

I am still at a loss as to what you could possibly have meant by this. If I had posted "rugby league and rugby union aren't similar sports" then that would be an aggressive response but at least it would have been a valid one.

A really aggressive unprovoked response and then no explanation. Does this guy usually behave like this?

What is this expensive cost (dream) that is never an issue for the codes or the players ?

Heaven help Australia's educators ....

 

[Bjo187]

Look it’s really not something I get my knickers in a knot over, but it seems to have that effect on you.

Only a fool would say that wearing short sleeved jerseys, or calling a catch a mark, are what defines the culture of our game.

The simple fact is that to a lot of rugby league’s many followers in Australia, their sport is a big part of what being Australian is about to them. Whether it’s “ripped off” is entirely irrelevant.

I think it's completely relevant when our P.M is swanning around the world promoting a British sport, when there is an under promoted Australian sport right on his door step. Well that plus throwing Australian taxpayers money at it too.

Eating McDonald's and pizza is a big part of Australian culture as well, in fact most things in Australian culture are taken from overseas. It's why it's even more important to promote the very few things that are not from overseas and are uniquely Australian. Otherwise we may as well become the 51st state of the U.S.

Actually at least the Americans celebrate their own unique culture. Imagine if a few states in America were actively trying to suppress American football in favour of a foreign sport, they'd be ostracized pretty quickly.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

I think it's completely relevant when our P.M is swanning around the world promoting a British sport, when there is an under promoted Australian sport right on his door step. Well that plus throwing Australian taxpayers money at it too.

Eating McDonald's and pizza is a big part of Australian culture as well, in fact most things in Australian culture are taken from overseas. It's why it's even more important to promote the very few things that are not from overseas and are uniquely Australian. Otherwise we may as well become the 51st state of the U.S.

Actually at least the Americans celebrate their own unique culture. Imagine if a few states in America were actively trying to suppress American football in favour of a foreign sport, they'd be ostracized pretty quickly.

It's really no biggie. There are far bigger issues facing Australia than Albo promoting RL.

Besides, what would be the point of promoting Aussie Rules overseas? It's pretty clear by now no-one else is interested in it. (Probably what I love most about it.)

 

[The Educator]

Heaven help Australia's educators ....

I think whoever were teaching the boomers critical thinking in the 1950s are long dead, alas

Creating a rugby league team at the cost of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars each and every year to convert players from rugby to a rugby dialect - at precisely zero difference to geo-political risk (unless China starts dominating world rugby) - is expensive in anyone's book.

 

[The Educator]

It's really no biggie. There are far bigger issues facing Australia than Albo promoting RL.

Besides, what would be the point of promoting Aussie Rules overseas? It's pretty clear by now no-one else is interested in it. (Probably what I love most about it.)

Actually a large and growing number of people outside of Australia are interested in it. There are now hundreds of clubs across the world that are a direct propagation of Australian culture. There were barely any 30 years ago.

Bjo187 is dead right on that one. The projection of Australian football culture overseas is the most unambiguous projection of Australian culture as soft power. The aversion to it is a direct result of Australia's stunted self-identity.

 

[Kwality]

I think whoever were teaching the boomers critical thinking in the 1950s are long dead, alas

Creating a rugby league team at the cost of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars each and every year to convert players from rugby to a rugby dialect - at precisely zero difference to geo-political risk (unless China starts dominating world rugby) - is expensive in anyone's book.

1 + 1 is still 2.

Its the money the NRL are chasing & the foreign aid budget is $billions, so $mils are small change.
Australia's foreign aid program in 2022–23 amounts to an estimated $4.549 billion, an increase of $241 million on the 2021–22 estimate of $4.335 billion (inclusive of temporary measures).