In New Zealand, there is a perception that rugby league is a game played by thugs and criminals. Although Australia might have been founded by convicts, New Zealand has far more of them today. Hence the appeal of rugby league.
When the Auckland Warriors were launched in 1994, it seems they wanted to escape rugby league's criminal associations. Consequently, they recruited respectable Australians and a few players from the NZ rugby union.
On the marketing front, a team composed of fine Australians and well-bred union players seemed to strike a chord with the Kiwi public. On the club's opening night at Ericsson Stadium, almost 30,000 filled the ground, while one in every three New Zealanders watched the match on TV.
But after such optimistic beginnings, the imported players failed to deliver. The club was almost extinct until saved by multimillionaire Eric Watson in 2000.
Watson started recruiting players from the ranks of the New Zealand Rugby League. Perhaps the local focus was understandable considering that Watson was a bit of a troublemaker himself. Aside from being wealthy, he was famous for his brawls and beautiful girlfriends. With a strong rugby league foundation in place, and a mischief maker at the helm, the Warriors started to fulfil their potential.
Unfortunately, the club seemed to have trouble discerning the line between the bending of the rules that is worthy of admiration, and breaking the rules which brings condemnation. In the tradition of the Canterbury Bulldogs, the Warriors decided to be salary cap cheats.
Despite secretly paying its players more than other clubs, the Warriors still couldn't buy any success. This really should not have come as any surprise. A team of mercenaries plays for themselves, and never for the club. All the cheating did was result in the Warriors being stripped of competition points that it couldn't get anyway.
Aside from strong support in New Zealand, the club also has strong support from expatiate Kiwis in Australia who, although love their country and defend its reputation to the death, prefer to live in Australia. For the club's first final against the Cronulla Sharks, the Warriors' sponsor purchased 15,000 tickets and gave them away to anyone with a Kiwi passport. As so many Kiwis in Sydney are on the dole and can't afford a Rugby League ticket, they relished the opportunity to see a football game. In the 45,000 plus crowd there were more supporters for the Warriors than for the local Sharks side.
Roy Morgan research
2004 - NZ Warriors supporters (in Australia) are:
88% more likely than the average person to be aged 14-24;
two and a half times as likely as the average person to say they wear clothes that will get them noticed;
47% more likely than the average person to be in second from bottom E socio-economic quintile;
2006 - When compared to other NRL supporters
33% more likely to be women
27% more likely to be employed part time
42% more likely to have two children aged under sixteen in the household
66% more likely to be renting their home
20% more likely to look for new experiences every day
33% more likely to believe there is too much change going on these days
30% more likely to believe they are born to shop
30% more likely to chose a car mainly on its looks
28% more likely to enjoy clothes shopping
47% more likely to enjoy going online to chat
84% more likely to need a mobile phone when they travel overseas
22% more likely to believe you need a few drinks to get a party going
Icon
Stacey Jones - Halfback. (Because he is from New Zealand, it would be morally dubious to say anything positive about him.)
https://www.convictcreations.com/football/newzealand.htm
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When the Auckland Warriors were launched in 1994, it seems they wanted to escape rugby league's criminal associations. Consequently, they recruited respectable Australians and a few players from the NZ rugby union.
On the marketing front, a team composed of fine Australians and well-bred union players seemed to strike a chord with the Kiwi public. On the club's opening night at Ericsson Stadium, almost 30,000 filled the ground, while one in every three New Zealanders watched the match on TV.
But after such optimistic beginnings, the imported players failed to deliver. The club was almost extinct until saved by multimillionaire Eric Watson in 2000.
Watson started recruiting players from the ranks of the New Zealand Rugby League. Perhaps the local focus was understandable considering that Watson was a bit of a troublemaker himself. Aside from being wealthy, he was famous for his brawls and beautiful girlfriends. With a strong rugby league foundation in place, and a mischief maker at the helm, the Warriors started to fulfil their potential.
Unfortunately, the club seemed to have trouble discerning the line between the bending of the rules that is worthy of admiration, and breaking the rules which brings condemnation. In the tradition of the Canterbury Bulldogs, the Warriors decided to be salary cap cheats.
Despite secretly paying its players more than other clubs, the Warriors still couldn't buy any success. This really should not have come as any surprise. A team of mercenaries plays for themselves, and never for the club. All the cheating did was result in the Warriors being stripped of competition points that it couldn't get anyway.
Aside from strong support in New Zealand, the club also has strong support from expatiate Kiwis in Australia who, although love their country and defend its reputation to the death, prefer to live in Australia. For the club's first final against the Cronulla Sharks, the Warriors' sponsor purchased 15,000 tickets and gave them away to anyone with a Kiwi passport. As so many Kiwis in Sydney are on the dole and can't afford a Rugby League ticket, they relished the opportunity to see a football game. In the 45,000 plus crowd there were more supporters for the Warriors than for the local Sharks side.
Roy Morgan research
2004 - NZ Warriors supporters (in Australia) are:
88% more likely than the average person to be aged 14-24;
two and a half times as likely as the average person to say they wear clothes that will get them noticed;
47% more likely than the average person to be in second from bottom E socio-economic quintile;
2006 - When compared to other NRL supporters
33% more likely to be women
27% more likely to be employed part time
42% more likely to have two children aged under sixteen in the household
66% more likely to be renting their home
20% more likely to look for new experiences every day
33% more likely to believe there is too much change going on these days
30% more likely to believe they are born to shop
30% more likely to chose a car mainly on its looks
28% more likely to enjoy clothes shopping
47% more likely to enjoy going online to chat
84% more likely to need a mobile phone when they travel overseas
22% more likely to believe you need a few drinks to get a party going
Icon
Stacey Jones - Halfback. (Because he is from New Zealand, it would be morally dubious to say anything positive about him.)
https://www.convictcreations.com/football/newzealand.htm
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