Some points for our great game to ponder too...

[am Bays]

This is an article in yesterday's SMH by Rugby League commentator Phil Gould asking the tough questions confronting Rugby League ATM. I've posted it here because their are some salient questions within it that we should be asking ourselves as a code.

http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/phil-gould/2008/05/24/1211183183413.html

[Hondo]

Interesting his comments on the SOO possibly detracting from the normal comp

Some AFL fans want our own SOO brought back in an expanded format citing NRL as an example of the way to go but this article suggests that the hype and 3 mid-week-game commitment forced on the best players maybe not in the best interests of the normal comp.

The other interesting comment is how he thinks 35,000 members per NRL club is low yet we have some Melbourne-based AFL teams banging their drum for having 30,000. He also compliements the AFL on abandoning the suburban grounds and playing all Melbourne games at the 2 show-case stadiums.

All in all, it seems to me that the AFL has got itself in better shape moving forward compared to the NRL, despite what some of the critics might think. A big advantage seems to be that AFL is not played overseas so there's no risk of players dissapearing O/S.

[Mr66]

Phil Gould is one of the most honest sports commentators remaining in this country.

[Sojourner]

Very interesting article, thanks for posting that Tassie!

Begs the question that if sides do begin to find it tough going, will one of them look at a relocation to Adelaide? The article makes various comparisons to the AFL, so considering that a relocation saved the South Melbourne Footy club, no doubt that is another one to consider!

[Psyber]

Very interesting article, thanks for posting that Tassie!

Begs the question that if sides do begin to find it tough going, will one of them look at a relocation to Adelaide? The article makes various comparisons to the AFL, so considering that a relocation saved the South Melbourne Footy club, no doubt that is another one to consider!

Hey! Perhaps Melbourne could merge with Norwood, and get a few draft concessions in the process?!

[doggies4eva]

My thoughts on the article:

The media does dominate sport in this country. All major codes rely heavily on it. It is essential that each code ensures that it continues to get TV ratings or the media will treat AFL or rugby as it treated the NBL - moved it to unpopular timeslots and when ratings continued to drop cut the coverage altogether! The sport is still recovering today.

So the big dollars flow from media royalties and sponsorships - both depend on ratings. Attendance doesnt seem to matter so much if people stay at home and watch the game on TV - although an empty ground removes the atmosphere and hype which will probably affect the ratings!

we have moved to an era of professionalism in sport - the question is "are the adminstrators professional enough to keep up?"