See article of experiment carried out timesonline.typepad.com/rugby_league/ I've always found soccer fans experiencing RL for the first time to not only enjoy the experience but continuing coming to TGG.

See article of experiment carried out timesonline.typepad.com/rugby_league/ I've always found soccer fans experiencing RL for the first time to not only enjoy the experience but continuing coming to TGG.

I'm a convert from soccer to rugby league. I never watched any rugby league when i was a kid, my mate introduced me to the game about 4 years ago. The best thing for me was the fact that you never get a boring 0-0 in rugby league and the players are true sportsmen - they take hard knocks but they don't roll around on the floor like soccer players. I was also impressed with the respect shown to officials and the opoosing sides shaking hands at the end of each game.
I think there are many thousands of people who would prefer rugby league if they saw it, they just need to get a bit more exposure on national tv/radio and newspapers

I have been cloned...and I claim my £5

An interesting article with mixed views. I am so glad that football fans recognise the amateur dramatics from football players, and the 'brutal nature' of rugby league is noted more than once, and the way that players just get on with it.

They should have chosen a better match than Huddersfield at home though!!

I grew up supporting Everton (Neville Southall = God

) and didn't get into Rugby League until I was about 18, and I agree RL could gain many more fans if more people were exposed to the game.

There's alot of disillusionment with football, the diving, the obscene salaries, egomaniacs all over the place. RL is a real antidote to all of that.

Were not going to convert the masses, but RL is a very attractive sport. When I first started watching it, I didn't know guys as hard as this existed

, it was an eye-opener, and now I can hardly watch Football, it's too annoying

Interesting survey, Shame they didn't take them to somewhere with a better atmosphere such as Hull derby day or Headingley. I suppose it's something to do with the Giants giving away ticket to Uni students. Based on the fact that these are students, often more open minded and probably not the foul mouthed types you see in good numbers at football matches I feel you could quite easily get 30% of English football fans who havent seen a League game turn up moe often.The appeals those people spoke about aren't the ones on footballthugs shopping list either so I think thats positive. Now come on M. Murdoch, sell them this amazing game!

My thoughts exactly.

What was interesting was that the most negative comments came from fans in or near to proper RL territory like Yorkshire.

I know Manchester and Liverpool are close to RL clubs but as far as knowing about RL they could be on the moon. These seemed the most positive of the fans.

I've had both experiences to be honest, people who've been amazed at how this sport has alluded them and people who've found it dull. Most of my travelling friends had more of an impression put on them by AFL but of course that could be because the NRL is dull as dishwater.

Interesting comment a few minutes ago with reference to football

" Juventus have not scored an away goal at Chelsea , thats the most important thing "



How bloody boring, just a load of brain washed muppets

Radio One's Mark 'Chappers' Chapman is a new convert. www.mirror.co.uk/sport/rugby/rug ... -21096319/

Radio One's Mark 'Chappers' Chapman is a new convert. www.mirror.co.uk/sport/rugby/rug ... -21096319/

I bet there are more going the other way tbh.

Quote ="Canyoubelieveit"See article of experiment carried out timesonline.typepad.com/rugby_league/ I've always found soccer fans experiencing RL for the first time to not only enjoy the experience but continuing coming to TGG.'" Reading FC attendee for nearly 10 years, one game of RL and been here ever since.

Quote ="Canyoubelieveit"See article of experiment carried out timesonline.typepad.com/rugby_league/ I've always found soccer fans experiencing RL for the first time to not only enjoy the experience but continuing coming to TGG.'" Reading FC attendee for nearly 10 years, one game of RL and been here ever since.

Wasn't that just before the time Reading started doing well?

Jinx.

I remember taking some college mates and diehard United fans to Central park in the early 90s for a game.

They were shocked and awed. Seriously, some of them were covering their mouths with shock at some of the collisions, the rest were just buzzing at the barely controlled violence, power, aggression and skill they were watching.
I distinctly remember one saying, 'I can't believe they hit each other so hard'.

Unfortunately we all fooked off to University that year, and out of those, only one still lives in Manchester, the rest live in London, Portsmouth and Bristol. The one in Manc still goes to the JJB with me regularly.

Yes it was.

The last game I saw as a fan was when they got promoted from Division Two (Three/League One) and they got into the play-offs the next year. Maybe I should stop supporting Quins so they win something

I wouldn't say that. In fact, if anything you should be made official mascot.

We need to get SL onto FTA TV at a reasonable time. As good as Sky has been for the game, until we get season long SL on national free to air TV on a Friday or Sunday night then RL will never be seen by the masses.

Not that many people get Sky?

That will never happen and I am not sure taking the game away from Sky to free to air would be the best thing for the game. If we are talking about converting Football fans anyway I am sure quiet a few of them already have sky sports anyway.

But if we (as in the fans) want to convert people from Football to Rugby then its up to us to try to get people along to games to do so. My brother in Law was a die hard football fan rarely missing a Blackburn game, when he met my sister she took him to one Saints game and he has been hooked ever since - no he rarely goes to Rovers games but is a Saints season ticket holder.

Strangely he has tried to convert both me and my Sister to football and failed on both counts - even though (according to football fans) the game he took us to was exciting compared to the majority of Rugby games it was boring imo.

Not saying we should. In Oz games are on FTA and pay for view. I see no reason why a channel couldn't screen ANOTHER SL game beyond the two Sky show.

My sis in law was a die hard soccer fan until she attended a couple of RL games, she is now a die hard RL fan!

As someone with a foot in both camps I still think that Football fans are worth chasing, but the problem is the term 'rugby' for them. They are immediately (and understandably) put off by the thoughts of Ra-ras and Jonny Wilkinson types. Also Rugby is hard for football fans to appreciate initially as it involves three elements that are foreign in football:

1) Using your hands
2) Kicking the ball over the bar is seen as a good thing.
3) Kicking the ball out into touch is seen as a good thing

However points 2 and 3 are really only significant in RU. In RL the openess and the flow of the game will tend to appeal to football fans. If you can get them to the game, there's usually no problem, they'll be hooked.

As for the state of football with the money and the diving, it does lead to disillusionment amongst football fans. Most fans would agree on the negative impact of these elements of the game, and so would be good targets for RL. Sky Sports et al may try to portray English football as the envy of Europe, and the Premiership as the 'Best league in the World' (How, this is given that only four teams can win it!), but in truth most fans are fed up with at least some element of football, either TV saturation or cost or whatever. The inane 'discussion' and phone in shows' on TV and radio about the game (with the exception of anything fronted by Danny Baker) try to portray the game as still being about the fans - but that has long since been true at the highest level, and fans of the non-premiership clubs look up with an envious eye at what they will never be able to acheive.

So RL more than ever should try and get to Football supporters. They WILL like it, they just need to see it! It worked on me and my Dad in 1996 and Football was still worth watching back then!

I saw all these guys at the game, my wife was sat amongst them. To say they were virgins is a massive understatement. She couldn't believe some of the stuff she was hearing.
There were about 15-20 of them I guess, there was only really one amongst them who knew the rules of the game who had to explain it to the others. They didn't even understand the very basic rules of the game, my wife who's Norwegian and only has a passing interest in the game knew the rules far better than they did.
Worrying when you consider these guys are gonna be the sports journalists of the future, although it was a good game for them to see and hopefully will have opened their eyes a bit.

In respect to the comments about the lack of atmosphere with regards to the crowd.

Perhaps this is needed more so in football due to the very dull patches that a game can serve up where the crowd need to entertain themselves. With League, even in a poor match, there is always something happening and it keeps the crowds attention. This may be detriment to the general atmosphere.

Had these people been taken to a Hull KR home match then perhaps this would be something more akin to what they expected. They, by far and away, are the fans who generate the most support for their team IMO.

God, football fans really are pussys aren't they?

They could always wait until he inevitably turns his back before flicking him the V's.