THE WEEKLY: All-Queensland Double Header*
THE WEEKLY: All-Queensland Double Header*
Morea Morea, Conflict on Caxton produces the ratings goods and inane expansion chatter
All-Queensland Double Header*
We had our first all-Queensland NRL double header… sort of. Personally, I think it might have made sense to have had both games on the same day as a point of interest, especially since Souths-Manly could’ve carried a Friday night slot1 and Saturday was mysteriously only two games, but I’m not a big brain down at League HQ.
It’s the first and last for the year. Despite there now being twelve Queensland derbies throughout the year, round 4 is the only round to have two. Conflict on Caxton - Broncos 18 defeated Dolphins 12 - delivered on the drama, if not the quality, while Queensland’s Third Oldest Rivalry - Cowboys 24 defeated Titans 12 - delivered on the weirdness, if not the quality.
Tacking together the least impressive permutation of Queensland derbies - Broncos at Titans (The Classic) and Cowboys at Dolphins (Battle for the Bruce) - into a double-header at Suncorp seems like the kind of thing that would not only sell a lot of tickets but give the talking heads something to prattle on about at half time while they ignore the game being played at the time.
Queensland doesn’t have a NRL Anzac Day tradition, with games traditionally played between Roosters and Dragons, and Storm and Warriors, so this could double as the northern contribution to Respecting the Troops Round, even if it’s not played on the day itself. This may be a hat on a hat but I, too, like to prattle on.
The hype around the Conflict on Caxton was so huge, it managed to overshadow a western Sydney derby that doubled as a grand final replay.
That’s a countdown timer and a hype package playing eight minutes before kickoff of what should be one of the biggest games of the year. Wild. Not only that, but the Dragons-Sharks derby, one of the fiercest in the league, was punted to the Sunday late slot by Fox. It’s almost like no one cares about Sydney football anymore.
Moment of the Weekend
Tigers at Hunters in Port Moresby. If you’re not on QPlus (and if you’re reading this, you should be), you would’ve found this Saturday treat hiding in a round of boring blowouts.
Firstly, no defence, all points shootout with 74 points scored. Love it.
Secondly, QPlus carried the PNG commentators, which is a delight. Not only did they misprounce Brayden Torpy and a lot of other white names, they had no idea about about the history of the Tigers. They’re just like us fr fr.
Finally, Morea Morea, who scores this try.
It was his second on his way to a hattrick and I had to reduce the frame rate to get Substack to accept this hotness. Here’s one, two and three at full rate. Here’s a pre-season profile. We’ll be talking a lot more about this kid.
Surprise, surprise: Conflict on Caxton is a ratings smash
Who could have predicted such a thing?
The Broncos-Dolphins derby entered the top five most-watched NRL games in TV broadcast history since official figures were logged 28 years ago.
The Brisbane metro free-to-air audience for the Broncos-Dolphins derby was 246,000 – more than four times the 59,000 that watched the AFL’s Melbourne-Lions clash on the same night…
The Broncos’ gripping six-point win over the Dolphins was watched by 681,000 fans on Channel 9.
Fox League recorded 382,000 viewers and with a combined streaming estimate of 332,719, TV ratings data suggests the River City Rumble at Suncorp had a total viewership of almost 1.4 million.
For what it’s worth, those numbers top what peak Cowboys-Broncos derbies were delivering back in 2017. Now let’s check in to see how much extra Nine are paying for those bumper ratings…
Sure, let’s pretend this is real
Expansion’s in the news again, by which I mean journalists know they can ask someone like Wayne Bennett a question about whether there are too many Sydney clubs, and turn his response into an article that will be shared by sports betting accounts with something like “Bennett TEES OFF on Sydney clubs 🔥 Do you agree 🤔 Sound off below 👇” and set off a cycle of engagement that leads nowhere because everyone knows the answer and has known the answer for several decades or more.
He’s also 100% correct:
Bennett was asked why he believed the existing clubs didn’t want expansion.
“Because they are selfish,” Bennett responded.
“If Sydney had their way, they wouldn’t be playing anywhere else but in Sydney.
“They wouldn’t want Test matches or State of Origins.
“That’s why you have administrators outside of the clubs that have to make decisions in the best interests of what the game needs.
“But we get selfish in clubs and a bit personal.
“We all want to win the premiership, but we don’t want to play against anybody to win it.”
Combine this with the Dolphins’ three wins and an interesting loss and everyone’s ready to get another team going, even though it’s a small miracle the Dolphins haven’t been a total disaster and Wayne Bennett (probably) won’t be available to coach Team 18. Let’s also bear in mind that it took four years for the Titans reveal their inherent mediocrity, so of course bloviating blowhard Phil Gould is ready to come back to SEQ, even though he’s doesn’t know anything about Queensland’s rugby league culture, other than a significant part of his job is to watch the Maroons beat the Blues more often than not.
No one is serious about this. If they were, we’d be discussing why every minor sports league in Australia manages a team in Perth and another in New Zealand - including the ABL, NBL and the A-League, even netball and union managed it before competition format changes - but the NRL seemingly can’t do it, even with Peter V’Landys in charge and handing money over to broadcasters being the greatest sports administrator of all time.
Instead, we’re pretending that the Australian government funding a Pasifika team (?) probably based in Cairns (?) with PNG ties (?) and maybe incorporating the Bears (?) is a serious proposition. Putting aside the huge and obvious conceptual problems, back of the envelope maths will tell you that a NRL team needs $25 to $30 million a year to survive and if $15m of that comes from the NRL, then DFAT’s making up the shortfall. While that’s nothing in the grand scheme of things for them, it’s also subject to political whims which will change at some point and then the NRL is left with a failed franchise or bailing it out, neither of which it wants to do.
Never mind that the Dolphins had trouble convincing players to move to Redcliffe, never mind Cairns or Port Moresby or wherever. Sure.
Other notes
The refurbed Langlands Park will re-open in April. Looks like the first HPC game will host the Cutters in round 5.
Last Thursday, the Titans put out a short statement stating that Patrick Herbert has been released on compassionate grounds. On it’s own, that didn’t make a huge amount of sense until the Tigers released Maumalo later that afternoon and the Titans announced his signing through 2025. Seems like an upgrade. Good luck to Patrick.
The Dolphins lost their first NRL and QCup games on the same weekend. We are waiting for both teams to win on the same weekend.
NRL North
After defeating the Dolphins, the Broncos maintain the Queensland NRL Lineal Championship, held since they defeated the Cowboys in round 2. The next bout will be in round 7 when the Broncos face the Titans.
Affiliates Premiership
A Good Tweet
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Well, Souths could’ve carried a Friday prime time slot at least.