What if it wouldn't have happened to Rugby League - where would we be? I was reading the introduction to an article on this, and I couldn't find the rest of the article. It seemed to have fundamentally change the game, so what would Rugby League look like if the SL War would not have happened?

As Mao said when asked about the effects of the French revolution - its too soon to tell!

British RL would be in a deep, deep financial mess. Sky's money as a result of News Ltd trying to build up their RL empire is more valuable to the sport that what many users on here think.

There was no Super League war in this country. All our clubs rolled over and lapped it up like the financially inept and unsustainable messes that they were.

You should post the question on an Aussie forum somewhere, they might have more of an answer.

In the UK?
Part-time clubs with a couple of exceptions....attendances lower than Quins RL manage with a couple of exceptions and Australia hammering England GB every time they play (no change there then).
In Australia? Intersting one, but IMO the game would be weaker. The combined might of a united organisation and Murdochs millions and media coverage have helped the game....some will bemoan the good old days, but I honestly think that if dally messenger is right, and they secure $1 Billion in TV revenue next time around, this will be BECAUSE of the SL War....

I would think that in the UK, something of a scaled down version of the SL would have happened, albeit with lower attendances.

IMO if the Superleague war had not happened in Aus it would probably be the number 1 sport in Australia and even New Zealand.
As it happens AFL have taken huge strides and the timing could of not been worse with union only recently going professional.

I'm still not 100% on the detail who actually happened in the SL War, as I have said before, I wasn't around at the time (I was, but I was 5). Could anyone point me in the way of a reliable source on what happened?

I know some of the details but if you PM dally messenger he seems to know quite a lot about it,good luck.

I’m quite intrigued by the idea that Rugby League could possibly be the biggest sport in New Zealand now if it were not for the Super League war. It is widely accepted that the recent development of the profile of the sport in NZ was based on the formation of the New Zealand Warriors (formerly Auckland Warriors) in 1995. As a result of the Super League war they left the ARL in 1997 to compete in the Super League competition before joining the newly-formed NRL the following year

Some five years later, the Warriors made it to the 2002 Grand Final which created great interest in the sport and the recent success of the Kiwis in the tri and four Nations and of course their great World Cup triumph has continued this momentum

Despite all of this, any right thinking individual recognises that Rugby Union is the dominant sport in New Zealand, as it has been for the last century. I would be the first to welcome the arrival of RL as the number one sport in New Zealand but I have to ask what you think was missing in the 12 months from 1997 to 98 that would have propelled the sport to these heights?

Must....resist....temptation.....it's christmas after all


As for RL being the number 1 sport in New Zealand......not in anyone here's lifetime that's for sure

Id have a team to support !

the SL war was a tragic episode in the history of australian rl.

the game in early 1995 was the strongest it had ever been

we had just added 4 new teams to our competition, being perth, auckland, north queensland and a 2nd brisbane club

crowds were growing strongly, revenues were massive, the game was making money hand over fist

under the control of ken arthurson and john quayle the game was in rude health

the brilliant tina turner marketing campaign with simply the best a good example

the war was purely over the Pay tv rights in australia. packer had them, murdoch wanted them

the idea of a SL came from the brisbane broncos who took the idea of a SL to them

the broncos disagreed with the sydney centric arl but were selfish beyond belief

in 1997 there were 2 competitions run, ARL and SL

in 1998 the game got back together and club rationalisaiton began

we lost some very valuable clubs being :

north sydney, balmain, wests, gold coast, perth, a 2nd brisbane club, illawarra

many fans went to union or afl

indeed 15 years on in some ways the game hasnt recovered

if RL wasnt such a good sport wed have been killed off by it

the only thing that saved us was the game itself

some say the arrival of professional rl via the nrl forced union to go professional in nz as well to compete

RL in nz isnt even close to its potential

the 2 most succesful clubs in the game were basically killed off with saints merging with illawarra, and souths being kicked out

souths had 80,000 people marching down the main st in sydney demanding their return

they ultimately went to court and got back in

thats how badly the game was being run, a club like souths not being allowed in the competition

it destroyed rl in its heartlands with queensland losing 2 clubs and most of the strong sydney clubs merging or dieing

the sl war was like a dream come true for rival sports

Souths were a basket case, on their last legs, in fact even when let back in their crowds were absymal (where the 80k on game day in 2002?) and their finances even worse. If Crowe hadn't emerged it is questionable if they would even still be in the NRL today.

Illawara were the same, great jnrs but no corporate support. the Sydney mergers have worked very well and they should continue to look to rationalise into the future, suburban clubs are not going to be able to keep up in decades to come.

The NSWRL (oops) ARL was not without blame in the whole sorry affair. The RFL managed to keep control, the AFL and ARU have managed to keep control of ther games despite News funds. The NSWRL had already sold its sole to Packer and therefore had no way to manipulate the two bidding parties to achieve the best outcomes for the game.

A sad time that cost many fans, including me, their teams. As said the resillience of fans and the character of the game is all that keeps the foolish administrators that run the game from destroying it.

souths - crowds 16,000 - 18,000
profits - 1 million plus

football revenues - 20 million

members - 16,000

yeah it was the right decision not to include them in the nrl, they had no future

illawarra have bruce gordon, a billionaire who couldve backed them, hes put in 10 million into the saints jv, and the ground is being redone

news lltd was never interested in control, it was a bye product of 2 competitions.

news ltd had minimal interest in union or afl, they were after the big prize = the arl

Super League War? I'm not sure if it applies up hear but..

Without Superleague, Saints certainly wouldn't be building their new stadium.

I would have watched my team play top flight Rugby League.

I doubt I'll ever get the chance again.

Thanks for these two bullet points

Neither actually addressed the points I made in my post but never mind

Tell me more about this past future conditional tense you seem to have unilaterally introduced to the English language … :-0

i was in perth earlier this year and couldnt believe the lack of intrest in rugby league there

took me all my time to find a shop selling nrl shirts!!!

Uuuurrrgh!!! What you meant to ask was
"What if the SL War hadn't happened".

Can you change the thread title, as it makes me cringe?

What would've happened is that at some point, some other media organisation may well have seen the potential of the game and sought to invest in the product in similar ways. So the game might have followed a broadly similar path.

Or else if no other organisation had become interested, rugby league would have stayed an insular, minnow sporting code, with no money available to attract top athletes and major investors, and would not have died a death but might well be at sort of Championship level or worse, permanently, a sad shadow of its heyday.

pleased to help

what do you expect with no team, no TV coverage and no media coverage, and being AFL heartland? The same could have been said for RU 5 years ago, now it is going well on the back of a S15 team.

Come back in 2013 and you'll see a difference!

ps I went to Manly last year and walked through the town and didn't see one single poster, merchandise, people wearing Eagles gear etc etc