28 replies to this topic

[herbert st boy]

Is it me but is the game becoming boring???!!!

I used to watch oldham at every home game up to the 2009-10 season but due to my fathers ill health and the current fianacial climate i have lost touch with the game. I still watch rugby as a whole and watch the super league on sky but as of the past few weeks I have found the games uninteresting.

The super league results this weekend haven't impressed me one bit warrington v castleford,wigan v harlequins,huddersfield v st helens and hull kr v bradford have all ended up with lob sided score lines.

Unless the so called top four play each other you know whos gonna win before you kick off,soon as i see the likes of catalan,salford,harlequins or crusaders on tv i know the game will be a boring error strewn affair.

As for oldham I was planning to go to Whitebank at the 1st game last year but my father was taken ill two days before and now I need to prioritise whats more important to me.

Its been reported that sky and bbc might lose the tv rights to super league and challenge cup respectively,i would like skys reign come to an end because since their involvement the game has gotten worse year by year to the point where it seems theres one sided games on every week.the last decent game i saw was saints v hull.

The standards of super league is getting worse in my opinion and he championship/championship 1 hasn't got any better either.

Does anyone else feel the same??

[Steve the Roughyed]

Is it me but is the game becoming boring???!!!

I used to watch oldham at every home game up to the 2009-10 season but due to my fathers ill health and the current fianacial climate i have lost touch with the game. I still watch rugby as a whole and watch the super league on sky but as of the past few weeks I have found the games uninteresting.

The super league results this weekend haven't impressed me one bit warrington v castleford,wigan v harlequins,huddersfield v st helens and hull kr v bradford have all ended up with lob sided score lines.

Unless the so called top four play each other you know whos gonna win before you kick off,soon as i see the likes of catalan,salford,harlequins or crusaders on tv i know the game will be a boring error strewn affair.

As for oldham I was planning to go to Whitebank at the 1st game last year but my father was taken ill two days before and now I need to prioritise whats more important to me.

Its been reported that sky and bbc might lose the tv rights to super league and challenge cup respectively,i would like skys reign come to an end because since their involvement the game has gotten worse year by year to the point where it seems theres one sided games on every week.the last decent game i saw was saints v hull.

The standards of super league is getting worse in my opinion and he championship/championship 1 hasn't got any better either.

Does anyone else feel the same??

In a word. Yes!

[thecrab]

In a word. Yes!

Agree....its sterile and predictable.
I just thought my increasing apathy for the game was because oldham have been going steadily downhill over recent years.
But watching the top level and comparing it to what it was like 20+ years ago, i think the product isnt as exciting.

[Sleeper]

I certainly dont think there are the "footballers" about that there were 20 or so years ago, emphasis now is very much on straight running 16 stone gym monkeys and it appears every ounce of initiative and rugby flair has been coached out of players at a young age.

I fear for RL's future, I really do! If RU were to opt for summer rugby tomorrow there would be an adverse affect on RL! RL has not developed a product strong enough to sway the bloke who holds a pot of gold in the "SKY" who might (just might) need to put all his gold into the one code! Yep, its OK saying I wont watch RU if thats all there is, in which case they might not watch anything.

One big plus I suppose is that quite a few blokes have made a few quid and a load of dosh has gone out of the dresing room door in the back pocket of non English coaches and some very ordinary overseas players!

Sorry, folks, its not an optimistic view and as an aside, we need look no further than a recent televised RL Challenge Cup match involving a SL side and one a tier below which was more akin to basketball with the Man of the Match award going to a bloke who topped the tackle count with 4 missed tackles ........................ the last bit a lie but you get my drift!

Edited by Sleeper, 16 May 2011 - 09:59 AM.

[neanderthal]

I moved away from the North West in the mid nineties, but have kept an interest in Oldham's fortunes mainly via this forum.

But, I agree, when I've had the chance to see a Super League game on sky, or a Challenge Cup Tie on BBC, I think it isn't the same game as it was.

The game going full time professional changed it. It meant the players could spend all week in the gym, putting on muscle, which changed the nature of the game from one of 'creating' opportunites to 'forcing' them.

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

I moved away from the North West in the mid nineties, but have kept an interest in Oldham's fortunes mainly via this forum.

But, I agree, when I've had the chance to see a Super League game on sky, or a Challenge Cup Tie on BBC, I think it isn't the same game as it was.

The game going full time professional changed it. It meant the players could spend all week in the gym, putting on muscle, which changed the nature of the game from one of 'creating' opportunites to 'forcing' them.

Totally agree with every thing said, the modern forward is big and fast but just doesn't hold a light to the old forward. Yes they were big and flabby, but I remember a game up at Watersheddings were Mick Morgan drew in the opposition and 'passed' the ball in the tackle, the opposition eased off the tackle and Mick continued on 'Ball in hand'??????? How did he threw such a beautiful dummy I will never know, everyone in the crowd and the opposition 'saw' the ball leave his hands and yet there it was still with Mick. Fantastic!!! Now that was Rugby League and I have never seen such class in modern Super League.

[oldhamer]

The game to me has gone backwards more than its gone forwards in my opinion. Gone of the days of a skillfull scrum half, stand off who takes defences on, the prop forward who can turn and off load in the tackle. To me, when GB had the likes of Fox, Gregory, Hanley, Schofield, Edwards etc, the skill levels were there in abundance, as was the Aussies in Daley, Langer, Fittler, Stuart etc. The Aussies built a side based on high skill levels and forwards that could pack a punch, but could play a bit as well. The nearest this country has had to a classic ball playing prop in the modern era was Danny Sculthorpe - if you watch the Hornets/Roughyeds semi final in 2001, you would see what I mean. Martin Hall had him playing like a stand off at times.
The game at SL is sterile and boring, and I agree that the emphahsis is on how big and strong you are, rather than your actually skill set as a player. This has been proved time and again when clubs take kids as players in their scholarship schemes, more often or not the kids with the higher ability is overlooked by a players that is above his size for his age. I guess clubs think they can coach the skills into them. The Championship and Championship 1 divisions are more like how rugby was pre SL, and its more enjoyable than watching 26 gym monkeys run at each other for 80 minutes. As a country, we have gone backwards with competing with the Aussies and Kiwis, and that's one of the reasons SL was started. To bring us up to the level of our convict friends. In truth, both countries have gone backward.

[Ex-scrumhalf]

I'm glad someone started this topic because these exact same thoughts have been going through my mind for many months, in fact several years, and it's the main reason why I am a stay away.
Times were totally different of course in the 50s, 60s and 70s but in my lifetime these were the times when I saw the best rugby league. It started to go pear shaped when the powers that be suddenly decided that the be all and end all of the game was to beat the Aussies, while the man in the street was more interested in what went on, on a Saturday afternoon at his or her own club.
The game was changed to favour the Australian style in the hope that we would beat them at their own game, but that was never likely to work so what we now have is a very boring game where the only skills needed are size and speed and the ability to put the ball into the air towards the corner every 5 tackles. So predictable and so boring.
To make matters worse the scrums are the biggest joke I have ever seen. The other Friday night I tuned in to watch a game that was already part way through. Almost immediately a scrum was formed, and I use the word formed as loosely as the scrum was, and I couldn't believe my eyes. The back three of each team hardly bent their backs and the front three weren't much better. The scrum-half, holding the ball in one hand, gently rolled it along the floor, it barely entered the scrum, and the Loose forward picked it up and passed it to someone who looked mildly surprised. How pathetic is that? And therin is one of the reasons why people cannot enjoy it these days unless they happen to be following glory.
The youngsters in our town have been brought up on following Leeds and Wigan and Saints with their fathers who defected in 97. They are now 13 and 14 year olds who will never come round to watch Oldham.
I am now putting my head much too far above the parapet but I turned over the channel that Friday evening and there was a Rugby Union match on the other channel. I watched it to the end and to be honest I enjoyed every minute. That isn't the first time that I have enjoyed Union and found myself positively looking forward to the 6 nations games that were televised on Friday and Saturday evenings. As a born and bred League man I feel ashamed to have to say it but Union is far more interesting these days. In fact I am seriously considering a few trips to watch Sale Sharks. That said I have a friend who lives in Brive and we have an agreement that I should go over to France when Sale and Brive next meet.
For those who think that League is a good game I can only assume that they have been brought up on the current rubbish and so can't compare.
As for Oldham, well what can you say? I really do fear for them.
Having never missed a game home or away for many years, and having followed the reserves home and away and even the academy side when the likes of Goodway played in it I am so sad to say that I may well have seen my last game. Putting my head even more above the parapet I also believe that the only way to get the people back is to put the product on the pitch. Trying to get success by bringing in a high number of youngsters will never ever work. The very best won't even come here, and the leftovers will sign for one year in the hope that they will attract the eye of a SL team. There are no loyalties only to money and glory and when these lads have both dangled in front of them away they go.
The only way to go is to speculate to accumulate. If the team is doing well people will come through the turnstiles and success breeds success. If there is no money at Oldham for players then the hopes of moving up even one division are virtually nil. As one guy said to me only last night the days of getting big name players at Oldham are long gone and we can't even attract people like Mick Nanyn any longer. Never the best player in the world but a world away from our current crop and lets face it he would be a big signing for us these days.
Sorry boys and girls but I'm here to be shot at.

[tub]

OMG ......................... !!

Edited by tub, 19 May 2011 - 09:20 PM.

[Steve the Roughyed]

I'm glad someone started this topic because these exact same thoughts have been going through my mind for many months, in fact several years, and it's the main reason why I am a stay away.
Times were totally different of course in the 50s, 60s and 70s but in my lifetime these were the times when I saw the best rugby league. It started to go pear shaped when the powers that be suddenly decided that the be all and end all of the game was to beat the Aussies, while the man in the street was more interested in what went on, on a Saturday afternoon at his or her own club.
The game was changed to favour the Australian style in the hope that we would beat them at their own game, but that was never likely to work so what we now have is a very boring game where the only skills needed are size and speed and the ability to put the ball into the air towards the corner every 5 tackles. So predictable and so boring.
To make matters worse the scrums are the biggest joke I have ever seen. The other Friday night I tuned in to watch a game that was already part way through. Almost immediately a scrum was formed, and I use the word formed as loosely as the scrum was, and I couldn't believe my eyes. The back three of each team hardly bent their backs and the front three weren't much better. The scrum-half, holding the ball in one hand, gently rolled it along the floor, it barely entered the scrum, and the Loose forward picked it up and passed it to someone who looked mildly surprised. How pathetic is that? And therin is one of the reasons why people cannot enjoy it these days unless they happen to be following glory.
The youngsters in our town have been brought up on following Leeds and Wigan and Saints with their fathers who defected in 97. They are now 13 and 14 year olds who will never come round to watch Oldham.
I am now putting my head much too far above the parapet but I turned over the channel that Friday evening and there was a Rugby Union match on the other channel. I watched it to the end and to be honest I enjoyed every minute. That isn't the first time that I have enjoyed Union and found myself positively looking forward to the 6 nations games that were televised on Friday and Saturday evenings. As a born and bred League man I feel ashamed to have to say it but Union is far more interesting these days. In fact I am seriously considering a few trips to watch Sale Sharks. That said I have a friend who lives in Brive and we have an agreement that I should go over to France when Sale and Brive next meet.
For those who think that League is a good game I can only assume that they have been brought up on the current rubbish and so can't compare.
As for Oldham, well what can you say? I really do fear for them.
Having never missed a game home or away for many years, and having followed the reserves home and away and even the academy side when the likes of Goodway played in it I am so sad to say that I may well have seen my last game. Putting my head even more above the parapet I also believe that the only way to get the people back is to put the product on the pitch. Trying to get success by bringing in a high number of youngsters will never ever work. The very best won't even come here, and the leftovers will sign for one year in the hope that they will attract the eye of a SL team. There are no loyalties only to money and glory and when these lads have both dangled in front of them away they go.
The only way to go is to speculate to accumulate. If the team is doing well people will come through the turnstiles and success breeds success. If there is no money at Oldham for players then the hopes of moving up even one division are virtually nil. As one guy said to me only last night the days of getting big name players at Oldham are long gone and we can't even attract people like Mick Nanyn any longer. Never the best player in the world but a world away from our current crop and lets face it he would be a big signing for us these days.
Sorry boys and girls but I'm here to be shot at.

Yes, head above the parapet and no doubt will be shot at but I think there is a lot of truth in this post. I have sky sports but now find myself not bothering with the SL games at all. And yes it's because I find them on the whole boring and predictable.

[herbert st boy]

I started this post because in recent weeks the games on sky apart from the obvious games when wigan,leeds,saints and warrington play each other they are all one sided.

I grew up watching oldham at sheddings with the likes of goodway,foy,ashton,worrall and flanagan etc.

Even away teams brought the likes of hanley,gregory,lee crooks,garry schofield and many more.

Who can you say if oldham were in SL now would stand out??

Im considering scrapping sky and the english game and getting premier sports and watching nrl where even with no promotion or relegation is still far competetive than SL.

Even more english players are heading down under because they always say is its the hardest comp in the world. How many more will follow burgess,ellis and graham?

i can only hope that like engage that sky wont be renewing their contract next year and some changes will be made.

[Bedford Roughyed]

i can only hope that like engage that sky wont be renewing their contract next year and some changes will be made.

Yes the game would be much better without the sky money...bankrupting the game is a genius idea, why has no one thought of this before?

[herbert st boy]

theres no money in it now...even the likes of st helens who are succesful are up to their eyeballs in debt isn't that why they are moving to a new stadium to generate more revenue??

why dont championship sides pay transfer fees anymore? Even SL teams dont pay them apart from fielden and westermans moves where they pay a 'nominal Fee'.

All the money is going in the players pockets when it should be fed down to the so called lesser clubs.

Sky and super league are killing the game...im waiting for who follows blackpool in disapperaring off the RL map.
Yes the game would be much better without the sky money...bankrupting the game is a genius idea, why has no one thought of this before?

doesn't this show the game is too reliant on sky??? when i say changes i mean another tv channel gets the rights and the money is restructured to smaller clubs because all i see is a greater and greater divide between SL and the championship leagues...see last nights warrington swinton result.

Edited by herbert st boy, 21 May 2011 - 09:43 AM.

[philipw]

theres no money in it now...even the likes of st helens who are succesful are up to their eyeballs in debt isn't that why they are moving to a new stadium to generate more revenue?

No, I'm pretty sure that saints, since McManus came on board, have worked real hard to get out of debt, haven't they?

[BryanC]

The game's been rubbish for the last ten years.

I remember big crowds and a great atmosphere at Watersheddings (and that was only to watch the A team on Friday nights - Sunday afternoons were really something special).

Sky money and endless meddling, "football mentality" amongst many fans nowadays giving an atmosphere of intimidation, lack of interest by the media in anything below SL level, plus the real biggie - losing Watersheddings to play in a soulless concrete box. (Plus, if you're honest, the game is FAR from entertaining nowadays, most games are as exciting as watching girders rust).

That's why I stopped watching it.

Since the rule changes some years ago, RU at minor club level has been far more entertaining. (Also a lot cheaper,nicer people and a better pint - can't believe the club was actually only serving beer in cans at one point).

I've got Wakefield v Castleford on the box at the moment. It's desperate, dull as ditchwater, why you people can still justify paying the money that you do to watch this rubbish defies belief.

Facts of the matter is that a lot of smaller clubs are going to fold over the next few years, Oldham will probably be one of them. The only people that will miss them are the pitiful number of people that still go.

Edited by BryanC, 21 May 2011 - 03:17 PM.

[herbie]

Totally disagree with most of the posts on this thread. Rugby league is in my opinion still the greatest game of all. My enjoyment is soured by the poor standards both on and off the field by my own club at the moment but this does not stop me from appreciating great rugby served up at both Super League and NRl level. I think we sometimes look through Rose tinted specs at the past. I watched a recording of a cup final from the seventies recently and it was like watching in slow motion. I'm not saying that the players from that era weren't great players they were but with those levels of fitness and athletism they would really struggle in the modern game. Some posters even suggest that RU is more entertaining well I just don't get that one at all. I only ever watch union in small chunks but every time I have it seems like a slower plodding version of our game. Oldhamer mentioned super 12s as though it was a hybrid type game It's not it's union played by 12 teams it is now super 14s.
In my opinion there are still lots of great players in league Sinfield, Tompkins,Burgess,Marshall,Lockyer etc in my opinion would have shone in any era
Rugby League the greatest game of all .

[Bedford Roughyed]

Totally disagree with most of the posts on this thread. Rugby league is in my opinion still the greatest game of all. My enjoyment is soured by the poor standards both on and off the field by my own club at the moment but this does not stop me from appreciating great rugby served up at both Super League and NRl level. I think we sometimes look through Rose tinted specs at the past. I watched a recording of a cup final from the seventies recently and it was like watching in slow motion. I'm not saying that the players from that era weren't great players they were but with those levels of fitness and athletism they would really struggle in the modern game. Some posters even suggest that RU is more entertaining well I just don't get that one at all. I only ever watch union in small chunks but every time I have it seems like a slower plodding version of our game. Oldhamer mentioned super 12s as though it was a hybrid type game It's not it's union played by 12 teams it is now super 14s.
In my opinion there are still lots of great players in league Sinfield, Tompkins,Burgess,Marshall,Lockyer etc in my opinion would have shone in any era
Rugby League the greatest game of all .

Cannot agree more.

[tub]

It might be the greatest game ! I'm sure Warrington and Huddersfield fans think so !

For Oldham fans we've had the double whammy of the game becoming less predictable and the massive decline of our own club the latter due to:

terrible management for many decades
a lost ground
the Bosman ruling
the focus on SL and the neglect of the lower levels

A few rule changes would help make the game more interesting eg fewer interchanges .... any ideas ?

A lot of things have to happen to see Oldham become a force again ! ..... first being a terrace at Whitebank that provides good views and shelter from the rain !

[donquixote]

Two great threads running at the moment and yes I think the game at the moment is far too predictable and there aren't the players around to compare with the likes of Hanley, Edwards, Gregory etc. etc.

One major reason is undoubtedly too many Australian/New Zealand coaches and this emphasis on completing your sets i.e. 5 drives and a kick: that's great entertainment for a handling game - not!

Another problem is the dummy runner i.e. obstruction: that could be scapped. Then there's the flat pass i.e. 50% forward and making a mockery of the game. And referees shouting 'out' at scrums or 'go' at play the ball when neither has been completely finished reduces 10 metres by half stifling open play. Then there's slowing down the play the ball with wrestling, turning turtle and lying-on (think Wigan).

For the last 3 seasons the best team to watch has been Halifax who have an English coach and aren't afraid to try things. In fact the attitude has generally been you score what you want, we'll score more (e.g. Featherstone 44 Halifax 64). It's not a coincidence that Sky like Halifax on Thursday Championship matches (2 coming up early June) and get their best viewing figures for Halifax games. I'm sure all that's about to change with Brian Noble as a 'consultant' with the first fruit a 14-12 scoreline v. Sheffield yesterday.

My opinion is there to be shot at but coming closer to home I'd just love Oldham to be more enterprising. We currently have great threequarters and then starve them of the ball when our pack clearly doesn't have the power to outmuscle bigger sides - think Hunslet and York last season. And, yes I know it's hard for halfbacks etc. to play behind a beaten pack but if you run the opposition ragged instead of getting involved in an arm wrestle (horrible phrase) are you really a beaten pack?

Only thing is I just can't agree that R.U. is better: it never has been, never will be. Too many players, too many stoppages!

[Phil Loxton]

The two guys in charge at the rfl are puppets rather than leaders; Sky are pulling their strings to sell their dishes by promoting plastic teams i.e Harlequins and Crusaders to name but two; Clubs like Oldham Swinton Halifax and Featherstone to name only a few have had the game taken away from them; Fans at the Saints v Fev game said that the Fev fans generated more atmosphere than most super league clubs do but unfortunately because of the politics of the game Fev could not compete for the full eighty minutes; Because of this fans are losing interest and walking away from a game that has been destroyed by SKY money; How do these two men retain their office? Who votes them in to run our game? If the franchise system is retained the game will be no longer very soon; Look at the attendances at last weeks challenge cup games; Super league fans are no longer interested in the clubs below them; Its like we are playing two types of rugby; Something will have to happen very soon but I DOUBT IT WILL BE FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL;