|
Article taken from Totalrl.com:-
MELBOURNE MICK strolled into the pub the other day. It¹s not a very inspired
nickname for the loveable lad, even though he does come from the Victorian
capital.
Down there he¹s got the same nickname - because he follows the Melbourne
Demons in the aerial ping pong (Australian Rules football).
But Melbourne Mick likes all types of sport. So it hardly surprised us when
he asked if there was any rugby that he could watch on the weekend.
"Nah," said Illawarra Jeff. "The union's finished. The Super 12s only go
from March to early June.
"I'm not talking about that," Mick replied.
"I was thinking of seeing the Roosters or the Dragons or Souths."
Then the penny dropped.
Down in Melbourne the locals hardly realise there are two codes of rugby.
And they are blissfully unaware that the Rah-Rahs have hijacked the name
rugby for themselves. The media have fallen for their ploy. And the game we
knew from childhood as rugby union is now talked about on radio, television
and in the newspapers as just rugby.
So, when a Melbourne company that polls the public last week reported that
rugby union was now more popular in Australia than the Greatest Game of All,
I took the poll results with a grain of salt.
After all wasn¹t it Mark Twain that said: "There are three kinds of lies -
lies, damned lies and statistics."
And it is pollsters that deal in the third kind.
I have never had much time with organisations that take surveys.
My distrust was exacerbated a few years back when my then wife was asked if
she¹d take part in a survey on a new women's magazine.
Well, she was welcome until the polling people found out she was married to
a journalist.
She was thus disqualified. They apparently believed I would influence her
answers.
In this latest poll Australians were asked about their interest in various
sports - based on participation, attending matches and following it in the
media.
As far as the football codes were concerned the pollsters found 55 per cent
of people were interested in Aussie Rules. Then followed soccer (45 per
cent), rugby union (44 per cent) and League (41 per cent).
The interesting figure concerned fans going to matches. According to the
survey, rugby union had enjoyed a seven per cent increase in attendance
since 1998, compared to six per cent (Australian Rules), four per cent
(Soccer) and three per cent (League).
Come again! Three per cent!
The official attendance figures for NRL games show the average crowds have
risen 34 per cent since 1998, setting record averages in 2003 and 2004, with
League on track for another record this year.
The survey also claimed that rugby union was watched by more people on
television than League - 40 per cent of those polled to 38 per cent.
Mmmm!
This hardly tallies with the weekly ratings accepted by the television
networks.
Rugby League is the highest-rating Australian sport on PayTV - miles ahead
of union - with the audience growing every week.
League draws around two million Australian viewers a week on free-to-air
television - not bad in a country of 20 million.
Rugby League supplied the top-three most watched television programmes in
Brisbane last year, and four of the top six in Sydney. Union did not produce
one.
On a national basis, Rugby League had the 12th, 25th, 30th and 48th most
popular programmes (reality, news, sport, variety, soapies etc). Union
managed just one in the top 100, coming in at 97th.
The NRL proudly points to its popularity among those who delight in surfing
the web.
Last month the NRL site was the second most popular website in Australia.
The highest-ranking union site was placed seventh and the official ARU site
a lowly 20th.
Ah, but the pollsters reckon union is more popular than League.
I wonder how many of those surveyed are like Melbourne Mick and don¹t really
differentiate between League and union.
And just how many were actually surveyed?
The pollsters reveal a total of 1,000 people were questioned. Yes, folks -
1,000 out of a population of 20 million.
Mark Twain was spot on.
COINCIDENCE: Just two hours after penning the above story, the phone rang at my writer's garret.
Would you like to take part in a telephone survey? the young lady at the
other end of the line asked.
You guessed it. I had been randomly chosen from the telephone book by the
very same polling organisation that did such a botched job on the rugby
issue. I politely declined her offer.
|
