Eels Blogs

So i believe i have mentioned in a few blogs in the past that my occupation is a school teacher, i was trained in primary however i this year am in high school. Anyway, i have recently been working for a local catholic primary school (heavy rugby league area in South West Sydney), kids at this school follow either soccer or league or both. Anyway, this school is prostigious in terms of being a very accomplished rugby league school for juniors for a local NRL team, the high school produced a lot of former and current NRL players, so it is a rugby league orientated school within the area and the primary school which is new has followed that philosophy.

I was teaching a year 2 one day, mid day i was told they will be doing sport (sport day) and take them down to the cola, this school is not a very school in terms of area. Anyway, it turns out that it was representatives from the Greater Sydney Giants, they ran an AFL work shop for an hour, mini games, warm ups and warm downs etc. Very good workshop if i may say. Even had one of them talk to me as they always talk to the teacher of the class of the day (whether casual or full-time) and i mentioned how good this all was and admitted im a league fan, they said well hope this has converted you and i said you could give free tickets for a decade and still would not turn up to which they laughed, they were good blokes.

Anyway, the big kicker for me was at the end, sat all the kids down and asked them if they had fun, what did they like etc. Then they said they are doing a AFL camp and AFL day in school holidays where there will be AFL players from Giants and Swans there doing drills, talks and mini games. Then each kid got a bag, it included a football, a pump, an AFL drink bottle, stickers and finally 2 free family passes to any Greater Western Sydney Giants game of their choice. Now to me that was impressive and the kids really loved having that, after the day i stuck around and mentioned to the teachers there how good it was, i then asked what other sports come out, they say the AFL come out every term for last 2 years and Sydney Thunder come out in terms 1 & 4 every year that is it. i Asked about if NRL teams come it and a certain local NRL team come out and they said once they did but only appeared at Lunch time walked around, kicked a few balls and at the end school sat at the cola, principal said they were here thanks for coming etc and left. He said NRL have never reached and where AFL constantly hassle to have workshops there.

Now, made me think, are the NRL and these teams arrogant? do they think well this area is a rugby league area, the kids wear the jerseys and the high school play our sport, what is the point of going to that school to promote our game? well especially for the girls it means alot, the AFLW is a little bit more developed for the AFL compared to the NRLW, they play it at the start of the year, get good crowds (though granted AFL in general always gets better crowds) and i believe their season is a tiny bit longer, the AFLW girls for GIants and Swans were at the AFL camps and days, promoting it for the girls there.

Now there has always been discussion of the NRL need to do more for grassroots football, but more so we need to get a footprint into the areas which other codes dominate, Sydney particularly South West Sydney is very rugby league heavy yet have AFL putting their footprint in slowly. I asked one of the representatives and i said how much has the game grown here, he said the numbers go up by 20% each year. Now it is not much but it is more than it would be if the NRL did the same thing. Now as a kid i was the football nerd who would always have a book, particularly the NRL season guide or the weeks big league and read it back to front, have a football and mimic how the weeks football would play out, does that mean if NRL players came to my school i would not be interested because i always into League? no i would be excited to see players i see on TV, granted they wouldn't have been Parramatta players, but still players nontheless. I now even get excited to get close to Parramatta players at fan days, weird i know and no do not make comments that i need a restraining order ahahah.

But i just looked at this a thought if the NRL leave it as is any longer the game is not going to be irrelevant in those areas but the support will drop and other sports like AFL will have 30-40% more followers than they should. Not saying the AFL shouldn't have supports, each to their own, but imagine if the NRL were slowly getting a footprint into Melbourne schools, AFL fans down there would feel the same. But it never happens cause the NRL don't do that.

I do not know whether it is arrogance that they don't need to, incompetence of not knowing what to do, not knowing where to go or simply being oblivious to knowing they have to do it. It is concerning as i want what is best for my code, my kids will be raised as rugby league kids, just like my brother and i were from my dad then my mum also who became interested when all the boys in the house were, to this day my brother and i full adults, he is married with a child and another on the way, i who is engaged to be married this year having Aus day at the house i just bought playing pool footy like we used to when we were 6 and 7 years old until he moved out when he was 20, NRL is in our bloods, how much of the future generations would have that? Now it is different as the ones the AFL get over the line are those who either looking for a new sport to play or on the fence about liking league and AFL pushes them to support that code and play, we need more kids choosing to play league at a young level. If parents are concerned with the contact, there are other avenuse, OZ Tag, league tag they are great alternatives where kids can still play rugby league like game without the concern of getting seriously hurt.

On a side note, this might sound pretentious to some but it is not meant to be, what i am about to say is how out of touch the NRL are with the public. So you all know my dad passed in 2019, him and i were season ticket holders to the Eels for at that stage 20 years straight, going to roughly 94% of games i believe, even the day before he died we were making plans on when to leave and what to do on the saturday game against Brisbane. During that time Parramatta were incredible, one of our close family wrote a letter to them expressing how much we loved the club and my dad passed and he was a mssive fan, to them sending out a signed jersey for our fallen member which i thought was a nice touch. Then they were in touch with us late in the year and offered my brother and i a chance to enter the change rooms in the final game of the year, we said they didn't have to do that, and they said you are loyal, you have still come to every home game since this happened, that is true loyalty and we want this to brighten your spirits we just have to go through the NRL to grant it. Anyway come the day before the game we heard nothing, then a call came through saying they apologise but i could not happen as the NRL declined it, now i was really understanding and thanked them anyway for the thought of it in the first place and said i was going to be at the game anyway, i asked though in curiosity why? and they said (and can tell they were annoyed) the NRL had prioritised those in the box seats and some members of family from sponsors and from family of the government and rich families. Now i said that is understandable as they big money to sit in those sections, not all of them but most do, some are given those seats. He said yes but we pleaded that 2 extra people would not hurt and they asked the players and even BA if having people in the sheds after is ok and they absolutley whoever you want can come in as it was the last game before semis. But the NRL said no straight away that those who pay get in. Now i am not sitting here being a spoilt brat having the huffs like (i didn't get to go into the sheds) but i could understand the embarressment of those at Parramatta trying to do a good thing for their loyal members and getting knocked back cause there are others who are more special cause they pay more money, and i get it, this is a free market country, i am a supporter of the free market it is how it works, but surely if a supporter is having cancer, or going through a difficult time like death of a loved one, or they had an injury playing league and are depressed they cannot play, or a supporter is on hard times from i don't know a loss of a job or a relationship failing or whatever, that the NRL allow the clubs to pick whoever they please to do what they club wants to cheer up their loyal fans. Instead they love the box members (now i am not saying that they are not true fans but tell me compared to those who sit in the seats on the other side of halfway, who is watching more of the game? us in the pleb section or those in the box with the grog and food available to them, they watch the game but does every single person in there watch it or do they socialise of course they can do whatever they please in those sections at their own disgression but i can tell you now if i was in a box i would sitting as close to the action as possible and watching every second of that game) do these people know the players they are seeing? go to every game? watch every game on tv? or is it a night out for them? Again maybe all of them do and i am just sounding bratty, do not abuse me if you think so but what i am saying is i for example go to the games every week and watch every week on TV, going to game is not a night out it is an event to see a game live, i as would many others around me would benefit more from a sheds visit than the ones they allow (Again not everyone but some, or could be the majority i do not know) even Parramatta on the phone mentioned that those in the box at times do not watch the game as they cater for it, and only see some familir faces week in week out. 

Overall what i am saying is the NRL is out of touch towards who it is they need to support and look after, do you need new fans? yes but even more you need to treat those who are already on your like royalty than you do those who are new. Look at Foxtel, my family had Foxtel from day one as it had NRL on it, fast forward 15 years and there are deals where new customers get 3 months free ont their bill and free extra channels and HD channels for signing up, my mum rang up and said hey we have been suscribed for 15 years can we get similar and flatley said no only for new customers to which my mum said we cannot get those HD channels as they are not out yet but new people do get it and they said that is correct to which my mum said it is wrong to treat your loyal subscribers that way. That is similar to the NRL, get new people in but only if they stay, if they stay great put them with the rest and move on to the new targets, AFL look after their loyal followers and get new ones at the same time too.

Now others here may say the NRL have done wonders for them and if so that is great, and i am not saying everyone at the NRL is doing this but something has to change or the NRL will loose it's grip on what is important, the fans not the supporters the fans.

Sorry for the long blog i needed to go in detail i apologise, and if i come across as sounding like a child or a brat of huffy please do not take it that way as i used that example to further my point. Hope you enjoyed the blog and can discuss your thoughts on either agreeing or simply disagreeing love to hear everyone's thoughts.