I think part of the problem is that the NRL is in fact a two-tier competition, despite the salary cap attmepting to level the playing field. there are clearly clubs doing OK, and equally clearly others doing badly. Sadly what seems to generally happen is that the bleating from clubs with no money and no real likelihood of getting better seems to carry the day.

and it is only going to get worse. As more one team big cities come in the small suburb clubs with their 18,000 capacity grounds will not keep pace. The fact less than 8K turned up to Cronulla last week shows that time for these small clubs is fast coming to an end.

Surely the NRL have to do something drastic to stop their players going to yawnion,AFL.When are the TV rights due and what does anyone think they will get,i've heard rumours of 1 billion dollars but is that realistic in the current financial situation.

2013 and I doubt it.

ratings for the nrl are down significantly this year which is no surprise given the mediocre season to date.
the afl gets many more viewers across australia each weekend than the nrl ever gets so it is fanciful thinking on the part of league desperadoes to expect a similar tv deal... also the networks are not so desperate to get rugby league as they are to secure afl since it is the most popular by far sport in australia, so the same sort of network bidding war will not eventuate with the nrl.

fark you talk some

Who is this idiot erich, how about some facts ya pathetic merkin.

if you want the definition of pathetic just look at the crowds that go to nrl games... pathetic.

only 7500 bother to turn out for the eels/storm game friday night.

no wonder nrl players want to abandon the sinking ship... they dont want to play in front of empty grandstands with a handful of bogans baying for blood. they want to feel the excitement of playing in front of a full house every week and to be treated with respect and dignity by society not ridiculed and insulted because they are league players.

Questionis the current etc? Since the Storm storm erupted and SoO time rolled around, there's been nary a peep about putting the Commission in the driver's seat.

Can't recall seeing much on this matter in recent weeks...

Just ignore the fruitloop...

you cant ignore the truth.

You could so easily be talking about Super League.

so david gallop is going to put a team in perth in 2013 and hes still a weak leader

you are parasite JB

and gallop allowed souths to stay in the nrl, recognizes how important sydney is for RL, brought back the titans, has seen the club grants rise from $2.5 million to $4 million

in 12 months time well have enough money to keep our stars

i say its other codes with weak leaders

And I say: for god's sake man stop before you rub all the skin off it.

Unless Rupert M dies & leaves his stash to OZ RL, then the pay-packets on offer from other codes - and from the same code in the UK - will occasionally be sufficient to sway top-line players into leaving. The TV rights Pot-at-Rainbow's-End so many folk are getting irrationally excited about cannot be reasonably expected to make Oz RL rich enough to be immune to money pressure from outside.

Yes it's a pain but it's also a fact. Even so, Oz RL will soldier on. It's been proven to be be a resilient sort of beast for a long while now...

Is he? Do you have a quote to that effect? He's done frick all so far



did he? Funny I thought it was a court ruling and the slight influence of 50K RL fans marching through Sydney



Will we???? we will be lucky if we get what the AFL got 5 Years ago and that will still leave us $100mill+ a year behind the AFL



that's because you haven't got a frickin clue~!