TheFlash

Could that be their biggest ever attendance? Probably not mind you... I remember when Wire went up there about 12 years ago - it seemed like the whole town (and a good few outlying farms and homesteads too by the look of things) had showed up for the game.

Agreed, but you are talking about quite a primitive town.

Eh?? The uni RL competition has been going for 30odd years. My brother played at York in the mid 90s. Union have had their university final at Twickenham since those days too, yet all these years later we still can't even manage a club stadium?? (In fact, we can barely manage to hold it on a Rugby League pitch ... Did you see the in-goal areas on that Nottingham field??)

Watched the last part of the game. A bit odd in that there was some really good play (particularly in defence, where even late on, players were locking on in the tackle, controlling the ball carrier, getting 3 in where needed etc) but also some really poor play, like the Leeds guy who ran in a 1 out carry on the last tackle ... Idiotic stuff. Définitely a lot of positives though. Shame it was played on a university field in Nottingham mind... Can we not do better than that?? The union kids get to play their final at Twickenham - I can't see us attracting many of the better student rugby players when there is such a humongous difference in the profile of the two sports at student level.

#deluded

Yet we have used the phrase "double marker" since the 1990s. As Dunbar says, a lot of the wording is completely outdated and ambiguous.

3 likes so far on Facebook, so perhaps it's a success after all....

Yeah - when I said "casual sports fans" I kind of meant more your people who would look at some highlights rather than subscribe to a satellite TV station. If you look at the NRL in terms of content, my Instagram feed is constantly bombarding me with NRL highlights, plays, tries, big hits etc. This includes official (via the NRL or Club pages) and unofficial sources. I very rarely get any Super League clips on my feed, even though I follow several clubs. The volume of traffic is simply miniscule compared to the Aussie game. Same with YouTube. The Eels Titans highlights are already uploaded on the NRL page (it was played today) with full commentary etc. It already has 26000 views. The Wakefield Toulouse game played yesterday has now been uploaded on the Super League YouTube channel. It has 687 views. This all points to one thing: the NRL as @The Rocket said in his first post, is in a League of its Own. Other leagues are relatively invisible by comparison.

The thread is about whether or not the NRL is in a league of its own. That's the relevance of it. My point is that it is indeed in a League of its Own, and this is borne out by the fact that the poorer teams in England are far below NRL standard. I was using the Q Cup as a kind of indicator to what level they are at. Whether people in the UK "care" or not is irrelevant.

I find it hard to agree with that, "lad". I find the NRL to be of far higher quality, and the product to be far better packaged, marketed, and distributed via social media etc. I think it is miles more attractive to casual sports fans. I enjoy the Super League, but it seems to be a long way behind, particularly the lower end - your Wakefields and HKRs etc who would probably struggle in the Q Cup.

Agreed. Light years ahead of anything served up over here.

You have to think Rugby League could learn something from this sport, in terms of the way it is packaged, promoted and presented. Sky/Matchroom have targeted the demographic that watches it, and put together an advertising package tailored to their buying habits (cars, beer, etc etc). They seem to put on successful events throughout the year, and have almost made it a mainstream sport. You rarely see darts played in front of an empty arena.

Absolutely. The guy was attacking you. I notice his defence was "what about the other thread..." Says it all.

French I believe.

Yeah, but Belle Vue isn't fit for Super League.

Good to see them going well. It adds to the league, especially this season with matches being televised, it is great to see another 'contender' emerge.

I am guessing: Andy Northey?

What a completely bizarre post. 100% rugby union, nothing at all to do with Rugby League, and reminiscing about the 1980s. What is it actually meant to contribute to the thread about Rugby League in Liverpool?

OK.... Looks horrendous on a shirt though, like Davo said.

Very true. I actually only stick my head into this thread to see what ridiculous stuff they have done this time. They are like a pub side!

Good spot. Like you, I find this incredibly disappointing. It does not reflect well at all on the professional team, and particularly the Strength & Conditioning afforded to elite athletes within our sport.

I know what you mean. I have never seen a group of people to live in the past as much as Rugby League fans.

Or decade. . .

OK.... not quite sure what your point is to be honest. Demand for Rugby League in Wales these days is somewhere between negligible and non-existent. Crowds of 1000 people for an international pretty much reinforce that!

OK - fair enough. I hadn't picked up on that. Even then, we are going back 27 years to a period when that 'demand' was for a group of ex-union stars, rather than the sport of Rugby League itself. Remember the South Wales team in the 2nd division around the same time (mid/late 90s)? They were a shambles, with no sponsors, and no crowds.