Women's rugby...
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Is really shit to watch.
I am currently watching North Harbour vs Otago.
Painful, slow and unimaginative
I am sure all of them are still better than I ever was. ..but they don't deserve equality of pay. It is just a shite T.V. product. -
@baron-silas-greenback you're a brave man saying that in the age of the politically correct.
Personally I think you're right and don't have an issue with what you've said.
If the product isn't good enough, it ain't good enough!
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I was very anti women rugby players getting paid and will never ever watch it, but a good argument is the potential growth in audience numbers across both sexes as females become more involved and included in the game.
entertainment is a hugely competitive market now and i think the nzru knows it needs to capture more of the female market.
If womens rugby became the sport of choice for young girls tv numbers would increase in nz and it could even be good for struggling sports clubs getting an extra team and more volunteers. -
I see your point, but the issue isn't really equality of pay but equality of opportunities. It's mostly the media who are talking about equal pay, because they don't understand the difference or because they think it attracts more clicks.
If equal opportunities result in a good product, only then they can talk about equality of pay. In order to have equality of opportunities, they first need to take steps to improve the women's game, which is what they are trying to do. Finally. Mind you, until a few years ago, many provinces hardly did anything for the women's game. Even the most talented young female players weren't admited to academies and, therefore, not developed. The thing is, you always need to invest before reaping the rewards. So, improve their training, organise more games and tournaments, attract more players etc. It may involve some pay, too. The Going for Gold programme worked very well for our women's sevens team. Improving women's XVs requires a similar effort, nation wide ...
I don't mind watching women's rugby. I just don't compare it with men's rugby, which isn't fair to women in most sports anyway. Different body composition (like muscle/water/fat ratio, hormones etc) will always make women slower and less strong than men, but what they can achieve with the right development is improved skills. What they can achieve with organising more games & tournaments is increased competitiveness. What they can achieve with more exposure to women's rugby (through broadcasting or livestreaming games) is attracting more players and, therefore, unearthing more and better talent.
I enjoyed watching the women's world cup, which showcased the best female players. The job of the unions and NZR is now to lift women's rugby in general to a higher level, so that also NPC level becomes more interesting to watch.
Baby steps, not big leaps.
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there were bits of really good play in the women's world cup. it's clearly still developing, but seems to be moving pretty quick.
rugby is definitely a game that can be just as fun to watch with players of less strength, because it's all relative - watching woodman leave 5 defenders for dead on her way to a try is no less enjoyable to watch just because in absolute terms she is slower than doug howlett. -
@stargazer said in Women's rugby...:
I see your point, but the issue isn't really equality of pay but equality of opportunities. It's mostly the media who are talking about equal pay, because they don't understand the difference or because they think it attracts more clicks.
If equal opportunities result in a good product, only then they can talk about equality of pay. In order to have equality of opportunities, they first need to take steps to improve the women's game, which is what they are trying to do. Finally. Mind you, until a few years ago, many provinces hardly did anything for the women's game. Even the most talented young female players weren't admited to academies and, therefore, not developed. The thing is, you always need to invest before reaping the rewards. So, improve their training, organise more games and tournaments, attract more players etc. It may involve some pay, too. The Going for Gold programme worked very well for our women's sevens team. Improving women's XVs requires a similar effort, nation wide ...
I don't mind watching women's rugby. I just don't compare it with men's rugby, which isn't fair to women in most sports anyway. Different body composition (like muscle/water/fat ratio, hormones etc) will always make women slower and less strong than men, but what they can achieve with the right development is improved skills. What they can achieve with organising more games & tournaments is increased competitiveness. What they can achieve with more exposure to women's rugby (through broadcasting or livestreaming games) is attracting more players and, therefore, unearthing more and better talent.
I enjoyed watching the women's world cup, which showcased the best female players. The job of the unions and NZR is now to lift women's rugby in general to a higher level, so that also NPC level becomes more interesting to watch.
Baby steps, not big leaps.
The problem that I see it is that right now there is a lot of rugby on. We have 8 Mitre Ten Cup games on 5 days a week. I just can't see where a women's competition fits into that. Stargazer, you are an absolute freak with the shear quantity of rugby you watch. I think most people like the game but only want to watch one or two games a week so women's rugby doesn't get a look in.
Obviously, I think the NZRU should definitely fund the women's game because they have a responsibility to grow the game. I think the top women's players are top athletes and their skill level is actually quite good as seen in the World Cup. I just think aiming to make those players fully professional is unrealistic.
I think if the NZRU was to try to take women's rugby somewhere it would have to be some sort of Super Rugby competition. The five franchises could each play each other once - start off small and try to grow from there.
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@hydro11 Wow - can you send the rugby you don't want to watch across to these parts please? Currently we are starved of any real rugby, we have had some mitre 10 games, but not many.
On skill level in the womens game - in the WC the 4 top teams were miles ahead of the rest; and of the top 4 - NZ and England were head and shoulders above France/Canada. But the Final got a prime time Saturday tv slot over here, and opened up a new audience, plus the inevitable never-ending row on pay. But yes, it's all about growing the game folks.
For instance - in another direction on pay -
It annoys me the way so-called professional soccer players are paid so much money, it seems the punters are happy for them to be millionaires, while the players live the high life and dont really bother working too much on performance. Even if they get kicked out of their club, agents easily hike out their players services to foreign clubs eager to pick up contracts in return for the $$$$$. -
@hydro11 said in Women's rugby...:
@stargazer said in Women's rugby...:
I see your point, but the issue isn't really equality of pay but equality of opportunities. It's mostly the media who are talking about equal pay, because they don't understand the difference or because they think it attracts more clicks.
If equal opportunities result in a good product, only then they can talk about equality of pay. In order to have equality of opportunities, they first need to take steps to improve the women's game, which is what they are trying to do. Finally. Mind you, until a few years ago, many provinces hardly did anything for the women's game. Even the most talented young female players weren't admited to academies and, therefore, not developed. The thing is, you always need to invest before reaping the rewards. So, improve their training, organise more games and tournaments, attract more players etc. It may involve some pay, too. The Going for Gold programme worked very well for our women's sevens team. Improving women's XVs requires a similar effort, nation wide ...
I don't mind watching women's rugby. I just don't compare it with men's rugby, which isn't fair to women in most sports anyway. Different body composition (like muscle/water/fat ratio, hormones etc) will always make women slower and less strong than men, but what they can achieve with the right development is improved skills. What they can achieve with organising more games & tournaments is increased competitiveness. What they can achieve with more exposure to women's rugby (through broadcasting or livestreaming games) is attracting more players and, therefore, unearthing more and better talent.
I enjoyed watching the women's world cup, which showcased the best female players. The job of the unions and NZR is now to lift women's rugby in general to a higher level, so that also NPC level becomes more interesting to watch.
Baby steps, not big leaps.
The problem that I see it is that right now there is a lot of rugby on. We have 8 Mitre Ten Cup games on 5 days a week. I just can't see where a women's competition fits into that. Stargazer, you are an absolute freak with the shear quantity of rugby you watch. I think most people like the game but only want to watch one or two games a week so women's rugby doesn't get a look in.
Obviously, I think the NZRU should definitely fund the women's game because they have a responsibility to grow the game. I think the top women's players are top athletes and their skill level is actually quite good as seen in the World Cup. I just think aiming to make those players fully professional is unrealistic.
I think if the NZRU was to try to take women's rugby somewhere it would have to be some sort of Super Rugby competition. The five franchises could each play each other once - start off small and try to grow from there.
We're starved of quantity pre-August (roughly). When SR is on (e.g no daytime weekend televised rugby)
IMO, part of the reason televised college rugby has caught on in such a big way. (But only part, there has always been interest in college rugby pre-televised ) but there's a yawning great hole for most of the winter.
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I like watching my niece tar the shit out of opponents, and sometimes the rugby is very entertaining. But pay to watch it...? Please.
