Twickernam 7's in 96 with Wigan beating Wasps, on the telly on a saturday afternoon, I think it was on during Euro 96.

Ok its union (theoretically) but it was a League on the BBC on a staurday afternoon and certainly created some profile. I remember watching it and I didn't even follow league at the time.

Have to agree about the RU factor. Like it or not RU is a more interesting product than it was in the 90s. It is bigger and as a result is more of a money making machine than it was. The Heineken cup is a huge competition much bigger than SL ( the rest of the RU leagues are pretty crap though).


This means that RL and particularly at an international level is finding it hard to get any publicity.

There is only one domestic sport in this country that gets big publicity and that is football. Everyting else gets scraps. The only difference is Sport that has an international dimension can sometimes break into that. Without an international dimension RL will whither. Al those who knock Crusaders, catalans and expansion should bear that in mind.

That was becuase certain forward thinking RU types USED Wigan and RL to shock the RU dinosaurs into making changes.

It was a glorious 15 minutes of fame for Wigan and RL but potentially undermined the rest of RL becuase it gave our big competitors a wake up call which they have siezed with two hands.


It then took another 14 years for RL to wake up with a salary cap being policed, franchising, expansion and everything else that goes with it.

I think you are probably right. Someone made a point about wrestling. In the 70's BBC had a monopoly on sports coverage so ITV World of Sport coverage some really obscure sports, wrestling, speedway, stock car racing, I can even remember Eddie Kidd in some form of competitive motorbike jumping event.

It was prime time TV and although admittedly some have fallen by the wayside, look at where wrestling is today. It was 'Live from Batley Leisure Centre' with cry baby Jim breaks and some fat bloke from god knows where. Look at it today. Its top stars are now huge celebrities and cross over into movie stars.

We have 'stars' from years ago, Hanley, Offiah, Davies, but nobody from the general public knows any of the current players.

Go back to raiding RU if we want 90's success. Wasn't the 90's when:
Tait, Devereux, Gibbs, Davies, Offiah, Bishop etc were in the GB team?
wonder how close we would have been to Australia without them?

the club game today is light years ahead of the 90s

average crowds have doubled or more, many clubs have new grounds.

the competition is becomming more even and more good local talent is coming through

the success of the early 90s was down to no salary cap allowing wigan to amass the best players

this wasnt sustainable as wigan and leeds both almost went broke

But the argument is whether the competition is more even now because poor sides have got better or whether it is because the top sides aren't as good?

Then that's a misguided argument. it's clear that one major reason that the competition is more even now is that it's between 14 teams who are all full-time professional.

Agree that all clubs FT is a good thing but I can't help but think that the game is more even because the quality of the game is less than that 10-20 years ago. Success is punished and mediocrity is rewarded. How many times have we seen Grand Final winning teams having to let go players especially young players, who they can't afford increases in wages that their success should bring?

Does that really happen? I can't recall any outcry that Saints or Leeds (or anyone) have had to let go particular star players because they can't fit them into the cap. Of course players do leave every club but there are many reasons for that.

Are the same people saying that the mid 90's were better than now the same people moaning that Cardiff will be cold in february?

I think they're are some things from both eras that stand out. The "experience" nowadays is a lot better, facilities are better and at most grounds pre/post match entertainment is better (some is better than the match to be fair)

But you can't get away from the fact that the games profile is a tenth of what it was despite "expansion", the international scene is a joke at times, the number of mediocre imports is hugely inflated to what it was and we no longer have the number of "star" names/characters in the game that we had previously.

I don't watch RU but suspect that there isn't a long list of quality English backs that would slot straight into RL anymore. It comes back to the argument about the dominance of football.

you must be watching a different game to me.

I would love to know how you've figured out that "fact".

Its media profile is plainly less than what it was. Pages in national newspapers have been replaced with column inches.

Other than in the lead-up to major finals or when its players have been involved in off-field scandals, when has RL ever had "pages in national newspapers"?

Certainly not on a regular basis, and certainly not since I started watching the game in the late 70s.

There was always proper match reports and pre game analysis in the vast majority of the major papers. With the Times now getting rid of their RL correspondent i don't believe any national newspaper has a full-time RL person in their ranks anymore just using copy and freelance.

It used to get quite a lot of coverage in the northern editions of the red tops, much more than it does now.

Yes, but that space is now being taken up by football, football and more football. As has been said, football now dominates every sport in this country, even during it's off season.

And no matter the fact that the national team has only ever won one major final, and only ever reached a semi-final one other time.

Another factor, apart from the ludicrous growth of football since its spread to pretty well every TV channel, is the fact that newspapers have been on a bout of sustained cost and staff cutting for a good 20 years now.

Regionalised editions contain far less differences than they used to - because all regional offices have been cut back on in favour of freelances and stringers - and the concentration of printing (nearly all papers are now printed by one company) leaves much less flexibility in edition times.

The RFL has many powers, but it doesn't actually control that.

But what came first the cuts leading to a lack of interest in the game from the media or cuts because of the lack of interest.

I just believe if the game had been managed/marketed better than it has then its profile would be bigger/better than it currently is.

10 years ago (pre salary cap) Andy Hay, Darren Fleary, Scott Naylor, Chev Walker and Tony Smith were helping England to a 6-49 flogging at home to NZ in the world cup. Paul Deacon was also playing stand off and Paul Wellens was on the wing.

I think I'll take today's standards thanks.