As I said before all the names in the NRL and Super Rugby are home grown there is no reason why we can't produce exciting and brand name players here. We just need the media to market them as a superstar and they will become superstars.
Yeah but in general the NRL and Super Rugby players are some of the best in the world for their sport. Anyone with the ability to possibly be a superstar gets enticed away to other A league clubs or european in football.
Not the highest paid though. Superstars aren't about ability they are about marketing and appearing in the tabloids taking their kids for a walk, or engaging in sex with a prostitute in a public toilet.
I'm strugging to see your point. Of course they aren't the highest paid, they are much smaller sports than football on a world scale. But kiwis want to watch those sports, and whether they are big on a world scale or not, the players are still some of the best in the world for that sport.
Superstars are about ability first and formost, though being a knobhead can often help market them. So do we need Roly to start a fight is Mish Mosh or something?
I'm saying that rugby and league stars earn more money in Europe than they do in NZ and Australia, so attracting and retaining top talent is not just about money.
Being a superstar is not about being a knob head, although that is what often gets you into the public eye. Being a superstar is 100% about media exposure.
Yeah so one of the FFA's metrics is that we don't have ambitions to acquire a marquee, but the only marquee's that will get people through the gates are the likes of Beckham, Rooney, etc. And these are people who we absolutely cannot afford. It's pointless getting an ageing Marquee who is after a final pay check and has limited appeal outside of football supporters especially if someone like Bonevacia is our accounting marquee. We also don't have an ageing golden generation to attract back.
So the media needs to get on board and make our players household names. They might not be the best in the world, but the difference sometimes isn't as big as you might expect. It would be nice to get, say a breakfast cereal sponsor, who can have Wellington Phoenix trading cards, or daily updates on the news of a former nix player, like Tyler Boyd, and his quest to get into a top european league ala Jarryd Hayne and the 49ers.
Just maybe if NZ Football and all those who claim to be football fans offered some support,then maybe the Media and others might also do the same. .