Some good news for the NRL with the NRL government announcing that they will allow NSW based games to have attendances of up to 10,000 supporters at games from the 1st of July. The move is the next step in the NRL returning to normalcy after round 5 of the competition saw crowds limited to…
The NRL has ruled out playing a preliminary final at GIO Stadium in Canberra stating that under the current finals format any teams based in Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and Canberra MUST play their preliminary finals at their ANZ Stadium at Homebush or Allianz Stadium in Sydney. This ridiculous ruling means that if results go a…
“Brawl erupts between players and supporters at Super League game!” That was the headline I woke up to this morning. The first few pictures I saw almost confirmed the headlines the media ran with. However, looking further into what happened after the match between the Salford Red Devils and the Huddersfield Giants, I came to…
Like most people, I was pretty disappointed with the crowd the Cronulla Sharks drew at home on the weekend. It was perfect weather for Sunday night football, it was the season kickoff after a few brutal years of off field drama, there were new signings getting their first run for the team, and the Sharks…
For those who missed it, earlier today the AFL released its 2015 fixture list, announcing the scrapping of Sunday and Monday evening games, and the introduction of more Saturday afternoon football. For years and years, clubs and fans alike, have been calling on the NRL to scrap Monday Night football in favour of a permanent…
There is a phenomenon that occurs among sports fans who follow a team for many years, especially a team that struggles to win games for a long time and then turns things around and becomes successful. You see, these people will follow their team through thick and thin. Through the good times and the bad….
Last night’s all important clash between heated rivals the Sydney Roosters and the South Sydney Rabbitohs had it all. Brilliant tries, try saving tackles, sin binning, some huge hits … It’s shame that thousands of people missed out on up to the entire first half of football due to horrible organisation and scheduling. Anyone who…
I don’t you know about you but I tend to watch Rugby League because I enjoy it. Last night I watched my Penrith Panthers put up a decent effort in the first half only to get blown away by the Melbourne Storm in the end. To be honest, from very early on in the match…
Alright, I’ll bite. On Thursday, Daily Telegraph sports editor and NRL provocateur Buzz Rothfield set out his “50 ways to fix the NRL”. As expected they included the usual mix of whinging about refereeing, carping about the costs of attending games and futile plans to retain or lure back star players. However in a piece…
It should have been a proud moment for Castleford Tigers players and supporters to celebrate the club reaching the Challenge Cup final after defeating the Widnes Vikings 28-6. Instead it turned into a disgraceful scene that Rugby League should be thoroughly embarrassed about. After the full time siren, and as Castoeford players thanks their supporters,…
Two Rugby Union writers for the Sydney Morning Herald took a couple of shots at Rugby League today in the aftermath of the NSW Waratahs Super Rugby final victory over the Crusaders last weekend. I didn’t watch the game but apparently it was won by a penalty kick in the dying minutes. Of course, Rugby…
For the first time in recent memory, a Suncorp Stadium hosted State of Origin game has not sold out within mere hours of tickets going on sale. As of 8:00 pm on Wednesday night, 9,000 seats remained unsold for Game One of the Origin series, with the majority of fans agreeing that tickets are just…
The Penrith Panthers have released a statement on their official web site claiming they have concluded their investigation into allegations that a female supporter of the club attacked Sam Burgess with a flag last Friday night. The Statement reads: Panthers Rugby League Club has today finalised its investigation into the post-match incident involving a Penrith…
In the lead-up to the Wests Tigers match at Campbelltown all the signs were looking good. The Tigers were in form and making a lot of noise, having beaten some of the better teams in the competition very convincingly. Marketing for the game was very good, and while I didn’t follow their postcode challenge because…
There are reports today that Sam Burgess was hit in the face with a flag by a female Penrith Panther supporter after South Sydney’s gutsy 18-2 win at Penrith Football Stadium. After playing very well in a tough, rain soaked game Burgess was hit when leaving the field. The NRL will reportedly investigate the incident….
The long anticipated round one fixtures have come and gone. We saw some great footy, especially at Brookvale Oval when the Storm beat the Eagles in a golden point thriller, while the Dragons and Eels ran up big scores no one expected to see. The Sharks are in crisis, Newcastle have lost their best attacking…
The Cronulla Sharks released their 2014 membership packages yesterday, and have stated they are looking to increase on their 10,000 members from 2013. Despite the ASADA cloud hanging over the club, and reports in mainstream news suggesting the club may have to relocate in the future, the club is in a good spot. They finished…
Channel 9 CEO and Sydney Roosters supporter David Gyngell has told the Sydney Daily Telegraph that it is imperative that the NRL retains Sonny Bill Williams in the face of the AFL’s move Buddy Franklin to Sydney to play with AFL team the Sydney Swans. Gyngell mentioned the boost to crowds and television ratings that…
You simply could not have scripted it any better, 2 fierce rivals battling it out in front of a massive crowd for the minor premiership. That is exactly the scene this past Friday night as a crowd of 59,708 witnessed the South Sydney Rabbitohs take on the Sydney Roosters. The pre match build up was…
With the unprecedented success of Sydney teams, 4 finals will be played in the city over next weekend. Due to the fact the AFL have booked ANZ Stadium for the Saturday Night for the Swans home final, the NRL have been ‘forced’ to allocate 2 games to Allianz Stadium on Saturday Night – a finals…
Another NRL season rolls by and once again we have some pretty ordinary crowd figures some weekends. Suffice to say some of the worst crowds have been by low performing teams or played in atrocious weather conditions which to a degree is understandable, but another major pattern is the distance that prohibits interstate fans from…
You know who doesn’t get belted by ground security at Super League games? People that are behaving themselves. There is a rapidly growing problem within British Rugby League. Crowd behaviour issues are becoming more and more common. Almost every club has had to deal with some sort of off field issue caused by their own…
We are horrified! How embarrassing for Rugby League! What a disgrace! Let’s go and interview his family and friends! You have to love the Australian media sometimes. They love nothing more than to hoist their false outrage banners and go on crusades righting perceived wrongs. When some fmoron run onto the field last night, I…
The Canterbury Bulldogs have beaten the Manly Sea Eagles 32-30 in a Golden Point Extra Time game that was soured by poor crowd behaviour by Sea Eagles fans. With the Bulldogs dominating the first half and the Sea Eagles being slightly unlucky to not convert what possession they had, the Bulldogs looked in control for…
The Wests Tigers face the prospect of losing another player to a long term injury after winger Marika Koroibete dislocated his elbow in a gutsy 20-18 win over the Penrith Panthers. In the 25th minute and with the Panthers leading 12-4, Koroibete was trying to make meters from within his own ten meter line when…
On Friday night as the video referee was called upon, I knew Bulldogs fans would be very unhappy with the decision that was about to be made. We were either going to see Ben Barba awarded a sensational, game ending try, or we were going to see the Dragons awarded a penalty within the Bulldogs…
The crowd of 7, 803 at Centrebet Stadium to see the home side Penrith take on the World Champion Melbourne Storm capped off a poor weekend of crowd attendance for the NRL. This week saw figures of: 12, 117 at The Titans vs. Dragons game 10, 453 in Canberra to see the Raiders belt Newcastle…
Roosters fans get upset when you say there isn’t many of them. Looking past the trumped up crowd figures or the fact that the club only survives because a handful of rich old men like having a play thing to occupy their time on the weekends now that playing Golf is out of the question,…
For those who haven’t yet read Ms. Wilson’s ‘article’ yet, the basic premise was that The Sharks were undeserving of their position in the NRL and should be kicked out or relocated. She sighted the fact the club was in crisis, along with ‘terrible crowd figures’ and a fan base that simply doesn’t care. 17,000…
As we get closer to a federal election we will see the promises flowing thick and fast from both sides as they try to buy votes. One thing I expect we will see come into focus is the way we manage sports stadiums in Sydney and how much money is being spent to keep older…
