err no it isn't! Not a cat in hells chance of that happening.

Agreed but as 75% of clubs are allegedly spending the same you would expect a more even competition, no?

Doesn't mean there aren't too many teams in Sydney or the surrounding areas though?



5 first grade games in Sydney's premier competition at the weekend including 2 games involving contests between "local" sides and the average gate was 14,600....that points for fan fatigue.

No argument from me but it isn't going to change anytime soon.

which is a shame....8k rattling around a 45k stadium is never a good look....which might be an issue for the TV execs/IC next month.

Not when that same game rated higher in the tv ratings than any other sport. Tv execs care about bums on couches not crowd attendances.

Hmmm...we'll see.

I will be sad to see Salford go, despite being a Wire. Who wouldn't be sad to see a grand old member of the sport go, and to see a club's fans have their club taken away? I wouldn't be too pleased if the boot were on the other foot.



But, dispassionately- much of this is of the club's making (not the fans, the club, I hasten to add). Salford's problem for a generation has been that they've been anonymous in their own heartland. I grew up on the other side of the canal, literally, from the new stadium, and not an awful long way from the Willows. But when I was at primary school, they made no effort to get the kids on board, whereas United and City did. And that was in the early 90s, when City were brassic and United weren't yet rolling in cash.



At secondary, I went off to Fallowfield and my brother went to school in Urmston. At my place, rugby league didn't exist, even though a lad the year above me had a brief stint playing at Salford, and I had one mate who used to go to the Willows. In Urmston, my brother's only contact with Salford came in the form of his mates who used to go.



By the time that I'd got watching League (which was only because my brother and I were bored and jumped on a train to Warrington because we heard there was a game on that night, and I fell in love with the sport), in my early twenties, I had had zero contact with Salford RLFC, despite living in its exact catchment area. My parents to this day have never received any form of marketing from the club but could drive there in 5 minutes.



Salford represent a massive marketing failure, so fair play to this Chris Bird lad for trying to do it himself. I hope it's not too late to turn it all around.

It sounds like you didn't receive any marketing from Warrington either, yet that didn't stop you going. As for United and City, there's a whole world of difference between football and rugby. Despite, as you said, them "not being rolling in cash", I suspect they could each have bought the entire rugby league should they have wanted to.



And there's no evidence that Salford are going anywhere. In both senses of the phrase.

I went to Warrington because, as I say, we were bored, we looked up sports fixtures nearby, and Warrington came up. Salford didn't. But as a child or teenager, when you haven't got any cash and no freedom to go anywhere, pester power works. Had Salford dropped a leaflet through one day, I'm sure my Dad would have thought about taking us. But they didn't, and he knew nothing about RL, so it never happened.



I'm not having a go at Salford fans, I'm making a fairly salient and cogent point that Salford RLFC's community engagement down the years could have been much better. When you have less money, you have to invest more time.

Hmm, so you went to Warrington because you looked up sports fixtures nearby and Salford didn't come up? Bizarre. That sounds like because we weren't at home that week we missed out on your company for the last 20 years or so, or did Warrington 'drop a leaflet' through your door just as you were 'looking up'? As John says, it doesn't sound like it, but because Salford didn't leaflet your Dad, you've concluded that the club's community engagement down the years could have been much better! Your point about spending more time when you've got no money is also nonsense, in case you've forgotten Salford are a business who have to spend time and money marketing and promoting the club and last time I looked marketing material costs money and you have to pay people for their time.



I get heartily sick of Wire, Wigan, Saints fans etc. who pop on here and our forum pontificating on how Salford could do more to attract fans from our catchment areas (especially those who live within or near the boundaries of the city as they seem to demonstrate an ignorance of breathtaking proportions).



So, for your benefit, let's just examine the demographics for Salford RL shall we?



Premiership Football - even in the early 90's and much earlier too, football has been the dominant sport in and around Manchester and Salford. Just now, with City and United so succesful and on TV [uALL[/u the time it's really, really difficult to get kids engaged in RL, especially to come and watch Salford.



RL - As you amply demonstrate, we are also surrounded by some of the most successful RL clubs in history, with Wigan, Saints and more Johnny come lately, Wire, so any kids that do have leanings to RL want to go and watch succesful teams, hell, my own 8 year old is the only Salford fan out of his amateur side team mates, the rest support either Wigan, Warrington or Saints. Even at 8 years old he regularly gets the mickey taken out of him because he chooses to support a team that perenially struggles - do you think that he would bother supporting Salford or pestering me to go if his Dad didn't support them? Also, he supports Salford because I do, not because of the club's community engagement policy.



Catchment Area - Now here's a tricky one. I reckon you (and lots of others) think that our catchment area should be Salford, Manchester, Trafford, Bury, Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside? Using media such as Manchester Evening News (and its local freebies such as the Advertisers), Radio Manchester and local TV to attract fans? Trouble is United, City, (Bolton, Blackburn, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury and Stockport) also use them just as Wigan, Saints, Warrington and Huddersfield Giants do, not forgetting Sale RU either. Are you now beginning to understand just how difficult it is for Salford to generate interest when we run ourselves on a shoestring?



Could Salford's community engagement been better? Maybe. Would it have yielded much more than we have now given the above constraints? Possibly but I would suggest doubtful. Why did you choose to go back and watch Wire and not your local team after you decided that you liked RL? Only you can answer that.....

Your second paragraph above hits the nail on the head, but the opposite of what you think.



What you need is to build a community of fans, and the model that works in RL is to attract youngsters to nag their parents into going along, and then to make it a "mustn't miss" experience, mainly for the youngsters, though obviously attractive for the parents too.



Ads in the media are OK but expensive, and tend to target just individual events - not crowd building. In RL, especially, engagement with the local community really is the thing.



To do it properly, you need a Peter Deakin. There aren't many about.



Even with a Peter Deakin, you have to throw some initial money at it. That money you will never see again, as you will have to keep constantly reinvesting and reinventing to keep the pot boiling. If all you have is a shoestring even the late, great Deakin couldn't help you.