Rugby union have changed their rules yet again so as to reduce the stop/start. They still have a long way to go. They changed the rules to legitimise 'feeding' the scrum, thete are quite a few die hards saying they might as well get rid of the scrum. That penalty kicks inside x distance should be banned that they want ball handling tries and all the other things RL has. In fact one commented they should go to 13 players and some agreed.
If you think everything in RU is rosy think again, on the field they still have major issues with concussions not to mention how much time is wasted/spent doing nothing.

Sure, off the field they've had professional people doing the business for decades, using the old boy network to grab a foithold and pushed on massively from there. THAT is the massive diff. We're run by corner shop Arkwright's and Delbert Trotter spuvs.

See. This is just complete fantasy that "they have a long way to go" England ru could put 4-5 teams out that are more skilful..fact. Let's just ignore NZ and the other 20 countries that play both codes because RU are head and shoulders above RL talent wise. But yeah, that leaves the east cost of Aus that is better than RU. 10 years ago RL was better to watch. These days RU is far more exciting to watch

Regards

King James

That's because Cas have been the only entertaining team to watch really.

All I can say is, It's a great time to be a Hull FC fan, we have a team to be proud of at the moment, so I ain't complaining.

And a World cup at the end of the season is something to look forward to, I just hope we show faith in our own and don't pick any Aussies, but I don't hold too much hope on that.

The first thing I'd sort out in our game is that we all start playing with the same rules. Either a video ref at all games or none. You shouldn't have a league where some games are played with different rules. That would solve a lot of problems for a kick-off.

This is very true. The NRL was previously owned (50% I think) by Fox Sports. When tv contracts were negotiated, they negotiated with themselves and ended up paying very little for the NRL.

Super League benefited from this attracting some of the best overseas players as we could beat what they could earn in the NRL. Just look at all the Kiwi internationals that used to play Super League, there are now none.

Fox Sports no longer own any share in the NRL, as a result tv revenue is massively up, and along with it the salary cap. We will never be able to complete financially with the NRL, the game over there is massive. That era is never coming back. Not only do we not have Kiwi internationals in Super League, we don't have Englands best internationals either. We just have to accept Super League will be a lower standard and do the best we can with it.

You want us all to play to the same rules, apart from the rules on international eligibility then.

He's right, compared to 20 years ago the spectacle on the pitch is boring, 26 robots who do the same thing week after week, in the same patch of grass, 1 or 2 apart, no flair players anymore cos everyone has to work to a set structure, plus wrestling and milking penalties have turned the game into a farce.

I never used to miss a live game on TV, nowadays i don't even know who's playing on the TV games.

I'd rather spend £22 to watch RL than any Premier League game.
Having said that, in terms of income/ sponsorship, we have dropped so far behind Union and the NRL, in a relatively short space of time, it's unlikely that we will ever catch up.
There needs to be some serious though on where the game is heading and how it intends to get there.

The new structure, was badly sold and although this season has had a real competitive edge, in both the Super 8's and Middle 8's, the wider public just dont get it and they struggle to understand the format and in terms of improving the "draw" of the sport, it has failed quite spectacularly.
Sky seem to have done quite well out of the sport but, they are still getting us on the cheap.

Maybe if Toronto prosper in the Championship, we should think about borrowing their publicity machine, which has done remarkably well to generate interest in a "new" sport over there.

Many SL clubs would be delighted with their supporter numbers and they've started from zero.

Some complete rubbish posted on this thread , the usual " well we had Bradford and we've ruined them " , no WE haven't , Bradford have ruined Bradford , and until Bradford council sort out the issue of Odsal , Bradford will never be " Bradford " again

' London ' ? , nobody's interested in London , so what do people want ? The RFL/SKY to buy and run London at 2/3/4 times the cost of anybody else ? ' will that make people in London interested in London ?

The structure ? , nothing wrong with the structure , it is cut throat yes , but sport IS cut throat , those best/luckyest/strongest rise to the top , those that learn and improve get better , those that don't lose out

Yes Aussie coaches coming to this country bringing with them their boring wrestling tactics have made the sport less attractive , solution , sort out the rules so accepted ' cheating ' is outlawed

Sorry Tony , if you've lost the love of the game , then leave , go and be properly bored in Union , you will be paid better , but bored to tears

It might make large sponsors interested which may benefit the greater sport, but no keep your teams within a 4 mile radius.

It's a simple question wire-quin , how long do you require ? , and how much money ?

To produce a London based SL club that has a suitable ' home ' ( not necessarily own it , just have it available long term , say 20 years ) to play at and can draw enough home supporters to make it sustainable in your opinion ?

I'd say 100 million pounds investment over 15 years , does the sport have that , just for London ?

Maybe one of the problem is people not buying in to this faux expansion where by you get a guy with a load of money, pick a foreign country and dump a load of English/Aus players there and call it expansion. The media probably dont buy in to it because its pretty laughable and not many credible sports would even dream of doing it.

Tony Smith - ungrateful feck !

Tony Smith is talking the same language as many posts and posters on here have done for a good while now, I think his timing might be wrong and thus it comes accross as sour grapes but in my opinion he's not wrong.

learn to engage your brain and bother to read before you open up your silly troll mouth and going into a rant that had nothing to do with what I said

"Rugby union have changed their rules yet again so as to reduce the stop/start. They still have a long way to go"

I can certainly agree with a lot of what Smith says but, rather unsurprisingly, this thread focuses solely on the RFL for the solution and attributes very little blame on the clubs.

One post earlier said that our strength was in the club game, but it is the clubs that carry the biggest responsibility to market those games (and rightly so - they should know their market better than anyone else).

I've said before, but wishing Big Nigel away doesn't address the fact that Wakefield don't have a ground to play in next year, it doesn't address the problem that Huddersfield can't sell a respectable number of tickets at a market rate, that Salford can't grow their crowds or that all clubs are seemingly incapable of reaching new, more diverse audiences.

Losing Big Nigel also doesn't solve the problem that too few clubs generate a respectable level of commercial income, that too few clubs know how to use modern marketing techniques effectively, that too few clubs are contributing to the elite talent pool and that clubs are doing too little to encourage local participation.

We can argue that we can't compete with the money in Union, but I genuinely think that collectively the sport isn't even trying.

Maybe he's not really been able to express what he really thinks until now.
He's a coach of course but whilst he can to be critical of the game to some degree, he is an ambassador for the sport and thus the expectation is that he doesn't $h1t on his own doorstep.
Now it looks likely it won't be his doorstep for much longer, he can speak his mind more candidly.

Sorry but what exactly is he unhappy with ? , because it really isn't clear

I wondered how long it would be before someone proclaimed we needed licensing back.

What next? Change the playoff format....again!?

I don't buy into the doom porn on here but it's clear the game is going through a difficult spell after having a great first decade of super league, what with the style of play (thanks Maguire) and salary cap/economic issues.

I think we'll come out off the trough and move into another upward spiral within the next decade, we'll get new leadership at the rfl, a different (hopefully more attractive) style of play will emerge and the pound/general economy may start doing better allowing once again good quality imports.

sadly I agree with every word

A long way to go until what?

Regards

King James

The Warrington teams of 5 or so years ago played an expansive and entertaining brand of rugby that had everyone talking. Unfortunately they seem to have regressed into a side more obsessed with dummy half running than anyone else in the League so maybe Smith is part of the problem and boring himself out of a job?

I do agree that a lot of work needs to be done on RL improving its image and its a huge task. Unfortunately we get no help from the public school network in the press and the BBC who would rather push utterly unwatchable (& unwatched) garbage like women's football, cricket and yawnion ahead RL in the sports headlines.

Compare and contrast with Australia where yawnion is rightfully dying (despite its own old boys network there) as RL thrives. Its possible, a different area entirely and I don't want to start a political bun fight or give any endorsements but Corbyn showed you can make gains even in the face of a hostile establishment if you act outside the box.

Wish statements are made clear that it's Rugby League in Europe which is finding it hard to find growth.

Secondly one problem we have is that super league continues to lose its best talent and we don't have enough quality to come in and replace these guys.

Until the sport over here grows the talent pool we are gonna be in mess. It's clearly evident that super league getting worse. Compared to 3-5 years ago I feel not just the quality of matches is poorer but the intensity in most games just doesn't seem to be there.

We were told that the new format would be for the better but I don't see it.

So we blame the structure , and not the coaches and players who cheat

Well Cas don't seem to have a problem producing exciting RL , Similarily Leigh a couple of years back

Maybe , just maybe we need the rules to change to encourage that style of RL , rather than the borefest initiated by Mr McGuire at Wigan , and now copied by others

Quote ="GUBRATS"Sorry but what exactly is he unhappy with ? , because it really isn't clear'" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WAB8FbH8Uk Seems pretty clear, here.

Quote ="GUBRATS"Sorry but what exactly is he unhappy with ? , because it really isn't clear'" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WAB8FbH8Uk Seems pretty clear, here.