Re: Union. : Sun Nov 05, 2017 12:23 am  

moving on... wrote:

Anyone who can suggest that there is no such thing as an active anti RL agenda from the RFU is, quite simply, an idiot who has no idea how the upper middle class go about their business. Wouldn't trust any of them

I don’t doubt that the RFU would be as ruthless as they have been in the past in pursuing an anti RL agenda if they ever have to, but I can’t see that it even needs to be “active” at the moment. At what point in the history of RL has it ever posed less of a threat to Union than at present?

Re: Union. : Sun Nov 05, 2017 11:24 am  

MarginMeter wrote:

I don’t doubt that the RFU would be as ruthless as they have been in the past in pursuing an anti RL agenda if they ever have to, but I can’t see that it even needs to be “active” at the moment. At what point in the history of RL has it ever posed less of a threat to Union than at present?

In this hemisphere you mean...

Re: Union. : Sun Nov 05, 2017 1:47 pm  

I think raising the cap (+ the marquee rules) will definitely help the sport, as it keeps the quality of the product up, and existing fans interested. I'm genuinely excited to see Roberts, Sandow was also great for the league, as was the getting back Tomkins (even if his return hasn't been that great so far).

But that of course doesn't solve the wider marketing problem to new fans. Talking to my friends who are generally interested in sport, we can all hold a conversation on Tennis, Cricket, RU, Football, F1, but when I say how excited I am at our capture of Roberts, they don't know him from Adam. We could have signed Inglis, and my friends would have been just as apathetic as when we signed Kev Brown. So us being able to sign a marquee Aussie name has little relevance to a non RL fan.

I think the RFL need to work on marketing *players*. So many passive fans watch sport because of who's playing. If we didn't have Murray, Wimbledon would not be as big. If we didn't have Hamilton, there'd be less interest in F1. I've never had any interest or care for PSG, but since they signed Neymar I've been watching clips on Youtube. I started to have a passive interest in Sale Sharks after they signed Cipriani.

When Tomkins played for the Barbarians, I thought that was fantastic. His profile (and by association that of the sport) went up. But that was just one little drop. We need to do more of that. Our players need to become media darlings, get their faces out there, and become household names. Get em on the circuit. Don't just stick Ashton Sims on Question of Sport, get him on Something for the Weekend, or Loose Women, they'd love him. Throw Jon Wilkin on Strictly, or Albert Kelly on some crap Saturday night hole in the wall type thing. So many non-celebs crop up on all these shows peddling whatever crap autobiography they have out at the moment. Let's throw our guys in and get them into the public conscious.

Re: Union. : Sun Nov 05, 2017 2:02 pm  

Great last paragraph

Re: Union. : Sun Nov 05, 2017 3:47 pm  

I think in the modern world of social media, the ability to drive a message by top down marketing is diminishing compared to the impact of stuff being shared and talked about on instagram, facebook, twitter, so fans can drive this themselves.

It's already happened in politics. At the last election the Conservatives spent millions on marketing their strong and stable message but they ended up outflanked on the brand awareness score by Corbyn's activists on social media.

Re: Union. : Sun Nov 05, 2017 4:25 pm  

Jimathay wrote:

When Tomkins played for the Barbarians, I thought that was fantastic. His profile (and by association that of the sport) went up. But that was just one little drop. We need to do more of that. Our players need to become media darlings, get their faces out there, and become household names. Get em on the circuit. Don't just stick Ashton Sims on Question of Sport, get him on Something for the Weekend, or Loose Women, they'd love him. Throw Jon Wilkin on Strictly, or Albert Kelly on some crap Saturday night hole in the wall type thing. So many non-celebs crop up on all these shows peddling whatever crap autobiography they have out at the moment. Let's throw our guys in and get them into the public conscious.

I saw Martin offiah on some daytime nonsense a couple of weeks ago. ....
Seriously no one outside rugby league circles must have the slightest clue who this guy is. He has just become a nothing celebrity.

He is not in anyway a face of our sport. ...he's just become famous for appearing on really bad programmes.

Re: Union. : Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:32 pm  

The trouble is, we have none marketable to the media.
Burgess is known to the sport watching public, but the way the 3point code have treated him since his dip into their game, he'll be classed by them as a failure. Rob Andrew and a few others have hung him out to dry. Nowadays, he's plying his trade 13,000 miles away

The rest, well you could trip over any of them iin Coventry's Asda, and not have a clue who they are. Counter this to the Oz tour of 94, we had Davies, Robinson, Betts, Connelly, Offiah, Edwards, Farrell and Clarke, all coached by Hanley.......pretty much all household names in the sporting world, and a few of them in any world.

Yes, Sky saved our sport by their cash injection, but the switch to summer. loss of BBC games and touring sides, and lack of quality in the last 5 years of SL, has really hilurt us. We need a few superstars, and quickly.

We need the RFL to change, and actually promote our sport, as RU would theirs

Re: Union. : Sun Nov 05, 2017 6:44 pm  

So who are the household names from union that the average casual sports / non-RU fan could name?

Re: Union. : Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:10 pm  

sally cinnamon wrote:

So who are the household names from union that the average casual sports / non-RU fan could name?

Thought you might respond to one of my posts, as I seem to be a bit of a recent obsession for you. Maybe it takes the heat off others.

OK, I'm game.

I've just Wikipediad England's last squad in the 6 Nation's championship. I've heard of TWELVE of them. Now, bear in mind I've not watched a game of RU in DECADES, I'd call them pretty much household names, for the non RU watching sports fans. I've as much interest in a game of Union, as I have in Tennis, Formula One, women's sport and Horse Racing ( since I FINALLY realised how bent it is)........i.e. none.

Bear in mind (again) that was JUST England's squad. Not Scotland, Ireland or Wales.

Hope that helps

Re: Union. : Sun Nov 05, 2017 9:37 pm  

easyWire wrote:

In this hemisphere you mean...

Indeed, I was referring only to England in fact, as that is the extent of the RFU’s jurisdiction nowadays. Union in Australia at state/franchise level is having its own crisis