hunsletgreenandgold

I do kind of feel like you're answering your own question. It's clearly very popular and in many ways intrinsically linked to RL in this country. The sub-forum in my experience covers the sport a bit more club-specific, but in my opinion, the NRL certainly has a place in the General Rugby League Forum - it's not called the British RL forum. I hope the irony isn't lost that you've just started another one btw

Not sure if this has been discussed on here before, re Sinfield being Knighted and the reason(s) it hasn't happened, but I've definitely read about it somewhere. He was awarded an MBE in 2014 and apparently it's 5 years until you can be added to the honours list again. In 2021 he was awarded an OBE - so if this is true then he couldn't be awarded a Knighthood until 2026. I've just tried googling if any such 'rules' definitely exist but it's not very clear.

I absolutely agree - those two rising stars are most likely 'never 'eard of 'em' characters to most in RL circles. I guess I more meant from a media perspective though - if either of them signed for a SL club it would be big news and raise a lot of eyebrows in the English RU world. I was also highlighting that the 'poor relation' complex RL suffers in the UK doesn't really bear true in Australia, where NRL contracts are as (if not more) lucrative than union.

The significance of this in the Australian sporting landscape is far less than if this had happened in England, IMO. NRL is far more popular than rugby and whilst this will be a blow to Australian Rugby, it won't send the same shockwaves that it would in England if a top union player came to RL. The equivalent in English terms is probably a guy like Freddie Steward or Harry Arundell - the latter of which was also being pursued by a couple of NRL teams. I think we're a million miles away from this being any kind of catalyst for change over here and we'll still see RL talent more likely to go to union than vice versa.

In the same place it was back in ‘04 - can’t you see it?

These are the worst kits I've seen overall since I can remember. Pretty much every away kit is a non-descript abomination. Hull FC and KR home are the only ones that I wouldn't feel short-changed with.

But then I'm not sure what measure you're referencing when you say 'do you think it matters?' If not time and ease to get there, what do you mean?

Right now, Harry, you could get to ER from Leigh in 1hr 5mins. It's 1hr 26mins to Headingley. To be honest, I was more thinking of the greater West Yorkshire area in my original post (as there was a test on your side of the Pennines) but the little research i've just done has shown even from further distances, like Leigh, the time difference isn't insignificant. Also, no stadiums are great to get away from but again i'd guess you can be back over in Leigh far quicker than from Headingley.

If I may add my 2 pence. Yes, because it's far easier to get to for people travelling into the city than Headingley. I'd hazard a guess 15k at Headingley was mainly people from Leeds, considering everybody to the South, East and West of Leeds would proably have found it easier to go to Hudds. ER is right next to the main motorway links from those directions.

Why would they go on a tour of Leeds' suburbs? Makes no sense. Were RL fans taking tours of Gorton, Longsight or Moss side when in Manchester? Or the likes of Walton, Croxteth, Norris Green when in Liverpool? There's a point you're trying to make in there somewhere - i'm just not sure what.

It's been said a various points throughout this thread, and many times over recent years - the biggest problem with these multi-game one-stadium events is nobody understands the purpose. Originally it was definitely linked to expansion - taking the game out of the heartlands to new audiences and hopefully creating a wider pool of interest. I've never seen any evidence that had any impact. So what we've then ended up doing is trying to come up with venues that the existing fans will be willing to attend. Ultimately the crux of it comes down to does the given stadium have enough bars and food outlets nearby which means people can dip in and out of the stadium throughout the day? It's really no deeper than that. The fixtures will have an impact for some, but that's true of all weekly-round games. I last went to Newcastle in 2022 and find it interesting some are pining for another year there - the stadium and city centre in large parts was, by 5pm on the Saturday, an anti-social p*ss up with tokenistic 'entertainment' dotted about, which some are lauding as being a festival of rugby league. Really? Elland Road isn't the answer either but where is? Or do we just accept this is the end of the road for this format of fixtures because....what's the point?

I mean that's been true at each and every Magic event there's ever been. I've been to Newcastle twice and Cardiff for Magic over the years - whilst those 2 stadiums have massive pluses, owing to their city centre locations, it does in fact if anything encourage people to spend more time out of the stadium than in it. This isn't me suggesting ER is ideal (because the opposite is true) but i'd hazard a guess it will actually appear fuller on TV.

Yeah this isn't the best decision. I slightly defended ER for the CC semis double header the other year, but it's not the right stadium or location for a magic crowd. Headingley would genuinely be better.

I am now thoroughly convinced 'Coco' is a ChatGPT bot

That's genuinely a good thread idea - there have been some shockers over the years!

They definitely do mate - as I said previously, only Brentford are bucking that trend at the moment. An article about it from back at the time which muses whether 2 year kits will return to being the norm. As yet, to my knowledge, no other club has adopted the idea https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-59477716 Noteworthy to say NRL have the same design for 2 seasons, even if kit manufacturer or sponsors change.

Fair - I did forget that

They could - but history tells me this almost never happens. It takes clubs long enough to get new/redeveloped stadiums. The idea they could be expanded anywhere in the next 20 years after that is, I think, unprecedented in our sport.

Of course it is and I had considered myself if maybe it was the more casual fans, rather than the diehards, who made up a large % of that number. You're possibly right that RL wouldn't see that kind of impact, based on there being less of a 'casual' market - but it does surely show it matters what clubs churn out? Not sure what you mean about the same shirts on sale for longer? Football* change theirs every season same as RL. *Brentford recently adopted keeping theirs for 2 seasons. Interested to see if they stick that next time round.

Interested to know what evidence you've based that off? Shirt sales are definitely impacted by the design and manufacturing quality. A football example I read recently (I see no reason why it would be any different RL) detailed how Leeds United shirt sales dropped by 16% last season on the previous 2 years. They were still in the Prem, same manufacturer and even sponsor. Of course, there are other variables but the research suggested many didn't buy because of the design. 16% is huge. edit: should add this was specifically against the home shirt. Away/third kits were relatively in line with previous seasons sales performance.

Think the difference is Salford can (potentially) scale up from there though. Sheffield are restricted at 5k been their absolute limit.

Football - specifically Everton. A tenuous link to start a thread if ever there was one Might start my own thread - with Bake Off being on, it got me thinking, who has the best pastry on their pies at rugby league grounds?

Yeah, I don't remember much of this rhetoric last year when it was played at 22,500 capacity BlueBet stadium in Penrith? With a crowd of around 13,000 - not because of the game, but because it doesn't even have a roof and belted it down with tropical/biblical amounts of rain. Of course, the hope for this game is to keep developing and be the real showpiece for the season-opening and it's trending in the right direction to do that IMO. But sticking it in a 55k stadium with the hope 'they will come' would be very rugby league and look terrible if any less than 40k did come.

Yeah I'd be happy for it to be at DW - I went against Roosters in 2019 at the atmosphere was amazing. My one request - based on how many eyes are starting to be on this game, please rub out the football markings!

I'll be happy when this trend of having neon colours on away jerseys is confined to history. Not a fan, although i'm sure it will appeal to the younger gen.