Israel Folau to walk away from rugby league to join GWS and AFL

[DIEHARD]

The difference in origin between the two sides is that we choose a team, they choose there favorites. This is important because it does not matter if a player is not in form, it is about the brotherhood of being a Queenslander. You seen this in Origin 1 when Smith cheered on and helped Balin a player whom he would dislike, fit into the side. Would Ennis do this for Farrer if he got an injury? Nope. Falou IMO has broken that brotherhood, he chose his timing for this announcement and could have chosen to wait until the series was won, much like Hunt did.

I would not choose a player that could disrupt a team, with undue media when a better player is available in Tuquri

Wow Coaster, great textbook discription of the Queensland spirit and Standard Operation Procedure.

I mean you even have Locky and Petro saying for him not to play.

[Titan_Matchu]

Maybe NRL clubs are backed by Leagues Clubs so these LOSSES are not all they seem. Also how many AFL clubs are "profitable"?

We have seen NRL clubs have massgive gains in memberships, particularly the Dragons, Souths, Parra and Canterbury. And our overall TV ratings still mop the floor with the AFL's. We just need to continue to convert that to Membership and crowds. We are also at the key disadvantage that we play alot of our games at the dump known ast ANZ Stadium not fantastic stadiums like the MCG and the Dome.

Who cares if Israel is the best or whatever. This is about a much larger game, to destroy Rugby League. And for that reason more than any other, we should negate any further advantage AFL can gain from this publicity stunt.

P.S For the record I never liked Hunt or Folau. And believe players such as this do not play Origin for passion but for glory.

Alright since you asked (your not going to like this) 14 of the 16 AFL clubs made a net profit last year. Funnily enough the only two teams who made a net loss were the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions. This is not that suprising considering neither states have fully embraced AFL as of yet.

Hawthorn tops the list of memberships with 52,500 members, the lowest being the Lions with 25,000 members. Now in the NRL South Sydney has the most members with just over 17,500 members. The worst club in the AFL in terms of memberships is doing 7,000 more than the best club in the NRL, I think that speaks for itself.

For the TV ratings arguement you just made, no AFL gets more viewship on a week to week basis. This is based on the 2010 season, on all networks whether it be free to air or foxtel, AFL averages 3,600,000 TV viewers per week where as NRL averages around 2,700,000. That is almost 1 million more people watching AFL on TV every week than the NRL. I'd also like to point out that none of the weeks has the NRL viewships been higher than the AFL's.

Don't use a stadium as an excuse as to why people do not show up to games, if people wanted to be there they would go, that arguement is ridiculous. I can see the arguement you make about giving AFL more coverage by picking him, but the facts are the closer it gets to the Broncos season being over the more talk there will be about it.

completely agree with you Diehard and completely disagree with titan michau, its obvious titan michau is a very biased victorian who would diagree with any nrl fan regarding these things, AFL is actually boring (bar 1 point margin grand finals) i could understand if basketball got good crowds because it is an entertaining game in any country(NBA in particular)

That statement is subject to opinion, I can tell you right now there are a lot of people who watch NRL games (myself included) and it is very boring waiting sometimes up to 30 mins for someone to score. Without a doubt in my mind the fact that AFL scores a lot more often makes it more exciting in my mind, you will probably disagree with me but thats your opinion and your entitled to it.

Mate I appreciate your opinion, and I agree about Victorians love of sport. But I have to disagree with you that Falou is the best player in that position, in fact both Tuquri and Tate have better conversion rates then him, both have more experience and Tuquri is a true duel international.

The difference in origin between the two sides is that we choose a team, they choose there favorites. This is important because it does not matter if a player is not in form, it is about the brotherhood of being a Queenslander. You seen this in Origin 1 when Smith cheered on and helped Balin a player whom he would dislike, fit into the side. Would Ennis do this for Farrer if he got an injury? Nope. Falou IMO has broken that brotherhood, he chose his timing for this announcement and could have chosen to wait until the series was won, much like Hunt did.

I would not choose a player that could disrupt a team, with undue media when a better player is available in Tuquri

Your arguement about choosing a team and not favorites seems to contradict your original statement that they should choose Tuquri or Tate. Folau has been in the team for the last couple of years and is a team member. Tuquri has not played S.O.O for years and Tate hasn't played since 08. Did Tuquri not break the brotherhood when he chose to take a big salary in RU? has he suddenly been forgiven because he is back in the NRL now? very contradictory statements.

also even if he was the best, we have the series 99% wrapped up

That is the type of attitude that is going to make QLD lose, give NSW a sniff they'll take advantage it has happened so many times in the history of sport and will happen again.

You guys are fooling yourself if you think NRL is close to the AFL at this point of time, numbers don't lie people do. Also I'd like to know everyones opinion on Greg Inglis at the moment, is he in same boat as Hunt and Folau and not passionate about QLD? the reason I ask is because Essendon is currently chasing him and if he commits to the AFL I would love to know peoples opinion of him before he commits and then find your opinion afterwards, just to see if you guys are actually serious about what you state.

[titansrawesome]

That is the type of attitude that is going to make QLD lose, give NSW a sniff they'll take advantage it has happened so many times in the history of sport and will happen again.

You guys are fooling yourself if you think NRL is close to the AFL at this point of time, numbers don't lie people do. Also I'd like to know everyones opinion on Greg Inglis at the moment, is he in same boat as Hunt and Folau and not passionate about QLD? the reason I ask is because Essendon is currently chasing him and if he commits to the AFL I would love to know peoples opinion of him before he commits and then find your opinion afterwards, just to see if you guys are actually serious about what you state.

i bet everyting i own and ever will own qld will win especially now that hayne is probably gonna be suspended and nsw never pick good teams, also numbers dont make one sport better than another, otherwise american football would be the most entertaining and best sport in the world. On greg inglis, if he goes anywhere but the nfl or nrl then people will be very very annoyed, since he in my mind is the best centre since big mal, and if he does i wouldnt be surprised if a couple of eggs are thrown at him, hyou guys can have folau and hunt but you can never take inglis.

[DIEHARD]

And how much has the AFL been underwriting these clubs over the last several years?

The NRL underwrites no club.

Don't use a stadium as an excuse as to why people do not show up to games, if people wanted to be there they would go, that arguement is ridiculous.

That is a massive generalisation and is ignorant of the many reasons why going to football is expensive and difficult for families. Stadiums are a massive reason. ANZ Stadium isn't anywhere near being a proper Rugby League stadium.

People look forward to attending the MCG and I assume the Dome as well. The sam can not be said for the god forsaken ANZ Stadium, which offers terrible viewing, poor atmosphere without 35,000+ and no entertainment, drinking or dining areas. In fact the pub across the road, known as the Brewery Bar closes minutes after a game, booting out disappointed fans.

In 2009, rugby league claimed an aggregate television audience on free-to-air and pay-TV of 128.5 million compared to AFL's 124.3 million.

Not bad for a sport that gets basically shut out of VIC, SA and WA.

And the AFL gets a free kick in Sydney and Brisbane, scheduling most of their games on a Saturday, which is Rugby League free on FTA. Even so this regularly brings in poor ratings. But it all adds up to help the AFL. The AFL also has more games on FTA giving it much more opportunity to rate higher.

We will fight them on the couches: league outrates AFL for first time
ROY MASTERS

While officials squabble and threaten to divide rugby league, the fans have delivered an early Christmas present: TV ratings have eclipsed AFL nationally for the first time. This year, rugby league had an aggregate audience of 128.5 million compared with AFL's 124.3 million.

The figures are revealed in an NRL-commissioned study shown to the club CEOs earlier this month, Admittedly, it's not an apples-with-apples comparison: league figures include Origin and rep games (12,024,381 viewers) and the under-20s Toyota Cup competition (3,450,252), which AFL does not have, although the AFL figures include the pre-season NAB Cup (7,642,000).

In terms of a straight comparison between the aggregate TV audience of the eight games each week in each code on both free-to-air and pay TV, the AFL wins 116,612,478 to the NRL's 112,980,474, an impressive result considering the AFL season is shorter by two weeks. However, AFL has four games on free-to-air TV (99,087,689) compared with the NRL's three (83,149,231), an important factor considering 99 per cent of Australian homes have free-to-air sets, while only 33 per cent of homes subscribe to pay TV where five NRL games are shown to the AFL's three.

Rugby league, therefore, wins the pay TV comparison, with 32.7m viewers to AFL's 17.5m, despite being paid less by Foxtel.

Significantly, the NRL's ratings are on the rise while AFL's are falling. A comparison of national ratings for the respective premierships of the two codes between 2008 and 2009 shows NRL improving by 6.2 per cent and AFL falling by 4.3 per cent.

This reflects the ''any given Sunday'' expectation in the NRL, in which a bottom-ranked team can defeat a top club, meaning all games are competitive, compared with the AFL, in which Richmond, Melbourne and even Fremantle are occasional easybeats.

The mini trend also questions the AFL's expansion into the Gold Coast and western Sydney, bringing to five the number of teams which might not be competitive over the next decade. By contrast, the NRL has rejected expansion, seeking to capitalise on its rising numbers.

The AFL justifies its move to the Gold Coast and western Sydney because the two northern states generate 60 per cent of advertising dollars on TV, but this might not translate to rights fees if ratings are poor.

The AFL's strength is it is a truly national game, reflected in five capital-city audience numbers, while rugby league's strength is the loyalty of regional viewers.

On a five-capital-city comparison, AFL wins 77m to rugby league's 58.3m, while the AFL's regional aggregate audience is 22.1m to rugby league's 36.7m.

This raises the possibility of a new independent commission running rugby league instructing chief executive David Gallop to sell games direct to regional networks, such as WIN and Prime.

Sydney, often accused of lethargy in supporting rugby league with crowd and audience numbers, has had a lift in its ratings by 12 per cent on 2008, while Brisbane also boasts an impressive 13.5 per cent rise.

Channel Nine's policy of flipping Friday night games, putting a Sydney game on in prime time in the south and a Queensland game in the north, and reversing them at 9.30pm, has improved numbers, together with the Titans' impressive 2009 season.

Gallop said: ''The numbers are testimony to our pursuit of a close competition. The value of an additional team in South-East Queensland has given us the ability to flip-flop the Friday night game, while the freakish skills of our players has also driven the ratings rise. We can't wait to get to the negotiating table because a lucrative TV deal will surely be just compensation for these numbers.''

Melbourne has increased its NRL audience by 4.4 per cent, not surprising given the Storm's stellar play but a shock to all those Victorian fans who have to endure Channel Nine's cruel treatment.

Channel Nine Melbourne endemically insists on programming NRL at hours when only insomniacs abound, and cannot reach agreement with Fox Sports to release the Friday night games shown in Sydney and Brisbane to pay TV, in the same way AFL is shown in the north on Foxtel.

While rugby league's Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne figures are up and regionals constant, the AFL has suffered a worrying fall in Sydney and a dip in Brisbane, the metropolitan areas where they are seeking to build support with new teams. Sydney's numbers have dropped a massive 19.5 per cent, Brisbane's 1.5 per cent, and regionals are down 13.4 per cent.

With the Swans in a transition period during which their stars have retired and they are unable to access top draft choices, Sydney's audience is expected to decline further.

A comparison of 2009 aggregate premiership ratings, by city, for the two codes, shows the loyalty of Melbourne to AFL. Melbourne had 38,125,568 AFL viewers to Sydney's 28,095,299 NRL viewers, a gap of 10 million despite Sydney's population being one million more.

While this reflects the status of AFL in Melbourne, a code equivalent to a secular religion, it also demonstrates the divide in Sydney with the two rugby codes. That should be a sobering thought to the lunatics seeking to further divide rugby league.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au

Not too shabby for a sport alledgedly in the stone age compared to some other overvalued sporting products.

[Titan_Matchu]

Roy Masters is one of the most biased journalists out there. If you actually into what he is saying he is making lots of assumptions and using persuasive language to make it seem different to what it is.

I like it how he says on Saturdays NRL has no FTA showing and AFL has it good but there is no word of Monday night NRL games having no competition on any channel. Now I understand there isn't as much oppurtunity on Monday night as there is on a Saturday but the fact is NRL games are shown on Saturdays on Foxtel where as on Monday nights there is very rarely an AFL game showed.

This reflects the ''any given Sunday'' expectation in the NRL, in which a bottom-ranked team can defeat a top club, meaning all games are competitive, compared with the AFL, in which Richmond, Melbourne and even Fremantle are occasional easybeats.

That is a gross assumption. Melbourne and Fremantle have already proven this not to be true this year.

The AFL's strength is it is a truly national game, reflected in five capital-city audience numbers, while rugby league's strength is the loyalty of regional viewers. On a five-capital-city comparison, AFL wins 77m to rugby league's 58.3m, while the AFL's regional aggregate audience is 22.1m to rugby league's 36.7m.

He is completely undermining the fact that more people live in cities than in regional areas of Australia. According to his statistics 99.1m for AFL and 95m for NRL, how can you honestly say they are winning? It's about the statistics Australia wide, or should the NATIONAL Rugby League change its name to Eastern Australian Rugby League.

If the NRL claims to be a national competition we should take into account statistics Australia wide, really read what he is actually saying. He states the AFL is winning but then just focuses on one area that the NRL is winning in and keeps going on about it.

Roy Masters is quite possibly the most anti-afl journalist in Australia, I mean check this out... http://www.smh.com.au/business/socce...0406-rpig.html

Here is the last paragraph

Last month's A-League champions, Sydney FC, and the runner-up, Melbourne, have to wait until 2011, but this allows them the opportunity to find a sponsor with a strong Asian connection, something the AFL find difficult.

AFL find it difficult to get Asian sponsors? The whole competition is called the Toyota AFL Premiership who sponsor the AFL for 10m per year. Emirates
Etihad, Samsung, Nissan, Mazda just to name a few that have sponsorships in the AFL. This journalist is a joke, if you believe what he is says you will seriously be mislead.

Please never bring another Roy Masters article as evidence again because he is very well known for being anti-AFL and will not write an unbiased article about it.

While officials squabble and threaten to divide rugby league, the fans have delivered an early Christmas present: TV ratings have eclipsed AFL nationally for the first time. This year, rugby league had an aggregate audience of 128.5 million compared with AFL's 124.3 million.

In terms of a straight comparison between the aggregate TV audience of the eight games each week in each code on both free-to-air and pay TV, the AFL wins 116,612,478 to the NRL's 112,980,474, an impressive result considering the AFL season is shorter by two weeks.

This is probably the funniest part because he says something then says the exact opposite. If we're not comparing straight then what is he talking about? he is giving the NRL advantages through games such as S.O.O and International rugby league games which are not actually NRL fixtures.

[titansrawesome]

Roy Masters is one of the most biased journalists out there. If you actually into what he is saying he is making lots of assumptions and using persuasive language to make it seem different to what it is.

I like it how he says on Saturdays NRL has no FTA showing and AFL has it good but there is no word of Monday night NRL games having no competition on any channel. Now I understand there isn't as much oppurtunity on Monday night as there is on a Saturday but the fact is NRL games are shown on Saturdays on Foxtel where as on Monday nights there is very rarely an AFL game showed.



That is a gross assumption. Melbourne and Fremantle have already proven this not to be true this year.



He is completely undermining the fact that more people live in cities than in regional areas of Australia. According to his statistics 99.1m for AFL and 95m for NRL, how can you honestly say they are winning? It's about the statistics Australia wide, or should the NATIONAL Rugby League change its name to Eastern Australian Rugby League.

If the NRL claims to be a national competition we should take into account statistics Australia wide, really read what he is actually saying. He states the AFL is winning but then just focuses on one area that the NRL is winning in and keeps going on about it.

Roy Masters is quite possibly the most anti-afl journalist in Australia, I mean check this out... http://www.smh.com.au/business/socce...0406-rpig.html

Here is the last paragraph


AFL find it difficult to get Asian sponsors? The whole competition is called the Toyota AFL Premiership who sponsor the AFL for 10m per year. Emirates
Etihad, Samsung, Nissan, Mazda just to name a few that have sponsorships in the AFL. This journalist is a joke, if you believe what he is says you will seriously be mislead.

Please never bring another Roy Masters article as evidence again because he is very well known for being anti-AFL and will not write an unbiased article about it.



This is probably the funniest part because he says something then says the exact opposite. If we're not comparing straight then what is he talking about? he is giving the NRL advantages through games such as S.O.O and International rugby league games which are not actually NRL fixtures.

ok its obvious to me that your a bias diehard afl fan who joined a rugby league club's supporters forum to spread your propaganda around.

[Blazertaser]

Without a doubt in my mind the fact that AFL scores a lot more often makes it more exciting in my mind, you will probably disagree with me but thats your opinion and your entitled to it.

Find scoring exciting? Follow cricket

Blazer

[Titan_Matchu]

ok its obvious to me that your a bias diehard afl fan who joined a rugby league club's supporters forum to spread your propaganda around.

That is all you have to say? I am equally as interested in NRL as I am in AFL, I was just stating that people are getting their facts wrong when it comes to competition between the two codes. You think thats why I am on here? Mate look at my older posts back in 2006/2007, not one mention of AFL. I have lived on the Gold Coast the entire time the Titans were in the making and the fact that I might seem more into AFL is a testament to how wealthy my knowledge is so thank you.

[Titan_Matchu]

Find scoring exciting? Follow cricket

Blazer

Problem is most of the Australian cricket is played in the summer ie. the Ashes (aussie tour), boxing day test etc. So what am I supposed to do during winter to fill my high scoring sport needs?

[Ryan]

..... and the fact that I might seem more into AFL is a testament to how wealthy my knowledge is so thank you.

Give yourself rap why don't ya
Self declared library

[Blazertaser]

Problem is most of the Australian cricket is played in the summer ie. the Ashes (aussie tour), boxing day test etc. So what am I supposed to do during winter to fill my high scoring sport needs?

Tennis

Blazer

[titansrawesome]

ok mate obviously we are all wrong and your right correct?

[Chaos]

Some interesting stats coming out but QLD and Sydney are mainly League supporters and Melbourne has the AFL.


The biggest negative for AFL and a sports like Basketball is the fact points come too easily...scoring's not a highlight.
They both have their good moments but they're not for me

It's easy to score in cricket but the wickets are a great highlight in that sport.

Soccer is at the other extreme with one lucky goal can win a game.

League seems to have the balance just right in this regard.

[DIEHARD]

"Titan" Matchu. Why NOT compare overall elite matches provided by the AFL and NRL into the overall equations? When what we want is to assertane what the overall broadcasting value to the codes is and compare it to the overall broadcasting revenue inward, and decide whether it is truly fair.

Also Chaos, I agree, Rugby League has a great balance. We have some amazng moments, but we also have the tough grinding stuff, big hits and iron clade defence. Which makes you really savour the linebreaks, tries and goalline defence.

[titansrawesome]

"Titan" Matchu. Why NOT compare overall matches provided by the AFL and NRL into the overall equations? When what we want is to assertane what the overall broadcasting value to the codes is and compare it to the overall broadcasting revenue inward, and decide whether it is truly fair.

Also Chaos, I agree, Rugby League has a great balance. We have some amazng moments, but we also have the tough grinding stuff, big hits and iron clade defence. Which makes you really savour the linebreaks, tries and goalline defence.

he probably thinks crowd numbers and money means which sport is best, i agree with chaos as well about the evened out game of rugby league but didnt know how to put it into words.