AFL overtaking NRL in QLD

[pulpdriver]

What would it take?
Could this covid season be the precursor?
Two QLD teams, both competitive, one likely a top 4 team
The Courier Fail owned NRL team being less than garbage
A Grand Final in QLD?
Could the seeds laid be enough?

 

[Blues90]

Nrls roots there are so deep... but unlike Collingwood... afls giant... the broncos are just no good and I don't see it getting better any time soon

 

[ibd77]

Do you read the papers in Queensland? Is there anymore AFL content than usual?
From what I am hearing, there isn't anymore interest in AFL in Queensland in the media before this pandemic.

There is probably more interest coming out of the USA than the NRL states.

 

[Hoops]

Nah. If didn't happen early 2000s then it won't happen now

 

[darcytiger]

Mate, there may be some sort of presence in Brisbane but go to any small town in QLD and its GAYFL, aerial ping pong, fairy bullshit. Basically any sort of homophobic slur they can think of. They have some sort of irrational hate of the game.

 

[Tap Tap Tapperoo]

Mate, there may be some sort of presence in Brisbane but go to any small town in QLD and its GAYFL, aerial ping pong, fairy bullshit. Basically any sort of homophobic slur they can think of. They have some sort of irrational hate of the game.

This is pretty much spot on. In the city, footy isn’t as far behind as some might think, but country QLD and northern NSW, it’s a completely different story.

 

[010203]

As I find rugby league a bit boring, I'd love this to happen it won't. Once they change their coach, the Broncos are going to get their house in order in the next few years.

 

[Power Raid]

I love union but league is like watching school kids play "all over red rover"

watching the grass grow in the background is possibly the attraction

 

[NoobPie]

Mate, there may be some sort of presence in Brisbane but go to any small town in QLD and its GAYFL, aerial ping pong, fairy bullshit. Basically any sort of homophobic slur they can think of. They have some sort of irrational hate of the game.

That's the thing though, whether or not Aus football ever becomes bigger in those places, south east queensland and Sydney are where the effort is worthwhile.

If you look at google trends the NRL is 2 to 1 over the AFL in Queensland

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=now%201-d&geo=AU&q=%2Fm%2F0ckh09,%2Fm%2F01lwy5

Last nights AFL game on 7 mate got about 1/3rd of what the NRL got on channel 9 in Brisbane

Friday 14 August 2020 | TV Tonight

1 SEVEN NEWS 1,015,000 2 NINE NEWS 958,000 3 SEVEN NEWS AT 6.30 953,000 4 NINE NEWS 6:30 860,000 5 ABC NEWS 685,000

tvtonight.com.au

The problem with local mainstream media is it is a bit "winner takes all" in terms of focus. So league dominates the news in those cities probably similar to how the AFL does in Melbourne , Perth and Adelaide despite it not being anywhere near as dominant culturally. That then parlays in to a weird 5050 split in national media.

This is why as AFL gets closer to break even in those metropolises (which is plausible in SEQLD and the important parts of Sydney in the next decade or so) than it hits a tipping point at some point where it is a bit ridiculous abc news for instance presenting like the sports have equal interest.

 

[Angus Young]

Mate, there may be some sort of presence in Brisbane but go to any small town in QLD and its GAYFL, aerial ping pong, fairy bullshit. Basically any sort of homophobic slur they can think of. They have some sort of irrational hate of the game.

I'm a massive RL fan just as much as AFL. But yeah the way some of them carry on is embarrassing.

They just hate on it because it's the biggest sport in OZ. They don't waste their time making up nicknames and obsess over hating on basketball, tennis or soccer etc because they are not a threat.

Trust me not all of us RL fans are ignorant.

 

[megadeth92]

I lived in QLD (Toowoomba) for six years up to 2012. Rugby-league is rooted into the culture and history of the place, AFL is more like a visiting circus or show that comes into town sometimes, it is like the Storm in Melbourne, it can't penetrate the broader culture.

 

[STFU Donnie]

What would it take?

This!


I've lived in Central QLD - Rockhampton to be precise - and they tolerate the game. No more than that.

 

[Rusty Brookes]

Why does it have to take over? Isn't is just enough that Brisbane and (in time) Gold Coast can exist as successful clubs?

 

[Roobs321]

I can't see it happening. AFL has a presence, but NRL is strides ahead. The general culture up here is very different to what you see in Victoria. It is deeply rooted up here (I've lived in Brisbane, Toowoomba, Cairns and have a number of QLD relatives).

The NRL teams are 10-32 at the moment, so they are clearly going through a nadir year. Broncos have seldom been this hapless. Titans continue to cellar dwell as they have largely done. Cowboys struggling to win games as well. But compare that to 5 years ago when the Lions & Suns were garbage and Broncos and Cowboys played off in a classic GF.

Funny timing of events given the Lions & Suns teams are hopeful and the comp is largely residing up here, but to point to 2020 as AFL overtaking NRL in QLD is about as hot take as it gets.

 

[speedpeck23]

AFL could easily ramp up their profile in Qld. Competitive AFL Footy has been played in Qld for years. Just play more matches there featuring the big Victorian clubs....the ratings will do the rest. The dilemma is that whilst the AFL is into expansion, the Victorian clubs are not.... crazy cause they could increase their membership even more.

 

[W.C. Fry]

More Mexicans.

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

What would it take.. NRL to stop playing state of origin.

perhaps a sustained period where the Broncos were rubbish and Lions & Suns were successful.

Although as more and more of the Samoans dominate Jnr rugby comps I could definitely see a shift to AFL from parents.

 

[RUNVS]

Nrls roots there are so deep... but unlike Collingwood... afls giant... the broncos are just no good and I don't see it getting better any time soon

There is no draft in the NRL and as a result teams can go from crap to good faster than an AFL club usually could.

 

[RUNVS]

What would it take.. NRL to stop playing state of origin.

perhaps a sustained period where the Broncos were rubbish and Lions & Suns were successful.

Although as more and more of the Samoans dominate Jnr rugby comps I could definitely see a shift to AFL from parents.

Yes that is true as I think even the most die hard Rugby League fans might baulk at having their 10 year old playing against kids who are literally 30kg heavier. I remember being that age and the Samoan kids while very friendly mostly were huge, they literally looked 5 years older than me, and were heavier then than I am as an adult.

 

[Red Bull]

Now get on out ...

 

[kreglze]

Just from what I notice and hear 2nd hand the Sun's seem to be featuring on the back page of the local rag a lot more now than they have in recent years.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

What would it take?

Many more years like this. One is not enough.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Why does it have to take over? Isn't is just enough that Brisbane and (in time) Gold Coast can exist as successful clubs?

Because the best young athletes in Queensland currently pick rugby league. If they picked Australian rules instead, we'd have more gun players.

It'd also be nice to read more media coverage of the Lions, and to have enough members that the future is secure. We're $5-6 million short of developing our own training ground, and have a large debt due to a decade worth of losses from when we were garbage.

Beyond that, I don't particularly care what anyone else wants to do, it's their life and I don't need to follow the biggest thing in town.

 

[raskolnikov]

I live in Central Queensland. It's like striking gold finding someone who is interested in AFL. Rugby League is entrenched.

 

[Back2Back2Back]

I highly doubt it ever will 'take over'. Gain in popularity sure but it'll still be fighting for recognition. News Corp has a 69% controlling ownership stake in the Boncos so they're biased towards promoting NRL ahead of anything else. AFL might occasionally get a back page mention in the Courier Mail, but open the sports section up from the back and you still have to flip through several pages of NRL and Union until you end up in the obscure sports section - home of AFL, Netball, Soccer, and Tennis when the events are in Australia.

Interestingly this pattern is also prevalent on the nightly news - hell on 7 they have a whole segment where "Gilly and Webby" do this friendly banter toff while offering their tips for the coming NRL round, before throwing to that weird arial ping pong sport with those guys with the other non-round football don't have an offside rule.

That and we decided to stick another club in the Gold Coast, which is a lot closer to the Lions than what the Cowboys are to the Broncos, so really when that happened the AFL started competing with itself in South East QLD rather than trying to expand up north. I still reckon a North QLD team based at an upgraded Cazaly's Stadium in Cairns might be worth it. They'd never want to spend that kind of money though.