RNZ just teported that the NZRU is going to post a loss of around $100m this year (once Silverlake have taken their cut of the revenue)
Sports 🏉 Rugby
- Thread starter Lord Gnome of Mooloolaba
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NZWarriors.com
Looks like the Rebels are no more. Worth pillaging any of their players?
NZWarriors.com
Nothing in the budget for them either.RNZ just teported that the NZRU is going to post a loss of around $100m this year (once Silverlake have taken their cut of the revenue)
As much as we take glee in unions struggles, I hope it’s not foreshadowing a changing future for all professional sport. Canary in the coal mine stuff?
League is strong now but we have the same issues where the players want to cream for the here and now at the expense of the health of the masses. A slight hiccup in league funding and the whole house of cards could be in life support.
Things like decreasing playing number in juniors, injury and concussion enforced rule changes, etc affect league as well as union…
League is strong now but we have the same issues where the players want to cream for the here and now at the expense of the health of the masses. A slight hiccup in league funding and the whole house of cards could be in life support.
Things like decreasing playing number in juniors, injury and concussion enforced rule changes, etc affect league as well as union…
NZWarriors.com
Auckland Grammar Vs Kings First XV tomorrow will probably have more people than the Blues semi…. I have no idea who they’re even playing????!!!!
60%+ stadium empty…compare that to early 2000s or mid 2010s…. I remember union had a drought after the 2007 world cup (earliest exit after dream team got knocked out by host France again, played in Wales because France couldn’t even top their own pool)
Is it due to law changes? Do Young people prefer watching Wahs? Would love to see any rating stats…ticket prices? Attention span? Wonder how many will turn up for the Hurricane Chiefs game
Union so desperate they are making documentary on Razor already, I am a fan so hopefully he creams other nations and win a world cup after snubbed twice by the incompetent NZRU in 4 years…is union in danger of becoming like Aussie, where league is branded for peasants and union for the rich? Watching Breakdown felt like propaganda even when Foster and Old Boys Club were killing the ABs legacy, and you get shocking Spark coverage then Silver Lake deals for the good of “grass root”….apparently they are cutting NPC teams now?
Rant over
Edit: how bad is this
www.nzherald.co.nz
Just feels like a lot of grifting going on since that 2019 Spark world cup rights debacle and the ones running it will jump ship when they run it into the ground. Not an expert or following it lately but never had to worry about the state of the sport growing up
Is it due to law changes? Do Young people prefer watching Wahs? Would love to see any rating stats…ticket prices? Attention span? Wonder how many will turn up for the Hurricane Chiefs game
Union so desperate they are making documentary on Razor already, I am a fan so hopefully he creams other nations and win a world cup after snubbed twice by the incompetent NZRU in 4 years…is union in danger of becoming like Aussie, where league is branded for peasants and union for the rich? Watching Breakdown felt like propaganda even when Foster and Old Boys Club were killing the ABs legacy, and you get shocking Spark coverage then Silver Lake deals for the good of “grass root”….apparently they are cutting NPC teams now?
Rant over
Edit: how bad is this
Alice Soper: NPC broadcast woes a sign of bigger troubles for rugby
OPINION: Rugby is dropping the ball and it will hurt down the line.
Just feels like a lot of grifting going on since that 2019 Spark world cup rights debacle and the ones running it will jump ship when they run it into the ground. Not an expert or following it lately but never had to worry about the state of the sport growing up
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NZWarriors.com
The All Blacks play in a few weeks. Their attendance will be interesting. It might be case people are more All Blacks fans instead of union fans. More that they watch the top end of the product but don't consume everything.
They also have a new coach who the public were wanting to coach the team for a while. So expectations and interest might be higher than they would have been if they were still under the previous coaching regime.
The All Blacks brand is what pulls in a big chuck of their money.
They also have a new coach who the public were wanting to coach the team for a while. So expectations and interest might be higher than they would have been if they were still under the previous coaching regime.
The All Blacks brand is what pulls in a big chuck of their money.
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It also uses up most of the NZRFU's money too (they are going to post another massive loss this year again, too).
Super Rugby is dying and the NPC is dead. The all blacks will go the same way when they are consistently beaten by other countries who've set their game up differently since profesionalism.
Some issues I see with union compared to league:
- league focus’s on stars and the cap allows an even spread of talent. In league each team has 2-3 genuine stars. Great for the home fans and a point of interest about the opposition team every week. Union was boring with the best pooling to the Crusaders.
- league has enough teams that the average fan is familiar with the opposition, know a few stars and have some unknown players to learn about. Super rugby, with the Australian and South African teams lost the familiarity factor to fans leading to less engagement as the media focus, etc was NZ based.
- league has a turnover of players regularly coming every year. Eg RTS, this year, JFH next year. This provides interest and renewed hope every season. Union players are more loyal and stick to a franchise - boring.
- the commentators in league promote all teams ‘relatively’ evenly (except the Warriors!) as the viewers could be supporting either team. Union commentators are much more biased which polarises fans.
- league is run for the good of the game over the team; union focuses on the All blacks and what’s good for the sport comes second.
- league is forward thinking and is run in the best interest of fans. Union is more focused on tradition and doesn’t like changes.
- league focus’s on stars and the cap allows an even spread of talent. In league each team has 2-3 genuine stars. Great for the home fans and a point of interest about the opposition team every week. Union was boring with the best pooling to the Crusaders.
- league has enough teams that the average fan is familiar with the opposition, know a few stars and have some unknown players to learn about. Super rugby, with the Australian and South African teams lost the familiarity factor to fans leading to less engagement as the media focus, etc was NZ based.
- league has a turnover of players regularly coming every year. Eg RTS, this year, JFH next year. This provides interest and renewed hope every season. Union players are more loyal and stick to a franchise - boring.
- the commentators in league promote all teams ‘relatively’ evenly (except the Warriors!) as the viewers could be supporting either team. Union commentators are much more biased which polarises fans.
- league is run for the good of the game over the team; union focuses on the All blacks and what’s good for the sport comes second.
- league is forward thinking and is run in the best interest of fans. Union is more focused on tradition and doesn’t like changes.
NZWarriors.com
Was just listening to Mike Hoskings with Andrew Saville etc and he said he asked Blues and Chiefs reps to talk on the show last week, both refused, only the Hurricianes reps came on, whereas if they want to talk to George or Webby or any Wahs player they could get it done in 20 minutes, and that cockiness is hurting the game (rugby)
How good seeing All Black legend Dan Carter decked out in a Warriors jersey at MSS. God he looked embarrassed when spotted in the crowd. Just a regular fan like one of us now
How good seeing All Black legend Dan Carter decked out in a Warriors jersey at MSS. God he looked embarrassed when spotted in the crowd. Just a regular fan like one of us now
He was overshadowed by the little boy shaving LOL
NZWarriors.com
It’s mostly just the laws and officiating that’s ruined the game. The hurricanes chiefs game had some ripping tries and both teams were being positive… but they also had 3 different tries called back for “foul” play which was marginal, you can’t even celebrate a try anymore without being sure the ref will be told to go back and change it, from 2 rucks ago.
If a team starts exploiting a rule in NRL (leg lifts a recent example) they just blanket change the rule, they don’t care if it’s a different rule book to the UK or the amateur game they know it’s a tv product and slowing down the ruck is bad for tv so that’s that.
Union can’t do that, all nations have to agree and many of them are happy milking penalties and time wasting because it helps their chances of winning. Having a greasy charlatan like vlandys change things on a whim would horrify those old blazers.
The nationalism element of the all blacks, they’ll still be well supported regardless especially now fraud foster is gone. The next level down is kind of stuffed but so is every other country outside of France.
If every nrl game was subject to the sort of ref manipulation we saw on the weekend they’d be calling crisis pretty quick
If a team starts exploiting a rule in NRL (leg lifts a recent example) they just blanket change the rule, they don’t care if it’s a different rule book to the UK or the amateur game they know it’s a tv product and slowing down the ruck is bad for tv so that’s that.
Union can’t do that, all nations have to agree and many of them are happy milking penalties and time wasting because it helps their chances of winning. Having a greasy charlatan like vlandys change things on a whim would horrify those old blazers.
The nationalism element of the all blacks, they’ll still be well supported regardless especially now fraud foster is gone. The next level down is kind of stuffed but so is every other country outside of France.
If every nrl game was subject to the sort of ref manipulation we saw on the weekend they’d be calling crisis pretty quick
NZWarriors.com
I think people take too much out of statements players make about being interested in moving to league or playing in the NRL. A lot of the time it is due to being fans of the NRL product.
It is still a risk moving to a different sport.
The policy for union players comes and goes and never gets used. So we don't know the finer details like how many years it would cover or how long are they considered a convert. Just the first contract, first and second year?
Now without that policy, they are likely going to take a pay cut as the NRL clubs are balancing out the risk along with the salary cap. Some positions clubs will not specifically pay a larger percentage of the cap on. Staying in union they can still get big money in England, France or Japan.
Doing some pre-season work would help them get a feel if they really want to switch. But more likely it helps scratch that itch.
Years ago there was an article in the Sydney Morning Herald about NRL players doing camps to prior to starting pre season. It was things like fight camps either local or heading to Thailand etc. Mainly to keep fresh. Fitness can get monotonous so training with a new team sport can help alleviate that.
If we start seeing big names move across I will take the statements more seriously. But we haven't really seen that since union went professional. It is typically league players coming back.
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