Standard of RL in Ireland

Paul Tergat

I didn't think that there was even any sort of RL in Ireland, with the people over here preferring the "less attractive type".

What are the teams like? How many divisions r there and how good is the standard???

Culchie

Rugby League will never be 'big' in Ireland.

Even in the UK Rugby League only thrives in areas where Rugby Union does not.

The old working class and northern mining/industrial areas of Yorkshire, Manchester, Hull etc ....outside of these areas there is no following for the game.

Without grass root support in Ireland, the game has no chance of taking off. Maybe in a few years Dublin could put forward 1 team to play in a UK league, but that's as far as it could go really.

Paul Tergat

I am very familiar with how RL works in England..... coming from Bradford and having been to all the Sl grounds.

RL is very much a northern England sport, not just popular in places where RU isn't!!!

IT would be nice to see Ireland take up the proper game of rugby but it seems like that won't happen.

What is it about the game people don't like?

Culchie

p_larkin99 wrote:

I am very familiar with how RL works in England..... coming from Bradford and having been to all the Sl grounds.

RL is very much a northern England sport, not just popular in places where RU isn't!!!

IT would be nice to see Ireland take up the proper game of rugby but it seems like that won't happen.

What is it about the game people don't like?

That's what I said, Northern areas. Yorkshire, Lancastershire etc....

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know many Rugby Union teams thriving in co-existence with Rugby League teams.

League derives itself form the working class and industrial areas.

BigDragon

If I had anymore hair Id be pulling it out :eek: :eek:

Culchie - is this a wind up???????

There is a growing number of Rugby League teams in Ireland. We had 6 lads in the Ireland team in the Euro Nations Cup and will have at least 8 lads in the World Cup squad in 2008 if not more.

Rugby League will grow in Ireland and I can prove it. We play in the summer. My club had an influx of numbers this summer from union clubs all over Leinster and they could not wait for next year and are talking about bringing friends to play next year. The guys that did play went to pre-season training in the union clubs and were streets ahead of their fitness and skill levels compared to last year.

Rugby League in the UK has a thriving 'Conference' with teams in every county some of which are challenging for places in the leagues below Super League. BARLA, until it was brought into the RFL, was the largest amateur sports organisation in the world. Just cause Super League is dominated by the heritage of the northern clubs does not mean that it will never expand beyon there.

Rugby League is alive and thriving in England and is growing steadily in Ireland. Take it from me, an avid RL fan, RL is on the up.

GG

Culchie

Big D ...would I wind you up?

I don't think RL will take off here at all. Much like American Football tried as well.

RL will not even get as big as cricket in this country, as at least Cricket has some tradition in certain parts of Dublin, due to our old Empire connections.

RL was bigger in the UK 10/15 years ago than it is now.

Best case scenario is that they might be able to put 1 amalgamted team from Dublin good enough to compete in UK league, and take it from there.....with the help of major sponsorship (Cadburys Yorkie, maybe)

BigDragon

Culchie wrote:

RL was bigger in the UK 10/15 years ago than it is now.

If you think this is an accurate statement please provide evidence as I think its wrong. I started getting serious as a RL fan in 1992 (my first season as a player and season ticket holder at Leeds (pre-Rhinos days)) and I disagree with you purely on first hand experience and the growth of gate receipts and the Summer Conference in England.

Culchie

Perception is reality Big D !

Gate receipts are obviously going to go up, because of inflation, especially at UK sporting events.

The question is

(a) Have attendances gone up?

(b) Has TV audience figures gone up?

BigDragon

From RFL.co.uk

>>>>2005 engage Super League attendances are breaking records - Round 7 attracted both all-time high aggregate and average attendance records, as well as the crowd record brocken for an individual Regular season game.
>>>>50% of viewers who watch Rugby League on Sky Sports live in the South of England.

>>>>Over 40% of active Rugby League supporters are female.

>>>>The game has over 450 clubs and over 40,000 registered players.

>>>>Rugby League will return to the new Wembley Stadium when the
Powergen Challenge Cup Final takes place there in August 2006.

>>>>Rugby League is played in every English county as well as in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. It is also played in all major Universities and throughout the Armed Forces.

>>>>The game is one of Sport England's Top 10 'priority' sports and as a result receives more than £4 million per year in Government investment.

>>>>The Powergen Champion Schools tournament is the largest knock-out Rugby League competition in the world with over 1,000 school teams entering with 16,000 players - 80 per cent of these are new to Rugby League.

Culchie

Fair enough (tail between legs), that's me retired from here then.

I must admit I'm surprised at those figures.

BigDragon

Culchie wrote:

Fair enough (tail between legs), that's me retired from here then.

I must admit I'm surprised at those figures.

You and the rest of the world m8 Its a battle that the PR people at Red Hall have to fight and win. The biggest battle is with the print media in London that still think its a small regional sport

Eoin

At the moment it should not be a case of competing with Union. It is nowhere near big enough, well funded enough, or - from my experience - properly managed yet. Most importantly, the timetable does not clash with Union meaning that you are not excluding Union players from having a go during the summer.

IMO, for the time being, the way to market RL in Ireland is as a good off-season activity for Union players. Don't make them choose between Union and RL immediately. Having played a few years of RL in Ireland, I know I would probably make the switch to RL if given a choice, but would have some reservations about doing so because of the reasons I listed above.

Also, although I had great summers with the lads on my league team, most of us enjoy an equally good atmosphere in our respective Union clubs, and a lot of people will be slow to give that up in a rush.

One of the things I feel quite strongly about with regards to RL in Ireland, is that the RLI and it's members avoid fostering the age-old RL versus Union mentality. This does not exist in Ireland, and if it starts you can kiss goodbye to any chance RL has over here. It really doesn't matter "who started it".

RL is definitely on the increase over here, I remember being in the All-Ireland semi-finals after playing 4 games a few years ago, now there is a lot more competition and it is no longer a case of whether the Blue or the Exiles will win.

BigDragon

eoin_s wrote:

........ now there is a lot more competition and it is no longer a case of whether the Blue or the Exiles will win.

Never heard of them......;)

Eoin

BigDragon wrote:

Never heard of them......;)

that's my point

Paul Tergat

The fact is that RL is a much more excitin sport than union is!

Sky brought the game on so much and without them the game would most probably have just died.....

Come on the Bulls!

BigDragon

p_larkin99 wrote:

The fact is that RL is a much more excitin sport than union is!

Sky brought the game on so much and without them the game would most probably have just died.....

Come on the Bulls!

You had to ruin a perfectly well made post..........;) :rolleyes: