Rugby: Behind the 8 Ball with Tassie

[Army_Gav]

Since the game's foot print in SA has been pulled (lets not go there), Tassie is shaping up to be somewhat of a battle ground you could say.

Aussie Rules: Hawthorn have been playing AFL games in Launceston for a couple of season. North Melbourne will play in Hobart this year.
League: Melbourne and Brisbane will play a trial game next month in Hobart
Football/Soccer: Gold Coast & Melbourne Victory will play an A League game this Wednesday night

I've heard rumors of the Rebels playing a trial game down in Tassie (as well as SA), however with the Singapore deal to go ahead, that's probably well truly in the bin.

 

[suckerforred]

Interesting. Does the ARU have an 'expansion' plan at all? I do not necessarily mean more Super Rugby teams, just getting more people playing the game?

 

[p.Tah]

Tassie is a tough market because it's split between Hobart (pop. 200k) and Launceston (pop. 100k) Sydney has had Bledisloe cup matches with more people than there are in Launceston! There is a reason why the AFL refuses to put a team there...

Although 16k watched Romania vs. Namibia in the RWC 2003 in Launceston there are only 1,000 players in Tasmania and the number have dropped substantially in recent years. Perhaps that's because of a lack of exposure as you have suggested.

For comparison there are around 10,000 cricketers in Tasmania and they seem to provide a high proportion of Australian cricketers. If cricket Australia had neglected Tasmania we may not have had Ponting, Boon and others.

 

[Army_Gav]

I've been to York Park in Launceston for an Aussie Rules game, not a bad venue.

I think the lack of numbers also, is due to the competition spanning the whole island. It's an issue faced by even the main Aussie Rules competition, the TFL. Strong enough though for a women's comp. It's much bigger then League, which only has 4 teams.

Would much prefer a rotated trial game between Launceston & Adelaide then Singapore. I can actually encourage the Army to go to those.

There's also the minor fact of the Boags/Coopers Breweries.

 

[Lindommer]

There's also the minor fact of the Boag's/Coopers Breweries.

A hard and difficult choice, AG, one which should be reached after much research.

 

[BPC]

A hard and difficult choice, AG, one which should be reached after much research.

Let's put a call out for volunteers to help the ARU on this issue. I would take an unpaid intern role in that capacity.