NRC Final - Brisbane City v Perth Spirit - Saturday November 1

[Moono75]

It's a problem when he repeats it 4 times & doesn't acknowledge that the better team won. Jesus he has more excuses & whinges than the Saffas during Super rugby season.
Fact is Perth is far away from bloody everywhere, if they want to play they'll just have to suck up the travel factor.
Good on them for making the final, but no cigar. The trophy has landed in the right state.

It's a train wreck of a trophy. I believe the design brief was......give us something memorable...... memorably shit....but still memorable.

 

[FilthRugby]

As always, awesome shots Sully. You have a real eye.

Though I doubt Shawry would be too keen on the last one. Haha

 

[formerflanker]

Some Photos from tonight.

That was a great try. Pace to burn, and defenders left lying in his wake.

 

[Tangawizi]

It's a train wreck of a trophy. I believe the design brief was..give us something memorable.. memorably shit..but still memorable.

I like the trophy. I'd much rather win a phone than a toilet seat anyway...

 

[RugbyReg]

Some Photos from tonight.
View attachment 5594View attachment 5595View attachment 5596View attachment 5597

Sully, awesome shots! Get them up on the main page ASAP!

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Some Photos from tonight.

Think you may have nailed the photo of the NRC with the second shot. Perfect positioning. Well done.

 

[ChargerWA]

It's a train wreck of a trophy. I believe the design brief was..give us something memorable.. memorably shit..but still memorable.

HAha, I saw the trophy and thought the design brief was "give us something like the Ranfurly shield, but none of that fancy wood stuff, just make it out of plastic ........................and then stick a toaster on top"

 

[something]

yeh wow that second shot of laloifi is insane!!! one of the best rugby shots ive seen in my life i reckon. awesome job

 

[Bowside]

How good was the City scrum?

I reckon thats almost a career ruiner for Hoskins and Cowan. 2 Full time pro's with years of super rugby experience and conditioning; taken apart by 2 guys who play club rugby in Brisbane.

Credit to McDulling and Kotze as well, and the city backrow as always going to be strong.

 

[Quick Hands]

Well done Brisbane City and Perth Spirit for a great Grand Final.

What amazes me is why rugby has really not got behind this great competition and help promote the quality product they have provided us. Peter Fitzsimmons from SMH.where the hell were you..SMH use to be a great supporter of rugby which fits with its target market.but you know what the daily telegraph was only paper which consistently provided news about NRC so screw you SMH...I will start buying daily telegraph more often...

As for rest of rugby personalities..where were you..fox sports promotion of game was pretty ordinary..as they could have with every game continued to highlight what rule changes were..why exciting comp (ie next super rugby and wallaby player in waiting..did so more at end of comp but they clearly seemed clueless early in comp how to promote it).

And Tim horan just said 3rd tier rugby.moron..get rid of 3rd tier rugby concept..nrl is not promoted as third tier league.people don't want to hear this is 3rd tier product.if I was nrl or afl or a-league fan I would think why would I bother to watch something promoted as 3rd tier...why have they not grasped such a SIMPLE concept..are they living in a bubble..do you hear league, AFL or A-League promote something like this which is equivalent as 3rd tier..

This is why I have concerns for future of rugby as run by people who clearly have no idea as had 3rd tier concept continually mentioned and no understanding why this is a problem...

ARU needs desparately some outside help from some decent consultants.and stop having the old school private school GPS rugby brigade running the show who clearly limit the potential from what is the game played in heaven.

Absolutely agree - the term 3rd tier should never ever be used again - this is the National Rugby Championship.

 

[Quick Hands]

I think you are right

Sadly pfitzy you have probably highlighted why rugby is struggling..as other football codes have at the heart of its (political) agenda about growing the game..unfortunately in rugby circles they have not seemed to have harness this common purpose as well as other football codes..

Sad really..as don't think product is the issue.as worldwide growth of game shows..but rather internal politics and lack of professional sporting administration and structure (still not come out of amateur era of old boys gps private school mates club running the game)...

Probably need to do what A-League done and appoint senior person who is non rugby person but professional sporting administrator to help turn around rugby's fortunes.unfortunately current politics of rugby would mean the David Gallops of the world would not survive (which A- League is thankful for).

Australian rugby is certainly at a crossroads...and CHANGE is definitely needed...hope change happens before it is too late..
.

When was the last time you heard anyone in rugby officialdom talking about "growing the game"? As you say other sports are looking to bake a bigger cake, we argue about how to divide up the cake we've already got. (A bigger sport might let some riff-raff in don't you know)

 

[Quick Hands]

Well done Brisbane City and credit to Perth for contributing to a great game. Hopefully even though they lost, this will provide a boost for the grass roots in WA.

Looking forward to an even better NRC in 2015.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Getting back to game and players...big thing for me is how much BC front row not only dominated a super rugby force front row but absolutely smashed them...

That Paraka was huge....only 20 years old but what a performance....as only narrowly pipped by Liam Gill for MOTM.....why is this guy not got a super rugby contract.....

If reds don't snap him up quickly another super rugby franchise will...what a great prospect....

 

[Wilson]

Getting back to game and players.big thing for me is how much BC front row not only dominated a super rugby force front row but absolutely smashed them.

That Paraka was huge..only 20 years old but what a performance..as only narrowly pipped by Liam Gill for MOTM...why is this guy not got a super rugby contract...

If reds don't snap him up quickly another super rugby franchise will.what a great prospect..

Paraka and Faagase Both have Reds EDS contracts, it's a new sytem which seems to be built around holding on to and developing schoolboys and u20's guys to a super rugby level.

http://www.redsrugby.com.au/News/Ne...ED-WITH-REDS-ELITE-DEVELOPMENT-CONTRACTS.aspx

 

[TheBigDog]

I actually thought it was the good work of Fagaase in the scrum which made the difference. Yes, Parraka was great and his two tries was a nice little bonus but you could see his body shape in the scrum wasn't perfect (yes I know I'm being critical) and it was Sef's soul crushing work on Cowan which made the difference.

 

[Set piece magic]

God I'm sick of everyone that's critical about the NRC. On The Roar that Sheek bloke won't shutup about the names being wrong or something and how the catchment area for the stars should include the Opera House and they should be called the moons.

Then we have the "OMG Why is it not on prime time FTA TV people", who seem to think that FTA broadcasters have nothing to do but display rugby and its the ARU refusing to ring them and put it on.

Then there's the "Should have spent $1million on each teams marketing budget so we get 3000 more people at each game".

If only everyone could just love the game last night which was great.

I honestly think If the stakeholders of Australian Rugby stopped whinging on Facebook and other digital media, and got out into the community, coached, reffed, played at a club, brought non-rugby people to games and converted them then Aus Rugby would be in a better state.

With that anecdote aside: Glory, Glory, Brisbane City.

Great game that showcased all the elements of Rugby and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. A mate of mine that is new to Rugby whom I have now dragged to 3 NRC games loves it. He loves the contest, the different styles. He even remarked that "It's actually not that hard to get your head around. It's all about the contest... the contest for possession & dominance at the scrum and lineout, the contest in the tackle..."

 

[Rugbynutter39]

God I'm sick of everyone that's critical about the NRC. On The Roar that Sheek bloke won't shutup about the names being wrong or something and how the catchment area for the stars should include the Opera House and they should be called the moons.

Then we have the "OMG Why is it not on prime time FTA TV people", who seem to think that FTA broadcasters have nothing to do but display rugby and its the ARU refusing to ring them and put it on.

Then there's the "Should have spent $1million on each teams marketing budget so we get 3000 more people at each game".

If only everyone could just love the game last night which was great.

I honestly think If the stakeholders of Australian Rugby stopped whinging on Facebook and other digital media, and got out into the community, coached, reffed, played at a club, brought non-rugby people to games and converted them then Aus Rugby would be in a better state.

With that anecdote aside: Glory, Glory, Brisbane City.

Great game that showcased all the elements of Rugby and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. A mate of mine that is new to Rugby whom I have now dragged to 3 NRC games loves it. He loves the contest, the different styles. He even remarked that "It's actually not that hard to get your head around. It's all about the contest. the contest for possession & dominance at the scrum and lineout, the contest in the tackle."

I also dragged couple of mates along to stars home games and they loved it after being out of rugby for some years....so between you and me we have brought 3 new people to the game....only need for about 100,000 other people to do this and will be sorted....

Seriously though...biggest thing about NRC is proved will be a hard slog to build awareness and fan base....if they can increase crowds by say 50% next year (still low crowd base but shows going in right direction) that would be realistic positive progress...

 

[Sully]

All the City props are under 6 foot tall. I think it makes a big difference with the new engagement laws. Obviously not so helpful in lineouts.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

The City scrum was good but on another day with another ref Paraka would have been blown off the park for not pushing straight his first movement was always to step in and Hoskins was getting smashed as a result of it.

As a fellow front rower I say Good on paraka he got away with it all game and was a major part in why they won.

All this talk about ruining careers please. Cowan had a bad game it happens. Iv seen him do what paraka did to Hoskins on many occasions

Hoskins is 21 and has 16 super rugby games under his belt he will be around for along time.

Able has never played a super rugby game next year will be his last chance as Scoble will over take him if he doesn't step up.

 

[Set piece magic]

The comp will grow next year for sure, and good news appearing today that fox will broadcast it again. Fox have their heads screwed on right and understand that a first year competition wasn't going to have traditional fan bases etc and will struggle for ratings and crowds. That's perfectly OK. Fox also understand that investing the million dollars in this program benefits Australian Rugby. Surprise, they make a fair amount of cash from subscriptions etc for Rugby, and if its strong and people want to watch the SuperXV, they get more subscriptions, so fox can see it's an investment in their ratings in the longer term.

I expect next year we will see each team having a slightly bigger fanbase and crowds as history, awareness and rivalries build. Ratings would increase off the back of this. The following year I expect it to go up again.

Amid all the shit flying around from the ARU, Beale, Jones, Growden (Seems to enjoy not enjoying himself if that makes sense), I actually think we've made some good progress. The NRC is the scariest thing the ARU has done for a long time and provided things don't go belly-up we will see the rewards of this competition in the not-to-distant future.

Well done to the QRU on what was a pretty good promotion of the game and I think 8,000 fans is a good result. Not fantastic, but definitely a pass mark and a bit more.