The No.1 Football Code in Australia

[Chairman Kaga]

I wasn't aware that NRL, ARU or FFA were codes, I thought they were governing bodies or in the case of the NRL a competition.

[Drac]

I wasn't aware that NRL, ARU or FFA were codes, I thought they were governing bodies or in the case of the NRL a competition.

I never understood why your competition is called the National Rugby League, if the name of the sport is Rugby League. Shouldn't it be called the National Rugby League League? It's like calling the AFL 'The Australian Football'. Always riles me when a throwballer chastises me for calling the sport 'rugby' insisting "it's not rugby, it's LEAGUE!" It'd be like talking about the NBA, calling the sport basketball, and having someone chuck a tanty insisting "The sport's not called basketball you idiot, it's called Association!"

[Ace]

I wasn't aware that NRL, ARU or FFA were codes, I thought they were governing bodies or in the case of the NRL a competition.

I never understood why your competition is called the National Rugby League, if the name of the sport is Rugby League. Shouldn't it be called the National Rugby League League? It's like calling the AFL 'The Australian Football'. Always riles me when a throwballer chastises me for calling the sport 'rugby' insisting "it's not rugby, it's LEAGUE!" It'd be like talking about the NBA, calling the sport basketball, and having someone chuck a tanty insisting "The sport's not called basketball you idiot, it's called Association!"

Shouldn't the AFL also be called 'The Australian Australian Football League'?

[cos789]

IShouldn't the AFL also be called 'The Australian Australian Football League'?

No. It's the football league of Australia. They play football.

.

[Ace]

No. It's the football league of Australia. They play football.

.

But what's the game called?

I mean, technically Rugby League is also playing football.

[Xman]

No. It's the football league of Australia. They play football.

.

But what's the game called?

I mean, technically Rugby League is also playing football.

Australian Rules Football. The league is the Australian Football League

[cos789]

No. It's the football league of Australia. They play football.

.

But what's the game called?

I mean, technically Rugby League is also playing football.

The AFL play what is colloquially called "Australian Rules Football" and marketed as "AFL" but it is and always has been formally know as Football. To differentiate from other football we call it "Australian Football'.
RU is formally Rugby Union Football and rl is formally known as Rugby League Football.
Technically the nrl should be the national rl league and the WARU should be the WA RU league.
If you call RU or rl just "football" you are using the term informally because you are not using the full title.
Calling rl ""league" is the informal use again and makes no sense when you have reserve grade "league" players.
Everywhere else, a league player is a player playing in the "firsts".

.

[Ace]

No. It's the football league of Australia. They play football.

.

But what's the game called?

I mean, technically Rugby League is also playing football.

The AFL play what is colloquially called "Australian Rules Football" and marketed as "AFL" but it is and always has been formally know as Football. To differentiate from other football we call it "Australian Football'.
RU is formally Rugby Union Football and rl is formally known as Rugby League Football.
Technically the nrl should be the national rl league and the WARU should be the WA RU league.
If you call RU or rl just "football" you are using the term informally because you are not using the full title.
Calling rl ""league" is the informal use again and makes no sense when you have reserve grade "league" players.
Everywhere else, a league player is a player playing in the "firsts".

.

I just thought it was funny that you guys are having a go at Rugby League when Rugby League is to Rugby what Australian Football League is to Football.

[Raiderdave]

I wasn't aware that NRL, ARU or FFA were codes, I thought they were governing bodies or in the case of the NRL a competition.

I never understood why your competition is called the National Rugby League, if the name of the sport is Rugby League. Shouldn't it be called the National Rugby League League? It's like calling the AFL 'The Australian Football'. Always riles me when a throwballer chastises me for calling the sport 'rugby' insisting "it's not rugby, it's LEAGUE!" It'd be like talking about the NBA, calling the sport basketball, and having someone chuck a tanty insisting "The sport's not called basketball you idiot, it's called Association!"

Shouldn't the AFL also be called 'The Australian Australian Football League'?

well I just call the AFL cr@p ..

yep
end of

[Stewie]

Although a leaguie at heart i had to choose afl, it is played in every state and territory and is more popular in the majority of our countries lands.

Good choice. =D>

[cos789]

I just thought it was funny that you guys are having a go at Rugby League when Rugby League is to Rugby what Australian Football League is to Football.

Yes, people laugh at what they cannot understand.

It's quite clear. RU vs rl.
AFL is a league that plays football or Australian Football to distinguish it from other forms of football of which RU and rl are forms . Aossociation Football wants to be renamed "Football". Makes no sense to be called Football Football.
It is a type of football. It doesn't own the noun "football". Ford cannot own the word "car" because it invented the production line. Association Football can call itself whatever it likes - soccer, association , English, Brititish, European, round ball, FIFA, world game, Cambridge rules, but calling itself "Football" makes no sense what so ever.

Netball was called basketball until American rules basketball became popular. If they hadn't changed then you would have had a clash there.

[pussycat]

Study slams AFL's take-up figures in west

Date October 24, 2012 Read later





Roy Masters


Back down ... the AFL dropped its push for goalposts at Birchgrove Oval. Photo: Ben Rushton

The AFL's boast of vast increases in participation numbers in western Sydney is misleading, according to a report commissioned by one of its key stakeholders.

This month's report, prepared by a Melbourne University academic at the request of AFL NSW/ACT, supports what many rugby league administrators have been saying for some time - the AFL is using registrations in its modified game of Auskick to bolster actual playing numbers.

The research appears to seriously question a claim last month by an AFL NSW senior official that participation numbers in the western Sydney region have grown by 27 per cent, or 10,000 players, in a single year.

Under the heading, ''Western Sydney - The Reality versus Perception Gap'', the report's author, David Lawson, notes: ''The reality is that junior club maturity and participation numbers appear to have stalled. There are 6 [per cent] less junior/youth players in 2012 than in 2009. The perception, however, is that the game is growing well. This perception is supported by masking low junior club numbers with Auskick numbers (Club, School and Community Auskick) and school program numbers. This optimistic, bullish perception is needed to market the game, however this perception urgently needs to be underpinned by committed junior club participants.''


Government officials at federal, state and local levels, who have poured millions of dollars into Auskick programs believing it encourages children to play regular sport, might also be alarmed to learn it can undermine actual playing numbers in Australian football.

The report says: ''In the chase for participant numbers in NSW and ACT, a shortened and often subsidised version of Auskick has been aggressively rolled out in primary schools (In-School Auskick) and after-school centres (Community Auskick) … Junior club feedback has indicated that the In-School and Community versions have, at times, harmed Club Auskick.''

It appears Sydney kids, brought up on modified versions of other football codes, might be different to children from other capitals, preferring competitive games to skill practices.

The report says, ''Soccer, rugby league and rugby union introductory programs essentially comprise modified games whereas Auskick centres concentrate on skill acquisition drills. Interviews and surveys have suggested that in Sydney there is a preference for more game-based activities to complement skill-based content.''

No surprise, therefore, the section on juniors concludes: ''Converting young Australian football samplers into regular club participants with the subsequent engagement of parents, friends and colleagues, has not yet been as successful.''

The report is at odds with a media report on September 14, quoting AFL NSW's Dean Connors, that Australian football participation in western Sydney rose 27 per cent this year, with administrators confident the full impact of the region's new AFL club, GWS Giants, is yet to be felt.

''We've grown at this stage by 27per cent from last year's participation, which was 28,306,'' Connors is quoted as saying. ''There's been substantial growth from a very high base, so we're up around that 36,000-37,000 mark in participation in greater western Sydney.''

Both AFL surveys and Connors define a ''participant'' as a ''no-less-than-six-weeks paying customer'', but according to the AFL NSW/ACT report, playing numbers in junior Australian football across all of Sydney last year was 7694.

When AFL NSW applied to Leichhardt Council to install AFL goal posts on rugby league's birthplace, Birchgrove Oval, it withdrew when asked to verify its playing numbers.

Nor is there any reason to boast about Sydney's senior numbers.

The report says: ''With the growth of senior numbers halving (from 8 [per cent] to 4 per cent]), under-18s growth dropping from 12 [per cent] to 4 [per cent] and significantly more 100-point victories in 2012 in U18 division 1 and premier divisions, there appears good reason to maintain a watching brief.''

While the figures were tallied before the Swans won this year's AFL premiership, this might merely widen the perception of the gap between the best and worst clubs.

The Giants also come in for criticism for not focusing on community programs, although the federal government recently advanced them $2 million for this purpose.

The report says: ''It appears that the principle [sic] objective of the Giants Academy is to identify recruits to draft for the GWS Giants. Altruistic objectives such as improving the standard of club football in the region and positioning Australian football as the sport of choice do not currently appear high on [its] agenda.''

The Giants' Nick Johnston defended the role of the academy, saying: ''We had about 300 kids aged between 13 and 18 through our academy program this year. They included kids from Indian, Sudanese and indigenous communities in western Sydney as well as regional NSW. We think it's been a great success, albeit that it is still in its infancy.''


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/stud ... z2AAS2O7BV

[Xman]

scanning.......Roy Masters

No, seriously, the AFL have made it perfectly clear their participation numbers include Auskick with programs running no less than 6 weeks, not single sessions like RaiderDope may claim. The report says that Auskick may actually detract from regular club participants, however the overall claim from the AFLs, that participation numbers are growing, is dead right since they are comparing like for like. =D>

Unlike Roy Master to put a negative spin on it though...

[pussycat]

Roy Masters just printed the story. A story about a report commissioned by the AFL.


Unlike the AFL to be fuging figuures :P

[Xman]

BS Roy printed a few comments and made the rest up himself

Some of Roy Master's comments:

Study slams AFL's take-up figures in west

The AFL's boast of vast increases in participation numbers in western Sydney is misleading, according to a report commissioned by one of its key stakeholders.

This month's report, prepared by a Melbourne University academic at the request of AFL NSW/ACT, supports what many rugby league administrators have been saying for some time - the AFL is using registrations in its modified game of Auskick to bolster actual playing numbers.

The research appears to seriously question a claim last month by an AFL NSW senior official that participation numbers in the western Sydney region have grown by 27 per cent, or 10,000 players, in a single year.

The report is at odds with a media report on September 14, quoting AFL NSW's Dean Connors, that Australian football participation in western Sydney rose 27 per cent this year, with administrators confident the full impact of the region's new AFL club, GWS Giants, is yet to be felt.

Comments from the actual article mentioned:

- ''The reality is that junior club maturity and participation numbers appear to have stalled. There are 6 [per cent] less junior/youth players in 2012 than in 2009. The perception, however, is that the game is growing well. This perception is supported by masking low junior club numbers with Auskick numbers (Club, School and Community Auskick) and school program numbers. This optimistic, bullish perception is needed to market the game, however this perception urgently needs to be underpinned by committed junior club participants.''

''In the chase for participant numbers in NSW and ACT, a shortened and often subsidised version of Auskick has been aggressively rolled out in primary schools (In-School Auskick) and after-school centres (Community Auskick) … Junior club feedback has indicated that the In-School and Community versions have, at times, harmed Club Auskick.''

''Soccer, rugby league and rugby union introductory programs essentially comprise modified games whereas Auskick centres concentrate on skill acquisition drills. Interviews and surveys have suggested that in Sydney there is a preference for more game-based activities to complement skill-based content.''

''Converting young Australian football samplers into regular club participants with the subsequent engagement of parents, friends and colleagues, has not yet been as successful.''

''It appears that the principle [sic] objective of the Giants Academy is to identify recruits to draft for the GWS Giants. Altruistic objectives such as improving the standard of club football in the region and positioning Australian football as the sport of choice do not currently appear high on [its] agenda.''

All the report really says is that the AFL participation numbers in NSW include Auskick and that Auskick programs in school and after school categories take players away from club Auskick and club participation, which is more desirable.

The rest is just spin from Roy Masters, a RL columnist.