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Living in a rugby league town


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10 hours ago, Denton Rovers RLFC said:

 

It's not too bad here in the garden city but that's just comparative to the rest of the home counties, we're sort of on that cusp in some regards. 

People in the North don't really grasp sometimes how tough it can be, yes you might be lucky enough to have bought at the right time and your property is worth £xxx, but the reality is unless you want to move from your roots or their children/grandchildren are 

 The whole house price/rental costs does have a significant effect on the value of the salaries of the players at Broncos and IMO the dispensation of the SC isn't enough to balance that out, even if the London club could afford to pay it.

 

Yep, I never understand people being happy with house prices rises (unless you own lots of houses).... Just makes it more expensive for the next generation or to move 

Still Welwyn is a nice enough place so need for you to move.... Luton I'd love to escape! 

Yes, Broncos surely suffer from northerners not wanting to have house shares in Ealing.... As most of the players do.... Still I think it does attract the Aussies who want to enjoy the smoke.... I always suspect there are a tonne of very good young RL playing Aussies working in bars in Acton etc. who could probably play championship standard at least if given full time training

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14 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Definitely. I've been to the odd Hull City game when someone I know has a pass going and after the game they've always said something like, "how was it like going to a proper sport then?"

Well it was boring as hell to start with. 90 minutes of kicking a ball slowly back to the goalkeeper, taking about 3 shots in the entire game, up the other end for about 5 minutes in total, players wailing in pain when they've been love tapped and an atmosphere so flat, quiet and miserable that I did genuinely hear a flea fart at the other side of the ground. The last one I went to they gave the attendance as 12,000. I go to FC, I know what 12,000 looks like and it was easy about half that. My god it was dreadful. 

EDIT. I'll add to that as well, I couldn't help noticing how miserable and almost hostile the fans were when I walked in. They were looking at me like, "who the hell are you? What you doing here? F off!" whereas league, I walk in, everyone saying hello, everyone having a joke and nattering about the game. I go with a couple of mates but don't know anyone else that sits round me but we have a laugh like mates throughout the game! That Hull City game was people just silent, staring into the abyss, probably contemplating suicide. Massive contrast! 

League all the way in Hull! 

I remember some Yorkshire cup finals at Elland Road circa late 80"s ish. Hell Fire! vicious or what. Parallel universe.

TESTICULI AD  BREXITAM.

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8 hours ago, JohnM said:

Brought up in Swinton, 1946 till I left in 1967. Until about 1960 there were only three sports I was really aware of: crikit, soccer, rugby league. At secondary school in Salford, main sport was soccer. As i was useless at soccer, it was cross country running. It was there I learned that there was a second rugby called rugby union. Back in Swinton, though it was all league, at least in the circles in which I moved. My dad knew a few of the former players, so that was part of the chat at home.

Swinton raised? So when did you become a glory hunter John?

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On 18/07/2019 at 18:59, deluded pom? said:

Do you live in Warsaw?

No, and if I did I would call it Warszawa. ??? ? 

Sunny & Cosmopolitan Bedfordshire is nearer the mark, probably why I get on so well with Bedfordshire Bronco ??

I'm an equal opportunities beer drinker and enjoy sampling the full range of products that our eclectic corner shops put on offer, even the co-op are coming up with some interesting stuff lately. Recent revelations include Dragon Stout from Jamaica, Extra Strength Export Guinness from Nigeria, Zywiec and Perla Mocne from Poland, Steam Beer from San Francisco, Off Shore Pilsner from Cornwall and Pride & Joy from Hebden Bridge ! ?

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16 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Yep, I never understand people being happy with house prices rises (unless you own lots of houses).... Just makes it more expensive for the next generation or to move 

Still Welwyn is a nice enough place so need for you to move.... Luton I'd love to escape! 

Yes, Broncos surely suffer from northerners not wanting to have house shares in Ealing.... As most of the players do.... Still I think it does attract the Aussies who want to enjoy the smoke.... I always suspect there are a tonne of very good young RL playing Aussies working in bars in Acton etc. who could probably play championship standard at least if given full time training

I live in the world's first garden city, not the copycat London overspill town ? I like cycling around Luton on occasion, the hills aren't too tasking for this fat old fart though I'm usually in the granny gear long before I get anywhere near the top?

I think the novelty of 'London' wears pretty quickly, yes there's a lot going on and for after work drinks you're spoilt for choice but you can get a lot of entertainment in Manchester and Leeds with far more bang for your buck housing wise. £50k salary in the North can get you a comfortable lifestyle and buy a house, £50K in London and it means you're having to rent and as you say, house sharing.

Don't want ockers out of bars playing, we want youngsters coming through the ranks, introduced through schools and clubs to get a chance at playing at all levels, from that we build a RL community by encouraging their families to come to games and get interested in RL as a whole, those lads in bars even IF they were good enough (I honestly think you're over-egging the talent tbh) would bring virtually nothing to the sport IMHO.

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1 hour ago, Denton Rovers RLFC said:

I live in the world's first garden city, not the copycat London overspill town ? I like cycling around Luton on occasion, the hills aren't too tasking for this fat old fart though I'm usually in the granny gear long before I get anywhere near the top?

I think the novelty of 'London' wears pretty quickly, yes there's a lot going on and for after work drinks you're spoilt for choice but you can get a lot of entertainment in Manchester and Leeds with far more bang for your buck housing wise. £50k salary in the North can get you a comfortable lifestyle and buy a house, £50K in London and it means you're having to rent and as you say, house sharing.

Don't want ockers out of bars playing, we want youngsters coming through the ranks, introduced through schools and clubs to get a chance at playing at all levels, from that we build a RL community by encouraging their families to come to games and get interested in RL as a whole, those lads in bars even IF they were good enough (I honestly think you're over-egging the talent tbh) would bring virtually nothing to the sport IMHO.

Lovely Letchworth then.... Played cricket there many a time but not explored its obvious beauty beyond that ?

If the ockers can play then I say get them in but I agree continuing the excellent youth development more important. If the academy side plays in double headers at ET I sometimes end up sharing the bus out of Vallis way some of them. They are polite enough to nod and smile to an oldish amateur's drivel! 

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17 hours ago, JohnM said:

Brought up in Swinton, 1946 till I left in 1967. Until about 1960 there were only three sports I was really aware of: crikit, soccer, rugby league. At secondary school in Salford, main sport was soccer. As i was useless at soccer, it was cross country running. It was there I learned that there was a second rugby called rugby union. Back in Swinton, though it was all league, at least in the circles in which I moved. My dad knew a few of the former players, so that was part of the chat at home.

Swinton was a huge club in the early part of RL and even into the 60s were one of the big clubs so it's not surprising RL was a massive deal when you were in your formative years. The old Station Road was one of the biggest grounds in the North West of any sport, I only went there once and that was as a 10 year old for the 1980 CC semi final between Hull and Widnes.

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32 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Lovely Letchworth then.... Played cricket there many a time but not explored its obvious beauty beyond that ?

If the ockers can play then I say get them in but I agree continuing the excellent youth development more important. If the academy side plays in double headers at ET I sometimes end up sharing the bus out of Vallis way some of them. They are polite enough to bid and smile to an oldish amateur's drivel! 

I turned my arm over for Stevenge 2nds for a couple of games, I played two years for a newly formed ramshackle team whilst at college (we won Div 6 in our first year.lol), but when I moved to Letchworth after the army I never had time to go down to Whitehorn Lane. It's okay as towns go, not much in the way of entertainment/shopping offer but generally quiet and near the countryside, 50 yards from home and I'm on a country lane, I'd never move to a large town or city that's for sure.

It's nice to chat to the youngsters about the game, I had an exchange with one of the Jamaican wingers who played in that vital match for them last year whilst down at a skolars. it's nice sometimes to get an insight into their thinking of the game and how they interpret the way they play, how they approach tactics, tackling/attacking and the tricks of the trade shall we say.

I think it's not just politeness but genuine interest and we have something in common even if the age and ability might be somewhat disparate?

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Letchworth? When I was in digs there for a few  summers from 1963 on parole from Swinton there were no licenced premises in the town. We had to travel to the border of the Garden City to another jurisdiction! 

Later, around 1989, I worked there in an office next to a rather fragrant  onion bhaji factory. 

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18 minutes ago, Denton Rovers RLFC said:

I turned my arm over for Stevenge 2nds for a couple of games, I played two years for a newly formed ramshackle team whilst at college (we won Div 6 in our first year.lol), but when I moved to Letchworth after the army I never had time to go down to Whitehorn Lane. It's okay as towns go, not much in the way of entertainment/shopping offer but generally quiet and near the countryside, 50 yards from home and I'm on a country lane, I'd never move to a large town or city that's for sure.

It's nice to chat to the youngsters about the game, I had an exchange with one of the Jamaican wingers who played in that vital match for them last year whilst down at a skolars. it's nice sometimes to get an insight into their thinking of the game and how they interpret the way they play, how they approach tactics, tackling/attacking and the tricks of the trade shall we say.

I think it's not just politeness but genuine interest and we have something in common even if the age and ability might be somewhat disparate?

I'm usually quite drunk so I think they probably are being polite ?

Got some real talent in the academy... We've a huge talent pool of union backs in London who we should do more cherry picking of if they don't make it at Sarries/Quins etc

 

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5 hours ago, JohnM said:

Letchworth? When I was in digs there for a few  summers from 1963 on parole from Swinton there were no licenced premises in the town. We had to travel to the border of the Garden City to another jurisdiction! 

Later, around 1989, I worked there in an office next to a rather fragrant  onion bhaji factory

1963??...blimey John.... How old are you? ? 

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9 hours ago, TheConductor said:

Sydney and Dublin are one of the worst places I have been for sport as in Dublin everyone talks about EPL or Celtic yet GAA Dubs and Leinster rule for crowds and the dame in Sydney with back in 1999 when every Chinese, Italian born and new breed obsessed with Man Utd yet the Wallabies and Australian Cricket team were world champions and Sydney Swans were the darling of the Bondi yet League still got the biggest crowds in NSW.

Don’t see how that can be the worst place for sport. Interest in the sport and domestic crowds don’t correlate in this case, largely as the domestic scene isn’t the highest level of the sport, and fans often want that.

Football would have by far the most interest of any sport in Ireland, with the highest profile sports teams on the island being Man Utd, Liverpool and Celtic (Rangers being a 4th when including N.Ireland). A Champions League, Premier League, World Cup, European Championship game would generate nationwide viewership on television. The actual domestic scene gets very little interest. Gaelic football, hurling and rugby union would be the three best attended sports domestically (largely as the highest level of those three sports are played here)..they do however only generate pockets of interest. Hurling interest is generally concentrated in the far south of the island, rugby union mostly followed/played by those from colleges that played it, and the biggest of the three Gaelic football you will only see jerseys within a county belonging to that county...you won’t see many Dublin jerseys outside Dublin like you would see a PL jersey throughout the island where players (unlike Gaelic footballers) are known throughout the country.

Put a Premier League football club in Dublin (which was mooted over a decade ago with Wimbledon leaving south London) and the stadium would be a 55k sell out every week. Australia has a similar issue in that they have far bigger interest in the EPL than their local league (A league). Liverpool can generate 95k in Melbourne, 76k in Sydney, but no Aussie team would get near that.

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9 hours ago, TheConductor said:

Sydney and Dublin are one of the worst places I have been for sport as in Dublin everyone talks about EPL or Celtic yet GAA Dubs and Leinster rule for crowds and the dame in Sydney with back in 1999 when every Chinese, Italian born and new breed obsessed with Man Utd yet the Wallabies and Australian Cricket team were world champions and Sydney Swans were the darling of the Bondi yet League still got the biggest crowds in NSW.

What a weird post, where are you from?

I have never seen  Many Chinese Fans in any Sport

 

Talent is secondary to whether players are confident.

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Was interesting travelling to Newcastle yesterday. While not a heartland town the contrast with London was telling. The taxi driver had heard of rugby league; no need to explain. An impressive 1,098 people there (I represented 50% of the whole away support). As my son (the other 50%) observed - the sport “feels normal here”. Just local people watching the sport they like. It feels more fragile down here. 

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20 hours ago, JohnM said:

Letchworth? When I was in digs there for a few  summers from 1963 on parole from Swinton there were no licenced premises in the town. We had to travel to the border of the Garden City to another jurisdiction! 

Later, around 1989, I worked there in an office next to a rather fragrant  onion bhaji factory. 

We can now boast 2 pubs and what was a 'wine' bar within the town boundary, there are of course more licensed premises with the various restaurants but since I've been here in the mid 90s four pubs were closed down - Carosel/Sportsman & Eboneezers, then the Black Squirrel got shut down in the town centre (it was rough as rural Herts goes) and the Broadway old man's pub which was under Toby carvery's though it was converted into more restaurant/bar food eatery space.

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Wakefield born and bred, middle school (Flanshaw St Michaels) was mainly a league school.  We did have a football team but the main sport was league.  Not sure if they play these days, as I never see any posts when I go past.

High school (Eastmoor) only played one league match in the 3 years I was there and got banned after it.  I didn't volunteer for the team as I knew when I saw the other names on the list that it wouldn't end well.

I was working in Northampton 25 yeasr ago, and was wearing a Trinity top whilst drinking in the pub near the B&B I was staying in when a guy came up to talk to me about joining the local League team.  I couldn't as I was working there through the week and going home on the weekend.  I was surprised that he knew it was a League top with Northampton being football and Union.

As has previously been mentioned, you do see quite a lot of Trinity shirts about.

 

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3 hours ago, JohnM said:

Very VERY old! ?

Started work in 1962, retired 54 years later. 

Snap. Except in 2017 they asked me back to fill in temporarily, so I beat you by 3 months! ?

“Few thought him even a starter.There were many who thought themselves smarter. But he ended PM, CH and OM. An Earl and a Knight of the Garter.”

Clement Attlee.

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4 hours ago, metallithrax said:

Wakefield born and bred, middle school (Flanshaw St Michaels) was mainly a league school.  We did have a football team but the main sport was league.  Not sure if they play these days, as I never see any posts when I go past.

High school (Eastmoor) only played one league match in the 3 years I was there and got banned after it.  I didn't volunteer for the team as I knew when I saw the other names on the list that it wouldn't end well.

I was working in Northampton 25 yeasr ago, and was wearing a Trinity top whilst drinking in the pub near the B&B I was staying in when a guy came up to talk to me about joining the local League team.  I couldn't as I was working there through the week and going home on the weekend.  I was surprised that he knew it was a League top with Northampton being football and Union.

As has previously been mentioned, you do see quite a lot of Trinity shirts about.

 

Northampton nearly started a league venture about 12 years ago... Was going to be called the Rebels or something.... Not sure why it got pulled

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Tbh I dont know why some of the bigger union outfits havent tried the dual code thing more whole heartedly.

The likes of Wasps, Bath, Exeter etc must have som nay lads in their systems and some will not make it in union but may be better suited to league.

A league club playing in summer gives all year use of the stadium, drinks, merchandise etc is not really in competition. Make it to SL and you get the TV revenue as well

I know it is mainly due to bias and prejudice either way but if say a Bath team were in SL playing at the rec in the middle of town against Saints, Wigan etc  they would definately pull a crowd. 

 

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36 minutes ago, headtackle said:

Tbh I dont know why some of the bigger union outfits havent tried the dual code thing more whole heartedly.

The likes of Wasps, Bath, Exeter etc must have som nay lads in their systems and some will not make it in union but may be better suited to league.

A league club playing in summer gives all year use of the stadium, drinks, merchandise etc is not really in competition. Make it to SL and you get the TV revenue as well

I know it is mainly due to bias and prejudice either way but if say a Bath team were in SL playing at the rec in the middle of town against Saints, Wigan etc  they would definately pull a crowd. 

 

Most RU clubs are struggling to keep their heads above water as it is without adding additional expenditure.

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On 21/07/2019 at 20:21, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Northampton nearly started a league venture about 12 years ago... Was going to be called the Rebels or something.... Not sure why it got pulled

Think it might have been Northampton Demons. I think distance of travelling to play other sides and not enough players coming forward may have made it a difficult proposition. Also, this is prime RU country, Northamptonshire really is a RU County. The number of teams, at all levels and ages, is phenomenal. 

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