Times are a changing.

I Didn't know where to post this so I started a new thread.

Firstly this is not a shot at the Knights or the NRL, but I can't help but grin every time I see a fellow Jets supporter wearing Jets gear more so when I see young kids wearing Jets gear.
I Work out the front of the Knights office so I see a lot of Knights gear everyday but aside from that the amount of people I see in Jets gear far outweighs that of people in Knights gear when I'm out and about. I believe the gap is bigger when it comes to kids to, I truly believe that in 15-20 years Football will surpass RL in Newcastle.

Times are a changing People what's everyone else's opinion on this?

i believe its just the time of year, come winter i see it the other way around with a lot League shirts

its generational thing. providing we can keep a damn team in for long enough. were you around in the late 70's 80's?

I did take the seasonal idea into consideration but I still firmly believe its swings more to the Jets/Football as come winter all the young kids have training and are wearing either some European Football shirt or the Jets.

Not quite that old hawk but I definitely agree its Generational that's why I believe in 15-20 years Football will be No1 in Newcastle.

don't kid yerself, the knights are still deadset huuuuuge, so is rugby league

kids might not play it as much on the weekend anymore but the game itself is by far and away newy's major interest

I'm with qmo.

Also with leaaague there is less of a culture of buying and wearing supporter gear (imo).

You may see more people in Jets gear than Knights however the actual general supporter base would still be very much in league's favour, let alone just the Knights.

There's a shit-tonne of people around the hunter that follow League and don't even support the knights as well.

Compare the two grand final days and see which has more people in pubs / house parties etc.

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Originally Posted by russjaybee

Compare the two grand final days and see which has more people in pubs / house parties / punch ons, glassings :sparring:

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Look at the big picture though and the wheel is ever so slowly turning as the OP says.

I've watched the game in this country for over 30 years and I think back even 10-20 years....

* The Socceroos only played Euro club teams (usually second 11) or NZ
* We have a genuine professional league
* World Cup qualification was a dream
* Joe Bogan knows who Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell are
* The Knights filled our stadium weekly and had the complete run of the town - that is no longer the case
* The Breakers couldn't fill their own stadium let alone the ISC - Jets have had several crowds now above 20000 - the Knights have had crowds as low as 8000
* Breakers average crowd was about 3000 - Knights nearly 30000 (now Jets are 12-13000 and Knights down around 20000)
* General Newy public made Griff a local hero, at one stage the sporting face of Newcastle, only Kenny Boden came close to this mania
* Newcastle has won a national title and the vibe in the city that day was unthinkable for the code
* The media, as a whole, as turned a bit more favourably in recent years

Football is going in the right direction - still a long way to go but it is making serious inroads in the sporting psyche. Like a share or property graph, it peaks and troughs but is continually trending upward.

In Newcastle the Jets can do so much more if they can get their shit together - 2008 for a fleeting moment showed that. The demographic for the Knights is definitely older and I don't see many of those oldies being replaced as they die off.

Globalisation is the thing that will power football forward (and sucks to Tinks if he can't see the possibilities with football in Asia) - the NRL cannot expand.

I can see football being the number one sport in this country - not sure if it will be in my lifetime though.

I agree with everything you said Jetmaster, no doubt Football in general is moving forward in this country, and with good reason. The sport has so much more room to expand on a global and local scale compared to League. It is a global phenomenon.

However right now and even say in the next 5 years I don't see Football becoming the number one sport in the Newcastle psyche, not just yet. In time yes, but not yet.

Maybe in 20 years when the dying breed of league lovers / sokkah haters fades and the next gen of people that can actually enjoy both sports rolls around.

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Originally Posted by russjaybee

There's a shit-tonne of people around the hunter that follow League and don't even support the knights as well.

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One could argue that with Football with plenty of Eurosnobs

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Originally Posted by q-money

don't kid yerself, the knights are still deadset huuuuuge, so is rugby league

kids might not play it as much on the weekend anymore but the game itself is by far and away newy's major interest

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Not disputing the fact the Knights/NRL is not big, nor will it continue to grow. All I'm saying is what hawk has already said that there is a generational shift occurring and in years to come the Jets will surpass the Knights as Newcastle's No1 team.

From when I was a kid playing in the late 70's, throught the 80's to now has been massive. Even 10 years or so ago when my son first starting kicking a ball around you used to see quite a few kids in Knights or other footy jerseys/socks. Nowadays it's practically all football gear (both Jets and overseas), and for a kid to turn up in football gear would be seen as very uncool. When I was a kid too, we would play soccer but most of the talk would be Rugby League, a little of the EPL (can't remeber what it was called back then) but hardly any NSL. To go to an NSL game in the 80's, you were defintely the odd one out. Now a lot of kids who play the game also support the Jets and the A-League and with the advent of the Internet the world now is smaller so the kid's heroes are Ronaldo, Messi, Rooney etc. rather than Slater, Carner, Gidley etc. A lot of the younger generation have no interest whatsoever in the NRL, so yes there has been quite a massive change in the sporting tastes of young Aussies in the last 30 years and it will probably contnue.

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Originally Posted by russjaybee

I agree with everything you said Jetmaster, no doubt Football in general is moving forward in this country, and with good reason.

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And football will come to a crushing halt and devestating fall caused by conflicts of interest and favoritism like it always has done.

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Originally Posted by Skirt Boy

And football will come to a crushing halt and devestating fall caused by conflicts of interest and favoritism like it always has done.

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Confidence....thats what I like........

Well look at the coverage in the News Limited Media last weekend about WSW and their Hooligans.

They can't wait to lay the boot in when the chance arises