Re: When did the sport peak as a spectacle? : Mon Aug 23, 2021 2:55 pm  

Bullseye wrote:

As a sport I think the early 90s was the era when we seemed to get the most national coverage. Having a regular international programme helped as did having a resurgent GB side. The game on the field was attractive to watch too. It could be intense but it was also quick and open with different sides playing more off the cuff. Since then the game became more structured and predictable as players got fitter and better organised. So if you compare the game in 1992 with now they look very different and there's no doubt today's professionals are fitter and better organised but the spectacle isn't as good IMO.

I'd agree with this in part, but then the early '90s were when I was growing up watching the sport and that's what almost everyone defaults to as the mythical golden era in the end.

However the "regular international programme" bit - we've never had an international programme like we have the past couple of decades. At the end of almost every season we've had games and most of the time televised live on the BBC.

Re: When did the sport peak as a spectacle? : Mon Aug 23, 2021 3:26 pm  

It's always rose-tinted glasses this kind of thing isn't it? Like we remember the Golden Generation as almost mythical now, but the reality was there were plenty of poor performances and poor losses in there amongst the good bits - and they never really dominated the league like I felt they should have/the club should have.

We remember the tries and the highlights reels rather than the poor decisions and dropped balls don't we?

However... even though we weren't winning then, I'd give a shout out to the time where Wigan had Offiah, Edwards, Tuigamala, Farrell and the likes. Some great players. It was a time where RL could sign some of the best talent from RU, and some good talent from Australia/NZ. Both those worms have turned.

Some of the epic Leeds/Saints battles of our golden time were brilliant too. Actually two of my favourite games were semis against Saints.

Maybe our peak is ahead of us. The sport has been through/is going through an existential crisis - weakened before COVID struck and then hammer blows since. The sport is driven by us, spectators and fans. Our numbers dictate TV deals and sponsorship. Too many happy to talk our way into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Be positive about the game and support where you can.

Re: When did the sport peak as a spectacle? : Mon Aug 23, 2021 6:46 pm  

If Wigan are going to beat anyone in this dodgy patch you can bet it'll be us

Re: When did the sport peak as a spectacle? : Mon Aug 23, 2021 10:37 pm  

I have very fond memories of 13 in a row in 2000, that was when I started going to home and away matches. But the mid 2000s was my favourite, when Danny McGuire was scoring for fun, the roar of the crowd whenever he was in clear air. I think he got injured and that pace he initially had was never back (he was still great though).
There was also that genuine belief that GB could actually beat the Aussies, I mean we never did when it mattered, but the last Ashes tour and the tri nations finals when we had beaten them in the group stage, it just felt so close.
When I look at the game today, we seem farther away from an important international win than I have seen in my time watching the game, and the quality of the Leeds squad when compared to the late 2000s is just absolutely pathetic. I just can't justify paying to see such a poor quality product, when it was so recent that we had a world class team.

Re: When did the sport peak as a spectacle? : Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:25 am  

tomlufc wrote:

I don't know if it was just because I was young but the early 2000s felt so exciting and more importantly it felt like every match mattered and the crowds were up for it. I remember the excitement of the build up to a Bradford derby and genuinely being excited and how much it mattered (which was the Bulls game where we absolutely threw it away with a ball into touch then they got the ball from two kick offs in a row I think? From Deacon IIRC).

For me personally the quality on the pitch doesn't have to be the best but what I find important is that stadiums aren't half empty, crowds are loud and actually care and it actually feels like an event worth winning. Maybe it's just nostalgia as a young kid, but it just felt big.

This sounds up my feelings too.

Re: When did the sport peak as a spectacle? : Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:26 am  

Somewhere in the mid 2000s between when the games defences were like a dogs hind leg in the 90s and before(and Konrad Hurrell would have been considered structured and organised in his approach) and the overly sanitised WWE of the modern game.

Re: When did the sport peak as a spectacle? : Tue Aug 24, 2021 7:09 am  

Can we rename this thread "cognitive bias and rosy retrospection"?