There were good games, close games, a few bludgers, controversy, and big crowd numbers that were able to be posted. To the bean counters at the Rugby Football League, it had everything you need to throw together a nice little press release that you can send out to the few media outlets that still care…
Last night League Freak suggested taking an entire round of games to New Zealand, an idea taken from the Super League Magic Weekend. A very good idea indeed to create extra interest across the Tasman. After Sunday’s game in Mudgee I’d suggest taking an entire round of games to the bush so to speak. By…
This weekend see’s Super League clubs take an entire round of games to one stadium, Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City. The concept was born as a way to try and open up expansion markets in Wales and Scotland. The Rugby Football League would take over a major stadium for one weekend and put on…
The Salford City Reds will change their name to the Salford Red Devils next year in a move that I think will help them in terms of marketing. It is part of an overall re-branding of the club that is long over due. In related news, I just bought the domain name SalfordRedDevils.co.uk Seriously, click on it…
Right from the get go I want to let anyone reading this article know that I was born in Penrith, I was raised in Mt Druitt and I went to high school in Blacktown. I’ve lived my entire life in Western Sydney so I think its fair to say that I understand the people of Western Sydney….
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…
The Manly Sea Eagles are proud of the fact that they are the MANLY Sea Eagles, and everyone else can simply go fuck themselves. That’s fine. Lets face it, that attitude has been very successful for them. I would suggest that the Sea Eagles need to start thinking ahead though. They need to start thinking…
The Western Sydney Wanderers have had an incredible first season in the A League. A dream season! This time last year the thought of the Western Sydney Wanderers didn’t even exist! Now they sit at the top of the A League ladder, they have built a solid supporter base and on Saturday night they sold…
Within a minute after the full time siren sounds on grand final day, NRL clubs turn their attention to membership drives. Memberships are a good source of revenue for clubs and are used to try and get fans closer to their club with members only features, such as invitations to training days and team functions,…
Do you remember the first time you heard what had happened? It was a fantastic story. The type of story I’m sure you didn’t believe until you watched the news that night. The Canterbury Bulldogs poster boy and one of the biggest named in the NRL had got on a plane and left for France,…
Another round of Super League and another game in which Hull FC look terrible… It is something that Hull FC fans have become used to in recent years. A club that promises so much and yet delivers so little. As a Hull FC supporter myself, I find it soul destroying when I watch Hull FC…
A new area in Rugby League comes with a new marketing campaign and today as the National Rugby League launches the 2013 season the new television advert has been presented to the public. In the past I have been critical of the way the NRL has marketed in the game. You normally only got to see NRL…
If you are part of a management team that decides to give away the naming rights sponsor of a competition that is struggling for money for no money what so ever, you should be fired. When you go back to your superiors and tell them about the great deal you “negotiated” that will see you…
Note: This deal fell through after the NRL salary cap auditor could not give the Eels a ruling on Folau’s true value under the cap. After waiting a while, Folau chose to sign with the Australian Rugby Union. Israel Folau has quit the AFL and will return to Rugby League. Brent Read of The Australian…
For well over a decade now the game of Rugby League in Australia has been crying out for a strategic plan. Something that the game can work towards to give fans, players and various investors in the sport something they can look forward to. Basically the game needed to build towards something, and so today…
I always find it interesting to look at crowd numbers in Australia sports because they are influenced by so many different variables. One thing I have never been able to understand is the way Rugby League in Australia looks at crowd numbers, and more specifically, growing those crowd numbers. Considering that Rugby League in Australia is…
What a great achievement! Australia managed to beat New Zealand in Townsville 18-10 while being led from the front by a player born and raised in New Zealand who our officials and coaches recruited thanks to the possibility of at least $10,000 for every State Of Origin game he was selected to play in. What a proud moments for the…
There is a lot of angst among media types at the moment in regards to the access they get to players and coaches and the quality of answers they get when they are fortunate enough to interview these people. I can see where they are coming from and to a certain extent, I agree with…
Yesterday the RFL announced that it would be ending its naming rights deal with Stobart that saw them give away one of their biggest assets for stickers on trucks. It is interesting to look at the reaction to the news and the way some people have tried to defend the deal or revise their previous…
Recently Warrington Wolves coach Tony Smith told the media that the game administrators needed to look at ways to create more buzz around the sport and compared it, strangely, to Darts. Yes, Darts. He also talked about the need to make decisions that would probably upset some of the big power brokers in the game,…
The Football Federation Of Australia (Soccer) has announced today that they will start up a Western Sydney based A League team. It has been interesting to see the way the media has reacted to the news, as they look for the dumbed down, sensationalist angle about a “code war” that doesn’t actually exist. The A…
When Phil Gould took over as the Penrith Panthers General Manager the first thing he did was pretty cheeky. During a Channel 9 game Gould started calling the club the “Sanyo Panthers”. At the time Sanyo was the clubs major sponsor, and when Gould started calling them the Sanyo Panthers, he somehow managed to do…
It is a series in which every single game rates as highly on TV as the Grand Final. I would argue that State Of Origin is the most identifiable product that the game has Australia wide. Recent speculation suggest that any television station that wants to broadcast the three game State Of Origin series will…
The Rugby Football League has signed a three year deal with trucking company Stobart. The deal involved Stobart putting large Rugby League themed stickers on 100 of their trucks and involves no money. In exchange for this the Super League competition will carry the Stobart. This is insane! Nothing against Stobart, they’ve done a great…
Imagine that you own a Newspaper based in London. London is the biggest media market in the country, and the vast majority of your newspapers sales are in the greater London region. The good people of London are like any other people anywhere else in the world. They want to be informed about what is…
Canberra, Newcastle, Brisbane, Townsville, New Zealand, Melbourne and the Gold Coast. These are the names of teams that have come into what we these days call the NRL over the course of my lifetime. The presence of these teams have been nothing short of vital to the survival of the club I support in Sydney,…
Starting a new football team, and expansion team, is all about good will. You have to convince the governing body of the sport that they really need you in the competition. That the area you are going into has room for growth, and their presence will will be a welcome addition to the established competition…
They are looking to enter the NRL and provide Brisbane with a second NRL team, but the expected announcement today that they want to name that team the “Brisbane Bombers” is ignorant and short sighted. It will never be allowed to happen, and rightfully so. There is an AFL team called the Essendon Bombers. That’s…
The Widnes Vikings will participate in Super League again from 2012 and as you can imagine, their fans are ecstatic about the prospect of being in the top flights again. Recently we have seen players, commentators and fans pushing for Super League to raise revenues and the salary cap. Just about everyone within British Rugby…
Sorry for being late chaps, just picked up a new Audi, sweet set of wheels! Ok, so as you all know, we have the Great Britain Rugby League team. It is not only one of the most famous brands in the game, but one of the most famous in English sport. So much history… Lets…