The Masked Poster

Yes that's the one. Now you say that I remember it more, he stole the ball which Bradford assumed was illegal and switched off. Cheers bud.

Summer Bash, makes me feel fine. Blowing through the jasmine in my mind.

During the 2013 WC, and particularly at the semi final, it felt good, like something was going on, even if it wasn’t genuinely a huge phenomenon, it felt like that was the goal. Now, and during the 2021 WC, it just doesn’t.

There’s a fair bit of truth in that but ultimately, I would still follow the game, regardless of the standard, if I thought it wanted the same things that I want for it. And like a relationship, you sometimes have to concede that the other party aren’t maybe interested in the same things as you and have different life goals and it’s time to part ways. Say La Vee.

I think you are missing the point of what people are saying here. It's not about following a rubbish team and getting fed up of losing, it goes deeper than that. Personally, it's like the game isn't interested in leaving it's comfort blanket behind and is just happy to remain a very niche sport (note, not Northern as it doesn't even justify that tag) People who were formerly evangelical about the game are just feeling, essentially betrayed and let down. They don't expect RL to rule the world anytime soon, but a bit more growth and genuine development would have been nice. I'm sure Australian RL fans might see it differently.

As I recall, there was an incident where Leeds scored and the Bradford players thought the game had stopped or something like that? I was not in the seats so couldn’t see exactly what happened but there was something, even if it wasn’t exactly a controversy. I was going to make a joke about it being a long time ago, until I realised that it actually WAS a long time ago - 24 years incredibly. However, I’m not sure your “often choking” analogy holds up to examination, certainly not against Leeds. But that’s not my reason for contributing.

Good for you! However, I just can't really get into football that strongly. I appreciate it provides drama and understand why people do love it but personally I can't sustain the interest. I'll watch the WC or similar but I just am very ambivalent about it in general. (Note, I'm not anti football or anything)

This is exactly what happened to me. I didn't jump up one day and say "enough", it just sort of happened and I realised one day that not only was I not following the game particularly, I wasn't actually that bothered. Obviously I regret and feel saddened that I feel this way due to the number of years I'd been watching and the time and effort spent going to hundreds of games.....but the truth is sometimes not easy to accept. I'm sure it will be dismissed as just one guy who has moved on but let me stress, I most definitely was not a casual RL fan, pretty much all my free time was taken up with following RL or watching it (to the detriment of my personal life I'll be honest) I strongly suspect that I aren't the only one who has realised that when you stop banging your head against the wall, it's nice - and you don't have to do it anyway. Ah well.

I remember being at a jam packed McAlpine (as it was then) for an epic Leeds/Bradford semi final in 1999. It was a close game that Leeds won but I seem to remember a bit of controversy? Either way, my point is that this seems like it was a dream now. I was with a bunch of work related people (non locals) and they absolutely loved it. One of them was a Scottish guy who was instantly converted and became a raving RL fan on the spot. He subsequently moved back to his home area and I suspect (but don't know for definite) that he would have drifted away from the game. We still had some poor attendances then of course, the difference being that we don't even seem able to whip up decent attendances for these one offs anymore.

It's nothing to do with any of that. It's just absolutely dreadful - in my opinion, pure and simple. I don't dislike it "because it's not RL", I don't like it because it's a complete nonsense. Others may love it and good for them, that's what makes the world go around. But for me, no thanks. I'd even rather watch Union - seriously.

Sensible. Things can become just a jumble in your head until even doing everyday things seem like a huge undertaking. Yes, I had career change forced on me a few years ago (well, more than a few) due to redundancy. At the time I was in despair as I had 3 young children and my wife didn't work. And yet, years later I'm way better off than if that has never happened. You just need a bit of confidence in yourself and maybe a touch of arrogance to say "bring it on, I can deal with it and I'm better than them". It's not always as easy as that I know (from experience) but that's the best way to deal with shoeshine that life throws at you, in my opinion anyway.

I was in Bradford city centre yesterday and ended up in a pub watching the play off game against Carlisle. What a friendly, knowledgeable bunch of fans. Passionate about their much derided city and team but very gracious in defeat and conceding that Carlisle were the better team. An unexpected pleasure.

I've no idea what your personal situation is but take it from me, sometimes what seems like a disaster (ie redundancy) can lead to much better things in the future. All you need to do is believe in yourself and ignore anyone or anything else. 10 years seems like a long time but it soon flies, so get your head focused and crack on lad. Sometimes, it really is that straightforward. (I speak as someone with more than one mental breakdown, so I don't say that lightly). ATB

Rugby League could have organised a WC if it wanted, it didn't manage it because it's shambolic. Nothing else. Union is not hiding in the bushes waiting to hijack RL, chances are it's worrying about it's own problems.

In what way has this got anything to do with Union? Seriously? We won't get better at things by simply pointing out that it was the big bad wolf and not our fault. It's absolutely nothing to do with RU and everything to do with RL.