Every game of professional Rugby League in NZ in 2024 has sold out

[azif]

well almost , there are a few seats left for the Kiwis clash against Tonga in Auckland on Saturday night ..but they will go

so thats
2 trials in Feb in Christchurch & Auckland
12 NRL club games , 11 in Auckland & 1 in Christchurch

& 2 internationals ,
1 in Christchurch & 1 in Auckland


every one of them a sellout
16 games

Rugby League is absolutely smashing it in the land of the long white cloud

[Fred]

Makes you wonder about why Sydney generally fail to get large crowds to the nrl games there. I mean 30 thousand at a game is seen is a good crowd whereas it is the home of nrl in the county. Nrl seems to draw great crowds in Brisbane and in NZ - all those sell outs - why not Sydney ?

[azif]

Makes you wonder about why Sydney generally fail to get large crowds to the nrl games there. I mean 30 thousand at a game is seen is a good crowd whereas it is the home of nrl in the county. Nrl seems to draw great crowds in Brisbane and in NZ - all those sell outs - why not Sydney ?

Sydney had its highest number of sellouts in the history of the game fewd in 2024

But we are also a code that still plays home games in its suburban heartlands , Wests Tigers ..Penrith , the Dragons Manly , the Sharks all play their games at small suburban venues , The Bulldogs take a few to Belmore as well
the Roosters drew some big crowds to Allianz
The Bulldogs had the highest home & away crowd of the year in any code at Accor against
Parramatta were 2nd last for a lot of the year let still averaged near 20K at Commbank.

Sydney is not Melbourne which is a flat boring shithole that is easy to get around that only has 2 venues to go to, 5kms apart
Sydneys 9 NRL venues are 60kms apart east to west , 50kms north to south with a lot of water between them.

Nothing to wonder about here , all fumblers need to know is NRL crowds are growing exponentially everywhere , including in Sydney

[Fred]

Whilst crowds may be improving they are still not great. . They play in suburban grounds at fear or reality of not filling a larger one and that ground looking empty. I thi k that Sydney being a shit hole transport wise is correct and possibly one of the reasons (Adelaide, Perth, and Brisbane also get great crowds to AFL - not just Melbourne) and all have good centrally located grounds, so yes, that could be one explanation.

Do you thi k they will centralise the grounds in Sydney one day ? I know V’landys has floated this.

Also - Geelong is down the road from Melbourne - about an hour drive.

[azif]

Whilst crowds may be improving they are still not great. . They play in suburban grounds at fear or reality of not filling a larger one and that ground looking empty. I thi k that Sydney being a shit hole transport wise is correct and possibly one of the reasons (Adelaide, Perth, and Brisbane also get great crowds to AFL - not just Melbourne) and all have good centrally located grounds, so yes, that could be one explanation.

Do you thi k they will centralise the grounds in Sydney one day ? I know V’landys has floated this.

Also - Geelong is down the road from Melbourne - about an hour drive.

Not great compared to what ?
2019 ?
last year prior to covid , they're up 33% .... no sport on the planet has had increases like that


or to the Vicdumbohs game in Melbourne ?
followed by cultists who have zip else to do ?.... they're not a great lot to compare anything to

And Im not sure PVL has said hes in favour of any centralised venue model in Sydney , because its not achievable , hence is push to get the NSW govt to improve suburban grounds, improve the facilities at all of them.

Best he could do is encourage the Tigers & Dragons to play more games at Allianz & Commbank
Souths are moving to Allianz fulltime in a few years
But Manly can't move , locked away on a peninsular , same with the Sharks , Penrith are getting a new venue anyway & they are sooooo far from anywhere , thats where they will stay.

[azif]

geez louise folks
what a night of passion & theatre in Auckland

The Tongans upset the defending Pacific Championships title holders NZ 25-24
knocking them out of this years tournament & will take on Australia next week in Sydney that will be something a little bit different & very special.
The small nation of Tonga will compete for their first international trophy in any sport , in their history
Same as Samoa did in the world cup in 2022.


NZ will have to fight to stay in the tournament next year when they take on PNG who will win the plate tournament today in Sydney next week as well .
That game against NZ will be the most important in PNG's 50 year history as a nation too & will attract ridiculous interest there.







so what are the fumblers up to