Re: Catalans are resurgent, and bumper crowds reappear. : Sun Apr 13, 2014 7:33 pm  

It is lovely in France at the moment. I am sat on the terrace with a drink in hand. If I was a bit closer to the South West I would be looking for a game.

Re: Catalans are resurgent, and bumper crowds reappear. : Sun Apr 13, 2014 9:20 pm  

Shoe Shine Johnny wrote:

What the hell has that got to do with it? If NZ has that many players then it should have its own thriving competition not trying to piggy back into the Aussie competition. You can't have it both ways.

Just imagine if the Kiwis could sort out their own competition without having to rely on the Aussies.

Nope....NZ Players ply their trade in the NRL because that's where the money is. The #1 sport here struggles to generate sufficient cash or interest, so the idea of a cash rich PROFESSIONAL domestic RL comp in a country of 4 million is insanity........but France, with 66,000,000+ population and apparently a massive following for the game in the SW struggles to get anything like the attention of the other football codes. The opportunity in France is a reality, but NZ, with it's tiny population, will never be able to support a top tier competition.

Re: Catalans are resurgent, and bumper crowds reappear. : Mon Apr 14, 2014 11:42 am  

Judder Man wrote:

The problem with this is that its all one way traffic, you might get say around 500+ going over there from the big clubs but there are never ever more than about 50 french fans coming over here and contributing to the income streams of the clubs.
Long term the game needs to develop a superleague over there instead of french teams potentially displacing the english teams over here.

Think your being unfair on the Catalan fans, its a one off visit to France for supporters from England. How many could afford to travel every second week?

Re: Catalans are resurgent, and bumper crowds reappear. : Mon Apr 14, 2014 11:57 am  

think the catalans attendances are abit suspicious ... is this the old favourite 'tickets sold' attendance or the actual that turned up.

8549 last season when i went to watch Giants there and didnt look anywhere near that!

Re: Catalans are resurgent, and bumper crowds reappear. : Mon Apr 14, 2014 12:11 pm  

brearley84 wrote:

think the catalans attendances are abit suspicious ... is this the old favourite 'tickets sold' attendance or the actual that turned up.

8549 last season when i went to watch Giants there and didnt look anywhere near that!

They gave away free tickets with the Union club for this game, hence inflated attendance

Re: Catalans are resurgent, and bumper crowds reappear. : Mon Apr 14, 2014 5:07 pm  

Fully wrote:

They gave away free tickets with the Union club for this game, hence inflated attendance

there you go then

Re: Catalans are resurgent, and bumper crowds reappear. : Mon Apr 14, 2014 10:19 pm  

brearley84 wrote:

there you go then

Kick them out. Bring in Fev and Leigh. At least they will bring some away fans.

Re: Catalans are resurgent, and bumper crowds reappear. : Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:49 am  

gutterfax wrote:

Kiwis make up 29% of the NRL and closer to 40% of the u20s comp down here......2 French players outside Catalans and 8 starters for the dragons is no comparison!

Isn't that an even bigger argument to say the Kiwis should stop piggy backing on the Australian competition and start their own?

Re: Catalans are resurgent, and bumper crowds reappear. : Tue Apr 15, 2014 10:02 am  

gutterfax wrote:

Nope....NZ Players ply their trade in the NRL because that's where the money is.

So they're piggy backing on the money then? But if a French club does it, then that's wrong because they should play in their own cashless competition? Seems a bit contradictory to me.

gutterfax wrote:

The #1 sport here struggles to generate sufficient cash or interest, so the idea of a cash rich PROFESSIONAL domestic RL comp in a country of 4 million is insanity........but France, with 66,000,000+ population and apparently a massive following for the game in the SW struggles to get anything like the attention of the other football codes.

You can quote a nation's population all you like, but if the game isn't that big there, then the population is irrelevant. Potential means nothing in the present, and if you don't make the right steps, potential will never be reached.

gutterfax wrote:

The opportunity in France is a reality, but NZ, with it's tiny population, will never be able to support a top tier competition.

So because the country is so large, they are victims of being in a large area, but because NZ is tiny, it's OK for them to piggy back?

Common sense prevails fortunately.

Re: Catalans are resurgent, and bumper crowds reappear. : Tue Apr 15, 2014 10:03 am  

marvwoodburn wrote:

Troll trolls troll and you join in

If that was written in any sort of legible English, I might be able to understand the point you're trying to make.