Quote JB Down Under="JB Down Under"No touch is a form of RL. It is based on RL rules, was developed by RL and is finely back recognised as part of RL. As a union fan you may hate it but RL, in its different forms, has more players than RU, in its different forms in NZ.
Blues avg 19'661
Warriors 16'197
Hardly "dwarfing" RL.
I think it is funny as that the rfu are promoting a variety of RL. It'd be liken the rfl promoting RU sevens and rebadging it as league sevens but using RU rules.'"
1. Regardless of the fact that touch is a league based pastime and the aside regarding me being a Union fan, it is a summer fitness sport here in New Zealand and is actually televised on Maori TV. Claiming the participants as RL Players is as desperate as the AFL and their incredible claims regarding OZkick.
2. 2,000,000+ watched the RWC Final in 2011....450,000 watched the Kiwis win in 2008......and as I said, Netball regularly out draws RL on NZ TV ratings.
3. The Blues play all their games at Eden....the Warriors average at Mt Smart is 13,970 the Blues for the season just closed was actually 20,953. The Warriors AND Blues benefited from a duel ticket offer for the season opener and the Warriors benefited with their second biggest gate in Wellington...their average at Mt Smart is the lowest since 2008!
4. The RFU and 02 have locked up touch in the UK.....so again, 2 states in Australia is hardly global domination.
5. Nobody is denying that RL is popular in Australia. All I did was respond to outlandish claims about New Zealand Union being overtaken by League.....not in either of our lifetimes and I suspect my daughters or future grandchildren's either. I attended the Regional RL finals in Auckland this week........I was being generous with my crowd estimates......the game has a bad reputation over here which bit by bit, is being repaired, but it has at least another 100 years+ to go!
6. A wellington team would help, but will take a massive investment to get it up and running.
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