: Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:07 pm  

manly4ever wrote:

Just like 100 years ago when RL was started here in this beautiful country of ours .I suppose back then they were dreaming aswell eh?

you may call it beautiful but i like to think of sydney as the sewer of the south pacific... overflowing with scum and low life.

: Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:14 pm  

spooneryork wrote:

:( 8 Teams can't make a viable competition though. You would need 10 minimum.

That's not true. The old American Football League started in 1960 with 8 teams (and a TV contract with NBC).

: Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:21 pm  

belgianxiii wrote:

Where RL can be a success is it can become an alternative route for college football players. The college level is far more fast-paced and less tactics and ad breaks. There is a market in the US that follow college football but don't follow the NFL.

The college game may be faster, but televised NCAA games have just as many ad breaks as NFL ones.

College football players are the guys to target rather than union players. There are literally thousands in the college ranks for every one that makes it to the NFL. RL could conceivably give Americans their football fix in the NFL and NCAA off-season.

: Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:27 pm  

There are enough people in the US of A to have 26 major sports. League, with it's funtime showdowns should go down a storm.

I hope it takes off, but if it did, it would instantly blow us into 4th in the world internationally. There are more and better athletes available to each state in America than there are to the whole RL youth system in this country.

Another thing I can't wait for is the new terminology. I can't see them shouting, "Gerrum onside yerrr berk" at the officials.

: Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:31 pm  

Soldiers in Blue wrote: The debate regarding college Football players switching to RL was had here: http://forums.rlfans.com/viewtopic.php?t=300599&highlight= Came about as a result of this article: http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/forget-nfl-nrl-is-dream/2007/06/16/1181414609893.html Not sure what ever happened to Mr Dawn though. He went to Australia and tried to work his way up through the ranks at Burleigh. Little was heard about him after that -- I'd imagine he found the lower ranks in Australia q huge change from the Big 12 with its' big crowds and great gameday atmosphere. Reviewing that debate, I noticed lots of postings showing little understanding of how big American football is in the US. If American RL could attract even a fraction of the audience and sponsorship it has, the game would be well established there.

Soldiers in Blue wrote: The debate regarding college Football players switching to RL was had here: http://forums.rlfans.com/viewtopic.php?t=300599&highlight= Came about as a result of this article: http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/forget-nfl-nrl-is-dream/2007/06/16/1181414609893.html Not sure what ever happened to Mr Dawn though. He went to Australia and tried to work his way up through the ranks at Burleigh. Little was heard about him after that -- I'd imagine he found the lower ranks in Australia q huge change from the Big 12 with its' big crowds and great gameday atmosphere. Reviewing that debate, I noticed lots of postings showing little understanding of how big American football is in the US. If American RL could attract even a fraction of the audience and sponsorship it has, the game would be well established there.

: Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:35 pm  

spooky wrote:

Aye, College Football is massive in the US. Some of those games get bigger crowds than NFL games. It's also a lot more exciting to watch because they tend to just go for it. As you say, less tactics, more instinct and just pushing it.

Television is also the reason the NFL has more money than almost any other pro sports league in the world. It has deals with 4 different networks that pay it $3 billion a year.

: Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:58 pm  

Big Picture wrote:

Reviewing that debate, I noticed lots of postings showing little understanding of how big American football is in the US. If American RL could attract even a fraction of the audience and sponsorship it has, the game would be well established there.

Agreed. I think I read somewhere that something like 30,000 college football players graduate annually and don't get Pro contracts. If American RL could just attract 0.1% of this pool annually that would be 30 potential players per year to pick from for a league of 8 teams. Wouldn't take long to start generating real interest.

: Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:48 pm  

Soldiers in Blue wrote:

Agreed. I think I read somewhere that something like 30,000 college football players graduate annually and don't get Pro contracts. If American RL could just attract 0.1% of this pool annually that would be 30 potential players per year to pick from for a league of 8 teams. Wouldn't take long to start generating real interest.

That's slightly off. Between the NCAA and NAIA there are 716 schools with football teams, and they carry about 80 players each. That's over 57,000 players total. Every year about 1/4 would graduate or use up their eligibility to play, so more than 14,000 players move on every year. Fewer than 500 get a shot at playing pro, and there's very little open-age American football due to the costs of the sport. The rest constitute a huge pool of potential players.

College football is extremely popular too. The season before last the NCAA's 619 schools attracted 48,751,861 fans to their games. Millions more watch the schools in "Bix Six" conferences on TV on Saturdays too. That's a huge potential audience for American RL.

: Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:27 pm  

loving hell I can see it now. These septic tanks and all their bullshit phrases. Imagine the US version of Stevo!?

I can see the following american terms being used in favour of the traditional ones:

Violation of the offence Territory - Offside
Punt Return - Drop Out
Re-engerziation Period (note, with a "zeee") - Half Time
Deeefensive Lineman - Full Back
Quarterback - Scrum Half
Illegal Motion - Forward Pass
Illegal Procedure - Knock On
Wide Reciever - Ian Roberts

: Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:54 pm  

erich hartmann wrote:

you may call it beautiful but i like to think of sydney as the sewer of the south pacific... overflowing with scum and low life.

Don't talk like that about where you came from !