New rugby website: yes or no? what should it contain?
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There are several, more or less, comprehensive rugby websites (covering the most important rugby competitions in the world) at the moment, but none of them seems to be based in New Zealand, or even the Southern Hemisphere. There has also been regular criticism of the official websites of, particularly, NZR. Basically, there is no NZ website which provides the most important factual information about rugby competitions, unions, teams and players. We often depend on low-quality, clickbait-driven articles in the NZ media for our information, or need to keep an eye on every tweet or FB post from unions/teams to stay up-to-date. Unless we (my mates and me) are totally overlooking something (apart from the Fern
)?Anyway, some of my mates are considering making such a website, but before they start working on it, they'd like to know:
- are people interested in such a new website?
- if yes, what kind of information would you like to find on a new NZ based rugby website?
Initially, they're thinking of a website that contains purely factual info like official announcements of games to be played, team line-ups, lists of fixtures, results and standings of games/competitions involving NZ teams. This could gradually be expanded to games/competitions involving other SH teams (for example, Australia's NRC or South Africa's Currie Cup). Also, despite the initial NZ focus, there would be pages relating to games/competitions not involving NZ teams (including NH) with more summary information, such as links to competition or team websites and social media, including pages where visitors can find the weekly fixtures, standings, squads etc. Both relating to club teams and national teams.
It would not include blog articles with yet another subjective opinion of a rugby die hard. There are many of those opinionated publications already on the net and my mates wouldn't have the time to write or review them.
What do you guys think? It would be a big project, they'd do in their spare time, so it should provide information people are actually looking for and not be a waste of my mates' time.
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All information that those who want it can find elsewhere with a google search. IMO they do need to add something that isn't being done elsewhere such as good analysis from an ex player or coach.
Many players and coaches currently in the game give very little insight up to the press because they find that their comments are turned back on them, sensationalised or turned into soundbites taken out of context.
They would need some trusted journos/ex players with writing abilities and no agenda where candid insights could be gained.
It would be nice to have a well thought out central place for those things you mention but without other aspects it would be used more as a 'lookup' site than something you stay on or visit daily. -
The Roar website based in Australia is very good in my view. It has a combination of expert and fan articles with plenty of comment on both. They regularly get experts to comment/analyse big games in some detail a la Murray Kinsella in 42.ie.
if it's meant to be a New Zealand website then it should reflect the status of NZ rugby and its perceived wisdom and expertise in the game.
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@Crucial said in New rugby website: yes or no? what should it contain?:
IMO they do need to add something that isn't being done elsewhere such as good analysis from an ex player or coach.
Yep, that bloke at 42 -
Analysis: Beauden Barrett's moments of magic light up a brutal Test in Dublin
The 25-year-old World Rugby player of the year was superb on Saturday.
Seriously, everything that guy posts is gold.
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@gollum said in New rugby website: yes or no? what should it contain?:
@Crucial said in New rugby website: yes or no? what should it contain?:
IMO they do need to add something that isn't being done elsewhere such as good analysis from an ex player or coach.
Yep, that bloke at 42 -
Analysis: Beauden Barrett's moments of magic light up a brutal Test in Dublin
The 25-year-old World Rugby player of the year was superb on Saturday.
Seriously, everything that guy posts is gold.
Murray Kinsella.
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@Pot-Hale
Yeah, I've read his analysis of Irish games I have zero interest in just because he writes really interesting stuff.
Closest you get in NZ is Justin Marshalls chalkboard, which isn't as good & is static (ie no GIFS), and much more shallow
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/best-of-rugby-analysis/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502181&objectid=11219564
I mean compare those, its like Michalanglo v the scrawl your kid did at school & you reluctantly put on the fridge despite them clearly being a tard
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I have never understood why the rugby media in NZ treats readers/ viewers as simpletons when the average rugby fan actually understands quite a bit about the game.
Even the SkySports shows that try to bring in aspects of analysis or coaching give things way too light a touch.
Compare what we do with some of the US NFL or NBA shows and it is like Playschool vs University. -
You could probably get really good clicks by having a banner with a countdown to when the test team is named
Then hook it into google etc so folks can go "Siri, when's the AB team named" & your countdown comes up.
Because no fecker seems to get that one...
Other thing I'd like to see & would actually be useful is a team sheet with the squad & a list of the injured guys, the suspended & the time they are expected to be out.
IE THE ABs are on tour in France, you click on "team news" you get the squad, in playing order not alphabetical, with "injured - 2 weeks" next to anyone crocked, & the banner saying "team named in 27 hours 15 minutes 32 seconds"
That'd straight out cut 200 posts from every Fern thread pre match
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@gollum said in New rugby website: yes or no? what should it contain?:
You could probably get really good clicks by having a banner with a countdown to when the test team is named
Then hook it into google etc so folks can go "Siri, when's the AB team named" & your countdown comes up.
Because no fecker seems to get that one...
Other thing I'd like to see & would actually be useful is a team sheet with the squad & a list of the injured guys, the suspended & the time they are expected to be out.
IE THE ABs are on tour in France, you click on "team news" you get the squad, in playing order not alphabetical, with "injured - 2 weeks" next to anyone crocked, & the banner saying "team named in 27 hours 15 minutes 32 seconds"
Excellent ideas - I have no end of trouble trying to find out/remember who is on the injured list from week to week plus when they are due to return and status updates, especially in SR. Also a countdown clock to test team AND actual match day would be good = fun and because of the time difference, I wouldn't have to check 10 different websites to find out what time the game is televised.
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@Bones said in New rugby website: yes or no? what should it contain?:
Also if possible would be very useful - a spot where you can see coverage of matches, I.e. where they are being broadcast in what country and what time.
That would be a good oportunity to get some cash for clicks too, like you have NZ, SA, Aussie, UK & then a dropdown where you select your country if its somewhere else & you get a "Sky Sports / Sentanta / BBC" etc & a link to their site, so in the case of paid streams you are directing people to the site (surely that generates cash if the person directed then pays?)
Lets face it, all people want is one page with team, time & how do I watch.
Post game throw in "anywhere showing replay?"
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Unless you want it to be a pure nz rugby website make sure anyone writing on the NH actually watches the games up there.
Can't stand nz mainstream rugby sites with sycophantic articles about the all blacks and skin deep minimal knowledge outside the sanzaar teams.
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@gollum said in New rugby website: yes or no? what should it contain?:
You could probably get really good clicks by having a banner with a countdown to when the test team is named
Then hook it into google etc so folks can go "Siri, when's the AB team named" & your countdown comes up.
Because no fecker seems to get that one...
Other thing I'd like to see & would actually be useful is a team sheet with the squad & a list of the injured guys, the suspended & the time they are expected to be out.
IE THE ABs are on tour in France, you click on "team news" you get the squad, in playing order not alphabetical, with "injured - 2 weeks" next to anyone crocked, & the banner saying "team named in 27 hours 15 minutes 32 seconds"
That'd straight out cut 200 posts from every Fern thread pre match
The team is named Thursday...
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For things I'd be interested in, I'd love a schedule that included everything in it, both NH and SH internationals and top level provincial/club rugby and automatically converted the times based on your IP address. Usually I have to look through a few different websites to get that info and then manually convert the times, which is a pain in the ass.
It's be a monumental effort but my ideal site would basically just be a rugby equivalent of Cricinfo. I know there's ESPN Scrum but it's a mess and is missing so much info it's not funny.
And yeah, actual rugby journalism would be nice. Not the lazy recaps and opinion pieces we get from the NZ media.
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A site that accurately lists the players stats would be great. I've been dying to know how tall Ardie Savea is but all I can find is a picture of him doing a handstand.
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Thank you to everyone who has responded! My mates have read the comments and I talked to one of them. She said there were some great suggestions that they will definitely take on board. However, getting some ex-players/coaches (or referees) or good rugby journos to write articles with good analysis for the site would probably have financial implications that they would not be able to meet, unless they would be ensured of some stable income from the site right from the start. That's assuming those ex-players etc would not write for free. They see it as something they could add at a later stage though and it is definitely something they're interested in, although they have questions about who those writers could be as they've also noted the lack of good analysis in the NZ media ...
In the mean time, they're considering adding a "good read" page, where they could link to good articles published elsewhere. That wouldn't solve the lack of good NZ content, however.
Anyway, they're now pondering about a good name for the site. It's not that easy, because - for copyright reasons - they need a name that isn't already in use for a website or other publication (no matter how minor that website or publication may be). For the time being, they have given it the working title 'Kick, Chase!', but that may well change.
My own impression is that my mates are taking on a job that may well be bigger than they are anticipating. I think it will be quite time-consuming to keep the site up-to-date. As it is something done by some rugby die-hards, who work in completely different fields, it's more like a hobby that could get well out of hand. They are not clued up yet on generating income from a website (nor am I, so I couldn't advise them), so it will be a huge learning curve. Having said that, they are very motivated and smart, and are aware of the challenges, so they may come with something really good. I'll keep you in the loop.
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Stats!!
I love stats, having access to a better and full range of stats than the run of the mill ones we get from Sky and then a few more from haka....The stats that are available on American Sports is phenomenal, I am sure the coaches have access to a huge range of stats and data, why cant this be available for fans?
I mean a simple one was highlighted on the EOYT, would be interesting to know the variance in penalties awarded vs those that are given advantage but a team plays through and isnt awarded.
With those players who have the GPS trackers, why cant we see this data as well, how far, how fast etc.
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@taniwharugby said in New rugby website: yes or no? what should it contain?:
Stats!!
I love stats, having access to a better and full range of stats than the run of the mill ones we get from Sky and then a few more from haka....The stats that are available on American Sports is phenomenal, I am sure the coaches have access to a huge range of stats and data, why cant this be available for fans?
I mean a simple one was highlighted on the EOYT, would be interesting to know the variance in penalties awarded vs those that are given advantage but a team plays through and isnt awarded.
With those players who have the GPS trackers, why cant we see this data as well, how far, how fast etc.
Thing about stats is that these guys probably wouldn't be able to record them. You really need a large professional organisation to collect stats like that.
