Rugby League in Melbourne

[Beaussie]

Will the Storm break the 10,000 crowd mark on Friday night against the Bulldogs? With only one game of AFL in Melbourne this weekend, surely a crowd of more than 10,000 is possible for the top of the table Melbourne Storm. Then again this is rugby league in Melbourne.

Eye of the storm
June 23, 2006
http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/eye-o ... ntentSwap1

The Storm have a role to play in wooing Victorians to rugby league, writes Roy Masters, and they take it very seriously.

THE planets are aligning in such a way that Melbourne is now the centre of the rugby league universe.

The Storm head the NRL ladder two wins clear; the deciding State of Origin match will be played at the city's Telstra Dome on July 5; tonight's match of the round between the Storm and Bulldogs at Olympic Park will provide answers to some concerns of the NSW selectors, while the NRL reacts to every meteor Storm chief executive Brian Waldron hurls at them.

Furthermore, the Storm's next two home games are on Friday nights, meaning they will have three times more matches-of-the-round in a month than in the past year and a half.

But with regard to television, the game is a black hole in the Victorian capital, largely because Channel Nine programmers will use any excuse to put the game on at an hour only insomniacs love.

Although the first State of Origin match was shown in Melbourne at 9.30pm and averaged a respectable 254,000, the Brisbane match was delayed until 11pm and averaged 111,000 viewers.

The reason for the rescheduling was the Ted Whitten Australian Football charity match, a game for retired footballers. It was telecast from 8.30pm and averaged half a million viewers.

In Melbourne, Australian football plays an almost chromosomal role in the lives of the people. Like Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, it is omnipresent - everywhere and in everyone.

It exists at such a molecular level that watching overweight former players with thinning hairlines running around on a freezing night is a ratings winner.

Rugby league fans in Melbourne mutter that McGuire, now chief executive of Channel Nine, showed his true colours by allowing an AFL Legends match to take precedence over the jewel in the crown of rugby league, a sport his network is committed to promote, particularly since it lost the AFL rights.

But since when do TV executives pass up the opportunity to program a match which peaks at 527,000 for the cost of a donation to a needy charity?

If the now Sydney-based McGuire is Pope Clement V, the pontiff who relocated the headquarters of the Catholic Church to France in the Middle Ages, Waldron is head rabbi at the Vatican.

He must try to promote an unknown faith in a city where Australian football is not only the main religion but a functional ideology.

Waldron is certainly being heard in Sydney.

His comments in Monday's Herald lampooning the June 30 anti-tampering laws as a farce brought a swift response. The following day the NRL announced the rule would be rescinded.

He was highly critical that Nine had televised the Storm only once in the 160 opportunities it has had in the 18 months he has been chief executive. The Storm now have the Bulldogs, Broncos and Sharks all in a row at Olympic Park as Nine's match of the round.

Compare this with the home-and-away games Nine has shown involving Melbourne the previous three years - four in 2003, seven in 2004 and one in 2005.

And Storm coach Craig Bellamy has refused to kowtow to Queensland's Origin selectors. With fullbacks Karmichael Hunt, Matt Bowen and his own Greg Inglis injured or doubtful, Queensland selectors hoped Bellamy would find a place for Billy Slater in tonight's team.

But Bellamy considered Slater's 25 minutes in 10 matches insufficient preparation for a big match and consigned him to the feeder league.

Slater has been erratic since being dropped by Queensland last year and it seems Bellamy is teaching both the state and the fullback a lesson. He adopted a similar tough approach to five-eighth Scott Hill, who is now a chance of representing NSW at No.6.

Considered by many to be rugby league's next great coach, Bellamy re-signed on Tuesday with the Storm until the end of the 2009 season.

When Waldron announced Bellamy's re-signing to the players on Tuesday they moaned collectively then cheered when the chief executive said Bellamy's two assistants, Michael Maguire and Stephen Kearney, were re-appointed for a further two years.

Their reaction was good-natured, reflecting the easy relationship they have with the coach, a contrast to the locker rooms at some clubs which have all the joy of an accountants' convention.

The Telstra Dome Origin match is a sell-out and may even eclipse the stadium record of 51,000 spectators because an additional 3000 standing room tickets have been sold.

Waldron calculates 35,000 of the crowd will be Victorians, an indication southerners are willing to flirt with the new religion.

Telstra Dome management sent an email to all medallion members on Wednesday citing "unprecedented demand" for Origin tickets.

Members who did not intend going to the match were offered a food-and-drink voucher to the value of $100 if they surrendered their seat.

Waldron said: "They are buying back their own seats for $100."

A Telstra Dome TV commercial has been well-received. It cleverly intersperses vision of the 2005 Origin series with Melbourne street scenes, such as Michael Crocker running the ball past Federation Square; Matt Bowen passing trams; Anthony Minichiello and Flinders Street railway station; Billy Slater with Dockland and the Yarra River in the background, ending with Mark Gasnier running into Telstra Dome.

Too bad only Gasnier will be playing on July 5 but Melbourne is sold on the commercial's tag line - "Experience sport's greatest rivalry."

Victorian Premier Steve Bracks has even invited both teams to a reception on Tuesday night.

The printed invitation, prepared by the ARL's marketing company but approved by the Melbourne Major Events company, has the venue as the "Sir Barry Redmond room" in a Collins Street tower. Unfortunately, it's the Sir Redmond Barry room.

Sir Redmond was the judge who ordered Ned Kelly be hanged, the man the bushranger told: "See you in hell."

Rugby league has certainly turned things upside down in Melbourne, causing heaven and earth to be moved to reverse a decision which finally gives Ned the win he always wanted.

[Willis 21]

They'll break 50,000 at the State of Origin though... =D>

Good on Bracksie for inviting the teams to an official dinner though, hey Bea?

[Willis 21]

Bea, they are saying on Big Faggy and LU that the SOO 3 will be live in Melb...

Great news hey?

I'm tipping a audience of 400K in Melb if true.... About three times a Live Swans audience in Sydney...

[Beaussie]

Live Swans audience for the AFL GF was 1 million+. You think the the sold out hyped up SoO decider in Melbourne broadcast on a Wednesday night in prime time will eclipse the Sydney audience of a Saturday afternoon for the AFL GF?

[Willis 21]

WHats the highest rating Sydney audience for an AFL game not involving the swans this year?? 75,000??

[Willis 21]

You got the Melbourne Ratings for SOO 3 handy Bea??


Is it true that more people watched the SOO than Friday night football that week??

[crocodileman]

Beaussie seems to be a bit quiet in this thread of late!

[King-Eliagh]

Beaussie I reckon you need a change of av....

Grimace is doin nothin for your rep...especially of late

[Beaussie]

Some interesting and valid points raised regarding rugby league in the southern states.

A World Away
http://workers.labor.net.au/features/20 ... oyley.html

Phil Doyle is pleased that a display of subtle beauty and athletic grace has been overtaken by some good old-fashioned mindless violence
A team carrying the hopes of millions, playing a long way away from home, up against some of the biggest names in the sport, ended up being cruelly crushed on the back of some hapless refereeing.

Yep, that was this year's State of Origin finale.

No one is ever going to catch an escalator up Everest, the Pope isn't going to appear on the cover of Penthouse, and Melbourne will never embrace rugby league.

Nonetheless, every year or two we go through this sad ritual where a rugby league test match or a state of origin is banged on for the bemused Mexican throng, with the NRL safe in the knowledge that ducks on a pond will draw a crowd in Melbourne.

This column actually played Rugby League in Melbourne and Adelaide and must report that it was a lonely, sobering experience; trooping out to far flung suburbs to play a handful of other sides in a competition riddled with expatriates from very limited parts of the world on makeshift grounds in a code that no one cared about.

Even after the Melbourne Shower arrived it has changed little. The extent of the junior code matters not a jot on the consciousness of the youth, while the senior equivalent battles on with a handful of clubs that seem to pop up like mushrooms, with the same longevity and form of sustenance of that irascible plant.

In Adelaide a decent deployment of Australian armed force personnel overseas could wipe out half the competition, popular as it is amongst those who swear fealty for queen and country. While clubs like the Geelong Tiger Snakes depend largely on the Kiwi Diaspora.

The only truly remarkable thing about league in the southern states, apart from how easy it is to get a run, is the striking South Australian state jumper - a gold red and black concoction that is at once stirring and psychadelic. The crow eaters done themselves proud there.

They can certainly hold their heads higher than their shabby treatment from the so called "top flight" rugby league which did a now you see it, now you don't routine - before being punted by Lachlan Murdoch as part of a peace deal that was successful in parts of the country where people care about muddied oafs.

Further east, there was some spurious strategic reason in keeping the Melbourne Shower in business.

The News Limited flagship is in running for the premiership, mainly on the back of Uncle Rupert's largesse. How long the Holt Street accountants keep propping up John Ribot's toy remains to be seen now that Murdoch the lesser, in a fair imitation of Henry VI, sinks from view amidst the gallantless parvenu that is News Limited.

This column once watched a person with a swipey ticket at Olympic Park stand there for three quarters of an hour at a turnstile, swiping the entry turnstile over and over again, in what must have been a mission to single-handedly break the attendance record. The next day the paper said there was 8,000 odd at the ground when there was probably closer to 500.

Melbournites care more for Morris Dancing than they do for Rugby League, which for them is a fascinating novelty, like the mardi gras or a car accident.

Not like in Katoomba, where the Devils charge for the semis has been noted. A recent win over the indigent profligates of Hawkesbury featured an astonishing effort that saw the ball volleyed through no less than three sets of feet, without touching the turf, before it landed on the chest of an accelerating centre, who went through a hole as wide as Sydney Heads to score. Thrilling stuff.

But even this toe poking effort was dwarfed by the eponymously named world cup, where an under performing England cheered everyone up (And proved the old maxim - a team of champions will give everyone the shits).

Aussies did proud and the hubris has been sensational. Proof in the pudding will come with the advent of this year's A League season, but if Dwight Yorke is back with Sydney FC then hopefully, the fact they have built it means the crowds will come.

Not like Fitzroy. For them the crowds were too often thin, and heartbroken, and surly, and drunk. Vulgar Press has produced a book of tales from my old lover, the fickle mistress that is the Fitzroy Football Club. Her turmoil and grace, and how we all felt that kick in the cods in '96 (which seems like a very long time ago full of startling fresh pain).

I am still too heartbroken to read about it, but if you are an uncaring misanthrope, or revel in melancholy, the details are here.

Luckily there is the happy mindless violence of country rugby league to lose myself in; otherwise this sporting life would be too beautiful to stand.

Phil Doyle - getting a little sideways as he tries to pass in the chicane

[Willis 21]

trooping out to far flung suburbs to play a handful of other sides in a competition riddled with expatriates from very limited parts of the world on makeshift grounds in a code that no one cared about.

I stopped reading here.... He is actually having a go a about Rugby League being played in very limited parts of the world??.... ( Hello AFL?? )

Who is he anyway??

[Beaussie]

trooping out to far flung suburbs to play a handful of other sides in a competition riddled with expatriates from very limited parts of the world on makeshift grounds in a code that no one cared about.

Who is he anyway??

He writes the weekly sports column for the Unions. I thought this part of the article was most damning for the NRL in Melbourne:

This column once watched a person with a swipey ticket at Olympic Park stand there for three quarters of an hour at a turnstile, swiping the entry turnstile over and over again, in what must have been a mission to single-handedly break the attendance record. The next day the paper said there was 8,000 odd at the ground when there was probably closer to 500.

[Willis 21]

Obviously he is an AFL stooge worried about the great year Rugby league is having in Melbourne....

Here is another article from a reputable source.. the SMH..

Waldron forecasts a brighter outlook for Storm
Email Print Normal font Large font Brad Walter
August 5, 2006


JUST over a year ago, there were genuine doubts about the viability of an NRL team in Melbourne - but now Storm chief executive Brian Waldron believes the club is developing into an attractive proposition for investors.

While Melbourne are riding high on the field and should secure the minor premiership by beating Wests Tigers tonight, Waldron says the future finally looks bright off it after eight years of financial losses for News Ltd.

The Storm aren't expected to return a profit this season, either, but the club is now secure enough about the future to enter into an arrangement for the Central Coast Rip to be their feeder team in next season's NSWRL premier league competition - a move that would have previously sparked suspicion that News Ltd was planning to relocate the club to Gosford.

Yesterday, Waldron would not comment on a rumour that he had been given six months to turn around Melbourne's fortunes when he took over the running of the club at the end of the 2004 season, but he admitted to having doubts over the Storm's chances of survival.

"Like everyone, I had some questions about our long-term viability," Waldron said. "Our key indicators weren't particularly strong in relation to crowd attendances, in relation to our revenue and a number of other issues.

"But when we did some research, we got a company called Sport Info to do some market research for us, and we found that 800,000 people in Melbourne had some interest in rugby league, so we realised in essence that we'd only captured about three per cent of that market.

"That gave us great optimism that we could actually turn things around, but we needed to do a lot of work. We needed a new stadium, we needed to get a development program going, we needed to increase our profile and we needed a damn good footy team with a good coach."

Earlier this week, Waldron told a business breakfast that the Storm needed to remove itself from the News Ltd empire to be fully accepted in Melbourne - a move that would be in line with the media giant's vow at the end of the Super League war to eventually dissolve its interests in all but one NRL club, expected to be Brisbane.

Waldron refused to put a date on when that may occur, but it is unlikely to be before the completion of the new $190 million redevelopment of Olympic Park, due to open in 2009.

"The message is that we're growing the business to the stage where we give our investors options. We're not at that stage yet but we're now getting to the point where we can start to look at things as an organisation - not tomorrow, not next year but down the track. It's all long-term vision stuff," he said.

"What I said the other day probably didn't come out the way I wanted it to, but the reality of the situation is that Melburnians love their sport and they're proud of us - but … if the team was owned by the people of Melbourne, we would forever be a part and parcel of the Melbourne culture. I think most Sydneysiders now believe that the Swans are their team and that's what we need to do. But when you've got the backing of the NRL, ARL, News Ltd and the Victorian Government, like the Storm does, you've got a pretty firm foothold.

[King-Eliagh]

Beaussie you're coppin a belting again mate :P

[Willis 21]

Beaussie..

Its funny to revisit this thread again isn't it....

Especially this bit...

Live Swans audience for the AFL GF was 1 million+. You think the the sold out hyped up SoO decider in Melbourne broadcast on a Wednesday night in prime time will eclipse the Sydney audience of a Saturday afternoon for the AFL GF

Maybe not the Sold out SOO decider, but how about the Melbourne audience of the NRL Grand final outrating the Sydney audience for the AFL GF by 300,000 or so??

Has anyone got a reason why the Swans Sydney GF audience crashed and burned this year??

Obviously a lot of people didn't like what they saw in 2005,,,

[BYRON]

Beaussie..

Its funny to revisit this thread again isn't it....

Especially this bit...

Live Swans audience for the AFL GF was 1 million+. You think the the sold out hyped up SoO decider in Melbourne broadcast on a Wednesday night in prime time will eclipse the Sydney audience of a Saturday afternoon for the AFL GF

Maybe not the Sold out SOO decider, but how about the Melbourne audience of the NRL Grand final outrating the Sydney audience for the AFL GF by 300,000 or so??

Has anyone got a reason why the Swans Sydney GF audience crashed and burned this year??

Obviously a lot of people didn't like what they saw in 2005,,,

BEAUSSIE BEAUSSIE BEAUSSIE WHATS DOIN MATE THESE 2 BLOKES KING ELIAGH AND WILLIS 21 GIVE YOU HEAPS MATE