Its bizarre that the league table itself is the most competitive I can remember, with only Saints and Catalan not having something to play for, and Saints of course still may not win the title anyway...yet I agree with the feeling of apathy.
But agree with others that the standard nas gone down, the teams of the early and mid 00s would walk all over most of the current league. Englands best players going to the NRL has had an effect (though is great for the National team) as has the decline in quality of NRL imports (a few better ones this year though such as Hastings and Austin)
Too many structure chsnges havent helped, a few casual fans I know were baffled by the Super8s, you had situations like last year where Hull had gone months without a win but were 'safe' yet Rovers were winning but still in danger. I also hated the franchising era as it made some teams including ours lazy. Current format is better but woukd prefer 14 teams with no loop fixtures.
For Hull specifically it doesnt help that we keep promising and not delivering, and the KCOM is a big place to fill and the atmosphere is getting steadily worse. Id like to see the club come up with some new matchday ideas for 2020, the announcer used to introduce the stands and try and whip the crowd up, now we just have the same music booming out that you cant even talk over never mind sing over. I also think they should look at reopening the East/North corner as an unreserved area at cheaper prices. 'Chav corner' had its critics but at lesst they sung.
Agree with most of that, although Catalans do still have something to play for. I do think we suffer from the fact that 3 of the 4 the dominant forces are all within spitting distance of each other and there is no real prospect of this changing. I do wonder as well whether the fanbase is ageing and that presents a risk that the sport will die out, would be interested to see the stats on this. The KCOM is a great facility but simply too big for us, and, derbies like Good Friday this year apart, the atmosphere is poor.
"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the (Dark) Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."
The RFL have let control over the game to slip through their fingers. Grass roots rugby is largely left to its own devices and the international game is a joke. Kick and clap have built a global presence with their international set up. All we can manage is some stupid notion of a transatlantic competition! I despair!
Agree with most of what is said on here. AS a Bradford supporter we have had our share of troubles lately and looking at our current position I am not alone in feeling that if we go under then so what. I am just grateful we had our golden time when SL was in it's infancy and also it's hay-day. I think the first pointer of SL exclusivity was when we were fined our Sky money for going into admin. It could have been put into grass roots rugby but the SL clubs decided to split it amongst themselves. As some have said if you take Saints out of the equation the competition at top and bottom has never been closer and yet interest has fallen.
'Thus I am tormented by my curiosity and humbled by my ignorance.' from History of an Old Bramin, The New York Mirror (A Weekly Journal Devoted to Literature and the Fine Arts), February 16th 1833.
Ain't that the truth - those of us of a certain age are such miserabilists Is that a word?
It is and it is apposite.
I recently crossed the line from being somebody with some grey hair to somebody with some brown hair, and feel that the last great popular music album was released in 1994.
The ageing fan base is an interesting issue - though that possibly reflects an ageing population and other economic factors.
The communities that birthed and built RL, while never prosperous, have been in relative economic decline for the best part of 40 years. Despite that we now have a full-time sport, mostly played in modern stadia (in the top flight), generally played in front of bigger crowds (per game) than then. There are problems, and the sport shouldn’t be complacent, but there always have been. There’s a BBC documentary from 50 years ago that is worth a view. It is called The Game That Got Away.
I recently crossed the line from being somebody with some grey hair to somebody with some brown hair, and feel that the last great popular music album was released in 1994.
The ageing fan base is an interesting issue - though that possibly reflects an ageing population and other economic factors.
The communities that birthed and built RL, while never prosperous, have been in relative economic decline for the best part of 40 years. Despite that we now have a full-time sport, mostly played in modern stadia (in the top flight), generally played in front of bigger crowds (per game) than then. There are problems, and the sport shouldn’t be complacent, but there always have been. There’s a BBC documentary from 50 years ago that is worth a view. It is called The Game That Got Away.
Not going to lie, I had to look up apposite.
Would be interested in stats over time, both generally and by club. I remember the general Framing the Future era and the threat of mergers etc - felt like a moment of reappraisal - threats and opportunities. Better facilities, salary cap and summer rugby are big positives, but we have a dominant group of clubs no one else can break into. I hope Toronto get up and make a fist of it as Catalans have as we need some new angles.
I am a Wire fan & i don't have sky sports or films or anything like ,just sports mix included in my package. When you look at sky's exclusive coverage ,they have actually marginalised rugby league & we could do with at least some free to air coverage ,probably Championship downwards ,to try & spread the game to a wider audience. Rugby Union has about 4 different fta tv companies showing different competitions. Look at the sponsorship in RU ,they are mostly blue chip companies the heads of which probably went to school with the top RU bods ,whereas we have flat cap sponsorship.
I am a Wire fan & i don't have sky sports or films or anything like ,just sports mix included in my package. When you look at sky's exclusive coverage ,they have actually marginalised rugby league & we could do with at least some free to air coverage ,probably Championship downwards ,to try & spread the game to a wider audience. Rugby Union has about 4 different fta tv companies showing different competitions. Look at the sponsorship in RU ,they are mostly blue chip companies the heads of which probably went to school with the top RU bods ,whereas we have flat cap sponsorship.
The Championship would be a great comp for free to air TV. There are some really decent teams in there, and the style of rugby is less rigid and predictable than Super League.
I do think the sport had more skill and flair when it was part time,but having said that I would still much rather watch rl than ru[ an upperclass sport that would be laughed at if it was the working class version of rugby] or football which ive never seen a game since the 70s.
'Thus I am tormented by my curiosity and humbled by my ignorance.' from History of an Old Bramin, The New York Mirror (A Weekly Journal Devoted to Literature and the Fine Arts), February 16th 1833.
I am a Wire fan & i don't have sky sports or films or anything like ,just sports mix included in my package. When you look at sky's exclusive coverage ,they have actually marginalised rugby league & we could do with at least some free to air coverage ,probably Championship downwards ,to try & spread the game to a wider audience. Rugby Union has about 4 different fta tv companies showing different competitions. Look at the sponsorship in RU ,they are mostly blue chip companies the heads of which probably went to school with the top RU bods ,whereas we have flat cap sponsorship.
Are any of those fta RU deals for competitions below the top tier? That I don’t know is maybe a sign that my awareness hasn’t been raised much.
Covering sports events isn’t cheap for traditional broadcasters, so they would need to know there is an audience, even if the rights were more or less given away. Streaming seems to be the way things are going for niche markets. And as audiences fragment, perhaps nearly all audiences will be niche.
Fta stuff, to create interest has to be big ticket imo. Test Matches, World Cups, finals. Pretty much as it is in fairness.
If we’re blaming poor management and oversight (and goodness knows there has been some of that), how much better a state should RL be in? Realistically and bearing in mind the sport’s history? When was the golden age (if you think it coincides with a glorious era for your own club, or your own youth maybe that is why, btw)?
'Thus I am tormented by my curiosity and humbled by my ignorance.' from History of an Old Bramin, The New York Mirror (A Weekly Journal Devoted to Literature and the Fine Arts), February 16th 1833.
The Championship would be a great comp for free to air TV. There are some really decent teams in there, and the style of rugby is less rigid and predictable than Super League.