How the NRL is destroying Rugby Union in Australia...
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
- I absolutely love rugby union and the NRL. In this video I make comparisons between the two codes and decision-making that has allowed rugby league to dominate rugby union in Australia.
With the 2023 Rugby World Cup approaching, the Wallabies are relying on a miracle to help keep rugby union in Australia alive. Since Hamish McLennan was announced as CEO of Rugby Australia, the game has gradually made improvements and better decisions.
I'll continue to make videos that promote both codes, while covering a range of different content.
I would really appreciate if you subscribed to the channel to keep in touch with any upcoming videos.
Lots of work to do on my video skills, but I really, really appreciate everyone who is engaging with the channel already. I can’t thank you enough
Don’t mind the raw vibe at all, keep up the good work
It’s not the NRL, it’s RA destroying itself. You shouldn’t discount NRL excellent administrators (Vlandys and Co) for RA own demise! The flip side is, RA ceiling to grow the game (incl. revenue) outweighs NRL ceiling any day of the week! Just look at the well oiled and ruthless NZR (All Blacks) team/business, that should give you a snapshot of the potential ceiling for RA. To be fair, NRL and rugby technically are very different sports. Backs and forwards play very different roles in both codes.
@@SNEAKYTV Well thats total bs there was 19 AFL teams in the whole of the GPS last year at Joeys in Huntershill alone there is 42 rugby teams.
great video brother
Rugby league isn't killing union. Rugby Union kills itself through been a private school upper class game. It doesn't resonate to the people who have nothing.
The pathways in Union are mainly through Private Schools.
even then a lot of private school rugby union players go on to play league
@@zac1794 agreed. This is due to more than one reason but in the main it's due to there been more opportunities in League. Union has limited spot's where League has 17 teams.
@@dcr1545 very true, also the pay in union is next to nothing when you compare it to the NRL.
@@zac1794 at the high level in union the pay is the same and in Europe it is higher. In saying that the high level in union in Australia is the top 5 player's where in League it's the top 3 from 17 club's so 51 compared to 5. Huge difference.
Another component why union struggles in Australia is it is very technical. It's by far a way more complicated game. If one knows union it's like a game of chess in a way and the rule's of the game are strictly adhered to. Where in League they are constantly changing year on year to the point it's more like a game of touch these day's. In League one can easily see what is coming. Eg in attack in opposition 20 there are always plenty of player's in motion as lead runners with ball being put behind. This can occur 3 time's in one attacking movement. If this fails then a kick to either the post or the edge is the go to play. Play the ball's have become so fast one must ask why have a tackle at all never lone playing the ball with your feet 😆.
Indeed it makes League a much faster game and more exciting to watch but for me takes away certain area's of the game which made it great in the first place.
Union holds true to traditional rule's to the most extent anyway. Yes some rule's have changed but it's like getting a bill through in the USA, very hard.
Like Soccer or real name Football it stays true to itself.
@@zac1794 one can look at it this way. Union is like a murder mystery movie and League is like a action movie. Most people preference is the action movie as they want all the explosions and fast pace, high energy of it even if the storyline is less than desired.
With the murder mystery it's slow where one has to think and workout what is going on. To try and figure out who the killer is. The same with Football. In Australia most look at a game that's 1-0 and think what a boring game. These people don't understand the game. In chess if one defeats another easily it's a rubbish game. The best game is attack and defence in chess. Knowing how to prevent a move occurring. This is what League has lost to a high degree. Some of the best game's of League I have watched are 6-4 scorelines. Great defence is just as exciting. Seeing a player understanding what is happening and preventing it from occurring. Most attacking structures in League now are not based on what is in front of them but rather continually used plays over and over again. Defensive line's are set even if there are more attacking players on one side or another. Numbering up is yesterday's news.
In Union and Football, Basketball, Netball , American football Numbering up is essential. In American football the Coach has to guess what play the opponent will use and adjust on the go. Another great tactical game if one understands it.
RA really dropped the ball after 2003. They had a massive opportunity after a hugely successful World Cup to really push growth in grassroots rugby and take the power away from the private schools. They relied on the popularity of Rugby as a global game and assumed they would attract the top talent. I think they’re really banking on the 2027 World Cup to revive rugby in Australia, it’s pretty much their last chance.
100% and the wallabies having a good run during the World Cup
Yes they squandered it last time.
Yep, it's all RA's fault for not being very bright
Private schools didnt need ‘power taken away from them’ as Oz won 2 world cups from the system which continues to produce Wallabies. What it needed was a more forward thinking board to counter AFL and league encroachment to grow union, and power taken from the NSW clubs which stifled development.
I really can't see Yawnion kicking on too much longer,they're ruining the careers of young kids by throwing money at them not to stay in or go to league,when these kids finally get the good sense to ignore the top dollars early then goodnight wobblies
By far and away Rugby Australia's biggest mistake was believing that they didn't need to engage public schools.
Which the AFL and NRL understood all too well! But speaking of Union, South Africa's talent pool has expanded big time cuz the black population is being encouraged to join in!
Well, obvs, coz poor peeps ugh = a perfect scalable business model, yay!
@@mrconfusion87 see that's the problem rugby league biggest junior competition in the world is Penrith juniors which is a huge catchment area which has every income class with low income families, middle class and also high end earners all bringing their kids to play together. I played high level league and union when I was younger and union families from the city would treat me so differently when they found out I was from Penrith even though my parents probably earn more then most families from the private school sector. The league families no matter what would make you feel welcome and that's the biggest difference between the sports one welcomes all players the other says they do but they judge off your postcode not your talent level. Rugby union all but Penrith which supplies 40% of juniors to the NRL systems it's mad they didn't try get some of those others who couldn't make it.
@@uteboy86 Thanks for your first-hand input! Didn't realize just how elitist Rugby Union actually is in Australia. Sounds like Union is doomed to languish in semi-obscurity for decades to come. Even if they did a full 180 on their youth talent recruitment strategy today, we won't be seeing the fruits of that till about at least 20 years from now (and that is assuming they stick to that unfailingly)... 🙈
Used to play Union in western Sydney, but anyone who had any aspirations to go pro would play league. NRL had clear pathways to make it to being a professional, but Union felt like you had to play for Joeys or Kings. And I can guarantee that a bunch of kids from lower socioeconomic areas are a million times more excited to play for the Panthers junior rep team than pack their stuff and board at a douchy private school.
Not sad to see RA go under, they made their bed.
Could not agree more, wish they’d hurry up and go belly up already.
and even in those GPS schools, most of the top-tier talent continues to play league as well and after school will pretty much always choose the NRL if it's an option for them. my dad played for Joeys and while he never had aspirations of going pro, he was a Wests Tigers tragic who watched maybe 2 games of rugby his entire life. the support just isn't there even in what should be rugby heartland.
I grew up in Rugby in NZ now in Aus. I couldn't find Rugby regularly on free to air so had to catch up online. The Stan thing also killed it. League is so much more accesible and so now am following League 95% more than union. Plus games are a lot cheaper to go to and yeh just more accesible.
I played pro rugby for 13 years and put my kids into AFL (Auskick) because of the reasonable fees and just the genuine care from NSWAFL. The coaching, development and all round experience has been flawless and enjoyable not only for my kids but also us as parents.
My son played 3 seasons of AFL in western Sydney and I think all the major codes can learn from them on how to do things, rego was $80 which included the uniform, a ball and gws membership, but the most important part i liked was that the clubs went out of their way to make you feel welcome.
Confirms what I’ve been saying - Union has been completely hollowed out and disemboweled in Australia by the AFL. All this obsession by Rugby Union people with League is a failure to understand what their actual competitor was
@@DeftPolAFL is Australia’s national game. Rugby is a English sport. It’s bound to happen. More people will gravitate towards AFL in time.
Why not sign them up for league then though? At least league is a type of rugby
@@user-hi2ss9ky9f It is Australias second biggest sport so idk about that
Rugby really struggles to draw new fans. Now with Rugby off free-to-air TV, there is a generation of youngsters who don't even realise the sport exists. Contrast that with League and AFL who have spent the past 20 years ruthlessly battling one another for youth exposure.
Wait what, wallaby tests aren't even on free to air anymore?
@@clucas101 Selected tests are still on FTA (channel 9 I believe), but there aren't many - NZ tests and the odd touring side.
Stan killed rugby
Found your upload by chance
The biggest issue rugby union has is its blatant disregard for grass roots and the mentality that comes from that. Take the all blacks for example, Union played in all schools and kiwis make it an ambition to make it to the top. In australia Union is a sport you play to widen the friends circle while studying at university before ditching the sport for a law degree and still wearing the Jersey years later to be trendy
Glad you found the video! Valuing grassroots is everything… and it’ll take a long time to see change
This is 100% correct, League is played in public schools, and Union is mainly private schools, which means you have young men who have some mongrel in them, who are built for contact sports like this playing NRL, Union will never thrive in Australia until they can access this breed of men. The gap between the skills of the Kangaroos and Wallabies is widening.
I agree. As a Kiwi in Oz rugby is a more of an Elite level University only sport. League has a bigger following at a grassroots level. Maybe the future RWC here may help grow union more but there needs to be major changes to get it back to the ‘golden era’.
@@paultpaki yeah it's a totally different approach and it's super easy to pinpoint why you guys consistently beat us year after year. It really is the mentality as I've already said. To me it seems kiwis see playing for the AB's as a path to a better life whereas the aus union player has 4 options and being a wallaby is 4th
@@paultpaki incorrect, check out the club scene
With the NRL's revenue passing 600m this year the gap is only going to get worse.
Problem for rugby in Sydney is they ignored half the city. (Western Sydney)
We love league, Go Parra.
Agree! They have taken that entire market. Go the cowboys 🤣 🤠
@@uggy I like the Cowboys, huge club that represents a huge region.
Are you dense? Rugby has improved since they dropped penrith
This is symbolic of Rugby world wide. The people that follow it want to be seen as elite (generalisation), however, by definition you can't be elite if you embrace the riff raff. Rugby calls itself an international sport and there is some truth to this, most countries have a rugby competition. However, in most cases it is played by an often despised "rich kid minority" based around the private school system. This is a situation that many associated with rugby around the world embrace. This attitude is not going to be successful in a market such as Australia.
@@tonyvickery6478 The market thats biggest in Australia is the AFL and 70% of the league come from private schools....but yeah won't work
When Peter Fitzsimons is the voice of Rugby
It's got no chance
He's turned into a self righteous flog
He hurts Rugby more than anyone else.
@@deant3980 he should just concentrate on getting fake victims book deals
haha yeah the dude a knob
turned into? he has always been one
agreed, too busy to promote himself!
Really similar situation in Wales with football taking over and the WRU being completely out of touch. Hope something can change soon
The blame for that has to go to Graham Henry. He was the one that suggested that Wales drop their domestic comp for regional rugby. Wales had a vibrant domestic league that was bringing the sport to all corners of the country now they just have 4 mediocre teams in a boring comp.
@@tinasherusike7458 It was David Moffatt. The Welsh league wasn't great originally but the regional setup hasn't ever come close to working
Gatland transformed Wales from their attractive open running style...to an attritional South African style. It’s far less appealing to play (and watch), although in fairness to him all of rugby has become attritional with an emphasis on increased bulk and brutality so Wales had to adapt or get hammered.
Union has slowly killed itself (and now literally it's players) since the professional era started.
Professionalism hasn't lead to more skilled players, just bigger players and the whole of Rugby has become so attritional now it's really losing its appeal.
Also the whole gentlemen's game reputation has been thrown out the window with the amount of lad / banter culture that has infiltrated the game.
NRL is not destroying rugby,, ARU is .
U couldnt be more right
💯 🤜🤛
And the AFL and NRL are taking advantage of the suckitude of the ARU! 🤣🤣🤣
Rugby League is killing Rugby Union has done for over 100 years
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 still stand by that comment now do you sport 🤣🤣🤣🤣
As another youtuber pointed out, the increase from three teams was damaging, breaking up halves combinations. There are not enough quality players for the current number of teams. And, yep, the pay tv wall has hidden the game away from a large section of Australia.
The lack of teams is a major issue. Increasing the teams wasn't the issue per se, it was increasing the number of teams in a pro comp with teams from NZ & SAF, where the sport is #1, or at least culturally relevant.
Disagree, the exposure of more players in pro teams has strengthened the national team overall
Reducing the number of teams will simply reduce the revenue/crowds/popularity of the game. The number of teams has nothing to do with the games popularity.
@@hanoitripper1809 I agree. Increasing the number of teams allows more players to develop at a professional level. If we have 5 domestic teams, and 3 positions available for a half-back in each team for example. That's only 15 spots to filter into the international team. New Zealand can get away with this because they live and breathe union, where we are competing with league as mentioned in the vid and AFL.
As an American that lived in Aus for a little bit, I was absolutely enamored with Rugby League. The marketing of the NRL and the team pride associated with area (Parramatta Eels and Western Sydney) really got me interested in the sport. I did not even know rugby union was a thing until recently.
Wow! Now that is very telling haha...
Interesting you mentioned the crappy TV deal the union has brokered. I am a Wales union supporter, but look how the NRL promotes itself: all the highlights and condensed matches are available soon after for the WORLD to see. And the standard of play is amazing - the skills, speed and athleticism, the ball in constant play and the foul play more or less gone from the game. It truly is the best oval ball spectacle in my opinion.
Union on the other hand still has mind-numbing kicking contests, scrum sets that go on and on and the most indecipherable and nonsensical rules. Union could be improved in a lot of countries, especially both Wales and Oz, but the problems are different in both countries.
I went to and work at a public school where rugby is (or was) the flagship sport. In 2003 we won a fairly strong 1st XV comp in our region, which is mostly private schools. Since then it's been very dire - this season we won 2 games and only lost by 40 to the top 2 teams, which was considered a good year.
We have 5 boys teams and 3 girls teams spread across yrs 7-12, and out of the 120 or so kids involved, I would guess about 5 of them actually watch rugby. They all watch rugby league though.
You can notice when you watch these kids play that they don't watch the sport because of how they play - getting back 10 in defence, thinking they get a rest after a hit-up, shoulder charging, running one out etc. No amount of training and coaching seems to iron these things out.
It really is disheartening knowing that all of this could have been avoided if RA/ARU wasn't run by a bunch of fossilised ostriches who don't want to see their precious private school product progess.
Hahaha this cracked me up! Thanks for watching mate.
While the gap between the two has really increased from the 2000s I felt that Rugby had a big problem with TV viewing from the 90s, even back then it was strictly about internationals, super rugby has never had any real impact in this country, Match attendances can hide that with the hardcore fanbases that will turn up, just like the Swans who have a higher average attendance then any Sydney NRL club but have a fraction of the TV viewership and interest.
The grassroots side feels almost completely separated being based primarily around rich areas that league don't bother with but also has far less participation.
I can't see the sport recovering here at all, Rugby league dominates the east coast TV and with increasingly large Deals I don't think it will be long before NRL starts poaching from Rugby outside Australia.
I come from a Rugby background, not a League one, so it pains me to say this, but the NRL is just a better consumer product. Well packaged, well covered, fast, often exciting and often times close. It may be a simpler game for purist snobs, but a simple product well packaged and presented is still better that a dreary dull 'superior' product.
I say this as NZer. If Union was Australia’s main sport they would probably be the worlds best the most often. Imagine if current players playing NRL and AFL had played rugby their whole lives. Just the sheer amount of potential talent is mind blowing. Hopefully Aussie can improve their player base.
I hope so too!
Spot on Bro, breaks my heart.
Ur kiddin rite, Sa hv 40 million population, n r fanatic rugby nation, dnt kid urself, wat u shuld b worrid is dat if nz wur a league nation, dey wuld smash aussie in league,
@@chijuscai3366 no, I’m not kidding.
@@DavidSmith-yi8ou wat r u kidding at, im tellin wat it is
As a kiwi and a rugby union I do see your perspective, These are self-inflicted wounds caused by the Private schools elite mentality and Rugby AU
Yup! Maybe Australian Rugby Union should learn and take notes from the South African example...
This video is perfect for highlighting the reality of ARU. This video could have been uploaded 15 years ago and still be relevant. Rugby union is dying in Australia and League continues to boom.
Bruh what a cracka video! Loved it! It's strange to think that the NRL is still the biggest sport among so many of the aussie states with the all the internal drama going on constantly that gets blown out of proportion by the media. When I was a teen Rugby Union seemed like the golden standard because of how prestigious it seemed. Nowadays I see kids pretty much not even knowing that union exists and because of all the diversity within the game it seems like everyone wants to be involved. I see Union as a sport for the last generation, and League as a sport for the coming few gens.
Liked and subbed btw, can't wait to watch other things you cover!
Wow - thank you so much! Day made brother
SL war was a big contributor to that perception.
I much prefer union, but I acknowledge it's just an inferior sport in many ways.
- You have more guys on a team so player salaries will be lower and maintenance, travel, insurance costs will be higher
- The scoring system is nonsensical. Penalties are worth too much (60% the value of a try), where as in league penalties are worth 50% of a try and the same amount as a conversion (talk about consistent scoring parameters).
- League has eliminated the messy breakdown stuff, which is highly prone to referee interpretation and injuries
- League hasn't got the same soul-killing, injury-creating, error-inducing high kick chase aspect to it
- Rolling substitutions are superior and further reduces the squad size needed
- Travel between NRL clubs is confined to the east coast of Australia, further reducing costs
- Leagues refereeing is still pretty bad, but unions is disgusting. No consistency with referees and a smug attitude and lack of accountability with them
- League understands the game is chaotic and they allow a little niggle, where as union try's to apply every rule to the letter of the law in a futile attempt to demand perfection...and it doesn't work.
Well said. And Union is now in the tough spot where any changes they make to improve the game makes it look like they are copying League. Something they go to great lengths to avoid, making improvements to the game even less likely.
@@Martin-pb7ts Thanks for your comment
They could at the very least work on the integrity of refereeing. North hemisphere refs and south hemisphere refs appear to have way different tolerances for on-field conduct.
I'm a fan of the 20-minute red card thing that SANZAAR had a year or two ago when you could replace a red carded player after 20 mins.
No, it won't create a culture of cynical play from players because you can still dish out month long match-suspensions afterwards.
Rugby 12's is an interesting concept being floated around, and you'd probably see an increase of global competitiveness (more condensed playing talent) and a more sustainable game financially if it took off.
Only problem is 12's games are 20-30 minutes long 👁👃👁
If you had rolling subs though you could at least go for 40 min games.
I don’t know if I agree with this. Have you heard of the nfl? Only the most popular sport in the states despite having most of the issues you’ve stated. (I dont agree with refs, league refs are atrocious compared to world rugby ones). The issue is not with the game imo
@@LOLxUnique NFL has 63 minutes worth of ads every game though. Do you want to watch 63 minutes of ads every game so jerk athletes can earn 20 million a year?
@@Waywind420 point still stands even with that amount of ads it’s super popular. It got there somehow and that’s because people find it entertaining
Years ago rugby was a threat to the NRL. They got Wendall Sailor and Karmichael Hunt. How the tables have turned.
Rugby has never been a threat to Rugby league in Australia, the NRL always had players coming through to replace those players
Great analysis mate. Another factor that isn't mentioned is the role of AFL moving into Rugby's core private school/upper middle-class demographic. AFL has been much more effective reaching out to this demographic (both in fans and grassroots) than it has been in cracking into the broader Western Sydney/Bris suburbs/Logan demographic which continues to strongly support the NRL.
Planning to cover this soon! Thanks heaps for the comment and watching
You're absolutely correct on everything. The only place I think the game is well managed (From QLD so not 100% sure) is in WA with Twiggie Forrest saving the game and growing at the youth level. However, if Perth gets its own NRL team I see that changing quickly
Agree we need to hold WA! thanks so much for watching & the comment bro really appreciate it. Aiming for rugby content 1 in every 3 videos or so :)
Yeah we don’t want a nrl team in Perth haha it will ruin rugby 🏉
The big flaw in this commentary is almost zero description of the actual GAME SYSTEMS themselves:
Union is larger world-wide but League is more professional and optimized in the NRL and makes a more honed and refined game both for playing, for officiating and for spectating: It's had longer via professionalism to stream-line Rugby into a professional business of entertainment.
Union is going through so many problems and is fundamentally merely retracing what League went through eg drop-line kick, 40-20, defensive rush and channels and so on... soon perhaps dropping both flankers also due to too many players on the pitch and sometimes scrums that are uncontested and feeding the ball in to name others. The subbing is out of control also, they took the sin bin from league already.
The Rugby Union World Cup in France had a few great games (2 QFs) and then many game RUINED by the officiation Monte Carlo process of cards and penalties. Total garbage to watch as a consequence without a fair contest of skill and power and teamwork by generational talents.
Jackalling is a marketing name that merely masks how random and variable holding on vs not-releasing (tackler and tackled) is to say nothing of the risk of going forwards with the ball presents leading to kicking tennis.
League is a better competition in the NRL in so many ways looking at the matches and skills and physical contest but in controlled and well refereed (and great commentary not forced narration as per Union due to so many stoppages and random rulings).
Union managed to spread world-wide because the romance of scrums and line-outs and large teams of variable sized players captured the imagination with the physical contest. But in professional era it breaks down. In professional era, League is simply a better "product" and a better game to play for more players to develop the core basic skills of Rugby: Run With Ball, Pass, Tackle and use space and time and teamwork.
7s is another great code but held back ironically by the Union governing bodies as an afterthought... and even that is damaged by the attempt to bring Union rules eg Jackalling heavily into the 7s code and use Union referees and not diverge more.
I reckon the simple ease of League will mean it's better to play, better to coach, better to officiate and better to spectate overall than Union: The flip-side is a great game of Union when it works is one of the best sports but that's so rare compared to the mundane mediocrity and worse of most matches. What do you want with kids training: More time on the ball and less time not on the ball (ie wasted time) with more emphasis on the core skills and team combinations. I think League delivers all those better for kids tbh.
former wallabies coach Michael Cheika is coaching a Rugby League team at the world cup
And no one is watching the rugby league world cup outside Australia. Stadiums are virtually empty.
@@colejones6312 That is strange considering Rugby League is a more exciting sport then the declining and soon to be obsolete Rugby Union version.
@@colejones6312others might not watch rugby league world wide but the only point here is nobody is watching union in Australia it's dying mate. I'm a member of Penrith Panthers have been for most of my life and I'm also a Waratahs member but if you can't see it's dying you are blind mate. Rugby pathways are literally a few private schools and a semi professional comp that has tradies playing in it who are going up against professionals when they come back from super rugby it's a joke. ARU thought NRL would never be a threat now they own all the big TV rights which only rugby union could dream of right now.
@@jd4062 I just googled there are 8 million people playing rugby union in the world and 300 thousand playing league, that is a fact ! Not opinion !
@@rickseyb2993 Rugby League is much more popular in Australia, it’s more exciting to watch and there is more emphasis on scoring tries. On the other hand rugby union is dominated by referee decisions and kicking penalties. That is a fact.
Problems with Rugby:
For kids participation
1. General drive away from contact sports
2. Academics comes before sport in middle income families
3. Allowing AFL to promote themselves without active competition in schools
4. NRL tying up dual code kids from 14 with financial deals
5. rugby hierarchy gravy train of parasites that relies on private schools to do the work for them
6. Community clubs being held together by nepotistic individuals who focus on their own children over the team. The clubs within clubs.
What can they do about the AFL though? It's the most popular sport in every Australian state bar QLD and NSW
@@Marcelo-hf5xl AFL got into a lot of public schools as an after school demo sport. Rugby didn’t bother. AFL is seen as less dangerous for some reason, but as most kids from sporting families, they will often do more than one sport in the same season. Whilst a lot do both codes of rugby, some do Union and AFL, I have seen the smaller teens end up in AFL, giving up Union, they were introduced to during school, rugby should be doing the same and giving options for the say the bigger stronger kids something else, especially the ubiquitous (favourite of mums and expensive soccer).
Even most independent boys schools have given up on compulsory rugby, Saturday prep sport is just soccer.
@@Marcelo-hf5xl yes but nsw n qld is half the population
@@2partiesnotpreferred226 that doesn't mean AFL isn't popular in NSW or Queensland. The Brisbane lions have more club members than the Broncos have in their entire history. And the Sydney Swans have more members than every NRL team in Australia. GWS a team formed only 10 years ago, have more members than every club bar Storm and the Eels. AFL is growing in both states and just because they're NRL-dominated doesn't mean AFL doesn't have a big following in QLD nor NSW
@@Marcelo-hf5xl it isn't really popular in terms of participation though just people sitting on there ass
It’s about time rugby league started pushing in rugby union nations like South Africa and Argentina
@Maxwell I’d say the African/Black community is probably the better target market for RL. Progress was being made mid 90s but faded due to the SL war.
Rugby League will never be as big as Union that’s just facts. They just won’t grow the game look at how they stopped having the 4 nations and the Anzac test just a stupid move in my opinion it hurt the game. Look at the empty seats at the RLWC at the moment in Union World cups all the seats are nearly full even in the pool matches.. I love Rugby League but I’m also a realist League is not bigger than Union
@@theimperium9818 nah americas is more of a union territory. The new two professional leagues are quite successful and new countries like Uruguay and Chile are becoming more competitive in the international stage
@Eulogist pushing? Any source?
@@theimperium9818 major league rugby based on USA and Canada, Súper Liga Americana de Rugby based on South America.
Several former all blacks and wallabies are playing in the states now while superliga is low profile but helped Chile to make it to their first World Cup (their squad is mostly made up of homegrown unlike Jamaica)
I used to be a one-sport Rugby Union fan, the first big game I went to was in 1987 and I spent 30 years as a staunch fan. Apart from the problems mentioned in this video I have lost some of my love for the game over the last 10 years due to two main reasons:
1. The amount of off-the-ball stuff happening on the field is getting ridiculous. A team can't even take a quick tap penalty anymore due to the heavy interference from players and the refs do nothing. All of this adds up to the point where I now watch more woman's 15s than I do mens. Not a bad thing but I think World Rugby HEAVILY underestimates the damage being done to the watchability of the game.
2. Years of incredibly and obviously bad refereeing decisions have left me jaded. Just before this I watched the Black Ferns playing Scotland. A try from a forward pass was reviewed, it was not close, it wasn't even maybe flat, it was VERY FORWARD and obviously so. After review the try stood. I stopped watching. World Rugby HEAVILY underestimates the amount of damage crap like this is doing to the reputation of the game. I just don't engage anymore as I just get mad about the shocking decisions and off the ball crap that is happening all the time.
I watch NRL now for the last 2 seasons. I am from South Africa where the is no Rugby League really, but I watch NRL because it is frikken great to watch and I don't see insane decisions on a daily basis. I have also started watching NFL. I enjoy that too.
The NRL is a very good product, glad you enjoy it the same way i do.
I love it.
Welcome to the NRL.
Exactly. Somethings gone wrong in Union and League is a great watch in comparison. Btw, NRL scouts are missing a trick if they aren't looking at SA rugby. Your turn may come!
@@PaulLMF think your onto a good idea there. Some absolute beasts in SA rugby.
Good for you, a pity that rugby union is predominantly the center of attention in South Africa due to its complicated political history over league.
You could even watch the Super League too if you wanted to with the favorable time zones to Europe.
Subbed. All the best man
Grind hard and don’t give up on this channel. It can become anything you want it to be.
Thanks heaps! Really appreciate it.
As a QLD kid in the 90s with no knowledge of rugby, rugby league vs rugby union was no comparison. Go to the movies you see Tina turner, kids at school were trading rugby league cards, turn on the tv = a slick product at a good time-slot with easy to understand rules excited commentators and cool team mascots. Despite the fact that the only kids i knew that played rugby played union and not league we all still followed league. Such was my ignorance about rugby union i assumed rugby union was "touch rugby" until i was about 13. And this follows you into highschool. I went to an "exclusive private school" that played union and because of all of the above 90% of the boys who followed rugby, followed league.
One thing no one talks about is how rugby union allows NRL players to defect for money despite knowing that they have no love for the game, just a short term project to make millions before retiring back into NRL....Heck back in the 2010's you had Jonathan Thurstan holding the NRL to ransom by asking for more money or else he would defect to union....Why would you even want to allow NRL players to use your game as a form of leverage....Just have a rule that you either played union as a junior or else you stay with league...Don't give NRL players an avenue to jump back and forth for money....
Spot on.. there is one bright spot, while the rugby union strong holds of NSW & QLD are dying there is growth in player numbers in WA.. They are completely and utterly focused upon the grass roots, pathways are made for club players not for private schools.
Old news. I seen the NRL killing the Super Rugby like probably 10 years back. In Super, if the games close with minutes to go, and the winning team have the ball - they can just hit it up phase after phase and then kick it out. Whereas in league, the losing team eventually gets the ball and gets a shot to win or draw close games. Thats why you see more comebacks in the NRL making fans watch it to the 80th minute.
Great video for a first time creator. RA has simply failed massively. A weird but relevant point aswell is how RA because of its focus on private schools neglect demographics which have now taken up NRL. Rugby League has now become huge in the Vietnamese and Korean communities in Australia despite Rugby union actually being played in both those countries. RA simply needs to start again
@@mrbubz7875 interesting point.
I mean Rugby league was literally made with those points in mind to be a more interesting game for spectators.
The issue is NRL is constantly changing and adapting, there's too many old elitist dicks in Union trying unknowingly to ruin Union.
I played both codes while at school. Rugby is the better game to play but league is the far better game to watch.
why is it that you enjoyed playing rugby more? I'm curious to hear as a league fan.
@@Taigirr because league one dimensional
@@toi8610 WTF The bases of both are very very similar.
@@Taigirr I was a front row forward and in rugby I was also involved, always busy, always 'on the ball'. And not so much in League.
I played both aswell. i preferred league, too many stoppages in rugby however i did enjoy tackling and running less lol
Growing up in Newcastle & Western Sydney I have never followed Union, only NRL.. I see Union as very insular, poorly promoted and hard to follow. They never bring games to Western Sydney which is the heartland of League.. RIP Union..
100%!
Good for you nrl, rugby union in almost every other country is always trying to get rid of league so it's good to see the reverse
As a South African who has huge respect for Australia, I NEED THEM TO COME BACK!!!!!
The NRL signed a deal worth 400+million per season not 115, the comparison is actually much worse than you put it.
Wow, damn
NRL total deal over 5 years is 2.045billion.
You have absolutely nailed it, I could not agree more. Every point you make is one I’ve been making for the last 5 years
Haha thanks brother!! More to come
Great commentry and analysis mate. Well done :D
Thanks mate! I appreciate it, hopefully the quality can improve over time.
Great video mate !
I wanted to make a similar one haha
The NRL tv money is a lot more than the 115 million you said per year !
That was only nine and doesn’t include kayo fox money witch is actually more than what nine kick in
With the NRL salary cap raising to 11.5-12 million next year we will start to see the gap increase between the codes unfortunately.
Yeah holy shit, thanks for alerting me to this. I subbed up!! Thank you
Above all else is the fact that there is only round 40 mins of play in a 80 minute match. Referees blowing the pea out of the whistle for seemingly invisible indiscretions, also has a massive affect. NRL on the other hand is much more of a spectacle even factoring in video referees and captains challenges.
Yeah brother! The game needs to speed up. Too many moments to flick the channel over.
Rugby league World Cup is no where near rugby union World Cup 😂
Why Australia rugby is dead cause the wallabies are shit the only time people will go to see the game is when they get good agin
As a league fan I think ur right in someways. The only thing RU has over RL is the international test. But I think it’s fair to say that the NRL is better than any Union competition
@@diddykuda1544 how? Union have like 10 professional league worldwide while there’s only 2 for league
@@hshahahah2819 he's saying the NRL is better than any of those 10
Well said
@@4KTUNCO ya how? In which aspect?
As a Melbournian, I’ve become quite interested in the NRL this year. When researching players, clubs and the nrl I’ve come across the differences in union and league, union seems like a white boys club. Their is absolutely no promo for the Rebels in Melbourne, I would assume no one even knows who they are, whereas storm are so well followed. On the stan sport trail too, TCR was live and free on 7 last year, to rival Supercars half on 7 all on fox and it would have brought in a lot of Motorsport fans in too watch. This year they moved it to Stan sport which has meant no one has to watched it as it is a new category and mostly older drivers or tier 2 and 3 drivers. Terrible move putting your struggling or growing sport on stan sport or any other streaming service with no free to air coverage.
I'm not arguing about any of your points as I'm not Australian apart from 1, having watched The Wallabies and Aussie SR I can definitely say a white boy sport it isn't anymore! In fact if it wasn't for the amount of players from the Island communities I would hazard a guess Union as a viable competitive sport would be dead in Australia!
Keep watching union games. You'll start to see how simplistic and repetitive rugy league is and how amazing a good game of union can be. It's got nothing to do with culture or social status. It's just a far superior game, technically, athletically, mentally etc.
@@the510wagon except it's not. There's basically balrey any difference between league and union. 90% of the rules are the same and the major differences don't matter that much in the long run.
It's this attitude towards league that a lot of you stuck up union fans have that puts league fans off rugby union. When you respect rugby league, we will respect rugby union. Otherwise it's just going to be rich snob union vs working class league
@@beebeenyneeee7692 Barely any difference??!
Line outs?
Contestable scrums?
Continuous tackle count??
15 men on the team vs 13??
Contestable mauling? (huge difference there)
Contestable/live ruck?
They are not similiar games at all. The rules and regs in union run deeper too.
I didn't say anything about being a snob or who plays which game or respect. You read what you wanted to believe. I wrote that the GAME is superior, not the players. Because it's more difficult to play. It's more dynamic and has more facets. Thats a fact. League IMO gets repetitive because essentially you attack with 5 tackles and a bomb kick. Then 5 tackles and a bomb kick...over and over.
I don't give a rats arse what suburb the players grew up in - take the chip off your shoulder.
@@the510wagon lol you think that a couple rule changes mean that union is that much different? 90% of the rules are the same. The games are barely indistinguishable from each other to non rugby fans.
It's not a "fact" that union is better or that it's "repetitive". I could say the exact same thing about union. It's just your opinion and in no way factual. Another great example of union fans pretentious annoying snobby attitude towards league. Coming up with all these excuses why your rugby is better than my rugby when they are basically the exact same game. If you aren't going to have any respect for rugby league and have this superiority complex mentality, then don't expect any respect from league fans.
Nrl is alot more exciting. Rugby union hand out cards like its Christmas.
Good video. Nice work. It’s important that these issues are brought to light.
Thank you! I am uploading another union one now addressing issues the game itself has.
Hoping for more Aussie rugby union content! We need someone like you.
Thanks brother!! Hopefully I don’t get copyright striker. My plan is to promote the game x
I grew up playing and watching union and I loved it. Recently I switched to watching NRL around 5 years ago and now it’s the only thing I watch. It’s a way more entertaining style of rugby. I can’t even bring myself to watching the rugby championship or international union games anymore due to the yellows and red cards they give out. I know there trying to increase player safety but it’s completely ruining the game in my opinion.
I watch an enormous amount of both codes. I love them both. There are so many more penalties in Union. I watched a State of Origin game a few years back. There was 12 minutes of continuous footy. No penalties and the ball stayed on the field the whole time. It was magical.
At schoolboy level, aka the nursery, rugby was always seen as a much bigger deal than league back in the 70s. Some of those private school kids had a lot more doors opened to them courtesy of Rugby than their League counterparts - if the worm has turned surely the people at the top need to accept responsibility for that.
No League has wooed the Corporate dollar and become more middle class
My first game of Rugby, Shaun Berne nailed a halfway conversion to beat the Crusaders. They'd put 56 on the Waratahs the previous time they played. Sadly, I've never seen a better game since, where I can expect my NRL team to serve up multiple games a season as exciting.
Aside from watching a replay of the Wallabies winning after picking up that red card a couple months ago, I haven't been interested in watching any Rugby games end-to-end this year.
Can definitely relate. I also find the range of teams in nrl make it much more interesting as the season goes on.
I couldn't sit through soo game that league fans claimed was oh so better than wallabies test. I can't stand games against england but for me even most boring Union game is better than best league game
More like rugby union is destroying itself in Aus
Very true!
I think the "rugby is just boring argument" is pretty weak. There are tons of boring and yet popular sports. Just look at F1, it's objectivly boring, and yet, they were able to market themselves and the drivers in a way that they started to attract even people that are not that into cars.
It's the same thing with rugby, they always fail to market the domestic competitions (france is the only exception) so for most of rugby fans, rugby is just a sport that you go see when your national team plays a friendly agaisnt another team for the 3rd time in 5 years. The marketing in the players is even worse, no one knows any players' names or personalities which is awful
Great point, no one in australia cares about super rugby. The shute shield and brisbane comp should be merged together and have a national comp with a second division for relegation and promotion.
For rugby to be competitive with NRL and AFL they need to have a national week to week competition with free to air games.
No one in Australia is interested in Waratahs vs Crusaders on Fox at 10pm. I think that eventually a national competition with an open player market would boost the game up at the amatuer level. Because it will give those players the chance to play professionally.
Of course they wont do any of that, because Aus Rugby still has its head stuck in the Amatuer era.
The laws of the sport definitely do have an effect on the spectatorship value of the sport and that is something that is certainly hurting rugby union. Penalty kicks at goals and made other things that disrupt the flow of rugby are a problem.
I went to Matraville High School, a school that produced 6 wallabies, Fairfax the 3 Ella brothers Lloyd Walker, and David Knox, along with Eddie Jones.. we were a Rugby powerhouse, and now they play Rugby League and soccer. Rugby in Australia is dying on the vine and the drought doesn't look like lifting soon.
Watched a Brisbane GPS schoolboy Rugby game recently. One school team has TEN (10) players on NRL clubs! And ZERO players signed with rugby clubs!!!!
New to watching Rugby Union or NRL. Flick on TV on weekend and there are NRL games on - and the ones I watched were great games too. Tried to watch the recent Union championships - and wow they weren’t very good to watch - particularly Aust. I think NRL are doing a lot right, in the finals series (2022) were some really great games. Wondering if NRL will expand?
Haha welcome to the brutal sport of rugby. NRL has set up their competition to allow expanding, the Aussie super rugby sides are based on states, which really limits how many teams can be competing at a professional level
The Dolphins (QLD) are coming in as the 17th team of the NRL in 2023.
NRL boss also said they will expand to 18 teams within the next 5 years.
Rugby's deal with Murdoch before Stan came in was extremely toxic and really hurt the sport's growth when there was plenty of room for it in the golden age of super rugby.
Have you already forgotten a similar thing happened to RL in the year of Super League. It was the catalyst for hard decisions with the loss of some teams and merrgers of others. Same happened with VFL / AFL.
So true. They should have broken the Foxtel contract years ago when they had more eyeballs to sell to. Now they're completely fucked.
Enjoyed your video. My son plays both school union (one that was shown in this video) and club league and this year we have gone through the NRL clubs spending time and money on trying to recruit my son for next year. There has been one Union team ask him to play rep but then wanted $400 for the privilege. Couple this with Union rep teams throwing out my son from the teams because he was also going to play league while NRL academies encouraging him to play everything. Union is run by individuals with mostly good hearts but are so fragmented at the junior level while League is run as a business, with clear pathways for youngsters to pursue and engage with the professional teams.
this is a great way to put it.. union relies on volunteers!
Really enjoyed this video, just subscribed, I'm a diehard nrl fan living in new Zealand but something I've notice personally is the wallabies have heaps of talent, exciting names, good highlights, I hate rugby but I've enjoyed watching their highlights
Thanks so much bro! I just made a league video but really butchered the editing. Rugby videos will be constant, mixed with some other sport things :) Hope you enjoy... always open to feedback
This is a complete misdiagnosis of the problem. In fact it’s so bad as to be adding to Rugby Union’s problems in Australia… the truth is that Rugby has never had the public schools in NSW and Qld, but when it got its first financial windfall it decided to directly try and eat into League’s support by spending big on NRL stars. However, whilst Union was preoccupied with the NRL, they let their grassroots wither and simultaneously the AFL identified that its primary market in NSW and Qld (and in Sydney especially) was in Union’s private school heartland.
Indeed, the growth of the Swans and decline of the Waratahs are almost directly proportional. I remember being a Waratahs member in the early 00s and we’d get average crowds of 25-30k, whilst the Swans were tiny. The situation is entirely reversed now, and all the posh eastern suburbs kids all have AFL programs in their posh schools, to the point that they are now all much more likely to know who Buddy Frankly is than Michael Hooper.
If fans of the Rugby in Australia are still failing to understand that their true competitor is the AFL, then the sport is well and truly stuffed…
If this was correct, why hasn’t it happen nation wide? , the private school kids in QLD and ACT arnt going to the AFL they have been seduced by the NRL. The swannies TV ratings are average also so this supposed exit from the GPS schools to the AFL doesn’t really show up in the stats, yet nation wide the NRL is the most watched sport in the country! It’s pretty obvious that most of the Rugby fans have deserted the game for the 13 man code .
The problem with rugby union is that its just objectively worse than league lol. A scrappy visually unappealing pile of bodies with 400 penalty goals per game? No thank you.
Let me get this straight. Cricket in Australia isn't an elite sport where everyone can play, but Union is?
Video skills are mean as bruh, the amount of work it takes, bloody love the information download and always great to learn something new.
Rugby union might be one of the worst sports I’ve ever seen, there’s no surprise league has taken over the game itself just makes more sense and is way better in general.
Thank God the rest of the world has a functioning brain and know what bore league is
After seeing Wales completely humiliate the Wallabies the other day in the WC, this video makes a lot more sense.
The greatest gift to League has been the All Blacks. Every time they smash the Wallabies It bolsters the NRL.
Rugby is dead in Australia, proof of that is the new NRL side the Dolphins 35,000 fans at Suncorp, watch the same stadium when the Reds play there first home game will not come close to 10,000 probably 7,000 its a joke, I love rugby but the ongoing BS rugby is going through here in Australia is making me more leaning towards RL
Many people agree with you! Super rugby is hard to watch lately
I enjoyed your video and the points you made. Thank you.
NRL has superstar players and characters. Rugby doesn't. NRL has funny, entertaining TV shows. Rugby doesn't.
I enjoy watching international rugby games. But I'm an NRL fan, living in a rugby league town. I went to a state school. Rugby to me was always a posh private school game with limited appeal. Rugby surged a bit in Australia when it turned professional. It attracted some NRL players to switch codes. But that surge has waned.
Over time NRL has attracted huge numbers of Pacific Island players with rugby backgrounds. Today, Islanders make up over 50% of the players in NRL. They are exciting to watch. I'm sure some of them would run through a brick wall if you dared them to. Back in the 80s there were no Islanders playing league in Australia. NRL would not be the same without Islander players.
I think the player drain from the islands has weakened Australian rugby at the elite level. Islanders can earn big money to play NRL which has 17 fully professional teams. There is more money for them in NRL than if they migrated to New Zealand and hoped to make the All Black squad, which is just one team, or the limited opportunities to play Super Rugby, or whatever they call it now.
Thank you - really appreciate it! Many similarities to me, I’ve recently become heavily converted to league & once I moved outside of the city it’s all rugby league 👍 I can’t imagine how much of a powerhouse Australia would be in union if NRL wasn’t a code.
@@uggy Or AFL. I feel we'd completely dominate. We do alright in soccer and cricket too.
"or whatever they call it now" - what a telling statement.
@@uggy If NRL wasn’t a code only Michael Hooper & Taniela Tupou make the wallabies from union
Was shocked when I turned up to a Queensland Reds game and was charged $50 for GA. Haven’t been back to a Super Rugby game since.
BROTHERRRR! Everything wrong with rugby right there.
Am Scottish Rugby fan and for the good of world cup I hope Australia come back to the old days when you had great sides of campese eales, larkham, etc sad to see the aussies where they are
Get rid of the 3 point penalties and drop goals and maybe teams will try to score more tries.
not gonna happen when the governing body is controlled by the northern hemisphere.
That's just manipulating the game. It's like the never-ending rule changes in F! that caused me to stop watching. They were so desperate to stop a single driver or team dominating that they did a lot of damage to the sport.
drop goals and penalties make it more competitive.
rugby is fine already.
its just the community needs more class instead of being like football fans.
Yeah I agree, I believe when Rugby turned professional back in the 90s, there was alot of talk about opening up the game and making the point scoring system more attacking friendly. Unfortunately the Northern Hemisphere love 3 point penalty and field goals
Funnily enough thats one of the reasons why the Southern Hemisphere countries dominated for so long. Because of the emphasis on a more attacking style that the Northern Hemisphere teams couldnt keep up with.
I agree to many times teams win from 30 to 40 meters out from the opposing try line . By more often than not ridiculous penalties.
Rugby Union in Australia start to declined as soon FOX brought the rights during the early 2000's .The fan base declined drastically not able to afford monthly subscription for FOX and overpriced tickets.I had membership for the NSW Waratahs which cost me nearly double of what my membership for the Balmain/West Tigers cost me.Other very big reason was the decision to not allowing players who play in Japan and France to represent the country for long time was a big factor in many losses to the All Blacks and England.
Well said. Worse decision ever was going to pay tv.
Stan has the Rugby Union rights now with Channel Nine
Interesting case study
Smashing video mate. Well done 👍🏾
Are you the same guy who had the channel ruggy a few years ago? I loved your videos.
Yes 👏 couldn’t help myself
about time, rugby league is so much better. that's what's happens to a code like rugby union that bullies other sports.
Interesting thing is Union used to be way bigger in public schools, look at the Waratah Shield. Absolutely huge competition.
Wow just searched this up
Jimbo as a kid in the early 70’s playing for Coogee Seahorses (union) on a Saturday morning….. then on a Sunday South Sydney jnr s (league) picked up almost half of that Coogee team an others on their bus outside of the Randwick Rugby Club and take us to play league…. Feed us, supply kit and return back to home all for free.
All the main league clubs then approached mainly rugby playing public schools then with the same pokie funded policies…. free uniforms and proper organisation…. Great recruitment logic against a then amateur code……. That’s when rugby grass roots fell away.
I`m an English long-term NRL fan. Careful what you wish for. Excessive media scrutiny on League officials is ruining the game as a spectacle. When I watch a Union game I`ll see 50 incidents where a League ref would call knock-on, obstruction, forward pass. The application of the knock-on rule in particular has lost all contact with the rulebook. It`s supposed to prevent players promoting the ball towards the opposition goal-line, but the refs are now so terrified of missing anything that the slightest suggestion of a bobble or fumble in any direction is enough for them to blow the whistle. Plus, we have the bunker obsessively looking for reasons to stop play. Unpredictability is squeezed out, risk-taking is punished. Whether Union intrinsically has the game to take advantage of League`s degeneration into compressed bash and crash is a moot point, but one thing they shouldn`t do is emulate the NRL.
Yeah, the knock-on calls are starting to reflect a dropped ball similar to touch football. This actually has made me feel a little inspired for Union. Every moment of the game being an arm wrestle.
That's my only gripe, I like both forms of rugby and I used to find the officiating too technical in union and league is heading that way with the most minor incidents being called too often and disrupting the flow of the game. Both versions should just keep trying to keep it simple
It's not just in Australia, but around the world. The sport is dying a slow, painful death. Look at the financial mess English clubs find themselves in. The game there has a small following and clubs struggle to fill 15 000-seater stadiums. The number of youngsters playing rugby in New Zealand has dropped a lot in recent years. In South Africa, while the Boks continue to draw big crowds, domestic sides are struggling. The number of empty seats at local URC games is alarming, and fans only show up for playoff games. People will try dispute this, but the numbers - broadcasting, attendance and participation - just don't lie.
I feel this massively, empty stadiums in NZ really reinforces this!
What you’re saying about rugby in New Zealand is crazy to me, I had no idea. What sport are those kids playing there now?
I knew that rugby was struggling across the rest of world - here in Ireland the number of players at grassroots level seems to drop year-on-year.
@@AbzzKiiD crazy hey! would be interesting to look at which sports are growing
@@AbzzKiiD maybe but our u20’s in recent years have been incredibly successful and the sheer amount of young talent coming through is higher than it’s ever been
Lunga you bring up a brilliant point. Many rugby union fans think that just because test rugby in only 12 countries draws a crowd then the sport is healthy. Rugby unions 2nd tier of domestic (club/provincial) is very weak for a sport that prides itself as a global sport. Rugby union is bigger than league globally but what league has are 2 annual domestic comps in the NRL and State of Origin that are just outstanding. There are no club/provincial domestic comps in rugby union that are anywhere close to being as good as the NRL and Origin. Not even French Rugby. Its way more important for a domestic league to attract big viewership than international sport like test rugby because that is what makes the game sustainable. A strong domestic competition is also the advertisement of a sport in all corners of the country week in week out and there can only be a few union test matches in one year. The vast majority of unions tier one nations live at the mercy of test rugby money because not enough people are watching domestic rugby
Nice synopsis. I love rugby and loved everything about it. Since about 2015 though it has just been boring to watch/follow/support. Used to never miss a super 12/14/15/Rugby but now I don't even know any of the players in the wallabies. Such a shame.
Agree
It's finished now they have gone down with out a whimper no TV no nothing finished kaput
I moved to Australia from South Africa and I have a love for both codes but probably lean more towards union . There can definitely be too many stoppages in a union, and hopefully they can start making more changes( 50/22, was a great change !) to make it a more freeflowing game . However , not all union games are stop start and the spectacle of a tough , running rugby union game is amazing . Origin in Australia is the pinnacle of rugby league in the world , and it is so special/ awesome to watch . Union internationals are the same, there are almost 10 world rugby union teams with serious depth and ability , which makes internationals heavily contested , hard fought and exciting . where as this league World Cup im watching seems very one sided , and almost over before it’s started ( australia to win ) most of all I hope the state of rugby union in Australia can improve and we can see that reflected in world rugby standings . League and union are two different games that incorporate vastly different types of athletes and skill sets and that’s why they are both so uniquely enjoyable to watch. Any game where two okes get a license to whack the crap out of each other seems good to me . Hope Australia can win everything !
You'll probably always see yourself lean towards rugby. It's what you were brought up on. My Mrs is from SA, enjoys league but loves union. It's just what she was raised on. I'm league through and through. It's what I was raised on.
The problem for Rugby in Australia is that it also competes with AFL, and the cold hard truth is that AFL has effectively gutted the development system of rugby in Australia over the last 20 years. All the old Union private school strongholds in Sydney and Brisbane now see all their best talent sucked in the systems of the Swans and Lions. People focus on the talent that gets lost to the NRL because that’s the obvious stuff, but the real war rugby has is with AFL, and frankly Rugby lost it a decade ago. The powerbrokers of the AFL in Melbourne are merely picking over the bones of rugby’s rotting carcass in this country at this point.
union ghas several issues in Australia. One being its private school.
It also has a major problem in the entertainment market in comparison
While Rugby League is killing it in NSW and QLD, it's still dying a slow death due to NRL prioritizing their beloved national competition and State of Origin, they are pushing for the cancellation of more and more international fixtures because it takes away from the "pinnacle" of State of Origin. Rugby Union is growing internationally much faster than Rugby League because of that and the RWC 2023 is going to be a big spectacle.
Rugby union has always been the bigger game internationally. There's no way league will overtake it. NRL is better off focusing on Australia instead.
Yeah it really is unions saving grace, league World Cup is a good example of where the international game is at.
ARU's decision to evict Israel Folau, the greatest trans Tasman test try scorer in history was something they have never recovered from. How ironic.. and justified. They have since plummeted on the international ladder and are unlikely to ever recover. I used to be a Wallaby supporter but now.. Go France !
So true
Well said
I have shared your opinion for a decade or more and like you I cannot see any hope of a rugby resurgence in Australia
Sad isn’t it 😢
If Im honest, I dont see Rugby Union coming back to those levels. Its likely to sit at the level of Soccer in Australia which itself sits just ahead of the NBL. NRL and AFL just will block any other sports rise as best they can,
I have some suggestions for a fix to the game on Wednesday! Thanks heaps for watching tho and commenting - I appreciate it
@@uggy Dont want to seem to down on it. But its just incredibly hard to see AFL/NRL machine let any other sport rise up close to them. Look at their control of grounds as an example.
I love rugby league but they should get rid of the world cup, instead just do a four nations.
Agree...the format we are seeing is, yet again, an embarrassment. Let the emerging nations play off for a spot in a six nations WC. Some of recent results are a laughing stock.
The bledisloe cup game in Melbourne this year was the final nail in the coffin for many.
😢😂
Wallabies England series drew an average of 45,000-50,000 attendance figures and millions more in broadcast viewership. Rugby Union is a legitimate global game whilst league is played professionally in 3 countries. Rugby union have a genuine world cup where up to 7 teams are capable of winning it whilst rugby league world cup has only 3 real contenders and a bunch of transplanted Australians.
Haha yeah internationally rugby is winning, but at a domestic level we really need to figure this out.
Union lags behind league in Australia because the Aus mindset doesn't suit it, not the private school myth. Way back before league had even made it to Australian shores, meaning there could be no excuse saying that all the best athletes were playing league, Union was the contact sport of choice.
The early version of the British Lions arrived down in these parts, thinking that because Australia is big, they'd play them three times and New Zealand only once. Well, they trounced Australia all three tests, while NZ trounced them. The next time they turned up they played Aus twice and NZ twice. NZ won both of their tests, while Aus lost both of theirs. By the time the Lions turned up a third time, league had made some inroads in to the Aus Union player base and the Wallabies lost their one allocated test, while NZ won all three of theirs.
Aussies have picked a sport that they're going to shine at on the world stage, which is an easier mountain to climb if there is little interest in it elsewhere to start with, which Union makes more difficult for them. League is fuggin great when you're a kid and the lack of dimensions it has, suits a certain mindset of player & spectator but, if you want to see how good you really are as an individual, or see how good mighty teams can become, Union will reveal those abilities in a way that the possession retention rules that league employs can not.
Horses for courses mate, which is why league suits the Aus mindset more.
Loved league when I was a young fella but, like Wilbur Smith books, you need something more taxing to test you when/if you grow up.
You obviously have no idea about the Australia mindset . The Australia mindset is based on the battler/inferior complex , so yes the private school schism is not a myth .
Rugby League literally has nothing to do with the " world stage " Rugby league fans are some of the most insular you will ever meet .
Its pretty simple why Rugby league is more popular in Australia ... its a ten times better product ! Rugby unions best product in Australia is at shute shield ! why you ask ? Rugby union has got so professional that have 15 fit players on the field can cause a spoiling effect .
If you picked the best Australian RL players and gave them 3-6 months of training for rugby union it would result in the Kangaroos flogging every single rugby union country at there own game .... yes there own game haha
don't believe me ?
Bradford bulls and Wigan both beat there rugby counterparts at there own game at the Middlesex sevens with all the best rugby teams invited at the time ,
Rugby league has gone to another level over the last 10 years .
@@vicophysco8885 How's the rugby league world cup going? Playing in tiny stadiums and yet they're still empty! Zero interest. Australia should have taken the French approach to rugby league while they still had the chance. Now the horse has bolted, it's too little too late.
It boils down to fact that Rugby League is an infinitely more entertaining sport to watch than Union. And the fact that Union is just seen as a pretentious hoity-toity posh boys pastime here in Australia.
You might like my latest video!
@@uggy I just checked it out 😉. I reckon, if anything, that sort of loutish behaviour makes the NRL bad boys more relatable to the average working class Aussie. It's just our toxic, self-righteous journalists that make it a big deal. For all we know Union players get up to the same stuff, but they're not famous enough to warrant a mention.
@@AJWRAJWR haha so true, I actually love the mischief 😅🤣 very relatable! I need to fix my audio bad.. haha
@@uggy All good. Keep up the interesting content. 👍
Exactly.. they don't even show rugby at the pub
Good points. Also, it Was always a battle to the death for Union and League in Aus from the very start. Eventually league won because it offers consistent product week in week out for tv. Rugby is inconsistent. League got people addicted to the game on a Friday night.
Also when union went professional it had a high for a while but it eventually was its end, as it caused them to ignore the grass roots and focused on money, but failed. Then that horrid feminist attacked Israel and it was all over basically. The Falou saga and the way they handled it killed the game.
That’s fantastic , thanks for the Gee up mate , League is so much better , so much faster anyway so it’s understandable.
🤣🤣🤣 got a good league video coming out next weekend hopefully!
Rugby Union in Australia destroyed itself.
The NRL just capitalised on it.