I'm not trying to spin it, we have the pinnacle of Rugby League, its mid season, its over three games & its called State of Origin, it sells out & generates unparalleled interest, & then we have this inferior product & its pretty hard to sell a second rate game, no matter how you want to spin it, like i said, the seasons over, peoples minds have entered summer time, theres a few factors, but the main one is you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear, fact

That is the single biggest issue with international RL. You say SOO is the pinnacle of the sport, to be fair it probably is but it shouldn’t be. Until the sport as a whole sorts out International rugby and introduces a proper calendar and prioritises it over domestic rugby then that won’t happen. From what I’ve read the insular attitude of the NRL is largely responsible for this.

Who's the pound shop League Freak?

What is to blame is the lack of players outside of Australia.

Interesting that the NRL GF attendance was under 80k for the first time in over a decade and down around 3/4K on the usual figure. Can't blame that on the English.

I take it this Downo character is another of the Capdouze/James/ personas? if so why are people replying to it? we will never get rid of these kind of idiots on the boards if we can't learn to ignore them !!

Its entertainment, people will consume what they want to consume, they'll go for what interests them

The biggest problem for RL in Australia isn't that people aren't inspired by the world cup & such its keeping people interested in RL at all, we have to just keep peoples bums on seats in the NRL before we worry about the sport on the other side of the world, there isn't a more competitive market in the world than Sydney, & everyone is fighting for hearts & minds

It really is a congested sporting calendar with incredible choice, AFL & Football are both going through he roof, & here are plenty of other things to do & see

About 4k short of a sellout, considering that it was between Melbourne & Nth Queensland in Sydney, thats not too bad

no idea who you are talking about

But if i'm making too much sense for you & your ilk i'l go away, i realise you probably don't like being told some home truths

I don't know who the poor man's league freak is but he's hit the predictable trifecta.

Called us soap dodgers- check
Whinging poms - check
SOO more important - check

Either come up with something good, or prepare to be ignored by everyone on here.

You don't like the truth???

You tell me the narrative that i should stick to, the one that makes you happy & i'll do my best, ok???

Ignored.