G’day Subscribers,
You’ll have noticed a downturn in content over the last week or two at Rugby League Writers. The postponement of the Rugby League World Cup and NRLW season didn’t come at a great time for a Rugby League website entering its first off-season with a subscription offering…
Nonetheless, we’ve pushed out season reviews for all 16 NRL clubs which can be found here.
I also spent some time looking into what Luke Metcalf might be able to offer the New Zealand Warriors in 2023 here.
We’re going to take a week or so away from rugby league but have a few things planned for the summer. Some RLW-style breakdowns of classic matches, a weekly newsletter covering the latest news so you don’t need to wade through the rubbish that pops up at this time of the year, some video breakdowns and possibly a venture into the podcast world are also on the list. If you’ve got anything you’d like us to cover for Premium members over the next two months you can get in touch here.
We ticked up over 400 total subscribers just before the NRL Grand Final and are approaching 100 at the Premium level. The number of Premium subscribers, in particular, is more than we anticipated when kicking this off in March. We didn’t have too much of an idea on how many views we’d generate across the season but are very pleased with the 50,000+ visitors we did get to the site.
The primary reason for this message is to thank you for your support this year and provide you with a bit of an update on the site overall.
The first year as a subscription site was always going to be a tough slog and we’ve learned a few things along the way.
Turning readers into subscribers is very hard. It’s not unexpected and is particularly difficult in the rugby league media landscape. Still, we’re trying new things and looking to promote a more trustworthy brand behind a paywall.
Comments get clicks. It’s no secret that controversial articles of any theme generate the most clicks. However, its comments on social media generated by the controversy that keep the stories at the top of the pile. For us, we don’t apply clickbaity headlines to articles or write deliberately controversial pieces. Most people read our breakdowns and previews, we assume they enjoy it, and click out of it. A lot of people don’t comment anything – positive or negative – on social media but if you do see something from us, perhaps tag a friend? Every little bit helps.
More subscribers = More content. It’s fairly simple. Oscar and I both fit RLW around other jobs with the dream of this website becoming something we can dedicate all of our time towards. The more subscribers we can attract, the more time we can spend breaking down the greatest game of all. We also hope to add other contributors that can offer a different experience, but the best in the business come at a cost.
We want to do it all again next year. We’re two years into the Rugby League Writers experience now and are already preparing for a third. Again, if you’ve got any suggestions on how we can improve the site or any ideas or segments you might want to see in 2022 you can send them in here.
Thank you. Free members, Premium members, regular readers, everybody, thanks for getting behind something that is a little bit different for the rugby league media landscape. It’s still early days for us and we appreciate everybody that has come to the party early.
That’s us for 2021. Our 2022 NRL season will kick off in a week or two. Until then, you can support the site and sign up for a Premium membership using promo code NRL2022 for free access until the season kicks off.
Thanks heaps,
Jason
#LetsGoneWarriors