Current Events > Wow. Rugby salaries are so low lmfao

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Rugby fans keep telling me rugby players are these amazing athletes.

Yet they get paid so little.

If rugby players are so great. Why can't they go to the NFL and make 10s of millions a year lmao.

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You're probably correct, though which leagues are you talking about? I'm pretty sure the salaries are great in Japan and most of Europe

Joelypoely posted...

You're probably correct, though which leagues are you talking about? I'm pretty sure the salaries are great in Japan and most of Europe

Nah only 1 rugby player makes 7 figures lmao.

No wonder we see so many rugby players try and usually fail to transition to the NFL.

Burrow and Lamar Jackson make more than entire rugby teams easily.

I think Tyreek does as well.

It looks like 5 players currently make 7 figures per season (not including external wages). Surprised to see Finn Russell at the top of that list, and no NZers in the top 10.

Joelypoely posted...

It looks like 5 players currently make 7 figures per season (not including external wages). Surprised to see Finn Russell at the top of that list, and no NZers in the top 10.

Exactly its always funny to me when rugby fans act like NFL players are scrubs.

There aren't rugby players who want to make 20m plus? No its that no rugby player is athletic enough to play in the NFL except Jordan Maliata. A 350 lb 6 foot 8 giant.

It was pretty crazy that the Welsh winger (?), LRZ, switched to NFL recently

Aloc posted...

Exactly its always funny to me when rugby fans act like NFL players are scrubs.

There aren't rugby players who want to make 20m plus? No its that no rugby player is athletic enough to play in the NFL except Jordan Maliata. A 350 lb 6 foot 8 giant.

That's silly logic. Plenty of NFL players would struggle to make the jump to rugby competitions. Especially to the NRL.

It's about trying to change sports after your developmental years, not superior athletic ability

You're basically saying Brock Lesnar couldn't cut it because he wasn't athletic enough

Oh yeah for anyone new to rugby, this recent game is a great introduction (in terms of excitement):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xSblEth_zE

haloiscoolisbak posted...

That's silly logic. Plenty of NFL players would struggle to make the jump to rugby competitions

Why would any nfl player take the downgrade?

It's only a mediocre prospect that would do this.

haloiscoolisbak posted...

You're basically saying Brock Lesnar couldn't cut it because he wasn't athletic enough

No he wasn't btw.

Maybe he'd be good enough for the practice squad at best.

Im not sure, were you the guy saying that any good athlete would do well in any sport a few days ago? This sounds like the same poor logic.

Aloc posted...

Why would any nfl player take the downgrade?

It's only a mediocre prospect that would do this.

Irrelevant.

The argument was on athletic ability.

Why are you drawing a straight line between earnings and athletic ability?

The strongest man on earth is a pharmacist. Most track athletes have secondary jobs. Most female athletes who are the greatest even in the biggest sports make hardly any money.

By your own definition, Lionel Messi today as a semi-retired man in his 30s playing for a baby league is a greater athlete than Patrick Mahomes.

It's not athletic ability that determines earnings. It's marketability and public interest.

pinky0926 posted...

The strongest man on earth is a pharmacist.

Lots of strongmen are guys who couldn't make it in the NBA or NFL. Brian Shaw literally played d2 basketball lmao. And he's like top 3 in history for that sport. It's a nobody cares sport.

pinky0926 posted...

Most track athletes have secondary jobs.

Usain Bolt is rich and fuck and Sha'Carri Richardson is getting 10s of millions from Nike.

But I'm sure you'd see a lot more guys breaking the 10 second barrier if track paid. Tons of NFL guys have pretty good 100m dash times.

pinky0926 posted...

By your own definition, Lionel Messi today as a semi-retired man in his 30s playing for a baby league is a greater athlete than Patrick Mahomes.

Lionel Messi was a top athlete in the world at one point. Yes.

pinky0926 posted...

It's marketability and public interest.

There are less people that play certain sports. Hence they make less money. Rugby is full of unathletic stiffs.

See Zammit and his 28 inch vertical.

Zammit is a generational talent for rugby. Below average athlete by football standards.

Tanthalas posted...

Im not sure, were you the guy saying that any good athlete would do well in any sport a few days ago? This sounds like the same poor logic.

Rugby players aren't good athletes lmao

Aloc posted...

Lots of strongmen are guys who couldn't make it in the NBA or NFL. Brian Shaw literally played d2 basketball lmao. And he's like top 3 in history for that sport. It's a nobody cares sport.

I wasn't talking about strongmen, I was talking about John Haack, a powerlifter. But that's by the by.

I'll probably end up saying this again in this post but why the fixation on money? You'd have to be an idiot to chase a career in sports if money is your primary motivation, you'd have better odds winning a lottery.

Consider what's actually involved to become even an elite athlete. You will end up spending 15-20 years of hyperspecific training just to become moderately good, and if you're lucky you'll be able to quit your main source of income to focus on your sport and just get by with a mediocre salary. That is 99.99% of athletes in every sport, including football.

Basically I'm saying your entire premise here is wrong. People aren't going into sports and just choosing the one they think will give them the biggest multi-million dollar contract. They're choosing sports based on what they enjoy doing and what they're gifted at.

Usain Bolt is rich and fuck and Sha'Carri Richardson is getting 10s of millions from Nike.

Extraordinarily rare it's not even funny. Go onto the world athletics website and scroll through the list of fastest ever 100m times. By the time you get to page two you're looking at people who still have to hold down a day job.

But I'm sure you'd see a lot more guys breaking the 10 second barrier if track paid. Tons of NFL guys have pretty good 100m dash times.

Lionel Messi was a top athlete in the world at one point. Yes.

There are less people that play certain sports. Hence they make less money. Rugby is full of unathletic stiffs.

See Zammit and his 28 inch vertical.

Zammit is a generational talent for rugby. Below average athlete by football standards.

There's also lots of incredible athletes in rugby.

While we are cherry picking examples, Tom Brady was famously unathletic.

Second point - we're probably just going to end up discussing what "athletic" even means, because the demands of different sports have different needs for physical ability, and people tend to inherently value certain kinds of athleticism over others in these discussions.

I bet the source of this argument is really just that NFL requires people to be very fast and powerful but not a whole lot in terms of cardio endurance.

Compare that to Aussie rules football, a sport you may never even have heard of. These guys need to be as tall as basketball players, as fast as soccer players, able to take hits like rugby players and they need to do all this while running (not jogging, running) 10kms every game. They may well be some of the greatest athletes in general fitness of any sport, and its a sport that is barely known outside of australia.

Ultimately, athleticism is hyper specific, and doesn't always carry over to other sports. I'm not sure why you'd think rugby players could go to the NFL when it already took them a decade or more to just learn how to play rugby at the top level.

Aloc posted...

Rugby players aren't good athletes lmao

What rugby players are you talking about? Maybe in small time american leagues, sure

pinky0926 posted...

Compare that to Aussie rules football, a sport you may never even have heard of. These guys need to be as tall as basketball players,

188 cm and I know what it is.

Average nba guy is pike. 198 cm lmao
Huge difference

pinky0926 posted...

Why are you drawing a straight line between earnings and athletic ability?

The strongest man on earth is a pharmacist. Most track athletes have secondary jobs. Most female athletes who are the greatest even in the biggest sports make hardly any money.

By your own definition, Lionel Messi today as a semi-retired man in his 30s playing for a baby league is a greater athlete than Patrick Mahomes.

It's not athletic ability that determines earnings. It's marketability and public interest.

I'll tell you right now, your first mistake is taking literally anything Aloc says seriously. He pretty much literally only exists to troll, just look at his current account.

Aloc posted...

There are less people that play certain sports. Hence they make less money.

That is not how the economy works.

The disparity between rugby and football salaries probably speaks, as much as anything, to the difference between the Australian market and the US one. There are a lot more people here!

pinky0926 posted...

why the fixation on money? You'd have to be an idiot to chase a career in sports if money is your primary motivation

actually seems to be a lot of NBA players now days whose primary motivation is the money

Antifar posted...

That is not how the economy works.

The disparity between rugby and football salaries probably speaks, as much as anything, to the difference between the Australian market and the US one. There are a lot more people here!

Rugby is global

Capitalism isn't a meritocracy. Being more athletic doesn't matter.

Aloc posted...

188 cm and I know what it is.

Nah. Every aussie rule's footie player I've ever seen in person is like 6ft5.

solosnake posted...

actually seems to be a lot of NBA players now days whose primary motivation is the money

I think it's one thing to be in the league and make decisions based on financial incentives once you're there - I'm speaking more about the idea of money being the motivator to become a professional athlete.

This topic is pointlessly mean

pinky0926 posted...

Nah. Every aussie rule's footie player I've ever seen in person is like 6ft5.

A simple Google search puts them at 188 cm on average lol.

Outside from some outliers they are NFL sized.