Queensland AFL State?

[Cult]

Right, thanks Vlandys.

Now let's again look at the facts, which yes I know people don't like because it shows the NRL is in trouble. This is the most up to date I can find and are from the official respective websites (unfortunately and embarrassingly, the NRL's isn't even the most up to date source here):

Memberships 2024
Sydney Swans - 73757
Brisbane Lions - 63268
Brisbane Broncos - 40207
GWS - 36629
Redcliffe - 35536
Parramatta - 35015
Gold Coast Suns - 26157
Canberra - 24060
Canterbury - 22000
St George - 21124
Wests - 20859
Easts - 20072
Cronulla - 14384
Gold Coast Titans - 13124

Now look, I understand in some cases it is comparing apples and oranges and really, you would need to combine the western Sydney teams to compare with GWS but look at where the AFL clubs sit there.

The best comparison of all is the Gold Coast because they are in direct competition - the Suns have DOUBLE the amount of memberships as the Titans and both teams SUCK.

Again, I am sure this will read to you as the AFL is great and the NRL isn't but no, this is to show the powers that be cannot afford to have your attitude, it is out of touch with reality and what the data is proving and that is, this old, stubborn mindset is no longer relevant and burying the head in the sand is allowing the AFL to take more and more league heartland.

I love the AFL but I don't want to be seeing this, I'm also a fan of what league once was and I want league to be thriving. All the relevant data shows that while it is far from being dead of course, it is trending alarmingly in the wrong direction compared to its biggest competitor.

How many of these were for the free Kayo account? Also what the **** is a AFL Supporter membership that the Lions are offering.

You might like this one too, speaking of those Gold Coast teams specifically. Whole lot of good double the fake memberships do.

14/07/24	AFL: Gold Coast Suns v Port Adelaide	14,526
13/07/24	NRL: Titans v Eels	16,670

 

[Cult]

Again, I get it, I'm on a league forum and I get this is coming across as an attack on the NRL and that the AFL is awesome but that isn't my meaning. My meaning is simply that the NRL admin must not reflect this kind of mindset that so many fans have, that's really all basically.

The NRL admin have done everything they possibly could to win over Western Sydney by allowing the Panthers to get away with anything just to be successful. They change rules for that team. They might be stupid, greedy pricks but they're aware that AFL is growing in certain areas. It's just never actually grown the way AFL fans claim it does. And they can't even catch or kick straight.

 

[winslow_wong]

I don't go to spain and jam nrl down people's throats by wearing the jersey everywhere and forcing it onto their tvs and telling them how much h better it is than soccer.

Tell that to random souths jersey guy. That prick shows up everywhere.

 

[Mustafur]

Let’s see the tv numbers please, from a non-NRL aligned source.

I put up a link in the grand final thread about an NRL-AFL finals viewership numbers article. It debunks this theory badly.

In fact, the Lions v GWS final, two teams in league heartland, had more viewership than the Cowboys final on at the same time.

Overall finals viewership numbers has AFL COMFORTABLY ahead of the NRL.

The reality is, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a fan like you saying stuff like this, you are not paid to worry about it.

What concerns me is the powers that be don’t take it seriously. Vlandys even saying selling AFL to QLD is like selling meat to vegetarians is just a stupid comment from a corrupt idiot.

While the Broncs bombed out of the season early, the Lions have gone on to win the whole thing. I’d be very worried if I was the NRL.

And yes junior participation matters immensely because this exposure does not pay off over night, it takes a generation to show the impact.

In my opinion, given the respective finals viewership, we are already starting to see the beginnings of this long term work from the AFL come to fruition.

And all this at a time when the rugby league product that is the NRL is at an all time low in terms of quality, there are literally two teams each year now who can win it and usually, it is the Storm, Roosters or Penrith.

Comparing a Brisbane team with a Townsville team is not a like for like comparison at all, You have to compare Lions to Broncos to have a fair reflection.

and besides you need to see the audience from the areas targeted only because in most cases most viewers will be from the main base of the sports support, so Victoria.

NRL has no need to be worried though because in all metrics it's growing(Attendance and TV numbers) so if AFL is as well, than both are.

 

[Mustafur]

Right, thanks Vlandys.

Now let's again look at the facts, which yes I know people don't like because it shows the NRL is in trouble. This is the most up to date I can find and are from the official respective websites (unfortunately and embarrassingly, the NRL's isn't even the most up to date source here):

Memberships 2024
Sydney Swans - 73757
Brisbane Lions - 63268
Brisbane Broncos - 40207
GWS - 36629
Redcliffe - 35536
Parramatta - 35015
Gold Coast Suns - 26157
Canberra - 24060
Canterbury - 22000
St George - 21124
Wests - 20859
Easts - 20072
Cronulla - 14384
Gold Coast Titans - 13124

Now look, I understand in some cases it is comparing apples and oranges and really, you would need to combine the western Sydney teams to compare with GWS but look at where the AFL clubs sit there.

The best comparison of all is the Gold Coast because they are in direct competition - the Suns have DOUBLE the amount of memberships as the Titans and both teams SUCK.

Again, I am sure this will read to you as the AFL is great and the NRL isn't but no, this is to show the powers that be cannot afford to have your attitude, it is out of touch with reality and what the data is proving and that is, this old, stubborn mindset is no longer relevant and burying the head in the sand is allowing the AFL to take more and more league heartland.

I love the AFL but I don't want to be seeing this, I'm also a fan of what league once was and I want league to be thriving. All the relevant data shows that while it is far from being dead of course, it is trending alarmingly in the wrong direction compared to its biggest competitor.

Memberships is also not a like for comparison because AFL has been doing it for significantly longer so it's head start is decades ahead, now you could say the new teams don't have that advantage but the culture surrounding AFL has it, and it's more than likely the fans of those AFL clubs were fans of other clubs before hand and probably members, similar to how Dolphins when they came in.

It also has significantly more options on those memberships.

Swans according to alot of Metrics have them as the most followed team in Australia but it's misleading, as like with Storm until recently being the NRLs most followed team, because there is next to no engagement of them in the cities they play in.

Outside Eastern Sydney the acknowledgement of their existence is near non existent even.

AFL will always beat NRL in crowds due to the nature of the sport being much better to see in person where it's the opposite in NRL but that's not really the side of the isle you would want to be in as a sport as Stadiums have capacity's that can't be exceeded before a new stadium needs to be made, where as TV is exponentially higher.

I Don't see any evidence of AFL taking over any league heartland areas, it might be growing in NSW and QLD but NRL is also growing too, Last season for example had the highest TV audiences and attendances in history and this year was on track for that too until Broncos bowed out which definitely would have hurt both big(but it is Number 1 for both in the Regular season).

NRL definitely felt the hurt this Finals not having Broncos in the finals at all, while AFL got the perfect demographic scenario of a Sydney and Brisbane team to their grand finals, so they will get a boost in QLD and NSW whilst getting their normal base who will watch any GF.

But just because say a Broncos fan watches a Lions GF it doesn't make them still not a Broncos fan first.

I'm sure If Broncos played Storm again in a Grand final you would be getting a similar boost, could even happen if say the new Perth team makes a GF.

 

[mrslong]

I wish the nrl was taking the growth of afl in qld seriously and started giving advantages and kick backs to the broncos

 

[Xzei]

Lachie Neale, Joe Daniher, Cam Rayner, Will Ashcroft, Harris Andrews and Isaac Heeney are?

 

[john1420]

My perspective on the NRL v AFL thing, I'm probably in a very different situation to the vast majority of you all. I was born and raised in Adelaide, never lived anywhere else. My family live and breath Aussie Rules, it's like a religion. So for me, it's not an NRL fan trying out AFL to see if I like it; I grew up with it, LOVED it. Then 1 day, I realised I just wasn't enjoying it anymore. This was after about 20 years of following the game.

The more I thought about it, the more I saw why. There are 2 main reasons. The first is that the game is too scrappy most of the time. Yes there are times when it isn't, and when it is free flowing I still see the beauty in it, but it's too little, too rare. The game, on the whole, could be re-created with 2 flocks of seagulls and 1 hot chip.

The second reason is the basic fabric of the game is too easy. Bear with me on this. The ultimate goal of AFL is to kick the ball between 2 posts. If there's somebody in between you and the posts, no matter, just kick it over their head. If you are too far away from the posts, just kick it to a mate who is closer to the posts, and as long as he catches it, nobody is allowed to touch him. At it's core, none of this is particularly difficult.

Compare this to RL, where the object is to put the ball down over the line and there are 13 blokes between you and that line. If you want to throw it to a mate, he has to be behind you. If you want to kick it over the heads of those 13 blokes, the eventual catcher has to be behind you and thus in a worse position on the field than the 13 blokes in terms of getting to the ball. The basic fabric of the game is designed to be difficult. It's what makes the game exciting.

Aside from the occasional snap from the pocket, there's nothing exciting about an AFL goal, because it's just not that hard. What makes an AFL goal exciting isn't the act itself, it's having an emotional investment in the team, and that goal helping your team win. But a RL try is usually exciting/entertaining to watch in and of itself because it so much harder to do. It's why, for me, RL is a far more entertaining game to watch. Even in the old days when AFL ruled my world, I only watched the 1 game per week 'my' team played in, because even then, without the emotional investment in 1 of the teams playing I couldn't sit through a whole game; it was and still is, just so boring.

 

[nopatience101]

In fact, the Lions v GWS final, two teams in league heartland, had more viewership than the Cowboys final on at the same time.

Not in qld it didn’t.
Not in nsw it didn’t.

If you are arguing about strength of the code in nsw or qld you should be comparing the ratings in those states, not national ratings where the majority for afl come from vic, as & wa.

It was also a wk1 nrl final between 2 regional teams, the afl was a wk 2 final.

AFL fans are such arrogant zealots.

 

[nopatience101]

I surely can deny that. You don't think many people in Qld / NSW right now don't know who Lachie Neale, Joe Daniher, Cam Rayner, Will Ashcroft, Harris Andrews and Isaac Heeney are? Turn it up.

No idea and I’m not alone.

 

[Renegade]

I surely can deny that. You don't think many people in Qld / NSW right now don't know who Lachie Neale, Joe Daniher, Cam Rayner, Will Ashcroft, Harris Andrews and Isaac Heeney are? Turn it up.

I bet most of them even know who Jonathon Brown, Simon Black, Micheal Voss and Jason Akermanis are too and they've been retired 20 years.

Your point on GF viewership whichever way you lean was valid, however.

Mate, this is pretty wishful thinking. I know of the oldies in your list because I am a general fan of sport and that was through their golden era - some of them have maintained some sort of media presence or involvement in the game so their name gets floated from time to time. For your modern players, I don't know Andrews or Heeney and I'd be hard pressed to remember Rayner and Ashcroft on the spot, and I actually watched the grand final and loosely follow the lions.

For the average public, you are absolutely kidding yourself. You could walk down Queen Street and ask 20 people if they knew of any of the 6 modern era guys listed, you'd be lucky to get 5 people who knows any of those guys. Maybe because AFL doesn't have the profile NRL has here, or maybe people just don't care. Either way, the support here while good, isn't anywhere near what you might think it is.

PS I think the code wars stuff is stupid anyway, I have no vested interest in the NRL getting over the AFL or whatever else. It's OK to like more than one sport as you and a lot of others do on here. Those that are hellbent on that stuff are just weirdly insecure about their code.

 

[winslow_wong]

Your point on GF viewership whichever way you lean was valid, however.

Mate, this is pretty wishful thinking. I know of the oldies in your list because I am a general fan of sport and that was through their golden era - some of them have maintained some sort of media presence or involvement in the game so their name gets floated from time to time. For your modern players, I don't know Andrews or Heeney and I'd be hard pressed to remember Rayner and Ashcroft on the spot, and I actually watched the grand final and loosely follow the lions.

For the average public, you are absolutely kidding yourself. You could walk down Queen Street and ask 20 people if they knew of any of the 6 modern era guys listed, you'd be lucky to get 5 people who knows any of those guys. Maybe because AFL doesn't have the profile NRL has here, or maybe people just don't care. Either way, the support here while good, isn't anywhere near what you might think it is.

PS I think the code wars stuff is stupid anyway, I have no vested interest in the NRL getting over the AFL or whatever else. It's OK to like more than one sport as you and a lot of others do on here. Those that are hellbent on that stuff are just weirdly insecure about their code.

I reckon you’d get more people naming this years lions players than this years broncos players though. The general public can probably only identify walsh, carrigan and maybe Reynolds?

 

[Renegade]

I reckon you’d get more people naming this years lions players than this years broncos players though. The general public can probably only identify walsh, carrigan and maybe Reynolds?

After their grand final win? Sure. Everyone loves a winner. This is just my opinion, but the Lions would need to keep winning and have a period akin to the early 2000's to have that staying power. Brisbane could be shit for a few years yet and most people would know one or two of their players. If the Lions slipped up and say, bombed out of the 8 next year or something like that, people would just shrug and go oh well, back to normal then.

I think back to the 2000's, the goodwill period for Brisbane probably lasted till around 08-09? Then no one gave a shit for 10+ years until their latest renaissance starting what, 4 years ago? The problem for the lions is maintaining the relevance.

It's fair to say no one gives a shit about the Suns but I can't be too harsh on them, no one gives a shit about the Titans either. GC in general is just a graveyard for sporting teams.

 

[Santa]

Membership numbers are a stupid stat to compare NRL vs AFL support. My kids did a 10 week Auskick program through their school, and where automatically made GWS members for the year (even though they have never been, or likely will go to an AFL game).

Viewership is pretty even between the two codes, but finals viewership probably suffered this year for the NRL given the most followed clubs didn't make it (Broncos, Souths, parra, etc.).

Qld or even NSW becoming AFL states aligns with Victoria becoming a NRL state.

 

[nopatience101]

Membership numbers are a stupid stat to compare NRL vs AFL support. My kids did a 10 week Auskick program through their school, and where automatically made GWS members for the year (even though they have never been, or likely will go to an AFL game).

Viewership is pretty even between the two codes, but finals viewership probably suffered this year for the NRL given the most followed clubs didn't make it (Broncos, Souths, parra, etc.).

Qld or even NSW becoming AFL states aligns with Victoria becoming a NRL state.

GWS drew barely 18k at home for their SF yet apparently have 35k members or something…

 

[nopatience101]

I reckon you’d get more people naming this years lions players than this years broncos players though. The general public can probably only identify walsh, carrigan and maybe Reynolds?

Very much doubt it, the GF was probably the only game of afl most people have watched this year.