: Fri Sep 18, 2009 9:44 am
Don't worry about it Deardo... what's the saying recently introduced on here by one of our esteemed board colleagues..
Hated or Adored but never Ignored... about sums it up really.
Unfortunately I think that the franchise system has a lot to answer for in terms of new found levels of rivalry between fans and club officials. When it was simply a matter of performing well in a competition there was banter. Lovely, know where you are banter but now that other criteria matter and the chances for 'success' are significantly reduced and promotion takes on greater importance the rivalry between competing clubs has intensified dramatically.
Look at the stuff that flies around because of Celtic.. if they had won promotion by winning the Grand Final fairly then the nonsense that currently exists between the two sets of fans wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as it is. Instead because they were cherry picked it breeds contempt that expansion is seemingly preferred over existing clubs and we are left to worry about our own future survival which leads to anger. If it had been done correctly there would not be a fan in any league that was not happy that RL was flourishing in a new territory. (If indeed it was!)
Bring back P&R and things would improve dramatically.