Talk:Rugby league in Australia

Most popular national sport?
This article claims that "It [rugby league] competes with Australian Rules Football for the title of "most popular national sport" [in Australia]". I don't know the statistics, but isn't cricket more popular than both sports given its truely national following and doesn't football (soccer) have more participation. I imagine lawn bowls and netball are quite popular as well. In short, is there a reference that can back the claim up? (Oh, and I reckon Aussie rules is far more popular than league, but I'm biased.) --ThirdEdition 23:32, 10 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Someone else brought this up. I was going to change it, but couldn't be bothered :). On reflection, I'd agree that it should be changed. Also, popularity is hard to gauge, perhaps we should find some other way to describes its popularity with out actualy using the word. Such as 2nd largest Attended sport? Although, I know that's now true, because horse racing is number one I believe, or maybe it was AFL, then racing, motor sports and RL. Perhaps we could say 2nd most popular or followed or attended football code in Australia? If you think of a good one, edit it, or tell me about it ;).
 * Hows that change? ... I knew i'd end up editing it myself! Why o why is this so addictive? POds 09:26, 11 October 2005 (UTC)
 * I'm happy that what you've got there now is factually accurate, so if your happy with it that's fine. According to an Australian Bureau of Statistics survey in 2002, Aussie Rules (2.5 million) was attended by the most adult individuals, then horse racing (1.9 million), motor racing (1.5 million) and rugby league (1.5 million). --ThirdEdition 04:14, 12 October 2005 (UTC)
 * I'm well versed in those statistics :). If u know of any similar statistics for the England, leave a reference at the bottom of the England page. POds 05:37, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

English Schools
I changed these. Soccer is played more widely than rugby at Eton, and Harrow was very much a soccer school until it switched codes between the Wars. 06:40, 3 May 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ausseagull (talk • contribs)

Help!
A few soccer fundamentalists are hijacking the term football in Australian articles. See, for example,. We need concerted action to stop this. Grant65 | Talk 10:16, 22 February 2006 (UTC) : But surely, Australian rules has also "hijacked" the term football? Are you considering "concerted action" to stop that? Ausseagull (talk) 06:45, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

I think local clubs need more of a mention
There is very little about Rugby League in Australia except for the professional competitions and how this affects perception. Australian professional Rugby League is only the tip of the ice-berg when it comes to participation generally. Local Rugby League clubs are important in develpoing social skills and providing role models for the youth. From my experience(extensive enough) WOMAN ARE JUST AS INVOLVED IN THE LOCAL CLUBS AS MEN. Also local Rugby League clubs are important to community life and social structure with many people who have not played at the club for twenty years still hanging around and coaching a team every now and than.

Also there is very little about the game's Irish roots in Sydney and Brisbane, Past Brothers, many local teams are in fact local catholic schools(Mostly Irish with a bit of Italian) who play against the local clubs in competition (Mostly Anglo-Celtic and working class as well as immigrant). I will begin to implement these changes. --Judas Iscariot 05:51, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

Just adding that otherwise I think that this article is an excellent accumulation of knowledge and statistics. --Judas Iscariot 06:12, 8 April 2006 (UTC)


 * As the original author of this article, i look forward to your changes :) POds 11:53, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

Found that some of your statistics are a little bit wrong. I have also seen the source of your statistics as well which I think are for seniors exclusively. However this site http://www.qrl.com.au/display.php?pg_id=1600 puts the number as 355000 participants. Admittedly at schools and club levels that some of these numbers could be a double up but I think that any way of looking at it, there are at least 250000 rugby league players. Of cause this place is not to cite speculation but any manner of looking at this, the numbers are a bit wrong. Pods, since in trying to research some of these things, your identity has come up more than once, I feel that pointing this out to you is better than just trampling over many of the things that you have written. Judas Iscariot2


 * I've been meaning to update the figures lately. There are for 2002/2003. Also, Try t NEVER use statistics gathered by a particular organisation that shows the statistics of that organisation, because they show bias. For example. Your sources are from the QRL. I would highly recommend against this and continue to use the sources in this file. I.e. Mainly the Australian Bereau of Statistics. POds 01:21, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

How about this than? http://www.ausport.gov.au/scorsresearch/ERASS2004/ERASS2004_table13.pdf This is for 2004 since which there has been an increase in RL and decline in RU. Judas Iscariot2


 * Yes, the 2003 ERASS was used to write this page. If your going to update the figures, keep in mind i was going to change everything to percentages or talk in as less specifics as possible. I.e. Perhaps its better to say how much, in percentage terms, people participate in rugby league compared to other sports. That way, things will perhaps not get out of date as quickly. Also, it would be good if we could emcompass several years results, so that we can show how things are changing. POds 10:47, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

On this it is relevant to put in participation numbers in touch football because it is esentially a non-contact form of Rugby League, and only the strongest can play the more physical version.


 * No it isn't because its a seperate sport. The only reason to include participation records from other sports is to give an idea of the contrast between them and hopefuly set up an idea in the readers mind of what stance rugby league has in Australia as a professional sport. Comparing RLs participation numbers to Touchs doesnt do much at all. POds 11:58, 23 April 2006 (UTC)


 * You do not think it is relevant? They are identical sports just without contact. It gives a much clearer indication of participation. Mr nice guy 11:35, 27 April 2006 (UTC)


 * What are you trying to do by putting these numbers in? Provide a comparison? Or boost league's numbers? A comparison will do very little, both sports share similar geographics. And the later is just unnacceptable. You can make your changes, but if they dont contribute to the article or if they arejust proping up the league's numbers, then their outa there! POds 14:18, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

State of origin
I cannot believe that people toatally missed SOO (State of Origin) QLD vs NSW. To the person who said there is very little about rugby league in Australia, you are certianly right. Also, although i prefer rugby league, AFL i do think is the more popular sport. AFL has more of a tribal following than RL does. Also, what about more mention of its counterpart RU(Rugby Union)Timmah01 06:20, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Number of Clubs
What does this mean? Number of professional/semi-professional clubs? Clearly, there would be 100s of clubs across the country playing at all levels from Junior grades through to NRL. 203.94.175.66 01:30, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Oops. That was me. CumberlandsAshes81 01:58, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Northsprem.jpg
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Extended make-over
I have been (and will continue to) making substantial changes to this article. It is too focused on Queensland and NSW and ignores competitions that may not grab the headlines but are worthy of a mention e.g. schools and university rugby league.

Too much of the information here is just verbatim repeats of the actual article. The detail in the State of Origin / City vs Country sections are examples of this. Too much historical detail and no mention of the Affiliated States Championship.

The history section needs to be massively extended, one or two things happened between 1907 and 2008.

With this in mind, a lot of data may disappear from these pages to be moved elsewhere if not already duplicated.GordyB (talk) 20:21, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Football in Australia
Just seeking to draw a wider range of informed opinion at Talk:Football in Australia regarding that article's future (whether persisting with the attempt at a comprehensive and well-balanced broad-concept article and how best to achieve that, or returning it to a simple disambiguation page). Cheers.--Gibson Flying V (talk) 02:39, 14 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Please note, the disambiguate state last existed in 2009. --LauraHale (talk) 12:09, 14 September 2013 (UTC)

NPOV
A few problems -
 * Claims that RL was "working class" and RU was "public school" are not entirely true. A number of working class areas in Europe continued to play rugby union after the schism, notably South Wales, South West England and the Scottish Borders. Also, some of the people involved in RL in England were moneyed.
 * No mention of the effect of professionalisation of rugby union, which has meant that the flow between rugby union and rugby league is no longer one way, and that moreover, money is not the main issue.
 * Aussie Rules and the relationship between the two codes in Australia is barely mentioned, if at all.--MacRùsgail (talk) 18:46, 16 January 2014 (UTC)


 * I'd say that money was the main issue with players moving league to union, it just doesn't sound too good for a cross-code player to say "Yeah I'm only doing it for the cash" so they usually say something about a new challenge.GordyB (talk) 19:46, 16 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Yes, well put! Now, ironically RU is poaching players from RL. What I think I meant, is that "money is no longer the main issue". Both codes now offer competitive rates of pay although RU is still smaller. Rather than just saying that league is the coolest or most popular sport in Australia (or something on those lines), I would like to see the article discuss the Barassi Line, and the interplay with Aussie Rules and Rugby Union in Australia properly. Which football code you start out playing, is dictated mostly by your background. Which football code you end up playing is often down to how much money is being offered, but not necessarily.--MacRùsgail (talk) 13:15, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

Unidentified rugby league players
... on a red carpet in Sydney, 2013.

Who can help? 37.5.2.188 (talk) 10:31, 13 September 2014 (UTC)
 * I think the last guy in the first picture is Roy Asotasi, not Jeff Lima. I don't recognise any from the second picture (maybe Under-20s players?) or the third. The fourth is Mark 'Spud' Carroll. In the fifth, the first guy is problematic because I think he's one of the Burgess twins: Tom or George). I don't recognise the 2nd or 3rd guys but the 4th is Adam Reynolds and the last is Sam Burgess. I don't recognise the guy in the last picture.--Gibson Flying V (talk) 00:48, 14 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your comments.
 * Jeff Lima is given by the photographer http://www.flickr.com/photos/evarinaldiphotography/9123786111/ (but she may be wrong)
 * Acording to your comment this file File:Micheal_Crocker,_Sam_Burgess,Tom_Burgess.jpg should be renamed? Micheal Crocker, right?
 * This is the whole gallery: commons:Category:Man_of_Steel_premiere_in_Sydney,_June_2013 with some more unidentified Australian celebrities. Dear Australians, please help (here or better on commons) Regards. 37.5.3.188 (talk) 08:03, 19 September 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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Why are New Zealand and Papua New Guinea mentioned so often like they are parts of Australia?
New Zealand clubs keep getting counted in the article. This is weasley because New Zealand is not part of Australia so not within the scope of the article. Imagine rugby union counting New Zealand players and clubs as Australian. Just because they compete in the NRL doesn't make them Australian. Please keep this info relevant to the Rugby league in New Zealand article! Rulesfan (talk) 03:12, 25 October 2022 (UTC)

If a New Zealand team is involved in the largest rugby league competition in Australia, that club's existence is absolutely relevant to the topic of rugby league in Australia. Aspirex (talk) 23:53, 3 November 2022 (UTC)


 * By that logic there are 6 clubs in New Zealand and one in Fiji that are playing rugby union in Australia (more than there are Australian clubs)... These are not Australian clubs they are based in New Zealand and would likely be represented in a local competition if they weren't playing in a bigger league overseas. Look at how many [| Soccer clubs play in other countries] these are rarely if ever counted as clubs in the respective country. Where is the line drawn? Do we add the PNG Hunters to the list of professional Australian teams as well?? --Rulesfan (talk) 01:46, 8 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Do the Warriors play in the NRL? That's all the article is portraying, any other suggestion is in your imagination.

What is the difference between "Elite" and "Professional" ?
The word Elite is bandied around wantonly in this article but there doesn't seem to be any definition in this article as to what constitutes an "Elite" club. Rulesfan (talk) 03:14, 25 October 2022 (UTC)

I agree, I dont think it should be used as a descriptor unless it's established by the sport's admin as an official title for that level. I typically use 'top level professional' in Australian context. Aspirex (talk) 00:40, 5 November 2022 (UTC)

The pic in the Infobox
The caption says "Darren Lockyer, Australia's most-capped player". All I see is a line of about ten players, all looking far too small on my laptop screen for any one of them to stand out. We either need a better pic or a different caption. HiLo48 (talk) 22:58, 12 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Well, the next line says kicking off, he's the one kicking off and in focus. But an amendment has been made.
 * It's still a crowded pic. My screen is small. It really is difficult to pick out an individual. Must be even worse on phones. HiLo48 (talk) 01:02, 13 December 2022 (UTC)