Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:03 pm  

I thought you used to watch Wigan as a kid. Everyone's entitled to an opinion. That's the beauty of a forum. For example you didn't think Iain Thornley cut the mustard in union. I had a different opinion, largely based on him making the Championship Team of the Year.
I take your point, with regard to those that profess to find union the perfect cure for insomnia, but are on this particular thread every other hour. Personally I have no time for international soccer, which is why I haven't been following the European Championships.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:12 am  

I did watch Wigan, and Orrell too, we must have been around the same place same time. I just didn't enjoy league as much.

Although, to totally contradict myself, club rugby in the amateur days was truly awful to watch. It was a players game then

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:40 am  

I started watching Wigan in 1985 and I went to Edge Hall Road from 1986 to 1996. Maybe we stood next to each other on more than one occasion

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Mon Jul 02, 2012 3:20 pm  

The RFU and the championship clubs are also set to hold further negotiations this week in an attempt to resolve the dispute over funding. The Championship clubs last week threatened legal action against the governing body for failing to deliver "promised funding" of just over £2.3 million. The RFU says the funding schedule given to the clubs in 2008 was based on estimated figures, not guaranteed payments. First division London Irish sign third division rugby league player Waratahs centre Tom Carter set to jump ship and join NRL Club Aironi II name Pro12 squad

The RFU and the championship clubs are also set to hold further negotiations this week in an attempt to resolve the dispute over funding. The Championship clubs last week threatened legal action against the governing body for failing to deliver "promised funding" of just over £2.3 million. The RFU says the funding schedule given to the clubs in 2008 was based on estimated figures, not guaranteed payments. First division London Irish sign third division rugby league player Waratahs centre Tom Carter set to jump ship and join NRL Club Aironi II name Pro12 squad

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:32 pm  

Catalancs wrote: And your boys, Wasps, look to have found a buyer. yeah great news and just the sort of money man needed to get the old club out of the hole, for the moment anyway ! just wonder how many years he will be prepared to fund the £2 million annual losses ? http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/ju ... s-takeover just the sort of person required at Odsal.....

Catalancs wrote: And your boys, Wasps, look to have found a buyer. yeah great news and just the sort of money man needed to get the old club out of the hole, for the moment anyway ! just wonder how many years he will be prepared to fund the £2 million annual losses ? http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/ju ... s-takeover just the sort of person required at Odsal.....

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:09 pm  

keighley1 wrote:

It s true. Union cannot claim to be a national game in England with only one team north of Northampton and nothing on the Eastern side of the country north of Reading.

The same can be argued of football, half of the teams come from three cities. No team west of Reading and south of Birmingham. No team in the whole of the Yorkshire counties. The PL title only been won once by a team outside London or Manchester. Only one team East of Bedford. Now are we going to say football is not a national game? Of course not because sport is about more than the elite level competition. Same criteria can be applied to cricket.

Look below the elite competition. Best guide would be to go to any town in the England and see if the have at least one Football/RU/Cricket club that puts out more than one team.

RU is a mirror image of RL geographically. I can see Newcastle and Leeds going belly up if they don t get promotion pretty soon.

I suggest you take a closer look at the map. Broncos aside all English SL clubs are contained within 30 mile band latitude across England with no club South of Warrington and North of Leeds. Leicester is distinctly north of Northamption as is Salford. Arguably the only team situated along the M4 are Reading and Bath. The M4 Argument would be better applied to Welsh RU. Regarding Newcastle and Leeds as I understand it Leeds are more financially stable than when they were in the Premiership. Bristol were in worse shape than Newcastle financially when they got relegated and have recovered without too much fuss. It more comes down to having the right backers, compare Bradford with the likes of Widnes, Wakefield, Wasps, Bath.
If Wasps had been relegated I would have made them a far better candidate to go under.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:21 pm  

Alda wrote:

Don't often come on here, and I may have said it before, but why is it that whenever there is a big union game there are two or three on here banging on about how dull it is, and how the union marketing must be great to attract so many deluded fools.

Similar reasons Wigan board gets plenty of Saints fans on it, Bradford fans on the Leeds board and same applies to Hull/HKR. People will see what they want to see, essentially ignoring things that contradict the way they want to see things, that is human nature. Look what happens when the EU/immigration/left-right politics are discussed on the "any other business" board the behavior is no different if anything it is even more extreme.

I like watching good rucking and powerful mauling. I don't mind if my team wins through penalties and I thought the Wales-Australia games were absorbing and exciting. But then, I was brought up on union and have played, coached and reffed it, so understand some of the complex twiddly laws.
I know there are flaws, the scrum for one, but I like it.

But if you were brought up in a blue collar environment in Leeds or Hull you would behaved the same way as those people do. Most criticism of RU is from a RL perspective and vice versa.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Tue Jul 03, 2012 10:17 pm  

Catalancs wrote: First division London Irish sign third division rugby league player Is Martin Offiah's job title, players agent, turd polisher or master magician? Worrincy will do OK in Union.....what he lacks in skill he more than makes up for in effort...

Catalancs wrote: First division London Irish sign third division rugby league player Is Martin Offiah's job title, players agent, turd polisher or master magician? Worrincy will do OK in Union.....what he lacks in skill he more than makes up for in effort...

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Thu Jul 05, 2012 8:20 pm  

Northampton Saints sign Dominic Waldouck from Wasps

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:02 am  

Wee issue to resolve in Illawarra rugby union

Wee issue to resolve in Illawarra rugby union