Whats this based on?

I agree about Cricket.

Nsw,q,land,act&nt v Vic, sa,wa,tas (although the crowd for storm in Hobart this year would suggest plenty of nrl support in tassie)

Consider also nrl in Perth rates as highly as afl in Sydney despite population difference and hundreds of millions invested in nsw by afl.

I'm not denying NRL rates very high on tv, If ever a game was made for tv this is it.

Bu lets not get carried away, Afl is stronger in Qld and Nsw than Rl is in Vic. In SA and WA rl is virtually non existent.

How do you figure? We have not had opportunity to test that yet. When the game is live on fta in afl states and the Arlc he the money to spend expanding the game that afl has had we will ge a truer picture. As said now we finally have some decent tv Covg in WA the tv ratings are on par with afl in nsw and per head of population crowds for nrl are better than swans are drawing. Just wait until we get a team!

Just because people watch it on tv doesn't mean their going to support a club.

Afl is the dominant in WA, to suggest other wise would be ridiculous.

I'm a great supported of the WA nrl side for all the reasons you put forward, but the recent South Sydney crowds aren't amazing and this has to kept up for 24 rounds.

Was it supported well the last time the Reds were in the Nrl, did their average attendances come close to the 2 Afl sides?

More fans at games.....more TV money and currently more TV viewers.......but JB says AFL is 2nd to Rugby League......

I rest my case

FFS.......of the 3 SoO games last year, the NRL GF and the AFL GF....which one got more viewers than the RWC semi-final between NZ and Australia?

Was it:
1. SoO
2. NRL GF
3. AFL GF

or 4........none of them got close?

That's not what you said! You said afl is bigger in rl states than nrl in afl states. We shall see a truer test of that over the next 5 years. Of course rl will never be as big as afl in WA. Will it be bigger than afl in nsw or q'land is the question.

This is unquestionable, this doesn't make sense.

yes it does!

Is RL bigger in Victoria, WA and SA than AFL is in NSW and Q'land? That was what you stated! With the money that RL is about to get and the new TV deal that will see FTA coverage into AFL states we will see the Storm and hopefully WA Reds really grow. AFL has been trying for 30 years to crack NSW and despite shed loads of $'s, a friendly media and two teams the game still struggles to attract people to watch it. I can see the popularity of NRL in WA being bigger than the popularity of AFL in NSW within the next few years. Does that help?

Afl is far bigger in NSW and Qld than rl is in Vic, sa and wa.

To suggest otherwise is ridiculous.

Are you actually reading my posts?

AFL has had a 25 year head start. Over the next 5 years RL has a significant opportunity to claw back that ground if the ARLC make the right decisions about investment and expansion. Perth NRL viewing figures currently matches AFL Sydney viewing, that gives me hope that a well run, well financed WA Reds/WARL will be bigger than the Sydney Swans and the joke that is GWS and that (popualtions taken into consideration) RL will have more Jnrs, more TV viewers and more people supporting RL in WA than Sydney has supporting AFL within a few years.

RL has had both hands tied behind its back for 15 years, the shackles are about to come off!

The shackles are off, but give it 2 years.

You either have a bizarre understanding of afl in sydney or nrl must be booming in wa (underground).

RL will be booming in WA IF we get a fraction of what the AFL has pumped into Sydney. AFL viewing figures sub 50K, AFL attendances around 20k and 10k. I am confident we can do better!



Not yet , lock has been removed with the ditching of ARL old farts and the kicking out of the News stooges but we still need that $billion pay day and announcement of expansion to get us moving in the right direction

Lots of IF's, BUT's and MAYBE's in this thread..........

The average gates at the NRL are 17,191 and at AFL 34,761.......

Just 1 AFL team averages less than 15,000.........the NRL has 9 teams with sub 15k averages

The AFL currently has a TV deal that is more then the NRL....the previous TV deal that the AFL got was, coincidently, bigger than the NRL as well.

Rugby League enjoys a much better media presence in Australia than it does in the UK, but it is the 2nd football code.
Mondays papers.......
National rlhttp://www.theaustralian.com.au/sportrl
New South Wales rlhttp://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sportrl
Western Australiarlhttp://www.perthnow.com.au/sportrl
Southern Australia rlhttp://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sportrl
Northern Territories rlhttp://www.ntnews.com.au/sportrl
Tasmania rlhttp://www.themercury.com.au/sportrl
Victoria rlhttp://www.theage.com.au/sportrl
Queenslandrlhttp://www.couriermail.com.au/sportrl
Auckland rlhttp://www.nzherald.co.nz/sportrl
Wellington rlhttp://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rl