Gutterfax is right on the money with much of what he has said.
I have lived in Wellington for most of my 37 years and the comments he has made regarding watching local rugby league and the violent behavior assosiated have been right on the mark in the past.
I live in Upper Hutt, home to the mighty Upper Hutt Tigers. At their home games the Mongrel Mob can be seen perched on the bank on one side of the field in a menacing way which will put off most casual fans from attending. I have worked with quite a few Tiger's players and they have all been great blokes and not gang affiliated but there obviously is another contingent that are. There were always stories in my youth of shootings and brawls involving spectators whenever the supremacy of the Wainui Lions was challenged. I'm not saying it was solely Wainui but being Upper Hutt's main rival for top spot (along with Randwick) in those days they were the stories you heard about.

However, I believe the winds of change are happening.
Rugby League is now in our schools, in my day there was no school rugby league teams, it was rugby or nothing and if you played club league on the weekends your first XV coach would probably drop you. Upper Hutt College just completing a 3rd unbeaten season in the Stephen Kearney cup and the aussie talent scouts are taking notice. The kids know due to Toyota Cup coverage and the many kiwis plying their trade there that there are career opportunities in league that are reachable to them. They also are being taught and see from the TV coverage that they can't do drugs and expect to be picked up by the scouts. This will no doubt flow through to the senior ranks with more dedicated players coming through rather than gang related thugs just trying to show how tough they are. But it will take years.

As for crowds well it's hard to say. Wellington has less than half the population of Auckland and while per capita certainly supports it's sporting teams better there is only so much money people have to spend. Christchurch has the same issue but without the competition of a semi-pro soccer team.

NZ rugby league is moving forward and certainly becoming more main stream, but there is a long way to go. I would love to see a team based in Wellington and think it would be great for the fans and the national side, but I suspect the money side of things would not stack up and at the end of the day it will always come back to that.

Bless. See as I said you've got nothing. Why don't you lose your log in and run off to some aussie site. We'll miss your pearls of wisdom and informed debate.

im sure you would

what im saying here was being discussed back in 2002 / 3 on league unlimited so if you want go on there and ask some of the warriors fans.

Daly, you persist with this rubbish and yet you back it up with nothing.
The AB's will always be the No1 sporting team in NZ.......Rugby Union will always be the No1 sport. The social and demographic make up of the country disctates where and when sports are popular....as I have said, The Warriors are based where they are based purely on the make up of the immediate population......which is pacfic and Maori in its make up.
Europeans.
Example....in the Auckland region, 56% of the population are "European" with over 25% described as pacific/Maori. The averages across New Zealand are 78% European and 21% Maori/Pacific. This is why sports like Basketball and Rugby League are popular in the Auckland region and why European sports, such as Union are bigger elsewhere.
Social stereotyping is not always a good thing, but the worlds largest marketers use it......as do a very large number of my clients. Simple facts that are available to read here (rlhttps://apps.nowwhere.com.au/StatsNZ/Maps/default.aspxrl) show that the average income is less for non europeans, the lifestyles are different and essentially, NZ is a middle class country. Union is the traditional game of New Zealand.....and whilst crowds are dropping off, other sports, including League have seen fan numbers reduced in recent years.

You again state that S15 will die as a result of the next NRL TV contract but you back it up with nothing.......apart from your opinion which as has been pointed out by Kiwis on these boards, is the stuff of fantasy
I repeat the question: Where did you live in NZ and for how long? Your insightfulness may prove helpfull to some of my major clients as they are always looking for good analysts......especially ones who can back up their research with facts

just wait 12 months and youll see if im right or not

RL in nz is the best its ever been

its got decades of growth ahead of it.

union has peaked and in many cases its declining.

eventually Rl will surprass union

In 12 months, this country will be awash with Union fans........so yeah, let's see where we are in November 2011....... rl