Is anyone else getting bored of superleague. I personally think it's got stale. I have had a season ticket for the last 24 years and I would guess that I have been to 90 percent of all the matches home and away during that period. For Me it's too sanitised. For example the highlight of the London game for me was the bridge bust up. I am not advocating anyone getting hurt but the lack of biff, shoulder charge and the constant use of the video ref is annoying. I used to look forward to the matches but that spark has gone for me at this time.

For the video ref point you make, I couldn't agree more, it's slowing games down completely, refs seem scared to make an independent decision and the fact it is used the majority of the time kills a game IMO. If they are going to get decisions wrong, why do we have them, seems pointless. On the topic as a whole, super league is getting unfortunately boring, the standard is dropping and we are losing too many players to the other lot and NRL.

People moan about the game becoming sanitised then practically call for Sinfield to be banned for life after a little niggle. I'm no fan of the video ref but I think it is used far more in the NRL.

The problem is twofold. The current league structure has failed- there isn't enough talent to support 14 teams and the top 8 isn't strong enough for an intense knock out period. Also, only four years ago or so playing London or Wakefield was far from an easy game for us. Then putting 50 on London was a massive novelty and something to get excited about- people loved it when we played them game one in 2010.

Now for many it is becoming rather tedious, I guess that is the cost of success and high expectations. I'm sure if you posted the same question on the Cas board you'd be told it is the best season to date!

Also back in the Cullen days we had some great derbies with Widnes, they were about on our level and those were some of the most anticipated dates in the diary.

Now we are so far ahead of Widnes that nobody even cares if we lose, because it doesn't change the fact that we are miles ahead of them.

IMO a big problem in SL is the attitude of too many teams. Lopsided scores will always happen but it seems to me that too often sides just give up and games turn into processions. I think blaming the gap in quality - which does exist - is too easy. All you have to do is look at some of the tries given away by the lower -placed sides and its no wonder people talk about the higher 'intensity' of the NRL. It also explains why some sides come to a shuddering halt as soon as they face anything like a determined defence.

Imagine that Cullen incident v Wigan.

People would be calling for life bans or 15 game suspensions.
Yet now we all look back fondly at that.

The fans are just as much to blame for over sanitisation than the players.

Something is not right in the game at the mo, some attendances are appalling and I was stunned as to how a "big club" like Widnes only take 4500 - 5000 to a home derby game!

I dont find it boring but I dont like the way the game is going now, I cant stand when attackers being tackled hold on to get a penalty and the refs fall for it all the time, the obstruction rule needs looking at again too.

I also hate the theatrics when standing up to play the ball and then jumping back down to the floor looking for a penalty.

The P&R will hopefully be a very good thing for the game and make every game competitive which is desperately needed!

The RFL is an employer just like every other company in Britain & is open to compensation claims just like any other for any untoward injuries happening to its employees. That is why big biff will not happen. Just blame the ambulance chasing companies for creating the claim culture.

But there will still only be half a dozen teams that will provide the eventual GF winner ,the other 18 teams will be a diluted version of that top flight.

I'm a relative newcomer to watching RL closely, getting into it via a friend during the 2011, and maybe my boredom threshold is exceptionally high but I just don't get all the comments about how boring it is. I find the use of the video referee quite refreshing, and I get more frustrated when it's not used when it should be rather than when it is but perhaps wasn't needed. That may slow the game down a bit but at least the clock gets turned off and it does add some tension (cf rugby union, while the clock is left on while players amble around from one set piece to the other). Having a weak London and Bradford has caused a few too many non events this year, but I think this season's been great. I can't wait for the run-in and play-offs.

I think there is a certain amount of apathy that creeps in due to the fact that we have some easy games because we got good. Remember when every 2 points mattered because they could have been the difference between making the playoffs or not, every game was vital, which in turn meant atmosphere, nerves, tension... The complete opposite of boring. Salford at home last season was my first game in a while, and I was bored by 20 minutes in. Now, I'm by no means saying I want us to be rubbish again, but, I vividly can recall just how relieved I was after hanging on to win at Halifax in 2002, and just how utterly devastated I was just a few weeks previous when we lost in the last minute at Halifax.

Also, I know It's an old chestnut, but if you scrapped the playoffs idea then every 2 points WOULD be important again... Just ask Leeds if they're bothered about losing regular season games when they can just become champions by finishing FIFTH!

Nobody has mentioned it but I feel the probem with Super league is that their are no superstars in it anymore. I am a Huddersfield fan and started watching them after we got relegated and in the Northern Ford. After we got promoted I used to get to watch guys like Sean Long, Keiron Cunningham, Sculthorpe, Paul Anderson, Lesley Vainokolo, Andy Farrell etc.. now where our superstars?? either NRL or union. I think it was more exciting as Huddersfield had just got promoted so we were never expected to beat those teams, as some have already mentioned becoming more successful has taken the excitement out of some games.

The premier league kicks off soon. I suggest people wait till that starts before they make decisions about what's boring and what isn't.

The best thing the nrl and the rfl can do is create a bigger world club challenge. If the top three spots were the qualifying places. we wouldn't have gone into Fridays game at Widnes with the worst bench in about fifteen years.

The product can be better. But I'm not bored in the slightest with rugby league.

Bored of sky and bbc coverage of it ????? yes indeed....

Problem is that too many people actually believe some the cr@p they read on here, and then remember the past through rose-tinted specs.

For me, Rugby League was a lot more entertaining in the late 80's/early 90's when I first started watching the game. It didn't matter that players could be fat or unfit. Positions were more distinguishable back then and their was a lot more flair play.

Today's game is too fast for me; I struggle to keep up with it sometimes. Too many robotic type play (and players) for my liking.

I've watched 3 old games today. Warrington - Wigan 88 New years day. Widnes- Canberra and the Wigan - Widnes 89 title decider. I know that not all games met them standards but they were all thoroughly entertaining. Even the Widnes '89 presentation was a million times better than what we see now. Fans on the pitch celebrating, a makeshift stand to present the trophy. Kurt Sorenson came out as the first player and lifted the trophy and that was it. No getting the team up first, no fireworks, no Coldplay or whatever dirge they play, no captains speech and no team clowning around in front of the cameras and sponsors logos.. That's all that was needed.

Oh and loads of good scraps.

im not bored by rugby league, but the loss of the shoulder charge took away one of, if not the thing i enjoyed the most.

I love a good crash, bang, wallop more than a decent try in all honesty.

I still love watching RL, i just wish we could relax the physical side of the game a bit more



as Barry Mac said.... its not a tickling contest

It's the first time in decades I haven't renewed my season ticket...The last two seasons more often then not I've sat there watching the game and thinking to myself...What on earth am I doing here ? More often than not I've left the match 15/20 minutes early and listened to the car radio waiting for my mates...For me the entertainment value simply isn't there anymore....Very few players have the silky skills of old...The players are built like brick outhouses, strong in the arm but thick in the head relying more on brute force and ignorance than using the skills we all learned in the schoolyard...dummies, sidesteps and general kidology. The top hat was put on it for me when Wire won the league, scoring over a thousand points in the process yet still couldn't call themselves champions...Obviously the be all and the end all is Old Trafford...... a few minutes spraying champagne and the players winning a bling ring...The game is now completely owned by Sky TV and what they demand, they get....Whether or not I end my sabbatical I just don't know, but the game will have to drastically change before I do so.

Me too. Not watched us all season and cancelled my Sky. Going to CC Semi and any playoffs. Totally disenfranchised with the league format and the sanitised game. The spark has gone for me. I'm 42 now and have been watching since I was 7.

For those who find it boring and no longer attend games:

Do you not bother to watch live games or highlights on Sky, BBC or online either, since the game is so boring ?

There have been loads of one sided games in the NRL this year. The other week NZ Warriors beat Paramarra 48-0. State of Origin massively distorts the competition which is why the league table usually ends up tight come this time of year.

Did you watch Leeds on Thursday? Of course they care about the regular season. Any team which goes out determined to finish lower in the table is destined to fail. A team that works hard all year then in September rips up the form book will do well.

Everyone harks back to good old days....

For my grandad it was the 1930s as a kid and 1940s-50s as an adult
For my dad it was the 50s as a kid and the early 1970s team as an adult
For me I thought league was great in the early 1970s (I was 10) and amazing in the 1980s
My kids are different ages but have the same sort of fondness for the days they discovered the game as young kids and the days they appreciated the game as adults

The game is not getting worse....we are getting worse/older!!!

It is not the fact that it is not entertaining. It is the lack of intensity for me. I enjoy watching good defence just as much as great attack. But some of the tries scored in super league are really soft. I know it was ruled out for obstruction but the try widnes scored when the player walked past wood and England would not be seen in the NRL. Great defence means the attack has to be even more brilliant to score, there have been some larger score lines in the NRL recently because of players away playing rep footy. Eels lost their best player for 4 games. You just have to look at the NRL table and look at the points difference columns and compare that to super league to see which league is more competitive. if I had to choose between watching the eels V knight's and wire V Bradford (similar positions) I know which game I would prefer to watch.
Just watch Brooks from West tigers if you want skill and entertainment. He is 19 and has more skill than almost any halback in SL.

Widnes are in only their 3rd season back in superleague after years in the wilderness. You've been there from Day 1 mostly with a multi-millionaire owner/benefactor. You are 8 points better off than us this season, deservedly so. We have won 3 of the last 4 meetings and in all honesty, blew you away last Friday.
Only the most arrogant and one-eyed fans would claim you are "miles ahead of" us. Next season, we'll be better again, so maybe then even you might be able to give credit where it's due.

Vinty "blew us away" really?? Go on I'll bite

Well deserved win for you guys no doubt, early doors we had enough possession to score, but, didn't well defended or poor attack probably a mixture of both and the score just before half time gave us too much to do in the second half, although Ormsby keeps hold, or Russell takes the pass and we complete that set, or England goes over errmm we are back in it, hardly a shallalacking

I won't comment about the plastic pitch, TS resting a few, video reffing or not as the case may be blah de blah.....a deserved win for you WELL DONE as you were up for it and took your chances, but, "blew us away" not this year IMO