In 2008 the National Rugby League organized a massive Rugby League fans day as Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.
It was set out to commemorate the fact that the game would be turning 100 in Australia.
Every player from every team was in attendance (Not and easy feat in a one of the worlds most widely spread domestic competitions as far as geography goes!) and they all got together for a massive photo.
I attending on the day and thought it was pretty good.
They had tents set up outside the stadium for every NRL club, a number of lower grade clubs, State Of Origin, the World Cup, the Footy Show and just about anyone else you can think of.
After the league wide team photo, players went to their respective team tends to sign autographs.
I think a concept like this would even be better suited to Super League, and would have more of a benefit too.
The chance to sell team merchandise, sign people up as season ticket holder, and just the general atmosphere that could be generated, it would be fantastic.
English Rugby League fans are very different to Australian ones.
In Australia we are all very tribal, we enjoy the game, but for us its more about entertainment.
In England, sure there is that tribal factor, but at the end of the day I always get the feeling English fans feel part of a greater collective, the fans over there are a community in themselves and we don’t have that in Australia.
I think it would be fantastic for this community to be able to come together to kick off the new season, no games on the line, just a day that all fans can go out and celebrate the game, meet up and get excited about the coming season.
I think Super League went some way to testing the waters on this idea with a few things they did at the Trafford Center this year, however, I’d like to see them go bigger and really make it an annual event.
Obviously weather is a factor, so an outdoor venue isn’t the way to go if it can be avoided, but surely there are venues across the traditional Super League belt that could host such a day and it still be cost effective to the RFL.
I think its time for the RFL to really start to think about promoting the sport in a bigger way. I think at times its very easy for a defeatist attitude to overwhelm the English game.
At times there is a feeling the game is too small or gets overwhelmed by other sports…so why bother or waste time. The problem is, the game in the UK needs to go those extra steps because of the problems it does face.
What ever the case, I think there is a good chance to add a good event to the Rugby League calender. Whats the worst that could happen?
