Noticed quite a few NRL adverts during A League matches on Fox sports lately targeting youngsters to play their game. Found it an odd time to advertise, what do you think?

I know that Souths v Auckland and Canterbury vs Melbourne is the rnd1 double header at the new Perth Oval.

Couldn't tell you who plays in the A-League next week though without looking it up.

They’re advertising when (they think) young people will be watching. They did it last year during the Big Bash as well.

NRL has been losing youth participation numbers to Football, especially in Sydney. Also reminds kids about the sport during the RL off-season.

Not that odd. Targeting sports-minded parents and kids before their season begins. They’re bleeding players at junior level. Be too late to advertise once their season starts.

The key though is they are doing something. 4 months out from the season start.

Dave should ring Fox and order them to stop

NRL is dying.
Fast forward 30 years and it is gone.

I don't like NRL at all, but no, it isn't.

They were running some adverts targeting juniors for Rugby League here in Perth a year or so ago, with Jonathan Thurston (I dare say most Perth people wouldn't know who he was - it was just an educated guess on my behalf).

I found them amusing because they were unable to point out any intrinsic properties of RL that would make it appeal to kids, they were all generic features of any team sport, the ads were along the lines of "You should play Rugby League because you get to play sport with your mates, and have fun, and get exercise".

As time goes by we are becoming a less physical society.
The population is becoming less Aussie and more International.
Rugby as a very physical sport will be impacted the most by this change.
Have a chat to the mums, most do not want their boys to play rugby any more so where will the sport go?

Iknowfuckall must live in Victoria

I know Rugby participation is down.
I know most people coming to this country have no interest in Rugby.
I know the interest of children is moving from local to global.
Have a think about the long term implications of those factors.

On the first point - the question though is whether NRL need high participation levels to have high spectator/viewership. League for a while now has had a significantly lower participation level than football in terms in Sydney, yet that hasn't stopped it getting far more viewers and ticket sales. Conversely, despite our amazing participation levels in Sydney, football has never gotten close to converting this to viewer numbers.

On the second point, it depends which migrant communities you are talking about. Pacific Islanders follow league more than any other sport - and so in areas of Sydney like Mt Druitt the rise in migrants has actually had a positive effect for League. In areas like Canterbury, the Lebanese migrant community quickly developed a liking for the game and one of the more dedicated followings of a local team. There is no reason other migrant groups can't be similarly reached.

On the third - I agree, but at the same time it is also a risk to us as well. We talk about how the fish bowl for League/AFL means that the best players play locally (and so actually keep people interested in the local code). However, we conversely have to worry about our best players leaving. If kids' interests are moving global, there is no reason their interest won't move from the HAL to the EPL etc. So it could be as much a risk for us as them.

I'm not saying League will survive or grow, nor that they will fail. It will depend on how they run. But I don't think any of those factors are inherently decisive.

It doesn't matter how `less physical` we as a society get, there will always be people on the extremes.  There will be parents and kids proud of playing the hardest toughest sport they can find.  Also, crisis begets response, isn't that what everyone here is hoping for with the declining A league attendance and viewers, that it will prompt the chances the game needs to turn the corner and grow again. Do you think RL will just sit and do nothing while the sport sinks?  Then there is the rusted on family support, where RL clubs are passed down from generation to generation.  The A leagues malaise is overstated, so is the NRLs.

Yeah that could be true. However doesn't mean it will necessarily impact viewing on tv or at the ground. Look at the ratings of some of the UFC and you get an idea people don't have to be practicing the sport to also enjoy viewing it. So no I don't think NRL is going anywhere really. At least not because of playing numbers dropping necessarily.

Jatz's post about extremes also prompted me to add - "because it's not like boxing is in decline in favour of even more violent sports like UFC". Hardly anyone actually plays the sport but that doesn't mean billions aren't being spent watching it.

The first 2 have been happening for over 20 years and has had little impact on NRL ratings and attendances. In fact the game's viewership has actually grown. No one needs reminding of how much bigger their media deal is to football's. You may have a point with the third point regarding globalisation, however it may also impact football if NFL and NBA get a stronger footing. Fox for example are aligning themselves nicely with American sports and some of the FTA stations are starting to warm up to american sports more and more so that could actually go against football. Never know.

Rugby won't die as it is an international sport which to put it simply means they don't need to rely on a high number of decent quality Australians for the game to survive. So ultimately it doesn't matter if less people play it at junior level as that isn't the only source of talent unlike the AFL where falling participants will have a larger effect.