I'll give you the answer - a sizeable paycheck to play in a league nobody cares about in one of the most liveable cities in the world.
Australian Rugby / RA
- Thread starter Dave Beat
- Start date
PhilClinton
Mark Loane (55)
Pretty simple - the ability to play/coach professional rugby and get paid to do it.
It's the same reason why skilled workers across all industries have been taking jobs in places away from their hometown. If someone is willing to pay you more than you're currently getting to do the thing you're good at/enjoy doing, it's worth a crack, even if only for a couple of years.
I'll admit, I used to be one of the guys on here who thought the MLR might blow up and cause us some issues with our depth, but I don't think that is the case. The competition isn't good enough and it's been given enough years to evolve.
Strewthcobber
Simon Poidevin (60)
It's pretty much what Super Rugby would look like if the Wallabies/All Black games weren't subsidising it
LevitatingSocks
Watty Friend (18)
For all the doom and gloom about Super Rugby, at least it's fighting from the position of being the 3rd most prominent code in the cities it plays in rather than the 8th or 9th in the case of the MLR.
dru
David Wilson (68)
3rd? Where?
LeCheese
Greg Davis (50)
Rugby is probably the third most popular football code in the both Australian and US cities
Derpus
Nathan Sharpe (72)
Are there even 8 codes of football?
dru
David Wilson (68)
We used to be, imo, second behind Mungo in Qld and NSW, and Vic footy i Vic.
But today is third? AFL, NRL, and Football surely.
LevitatingSocks
Watty Friend (18)
Yeah I misspoke and should have said sporting product. It's not an easy position to be in when you have the NFL, NCAA football, local/european soccer, NBA, college basketball, and MLB as competition for attention. Rugby doesn't occupy space in the cultural landscape in America like it does in Australia and that makes things difficult.
I don't think the situation here in Australia is completely grim. It's a matter of just winning people over as consistent fans rather than teaching them to understand the game.
Yeah rugby is still culturally relevant here. It's still just a curiosity over there. And I suggest it will remain that way.
One of the lessons of the last 20 or so years, for me, is that it takes a very long time for sporting norms to shift. We've been talking about the death of rugby since this place first came online in about 2006. Likewise the 'rise' of the USA as a competitive market.
And here we are in 2024 and I'm not sure much has really changed on both fronts.
Alex Sharpe
Ward Prentice (10)
I spent June in New York and Washington and was surprised to see some signs of rugby. A few pubs playing MLR. MLR games on free to air (I think) TV. A few MLR Jerseys on the streets. There was also All Blacks, Springboks, England gear about, no doubt being worn by expats.
The game does exist over there, but it was perfectly portrayed by one local who walked past a screen playing MLR in a pub, watched 30 seconds before saying 'ahh we already have football' and walking over to a screen playing the Mets.
The game does exist over there, but it was perfectly portrayed by one local who walked past a screen playing MLR in a pub, watched 30 seconds before saying 'ahh we already have football' and walking over to a screen playing the Mets.
WorkingClassRugger
Michael Lynagh (62)
As someone who has been following MLR since before it was MLR there's definitely been progress. It's just incremental in nature. The owners are very vocal about understanding that they'll have to continue bootstrapping the league for some time with the goal being to continually improve the product in order to springboard off the RWC in 2031 with a ready made and well established league for new fans drawn by the event. It's a slow burn. That said. It's never going to be the NFL.
LevitatingSocks
Watty Friend (18)
Anyone who would rather watch the Mets (one of the most hilariously inept franchises in the entire American sporting landscape) over rugby is a lost cause anyhow.
WorkingClassRugger
Michael Lynagh (62)
Tim Anstee to LA.
The Ghost of Raelene
David Codey (61)
If the game could get itself to self sufficient in North America that would be a great result. It will never be in a top group of sports and that's fine.
I also wonder if any real Rugby lovers in the US watch and have teams in other comps around the world like Soccer fans here. I know plenty of people that stay up all night to watch European Soccer but never watched an A-League game....
Rugby has a good level of grass roots amongst the population. It's played in colleges and suburban Clubs because you don't play Gridiron socially. It does surprise you to hear how may people played a couple of seasons of Ruuugbay back in College.
Wilson
Phil Kearns (64)
Looks like another great program for the Youth Rugby Coaches Forum at Nudgee early next year:
It's a really great initiative and I'm glad to see it's continuing to get real buy in from the top levels of the game here.
It's a really great initiative and I'm glad to see it's continuing to get real buy in from the top levels of the game here.
Slim 293
Stirling Mortlock (74)
Operation: common sense
Mick The Munch
Vay Wilson (31)
Operation: Puff Piece
Operation: shouldn’t they be doing this anyways?