Jessica Halloran: Why AFL trumps NRL when it comes to junior sport
When it comes to Sherrins and Steedens, the AFL has it all over the NRL in winning over young minds. Auskick is light years ahead and rugby league is being left behind in the junior sports marketing race, Jessica Halloran writes.
- How this woman will crash-tackle NRL’s blokey culture
- Players to feel financial burden of ongoing scandals
The AFL posted our son a Sherrin, a pump to keep it inflated, a stack of footy cards and an album to hold them.
In “the AFL Auskick package” was also a backpack and a personalised sign in his favourite AFL club’s colours saying he was now “a future star in training”.
He automatically became a junior member of the Sydney Swans, a “red rookie”, and has free entry to three SCG games.
And when we signed him up to play junior rugby league this season, what did he get from the NRL?
Nothing. Not a thing.
In the race to win over the hearts and minds of indifferent mums and dads, it is a no contest when it comes to the national program of Auskick and its clever, heavily branded, inclusive “package”.
There are thousands of wonderful people involved in rugby league — hardworking volunteers at club canteens, people cooking the sausage sizzle, parents who happily give up their time as trainers and general managers at clubs.
MORE FROM JESSICA HALLORAN:
NRL, PLAYERS’ UNION MUST CHANGE CULTURE OF VIOLENCE
WHY DAVID WARNER REJECTED BIG MONEY TO ’SNITCH’
All of them do so for nothing other than their genuine love for the game.
The NRL owes it to them to keep growing rugby league from a grassroots level. It isn’t doing enough.
I don’t understand why the NRL doesn’t have just one simple junior version of the game that is marketed under a clever, simple name and is sponsored (NAB has been sponsoring Auskick since 2006).
Instead, there are several forms offered at different clubs from tackle to no-tackle. It feels all over the place from group-to-group, area-to-area and state-to-state.
Yes, the NRL contacts junior members and offers tickets to games to favourite clubs; that is great but more can be done.
When kids sign up to their junior club, they deserve a Steeden, a backpack and formal junior membership to their favourite club. It’s not about the paraphernalia but creating a sense of belonging.
At the heart of it, there’s a real disconnect between the NRL and the grassroots.
Meanwhile, the AFL’s Auskick participation in NSW has risen by 6.2 per cent over the past 12 months with rugby league heartland areas Parramatta, Fairfield, Liverpool, Bankstown, Manly, Illawarra, Newcastle and the wider Hunter recording the biggest spikes.
In Manly Sea Eagles’ heartland, the northern beaches recorded a huge AFL Auskick growth of 40 per cent in 2018.
From the few clicks it takes to sign your kid up to be an Auskicker, a week later your kid is posted a “package” with a personalised letter to parents and a message that if we took out a loan with NAB our local footy club could receive up to $1500 for new footballs and equipment.
It notes if our son joined the AFL Auskicker of the Year competition, he could be walking in the AFL grand final parade and playing on the MCG and could also be mentored by Auskick ambassadors and footballers Joel Selwood and Katie Brennan.
Another Auskick email had me signing up to a Milo competition for the chance for my son and I to play on the SCG.
Already our club has sent an email letting me know when some Sydney Swans footballers will be at Auskick training to help out this season.
I don’t know if NRL or NRLW players are already scheduled to visit my son’s training. They really should be.
From my experience as a mum, it is clear, Auskick is light years ahead and rugby league is being left behind in the junior sports marketing race. Auskick is also non contact from five up to age 12.
Considering four of the eight rugby league Immortals had or have head injuries that may be related to playing footy and a number of former star AFL players suffer — concussion is a huge concern for me. It worries me.
I wish junior rugby league was a compulsory non-contact sport from ages five to 12. Same with the junior AFL versions. From age seven those playing Aussie rules can go on from Auskick and engage in a “limited contact” version of the game.
We like rugby league in our family, a lot. I am not the mum you needed to win over.
After a scandalous off-season, what had me over the line is the fact the NRL now has a ‘no-fault’ stand-down policy for those charged with serious crimes and ARL commissioner Megan Davis is leading a cultural review into the game with a focus on the treatment of women. It is a positive and progressive move and enough for me to be OK with my kids being involved in the game.
But other mums in the playground feel very different. My friend Brooke’s perception of the NRL is: “I have fond memories of the game growing up but there was no way I want my kids to be part of it today. There are plenty of role models in other sports, so why go there?”
She pointed to the “train wreck” of an off-season that has sullied the game’s reputation.
Where we live, the AFL via Auskick has well and truly won the trust of many parents. It’s not Penrith but it was once a rugby league first ’burb.
On Thursday night, I was there when more than 550 kids — 50 up on last year — practised on the soggy grounds. At our local footy club, they’ve experienced a 10 per cent growth every year for the past five years. Notably, they’ve doubled the number of females playing in girls-only teams. On the day, my six-year-old daughter, on a whim, decided she wanted to play Auskick.
The whole Auskick training session was excellent (the club sent out official Auskick YouTube clips so you could school up on what was to come). It was great fun for all.
And you know what, my son has had the same amount of fun at rugby league training over the past three weeks. So, did my daughter, who is enjoying throwing the ball around with her dad on the sidelines.
Our rugby league club has a warm and inclusive feeling. It feels like a country football club. But numbers have stagnated says one member but this is not our club’s fault.
The NRL needs to make it a more inviting game and easier to get involved in.
If the NRL is serious about growing the code, it needs to get it together and create a branded junior game to improve the experience for everyone.
Grassroots hero’s manifesto to fix Australian rugby
Australian rugby is in crisis and one of the hardest workers in the game reckons he has some solutions - but will the people in charge listen? MIKE COLMAN reports.
Colman: Outrage junkies need a reality check
Sure, it wasn’t a good look for the NRL but did David Fifita do anything worse than dozens of other 19 year-olds out on a big weekend, asks Mike Colman.