I don't see what the problem is Peach, it's true. Rugby had a huge status around World Cup time.
You might be living in a slightly sheltered, Eastern-Australia-centric world if you think that even for ONE moment League is the top football code in Australia.
I think of it like this, and I include Soccer because its a winter sport, though the A-League runs at a bizarre time. In terms of Australia-wide popularity, this is around the mark:
1) Soccer
2) AFL
3) League
4) Union
League and Union are flippable, but if Union fixes up the penalty-taking element that ruins footy games, there is every chance League will become just an east-coast thing and Union much greater.
Union is popular in Melbourne and Perth. They take Wallaby games there, and the ARL never has bothered will big matches. The Storm, crowd-wise, are a joke. In fact, crowd-wise, League is a joke - AFL manages to attract 35 000 - up to 60 000 or 70 000 for MCG and SCG club games. 1500 hundred at the game last night, with most averaging 14 000 if lucky.
The problem is with the League management. Nothing's really changed. In my opinion, Melbourne was a good step, but the issue lies in the lack of loyalty - due to the salary cap. Once a player gets good, he moves on to another club. League, then, won't have the level of 'die hard' AFL fans. Watch the AFL Footy Show. These people (the audience) are 'overtly' passionate when it comes to their team, much more than most leaguies on the NRL Footy Show. It's much harder to 'love' a club. Take Richmond, for example
Finally, the thing that union has in its favour is that it carries a glamourous image. The Super 14 is an international comp and League can't come close to that. League has also hung onto its working class image and lack of decent grounds (which, I, might I add love about our game) and its then less accessible. Thuggery in the junior ranks mean that mothers won't want sons playing, and less people get into the game. Union has less players, but is EXPANDING in WA and Melbourne. League is not expanding in any market, bar the Gold Coast. It's simply becoming a niche and the game's managers haven't done enough at grass-roots level to make it accessible. League is losing the war against its image when Soccer is now fighting back. We can't rely on union to stay down, either. AFL will always be huge in 60% of Australian households.
The thing League has going for it, and this is just about it, is the game itself. Great, flexible game. And the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Oh, and Greg Bird.