Saw it briefly earlier this afternoon. A former player, I think. Moss?

I can see attendances at Twickenham dropping below 80,000 now......the end is nigh

You remind me of ECT, Dally M and Eels Fan sometimes, in your inability to let any criticism of the game (in your case union) pass without a withering and unnecessary sarcastic defence.

It s true. Union cannot claim to be a national game in England with only one team north of Northampton and nothing on the Eastern side of the country north of Reading.

RU is a mirror image of RL geographically. I can see Newcastle and Leeds going belly up if they don t get promotion pretty soon.

On the other hand Broncos arn t doing too well either.

It will be hard for both Newcastle and Carnegie to get back into the first division anytime soon. I can't see Newcastle keeping hold of even their half-decent players, which would leave them in a similar situation to Carnegie when they went down. Both Bristol and Pirates will have better squads, and I'd say finance.

Don't often come on here, and I may have said it before, but why is it that whenever there is a big union game there are two or three on here banging on about how dull it is, and how the union marketing must be great to attract so many deluded fools. Polishing a turd was one phrase used. If you don't like, don't watch. Personally, I don't much like league, I find it a bit one dimensional. I like watching good rucking and powerful mauling. I don't mind if my team wins through penalties and I thought the Wales-Australia games were absorbing and exciting. But then, I was brought up on union and have played, coached and reffed it, so understand some of the complex twiddly laws. I know there are flaws, the scrum for one, but I like it. I don't feel the need to do league down though, why some of you feel the need to do union down?

I thought you used to watch Wigan as a kid. Everyone's entitled to an opinion. That's the beauty of a forum. For example you didn't think Iain Thornley cut the mustard in union. I had a different opinion, largely based on him making the Championship Team of the Year.
I take your point, with regard to those that profess to find union the perfect cure for insomnia, but are on this particular thread every other hour. Personally I have no time for international soccer, which is why I haven't been following the European Championships.

I did watch Wigan, and Orrell too, we must have been around the same place same time. I just didn't enjoy league as much.

Although, to totally contradict myself, club rugby in the amateur days was truly awful to watch. It was a players game then

I started watching Wigan in 1985 and I went to Edge Hall Road from 1986 to 1996. Maybe we stood next to each other on more than one occasion

The RFU and the championship clubs are also set to hold further negotiations this week in an attempt to resolve the dispute over funding. The Championship clubs last week threatened legal action against the governing body for failing to deliver "promised funding" of just over £2.3 million. The RFU says the funding schedule given to the clubs in 2008 was based on estimated figures, not guaranteed payments.


[url=http://www.code13rugbyleague.com/2012/07/02/worrincy-switches-to-union/First division London Irish sign third division rugby league player[/url

[url=http://www.rugbyweek.com/news/article.asp?id=35736Waratahs centre Tom Carter set to jump ship and join NRL Club[/url

[url=http://www.espnscrum.com/rabodirect-pro12-2011-12/rugby/story/166372.html?CMP=OTC-RSSAironi II name Pro12 squad[/url

Quote ="Catalancs"And your boys, Wasps, look to have found a buyer.'" yeah great news and just the sort of money man needed to get the old club out of the hole, for the moment anyway ! just wonder how many years he will be prepared to fund the £2 million annual losses ? www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/ju ... s-takeover just the sort of person required at Odsal.....

Quote ="Catalancs"And your boys, Wasps, look to have found a buyer.'" yeah great news and just the sort of money man needed to get the old club out of the hole, for the moment anyway ! just wonder how many years he will be prepared to fund the £2 million annual losses ? www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/ju ... s-takeover just the sort of person required at Odsal.....

The same can be argued of football, half of the teams come from three cities. No team west of Reading and south of Birmingham. No team in the whole of the Yorkshire counties. The PL title only been won once by a team outside London or Manchester. Only one team East of Bedford. Now are we going to say football is not a national game? Of course not because sport is about more than the elite level competition. Same criteria can be applied to cricket.

Look below the elite competition. Best guide would be to go to any town in the England and see if the have at least one Football/RU/Cricket club that puts out more than one team.


I suggest you take a closer look at the map. Broncos aside all English SL clubs are contained within 30 mile band latitude across England with no club South of Warrington and North of Leeds. Leicester is distinctly north of Northamption as is Salford. Arguably the only team situated along the M4 are Reading and Bath. The M4 Argument would be better applied to Welsh RU. Regarding Newcastle and Leeds as I understand it Leeds are more financially stable than when they were in the Premiership. Bristol were in worse shape than Newcastle financially when they got relegated and have recovered without too much fuss. It more comes down to having the right backers, compare Bradford with the likes of Widnes, Wakefield, Wasps, Bath.
If Wasps had been relegated I would have made them a far better candidate to go under.

Similar reasons Wigan board gets plenty of Saints fans on it, Bradford fans on the Leeds board and same applies to Hull/HKR. People will see what they want to see, essentially ignoring things that contradict the way they want to see things, that is human nature. Look what happens when the EU/immigration/left-right politics are discussed on the "any other business" board the behavior is no different if anything it is even more extreme.


But if you were brought up in a blue collar environment in Leeds or Hull you would behaved the same way as those people do. Most criticism of RU is from a RL perspective and vice versa.

Is Martin Offiah's job title, players agent, turd polisher or master magician?
Worrincy will do OK in Union.....what he lacks in skill he more than makes up for in effort...

Northampton Saints sign Dominic Waldouck from Wasps

[url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/idru-investigates-bizarre-complaint-about-player-allegedly-urinating-in-his-shorts-to-put-off-tacklers/story-e6frf4pu-1226418519888?Wee issue to resolve in Illawarra rugby union[/url

Days after handing in a transfer request. Of course, I'm not suggesting Northampton tapped him up...




[url=http://www.joe.ie/rugby/rugby-news/all-blacks-all-het-up-over-shirt-sponsorship-0026608-1?All Blacks to Quite Blacks[/url

Have they forgotten this strip



That was the one that I had but minus the sponsor as I was only 11

[url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-2170838/Sonny-Bill-Williams-join-Japanese-Australian-rugby-league.htmlThe biggest dummy-spit I've read for a long time.[/url
Patronising, arrogant, one-eyed, sulking.

does the NRL really need him?

I'd say not but it looks like the Roosters are silly enough to pay top dollar and bring him back.

[url=http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-news/peter-williams-good-riddance-sbw-don-t-come-back-4961870#Somebody else who hasn't taken the news at all well[/url

Just seen on Sky text that Quade Cooper has signed a new 3 year deal with the Reds,thank God for that,not good enough to play RL.

on the same page

since when was John Kirwan made a 'SIR' ?

well deserved all the same - I can see it now.....

Sir Steve Menzies.....

I think he got the knighthood in the last round of Queens B'Day announcements...it's for his work with depression more so than his efforts with Italy and Japan RFU


But richly deserved all the same...