Talk:Rugby league in the United States

Untitiled

I live in Washington DC and have never heard of the American National Rugby League. I followed the link to the official website and it seems that I could just join the Washington team rigt now if I felt like it. It's one thing to talk about Rugby League in the US, but this seems like a propagandist page by somebody associated with the league. Also, we certainly don't need pages for each team. There are about 8 local Rugby Unions with at least as much support, recognizability and significance, which is to say, very little.

We're committed to docmenting the history and situations of all nations who play rugby league. Yes even those that have a small interest. POds 13:52, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Rugby vs. "rugby league"?

What's the difference? The article should clarify.--BillFlis 21:39, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

'Rugby' is a name often used to indicate the sport of 'rugby union' and sometimes rugby league. It is a situation somewhat similar to soccer versus football.

Rugby league is a sport with a common origin with rugby union and shares a lot of similarities but is a sport in its own right.GordyB 14:03, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Participation and Venues

Anyone have any statistics on the actual number of people playing ? Are there any dedicated stadiums ?

Eleven teams could mean that each team has a minimum number of 13 players. Most of the club sites say that they are looking for new players, and the teams in formation would expect to have less than this.If this is the case then 143 senior players does not sound very significant for a sport that has apparently been established in the country for over 50 years. In comparison, USA Rugby (union) has 80,000 participants and the USAFL cites 2,000 senior players but has been established for just 10 years.

Figures would be more useful to determine the notability of the subject. --Spewmaster 23:23, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

13 players indeed. Perhaps you believe that union teams only have 15 players. A) all teams want new players all the time B) there is such a thing as "A teams" or even "B teams" C) players get injured and even if they don't substitutes are still needed.GordyB 19:55, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

For future, disregard Spewmaster, this person attempts to attack football at every possible turn. The account's own record on keeping tabs on gayfl in countries where it is really not played just proves the hypocrisy of the above statement. --144.132.216.253 19:38, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Gee whiz, all I asked for was for some figures and citations (not a personal attack) ... you can get figures on Aussie Rules, but not on rugby league. I wonder why. Probably because the sport, unlike rugby league is actually growing. I don't hate rugby league, but it is hard not to when these are exactly the type of childish and redneck attitudes I put up with living in Sydney, where people think that the city is the centre of the universe and that rugby league is the be all and end all. Sydney has a beautiful harbour, but it is an appalling place to live and most of the people are horrible. Yet only a few hundred kilometres away in their own state, the stadiums in country towns like Albury and Canberra attract more people to Aussie Rules games than your average NRL match .... Most Sydneysiders stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the existence of anything else and fear any other sport might take over a game which many actually believe was invented in Sydney ! I have played Aussie Rules overseas, so I am excited that people are starting to realise that the game exists and that it is not rugby. --Spewmaster 01:16, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

While I don't endorse all of Spew's last post, sources are a requirement for Wikipedia, especially when it comes to minority views making specific claims. A minority sport is a matter of context and league clearly fits that definition in the US and well, pretty much everywhere except NSW, Qld and Papua New Guinea, with "strong minority" status in Yorks, Lancs and NZ.

The "gayfl" bait is so old and tired that's it only fit for the likes of Reg Reagan. I mean the "AFL" [sic} fans could go around talking about "ianrobertsball", but he seems like a model citizen, and has never been accused of sexual assault/harrassment, unlike a lot of league stars. Grant | Talk 05:33, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

The article is not completely unreferenced and does not claim that rugby league is anything other than a minority sport. I don't really see the problem. There are dozens of articles that are more worthy of this kind of criticism.

From what I heard the grand final of the national competition attracted a crowd of about 2,000 - which is not a big deal in itself but is good for a minority sport. AFAIK the union competition only got 500. The USA Tomahawks almost beat the Kangaroos a couple of years ago, albeit they were hung over and jet lagged but even so.GordyB 08:06, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Popularity ??

I'd hardly think that a one-off game with just over 10,000 constitutes that rugby league has gained popularity. As far as I know, rugby league is not a popular sport in the states. --Spewmaster (talk) 01:12, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

12,000 including several A-list celebs but then that was the stadium capacity. Rugby league is a minority sport in the USA but it is better known than it was. Russell Crowe wnt to town on promoting the game.GordyB (talk) 09:20, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

Domestic competitions

We have a major problem with the way the domestic competitions are described here. Specifically, there are no reliable sources backing any of that up. I can't find any evidence that the WAMNRL has an announced kickoff date or list of teams, and I can't find any evidence that the "Midwest Rugby League" or the "Florida Rugby League" are even real. A lot of the teams listed in all five groups seem to be based on one-off comments by the two leagues whose existence is confirmed (the AMNRL and the USA Rugby League), but we can hardly write our articles based on that.--Cúchullain ^t/c 14:20, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

WAMNRL is highly unreliable to put it mildly. This is speculative nonsense. There is supposed to be a junior league in Florida though (courtesy of Jacksonville Axemen) and the bit about flag / tag rugby is true (albeit this has nothing to do with either rugby league governing body.GordyB (talk) 16:11, 21 January 2011 (UTC)