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RugbyLeagueGeek

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RugbyLeagueGeek last won the day on August 21 2021

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  1. Agree with all that. When I started watching the game, GB played a different style to the Aussies. As you point out, nowadays we just seem to be copying them instead of innovating.
  2. The RL community has been saying this for as long as I've been watching. I don't think we're catching up at all - we've just always been a bit behind them. I agree this is where we fell behind them in the 80s. I don't think it's the case that they're ahead because they adopted professional training approaches a bit earlier - I think it's because they have the pick of the best athletes over there, and most of our teams are playing second fiddle to soccer over here. We just don't have anywhere near the same talent pool to pick from. Unless the UK game broadens its horizons and looks to get more people playing then I can't ever see us catching up unfortunately.
  3. Fair point. Is the trick therefore to market the teams, almost like the NFL do? E.g. Warriors v Rhinos rather than Wigan v Leeds? Or do we already do this but it just doesn't have the cut-through?
  4. I agree with that. He was massive within RL, and for people with a passing interest in it. I reckon he would've been a household name had he done media stuff and not maintained a wall of silence. Offiah was the big name that people knew.
  5. I think the odd one out there is Offiah, in that he didn't make his name in RU. Everyone else on that list is known by the wider public primarily because of what they've done in RU.
  6. Living outside the heartlands, I don't think any of those names/faces were known nationally when they were playing. Farrell now because of RU, and Sinfield and Burrow now because of MND. I think you'd have to go way back to Martin Offiah as the last household name unfortunately. I agree though that every player is potentially marketable. Without wanting to keep dragging Snooker Loopy back up, my point with that, and also with the darts, is that they manage to project 'character/personality' on to what would otherwise be fairly nondescript sports people. As others have pointed out, it's probably a benefit of an individual sport that makes it far easier to do this. But with the best will in the world, Luke Littler doesn't have any more personality than your average SL player. It's just that there's a story around him that has caught the public's imagination, and the PDC are riding that wave.
  7. I appreciate your points, but that's not how I remember it to be honest with you. I don't remember snooker ever becoming a joke sport that people didn't take seriously.
  8. Might be my memory playing tricks, but that was a fair bit later wasn't it? Would that not have been when Sky got involved in the 90s?
  9. Absolutely. Jack Welsby is an obvious one, but there's a lot of players in SL who are exciting - if they can project 'character' on to Tony Meo and Terry Griffiths, then it shouldn't be too difficult to create some personalities around the likes of Liam Marshall or Jason Qareqare or whoever. They put far too much emphasis on one player in Tomkins, and then he left and went to the NRL! They need to be doing that with at least a couple of players from each club.
  10. Agreed. I think it was after the Davis v Taylor final which had a massive tv audience.
  11. Good point. Although it should be possible for the governing body to pick at least a couple of stars from each team. I think Bradford used to have a theme tune for each player when they ran on and after they scored a try. It just takes a bit of effort and somebody with a bit of marketing nous. I'm not saying the Hearns would be good for RL, but they do seem to know what they're doing with these individual sports. It's funny watching that video back now, because it looks so old hat, but it was really big at the time and definitely boosted the profile.
  12. I saw the Chas and Dave Snooker Loopy video from the 80s the other day, and was reminded how the Matchroom Mob made 'characters' out of the likes of Terry Griffiths, who must've been one of the most boring players going. What was interesting, is that whilst the methods may have changed in the last 40 years, the principle is still the same - i.e. market the players and create some stars. I don't know why RL has such a reluctance to do this. Maybe clubs are keen to keep players in their 'box', so that they don't start demanding bigger salaries?
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