Raiderettes facing the axe

BimboGeek said :

Cheerleading is a sport in the same sense that pole dancing is a sport.

And gymnastics, sychronised swimming, diving etc. If they are judged as sports so can cheerleading be.

BimboGeek said :

You can go to “for fitness” classes but if you’re doing it professionally then we all know what that means.

Ok, I’ll bite, what dies it mean?

Cheerleading is a sport in the same sense that pole dancing is a sport. You can go to “for fitness” classes but if you’re doing it professionally then we all know what that means.

gungsuperstar said :

Of course this is about exploitation – the Raiderettes are sponsored, and they only get paid casually anyway. And as I mentioned, they already do rug up when it’s cold.

But ditching the Raiderettes for reasons of exploitation is not a bad thing. It’s time the NRL got with the times.

How can it be ‘exploitation’ when they’re doing it on a voluntary basis? If they don’t like the terms and conditions of the job and feel they’re being exploited, they can quit at any time.

I’d also love to know how having cheerleaders constitutes sexism. The uniforms are no more revealing than women’s beach volleyball uniforms. Cheerleading is an officially recognized sport – my secretary’s seven year old daughter does it, in fact – and the fact is that it’s not only males watching the Raiderettes, plenty of young girls attending the game also get into it.

isaidno said :

Right! And given that 2.5 million watch the state of origin, it means that 20 million people (or 90% of Australia) don’t watch it. Quite clearly the majority are disinterested so they had better stop covering that too.

Just to be accurate that figure is 2.6 million for one game in five capital cities of the tv viewing population at one time. If you include regional areas the figure is closer to 4 million.
Quite clearly there is an audience for it, unlike the vast majority of other sports and past times in this country.

My initial point was that there are thousands of different sporting events in this country of all skill levels and types. If they’re popular they will get media coverage, if they aren’t they won’t. It’s completely disingenuous to talk about equality in this issue because not all sports and competitors are created equal. It’s a fact of life and it’s not unfair in any sense of the word.

What a disgrace.
Women are once again being denied opportunities to demonstrate their intellectual capabilities and achievements by pathetic bean-counting misogynists.

I feel a bit bad for the girls. As others have said, they’re great ambassadors for the club – they’re polite, they’re friendly, they stop and chat to the kids as they walk laps of the oval.

They’re among the more modestly dressed than most in the NRL, and they already rug up for the cold; many of them are students, some of them aspire to be able to make careers out of dancing, and cheer leading provides an opportunity where not many exist in Canberra.

But with all that said – their time has come. The era where boofy blokes crash into each other while the little girls cheer them on is gone. The era where bogans can ogle young girls in a sport still struggling with its treatment of women is gone.

Of course this is about exploitation – the Raiderettes are sponsored, and they only get paid casually anyway. And as I mentioned, they already do rug up when it’s cold.

But ditching the Raiderettes for reasons of exploitation is not a bad thing. It’s time the NRL got with the times.

Their good and heard on the radio today also of excuses like weather for one. Canberra isnt cold compared to US NFL games in the middle winter in northern states and the cheer leaders there dont stop lol. The only reason for stopping them is they are short of cash but surely a sponsor would cover the wages?

poetix said :

chewy14 said :

poetix said :

Clearly, having cheerleaders (or whatever they are called), is quintessentially sexist. It’s just bogan burlesque.

It’s a shame women’s sport, you know, where they actually play, doesn’t get more attention though. I scour these e-pages in vain for updates on women’s soccer, for example.

Agreed, I scour these pages for the local tiddlywinks results and nothing!

It’s blatant discrimination against a clearly popular and well patronised sport I tells ya.

Soccer *is* a popular sport, and reasonably well patronised. Whereas Tiddlywinks is your nickname around these parts.

No men’s soccer is a popular sport.

BelcoMan said :

poetix said :

chewy14 said :

poetix said :

chewy14 said :

poetix said :

Clearly, having cheerleaders (or whatever they are called), is quintessentially sexist. It’s just bogan burlesque.

It’s a shame women’s sport, you know, where they actually play, doesn’t get more attention though. I scour these e-pages in vain for updates on women’s soccer, for example.

Agreed, I scour these pages for the local tiddlywinks results and nothing!

It’s blatant discrimination against a clearly popular and well patronised sport I tells ya.

Soccer *is* a popular sport, and reasonably well patronised. Whereas Tiddlywinks is your nickname around these parts.

Soccer itself is a world wide popular sport as a whole. Women’s soccer in general, mmm, not so much. Local women’s soccer, even less so.

I don’t see local basketball results, I don’t see local table tennis results either. Should we he focusing on them too? What about the local reserve grade Rugby League comp, no coverage.

Now you can rail against how ‘unfair’ it is that people don’t like and support the same things you do or you can join the rest of us in a place called Reality.

Nah, name calling is so much more productive, hope it makes you feel better.

Fun guy! The name bit was a harmless joke.

There were about 800 at the women’s soccer at the weekend.

Not a huge crowd, but it does indicate an interest.

Whilst acknowledging your point, and the fact that I am a big fan of the round ball, we must also acknowledge that 99.76% of the ACT were not at that game so unfortunately, the disinterested here clearly hold the majority.

Right! And given that 2.5 million watch the state of origin, it means that 20 million people (or 90% of Australia) don’t watch it. Quite clearly the majority are disinterested so they had better stop covering that too.

“We have always had them but research among our fans indicates it might be time for a change,” Furner said.”

I didn’t know so many gay males went for the Raiders

Holden Caulfield said :

So who will help the players with their post-match “warm downs”?

Their dogs 😉

poetix said :

There were about 800 at the women’s soccer at the weekend.

Not a huge crowd, but it does indicate an interest.

Dear god, are there really that many lesbians in Canberra? Who’d have thought it!

poetix said :

chewy14 said :

poetix said :

chewy14 said :

poetix said :

Clearly, having cheerleaders (or whatever they are called), is quintessentially sexist. It’s just bogan burlesque.

It’s a shame women’s sport, you know, where they actually play, doesn’t get more attention though. I scour these e-pages in vain for updates on women’s soccer, for example.

Agreed, I scour these pages for the local tiddlywinks results and nothing!

It’s blatant discrimination against a clearly popular and well patronised sport I tells ya.

Soccer *is* a popular sport, and reasonably well patronised. Whereas Tiddlywinks is your nickname around these parts.

Soccer itself is a world wide popular sport as a whole. Women’s soccer in general, mmm, not so much. Local women’s soccer, even less so.

I don’t see local basketball results, I don’t see local table tennis results either. Should we he focusing on them too? What about the local reserve grade Rugby League comp, no coverage.

Now you can rail against how ‘unfair’ it is that people don’t like and support the same things you do or you can join the rest of us in a place called Reality.

Nah, name calling is so much more productive, hope it makes you feel better.

Fun guy! The name bit was a harmless joke.

There were about 800 at the women’s soccer at the weekend.

Not a huge crowd, but it does indicate an interest.

Whilst acknowledging your point, and the fact that I am a big fan of the round ball, we must also acknowledge that 99.76% of the ACT were not at that game so unfortunately, the disinterested here clearly hold the majority.

isaidno said :

Yeah, there’s no reason to focus on popular world sports when there is the minor provincial sport that is rugby league to cover.

I know right. I just can’t wait to hear more about the weekly exploits of Ma Long in the Chinese table tennis super league. One billion Chinese can’t be wrong.

chewy14 said :

poetix said :

chewy14 said :

poetix said :

Clearly, having cheerleaders (or whatever they are called), is quintessentially sexist. It’s just bogan burlesque.

It’s a shame women’s sport, you know, where they actually play, doesn’t get more attention though. I scour these e-pages in vain for updates on women’s soccer, for example.

Agreed, I scour these pages for the local tiddlywinks results and nothing!

It’s blatant discrimination against a clearly popular and well patronised sport I tells ya.

Soccer *is* a popular sport, and reasonably well patronised. Whereas Tiddlywinks is your nickname around these parts.

Soccer itself is a world wide popular sport as a whole. Women’s soccer in general, mmm, not so much. Local women’s soccer, even less so.

I don’t see local basketball results, I don’t see local table tennis results either. Should we he focusing on them too? What about the local reserve grade Rugby League comp, no coverage.

Now you can rail against how ‘unfair’ it is that people don’t like and support the same things you do or you can join the rest of us in a place called Reality.

Nah, name calling is so much more productive, hope it makes you feel better.

Yeah, there’s no reason to focus on popular world sports when there is the minor provincial sport that is rugby league to cover.

chewy14 said :

poetix said :

chewy14 said :

poetix said :

Clearly, having cheerleaders (or whatever they are called), is quintessentially sexist. It’s just bogan burlesque.

It’s a shame women’s sport, you know, where they actually play, doesn’t get more attention though. I scour these e-pages in vain for updates on women’s soccer, for example.

Agreed, I scour these pages for the local tiddlywinks results and nothing!

It’s blatant discrimination against a clearly popular and well patronised sport I tells ya.

Soccer *is* a popular sport, and reasonably well patronised. Whereas Tiddlywinks is your nickname around these parts.

Soccer itself is a world wide popular sport as a whole. Women’s soccer in general, mmm, not so much. Local women’s soccer, even less so.

I don’t see local basketball results, I don’t see local table tennis results either. Should we he focusing on them too? What about the local reserve grade Rugby League comp, no coverage.

Now you can rail against how ‘unfair’ it is that people don’t like and support the same things you do or you can join the rest of us in a place called Reality.

Nah, name calling is so much more productive, hope it makes you feel better.

Fun guy! The name bit was a harmless joke.

There were about 800 at the women’s soccer at the weekend. Not a huge crowd, but it does indicate an interest.

poetix said :

chewy14 said :

poetix said :

Clearly, having cheerleaders (or whatever they are called), is quintessentially sexist. It’s just bogan burlesque.

It’s a shame women’s sport, you know, where they actually play, doesn’t get more attention though. I scour these e-pages in vain for updates on women’s soccer, for example.

Agreed, I scour these pages for the local tiddlywinks results and nothing!

It’s blatant discrimination against a clearly popular and well patronised sport I tells ya.

Soccer *is* a popular sport, and reasonably well patronised. Whereas Tiddlywinks is your nickname around these parts.

Soccer itself is a world wide popular sport as a whole. Women’s soccer in general, mmm, not so much. Local women’s soccer, even less so.

I don’t see local basketball results, I don’t see local table tennis results either. Should we he focusing on them too? What about the local reserve grade Rugby League comp, no coverage.

Now you can rail against how ‘unfair’ it is that people don’t like and support the same things you do or you can join the rest of us in a place called Reality.

Nah, name calling is so much more productive, hope it makes you feel better.

dph said :

As if it wasn’t already outdated & taxing enough, it’s like they’re trying to make the game day experience as unappealing as possible.

“Hey guys, remember when we use to have fun stuff like game day entertainment, cheer girls, fireworks & atmosphere…? Yeah well we’ve gotten rid of all of that & increased ticket prices… Yeahhhh!!!”

Burlesque is just porn for fat people, surely?

poetix said :

Clearly, having cheerleaders (or whatever they are called), is quintessentially sexist. It’s just bogan burlesque.

I agree! Only middle-class hipster burlesque is acceptable in today’s society, how dare therse girls cater to a working class crowd!

As if it wasn’t already outdated & taxing enough, it’s like they’re trying to make the game day experience as unappealing as possible.

“Hey guys, remember when we use to have fun stuff like game day entertainment, cheer girls, fireworks & atmosphere…? Yeah well we’ve gotten rid of all of that & increased ticket prices… Yeahhhh!!!”

chewy14 said :

poetix said :

Clearly, having cheerleaders (or whatever they are called), is quintessentially sexist. It’s just bogan burlesque.

It’s a shame women’s sport, you know, where they actually play, doesn’t get more attention though. I scour these e-pages in vain for updates on women’s soccer, for example.

Agreed, I scour these pages for the local tiddlywinks results and nothing!

It’s blatant discrimination against a clearly popular and well patronised sport I tells ya.

Soccer *is* a popular sport, and reasonably well patronised. Whereas Tiddlywinks is your nickname around these parts.

MrPC said :

Ultimately the club would do better to get a better supply of wine and cheese on game day, with gluten free snacks….

You do realise that that we’re talking about rugby league here, not polo or the u/10 soccer in Toorak. To most Raiders fans wine is poncey foreign muck, cheese comes in individually wrapped slices and gluten free means eating the inside mush from a chiko roll and not the crunchy goodness on the outside.

BelcoMan said :

Pitchka said :

No big loss, they are all fricken ugly…

At what point does obvious Troll become too obvious?

As for the Raiderettes, let them stay. They do take the focus of the dismal performances of the “Main Event”

Dont stress, they can pick up jobs at the Summernats…….

poetix said :

Clearly, having cheerleaders (or whatever they are called), is quintessentially sexist. It’s just bogan burlesque.

It’s a shame women’s sport, you know, where they actually play, doesn’t get more attention though. I scour these e-pages in vain for updates on women’s soccer, for example.

Agreed, I scour these pages for the local tiddlywinks results and nothing!

It’s blatant discrimination against a clearly popular and well patronised sport I tells ya.

Pitchka said :

No big loss, they are all fricken ugly…

At what point does obvious Troll become too obvious?

As for the Raiderettes, let them stay. They do take the focus of the dismal performances of the “Main Event”

poetix said :

Clearly, having cheerleaders (or whatever they are called), is quintessentially sexist. It’s just bogan burlesque.

It’s a shame women’s sport, you know, where they actually play, doesn’t get more attention though. I scour these e-pages in vain for updates on women’s soccer, for example.

Me too, I often find myself staying up ’til 3:30am just to be able to watch the WNBL on the ABC. I think they also play it at a more reasonable time on Saturday afternoon but I usually work on Saturdays.

NOOOOOOI!!!

I hope this isn’t a groundswell movement by all NRL clubs. Where would the Footy Show be without the girls adding to the colour, to the vibrance, to the sheer entertainment on my screen every Thursday night. We’d have to resort to watching the has-beens ramble on about the mundane business of the game.

Why not give them more important roles. Use THEM as role models. Feature THEM at season launch events. They’re less likely to bring the game into disrepute and feature in sex scandals or domestic violence charges.

So who will help the players with their post-match “warm downs”?

Ok, who was this “research” conducted amongst, certainly not amongst members.

Any Raiders fans here been asked for their views? Thought not.

Stinks to high heaven of PC to me. Ah well, just another nail in the Raiders coffin.

When Don Furner states “it is cold” and “the cost” is he giving reasons why fans should not bother turning up to a game?

No big loss, they are all fricken ugly…

Clearly, having cheerleaders (or whatever they are called), is quintessentially sexist. It’s just bogan burlesque.

It’s a shame women’s sport, you know, where they actually play, doesn’t get more attention though. I scour these e-pages in vain for updates on women’s soccer, for example.

CrocodileGandhi said :

Does anybody actually watch them? I’ve been a season ticket holder for years and have never heard more than the lightest smattering of applause for them. The only time I’ve ever seen any genuine interest is when one of them falls over.

That gave me my first giggle of the day!! Cheers 😀

I won’t say what my partner says about the Raiderettes lest I get chased out of here…but a similar thing is happening in Sydney with some NRL franchises opting to get rid of or change the role of their cheerleaders

If the Raiderettes were actually entertaining and could dance – I’d say keep them.

Not that I bothered to renew my membership given my seats were magically $60 more expensive than this year with their new restructure.

Ros Kelly as patron of the Raiders in 1993 wanted to get rid of the Raiderettes. She told a reporter from the Crimes “I loathe them”. MacIntyre had to make an announcement that the Raiderettes would stay but the club had to modify their entertainment due to legal action from a participant in a goal kicking contest.

MrPC said :

If they had said it was about female exploitation they’d have at least been honest.

The women involved clearly knew about the weather and the existence of night games. The cost is negligible. Neither of those are valid reasons.

IMHO the era when men could get away with looking at young women dancing in skimpy little costumes and feel excited is over. The world has moved on.

The men that haven’t moved on in that regard can’t afford tickets, and even if they could, they would rather watch the game on the Plasma TV they got on 48 months Interest Free at Harvey Norman (despite the existence of LCD and LED TVs), using that Foxtel subscription that keeps bouncing their credit card up to its limit every month.

Ultimately the club would do better to get a better supply of wine and cheese on game day, with gluten free snacks, and maybe a new stadium somewhere along the new Light Rail line (on the taxpayers dollar of course).

LOL, MRPC +1.

If only the headline had read ‘Raiders facing the axe’… well we can all hope.

How about they ditch the raiders and just have the raiderettes perform. It would be a lot cheaper and more entertaining. Skill levels would be similar, and they could get into bar fights anytime they like.

MrPC said :

Ultimately the club would do better to get a better supply of wine and cheese on game day, with gluten free snacks, and maybe a new stadium somewhere along the new Light Rail line (on the taxpayers dollar of course).

So the Raiders should join the AFL?

Does anybody actually watch them? I’ve been a season ticket holder for years and have never heard more than the lightest smattering of applause for them. The only time I’ve ever seen any genuine interest is when one of them falls over.

Considering the indiscretions over the last few years at the Raiders, I find it laughable that they’re looking at removing one of the actual elements of game day that doesn’t bring them bad press.

I take my 4yo daughter to game days and they, for one, are great ambassadors, and always have time to talk to her and other children.

Research from fans, I’m calling shenanigans on that. The girls do no harm, and actually entertain the remaining few before the game and at halftime that are not lining up for Food, the loo or at the bar.

The Raiderettes are usually the most entertaining part of often dismal winter experiences at Canberra Stadium, particularly since they stopped getting people to catch footballs in milk crates….

If they had said it was about female exploitation they’d have at least been honest.

The women involved clearly knew about the weather and the existence of night games. The cost is negligible. Neither of those are valid reasons.

IMHO the era when men could get away with looking at young women dancing in skimpy little costumes and feel excited is over. The world has moved on.

The men that haven’t moved on in that regard can’t afford tickets, and even if they could, they would rather watch the game on the Plasma TV they got on 48 months Interest Free at Harvey Norman (despite the existence of LCD and LED TVs), using that Foxtel subscription that keeps bouncing their credit card up to its limit every month.

Ultimately the club would do better to get a better supply of wine and cheese on game day, with gluten free snacks, and maybe a new stadium somewhere along the new Light Rail line (on the taxpayers dollar of course).