Most RU fans, other than the head in the sand Stephen Jones type, agree that RL has a lot to offer. Imagine a game played mostly under league rules, with the odd concession such a 5 point try, with a 16 team league incorporating for example:

Wigan Saints Wire Manchester (Salford/Sale) Hull Leeds Bradford Huddersfield
Newcastle Leicester Northampton Bath Exeter Wasps Quins Gloucester

I would find that pretty mouthwatering. Or we can carry on as we are.

id like to see our guys get taught how to kick a ball. we are lucky to have pat, remember when faz used to kick the penalties into touch and they'd go about 10/20 metres? compare that to ru where they regularly chalk up 40/50+ metres. field position is crucial in both ru and rl

Because they got 40,000 fans into one stadium for one of their games. That is a lot more than we have ever achieved in recent history. With such small home crowds they must be doing something right to get so many fans to a single game. If we could get 25,000 Wigan fans every time for 'The big one' would that not be great?

I don't understand what you don't get about that.

Plus the fact that marketing is generally better in RU than in RL and it is always good to seek advice from other places anyway. Despite our marketing teams success they by no means 'know it all' and can certainly learn from other sports. They went to America not long ago to pick up some tips.

some rugby union fans are very sheltered as to how far they have actually progressed in terms of fitness and skill over the years, this game could very well back fire on either the RFL or RFU, if wigan stuff saracens i could see some of the fans who know little of rugby league start to pay extra interest and if we lose they would just see us as an even more smaller sport. Either way i think its about time we had another battle of the codes to see how each code has developed.

the only way saracens got the 40k for that one off event was because of the corporate connections tied with the RFU they treat it more as event than a BIG game.

I'd love a hybrid code, so long as it contained no RU rules.

After giving your statement no thought whatsoever i agree.

The only RU rule i'd have is the Lineout, something that the teams have to contest for.

edit-maybe keep the rolling maul as well, until a tackle is completed.

I agree. This actually could be quite entertaining.

I'd have the RU law whereby you get a scrum (or tap) from where the ball is kicked if the attacking team kicks the ball dead (providing it was outside the 20, if so then a 20 metre tap)

www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugb ... 61516.html

www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugb ... 61516.html

Those are awful rules and give a much greater advantage to Rugby Union.

I had little to no interest in this game before reading that article. I care for it even less now.
Fazlet

ah so the hybrid rules officials from Australia were serious when they said they were flying to the UK to meet officials from over here.

The rules benefit Union no doubt. I would rather not see Wigan play this game!

i see this hybrid game idea fabricated by union men as they realise after the world cup that its not entertaining enough for viewers... People say rugby league is a dieing sport but yet it increase's year on year.

If you introduced it you would see a kick for touch just about every time on the last tackle.

With the turnover or scrum as we have now (if there is a kick for touch) the ball is turned over. With a lineout there would always be a chance the attacking side could get the ball back so they would [ualways[/u kick for touch.

The whole essence of RL is no team can monopolise possession and with a line out or the introduction of any other contest for the ball more than we have now you would get teams monopolising possession. When this happens in RU it kills the game and in any case I am sure we do not want kicking for touch to be elevated to a greater status tan it already is.

Spot on DaveO.

You might aswell get rid of scrums in League, whats the point of them if you can't contest for them.

I would get rid of scrums, pointless. And lineouts would see 6 foot 8 tall players brought in, no thanks.

Scrums in league are fine as they are, they are just a quick way to restart the game and are also a good opportunity for putting on attacking set plays. I'd much rather they were uncontested and quick rather than in union where they fall down umpteen times and take ages to restart play.

Union scrums may as well be uncontested, ball 99% of time comes out to feeding team, just wastes so much time. It's just a way to restart with more space on the pitch. Any faster in Union though and there's no time to get more swan butties in,

Agreed. If we are not going to contest them then I would rather speed the game up and just have a tap or PTB.

The scrum has also become an excuse for a rest and the rule where you can stop the clock if you form the scrum is pretty daft, all the players then relax and different players form the next scrum.

A scrum in the opposition quarter allows the attacking team to move the ball quickly towards a depleted defence line giving a greater chance of a score, much more of a chance than a tap against all thirteen players who are set and ready.

The scrum serves as a way of restarting play after a stoppage and also ties the forwards up, thus creating much more space on the field for the backs to attack. At least rugby league doesn't waste 2 minutes at a time on reset scrum after reset scrum after reset scrum. A scrum is nothing more than a means for a restart, it gets too much focus in union.

The scrums break so quickly in RL, that there is seldom any advantage gained..

And nearly always ends up in a penalty anyway.

RU is played in a fog of technicalities that have rendered it a non-spectacle. All of that would have to go before we could seriously consider a hybrid sport, and as their posturing, school-master type referees seem to revel in the making or breaking of match results, I can't see that happening any time soon.