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RugbyLeagueGeek

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RugbyLeagueGeek last won the day on August 21 2021

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  1. Early 90s is when I got hooked. Between 1990-92 GB played 23 full internationals, plus numerous tour games. Plus there seemed to be a consistent calendar, so you knew years in advance when we would be playing an Ashes series (and that it would definitely happen).
  2. I think in the heartlands it's the opposition that's the sell - educated fans know if they're being sold a substandard product. As evidenced by the poor crowds whenever they play a mid-season international in Warrington. For the uninitiated, it's England that is the sell. This is why internationals are so important. Wigan v Penrith was fantastic, but the wider public neither knew nor cared about it. The international game is the best tool to capture the wider public's imagination (barring football, that's pretty much the case with every other sport in this country). I think the RFL fell asleep at the wheel in this regard. If it was up to me I'd have made certain decisions years ago to help avoid the current situation (e.g. After GB split have the home nations play annual games against each other, annual games v France, ringfence a Welsh team and 2 French teams in SL, establish player pathways in home nations etc etc). But these would all require strategic planning, money and effort. And unfortunately the RFL hasn't given us evidence of any of these in recent memory.
  3. Nowhere near enough IMO. When I got hooked in to the sport it was off the back of GB playing regularly - that was what captured my imagination. Maybe not for young club fans who have regular, high profile rugby league to watch. But if we're looking to attract a new audience then it's the national team that is the best vehicle for doing this IMO. It's so difficult for people in the heartlands to understand, but outside of the heartlands, I would say a majority of people don't know what RL is, let alone whether or not they are a fan of it. Speaking to people at work on the Monday after Wigan's WCC win over Penrith, none of them had any idea what it was, let alone watched it. But conversely I've regularly seen lay-people watch and comment on the national side when they've been playing. Which is why the current state of the international game is so depressing to me.
  4. Ah yes - another corker! If I remember correctly, there was horrendous traffic on the motorway and people were abandoning their cars and walking to the ground. We got in just in time for kick off and didn't Ken Nagas score inside a minute, or am I mis-remembering?
  5. I went to that and had the same experience. Pretty big crowd if I remember as well. I love international RL, but the common theme with every international game I've been to in the last 15 years or so is that - with the exception of Eng v Samoa at Newcastle - it never feels like a big exciting event. I took a load of workmates to England v NZ at Hull in 2018 and the atmosphere was like a morgue Worst game I've ever attended was 2nd Test between GB v Aus at Bolton in 2001. Traffic jams outside the ground meant I had to park miles away and run to the ground in time to make kick off. Everyone knew that we caught them cold in the 1st test and David Waite wouldn't get away with same GB selections and tactics 2 weeks' running... And he didn't - we got pumped by 40 points.
  6. The Hundred was devised from a blank sheet of paper, and they decided to come up with a regional, group format competition. They could have chosen to do a straight knockout with the existing counties and minor counties, but they didn't. Cricket's cup comps used to be straight knockouts like this, but they ditched those formats years ago. I love the Challenge Cup in its current format - I've thoroughly enjoyed watching all the rounds from the amateur teams at the beginning, and have just watched a great tie between Leigh and Fev. But I just don't think any sport starting a comp from scratch would ever decide to go with a straight knockout comp anymore due to the uncertainty involved around the fixture list.
  7. I think if you were creating a new sporting calendar from scratch and had a complete blank sheet of paper, nobody would come up with a straight knockout tournament anymore - there's just too much uncertainty around the fixtures. There's a reason that existing comps like the Champions League and RU European Cup, plus relatively new competitions like the IPL and The Hundred have gone done the group format route prior to knockouts. The only future I can see for the Challenge Cup is a group fixture format where it's included in the season tickets. It would definitely lose a lot of the romance, but it would seem to be a more pragmatic solution.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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?
  11. 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.
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