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Difficult questions - drinking culture in RL


costa

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Drinking in RL - the last taboo?

Seems to me there is far too big an emphasis on mental health and that we don't talk enough about the bottle. Why is this? 

So-called professional clubs still load up coaches with drink after a long away trip (seen it four times this season).

What message does this send younger players? 

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Lets be real, in SL this is less of a problem. Most SL players will only hit the town if they have 2 weeks off for the cup for example. Which is understandable, they're not saints!

Part time rugby is different. I've played at a 6th division RU club, I can't see that being much more different culturally to many part time RL clubs. 

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Archie Bruce died as a result of alcohol? I was under the impression we weren’t fully aware of how he come to pass, so assumptions are just wrong, at this stage. 

 

I suggested the thread proceeds without reference to recent events. If posters can't do that, I would recommend the topic is locked.

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I suggested the thread proceeds without reference to recent events. If posters can't do that, I would recommend the topic is locked.

I agree. Let’s not speculate on recent events.

Good topic of debate though. Another thing I’d throw in is, is Mad Monday still a good idea in pro sport environment?

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 several high profile players reportedly receiving treatment for alcohol dependency (not to be named here), what should the game be doing around this area? 

Seems to me there is far too big an emphasis on mental health/sexuality and that we don't talk enough about the bottle. Why is this? 

So-called professional clubs still load up coaches with drink after a long away trip (seen it four times this season).

What message does this send younger players? 

I would class alcohol mis-use under the mental health / mental wellness category.

Forget addiction the use of alcohol to deal with issues in your lifestyle is a self-destructive path alone.

You dont have to be a full blown alcoholic for alcohol to be damaging your life.

If we are setting a drinking culture it will lead to problems. Saying that I think we should allow people the odd drink.  But give the option for people to not drink.

As we need to be aware alcohol for some people is a bad thing.   

I would expect a player welfare officer to be pointing this out.

 

 

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Just some thoughts as I don't know what the answers are.

Firstly, the cultural issues runs deeper than what happens in the ground. I think there are quite a lot of people who enjoy coming to RL games because it is not like trying to enter a high-security prison, so be prepared to lose some fans if we follow the football route. And don't assume banning beer in the ground will make all the difference: a lot of people baulk at the cost of booze in stadia and tank up outside - only so much you can do about that. I can see that a stricter approach might improve the experience at the GF / CC Final, where much of the crowd seems to spend their afternoon on the way to or from the bogs/bar.

As for the players, of course 'Mad Monday' is an embarrassing aberration. Presumably top-flight clubs have rules and regimes over this sort of thing, and if they are broken players get punished. Tbh I find it most annoying when you see players getting excited about Mad Monday on Twitter, when they have had a rubbish season and have already been eliminated. On the other hand, if London stay up on the last day and have a big party to celebrate a fine achievement, why not.

I can confirm 30+ less sales for Scotland vs Italy at Workington, after this afternoons test purchase for the Tonga match, £7.50 is extremely reasonable, however a £2.50 'delivery' fee for a walk in purchase is beyond taking the mickey, good luck with that, it's cheaper on the telly.

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I agree. Let’s not speculate on recent events.

Good topic of debate though. Another thing I’d throw in is, is Mad Monday still a good idea in pro sport environment?

When was ‘Mad Monday’ ever a good idea?

- Adepto Successu Per Tributum Fuga -

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What about fans drinking to excess while attending games? 

Millennium Stadium in Cardiff have recently brought in alcohol free areas, could we see any RL games adopt something similar.

Personally I would be in favour of stopping people taking beer to their seats at Finals, as they do in football. 

You already can’t take it to your seat for the GF.

Now I enjoy a good drink at the big events, it’s half the fun of going ... but appreciate its not for everyone. I’d be in favour of them trialing small alcohol free areas at games and see what the demands like.  It could encourage families ... I enjoy the GF but I wouldn’t take my kids as it’s just lots of pi***d up blokes!

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You already can’t take it to your seat for the GF.

Now I enjoy a good drink at the big events, it’s half the fun of going ... but appreciate its not for everyone. I’d be in favour of them trialing small alcohol free areas at games and see what the demands like.  It could encourage families ... I enjoy the GF but I wouldn’t take my kids as it’s just lots of pi***d up blokes!

Yeah like in cricket, Trent Bridge has an alcohol free stand which I wouldn’t dream of going in but my in laws do because they don’t want to be surrounded by drunk people. 

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You already can’t take it to your seat for the GF.

Now I enjoy a good drink at the big events, it’s half the fun of going ... but appreciate its not for everyone. I’d be in favour of them trialing small alcohol free areas at games and see what the demands like.  It could encourage families ... I enjoy the GF but I wouldn’t take my kids as it’s just lots of pi***d up blokes!

I too like a good few drinks but also like to watch the game.

The grand final kick off time needs to be brought forward, people spend all day drinking then are totally out of it by 6pm ko 

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Yeah like in cricket, Trent Bridge has an alcohol free stand which I wouldn’t dream of going in but my in laws do because they don’t want to be surrounded by drunk people. 

I went to 20/20 once at Old Trafford, wouldn't go back again was surrounded by drunken yobs.

Worse than anything I have seen at Rugby League, bit of an eye opener for me.

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You already can’t take it to your seat for the GF.

Now I enjoy a good drink at the big events, it’s half the fun of going ... but appreciate its not for everyone. I’d be in favour of them trialing small alcohol free areas at games and see what the demands like.  It could encourage families ... I enjoy the GF but I wouldn’t take my kids as it’s just lots of pi***d up blokes!

I used to go to all Salford games as a family group.  Kids, parents and Grand Parents every second Sunday.

It was easy to find areas family friendly.

The move to the AJ Bell and Thursday nights and lack of Sundays for me forms my opinion its not family friendly at all.

Thursday nights have created a drinking culture at games aimed at groups of men going as opposed to families.

 

 

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Try Henley Regatta - it is close to me and I had to run a spare part up for a mate's generator he had hired out to a hospitality tent.

Went round the back of it towards the generator and there was a woman in a fancy dress and hat squatting down having a ###### while her mate was stood next to her yakking up with a bottle of fizz still in her hand - the fancy portacabin bogs were about 10m away

Any "sport" where the craic/hospitality becomes more of an occasion than the competition itself is heading in this direction

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Try Henley Regatta - it is close to me and I had to run a spare part up for a mate's generator he had hired out to a hospitality tent.

Went round the back of it towards the generator and there was a woman in a fancy dress and hat squatting down having a ###### while her mate was stood next to her yakking up with a bottle of fizz still in her hand - the fancy portacabin bogs were about 10m away

Any "sport" where the craic/hospitality becomes more of an occasion than the competition itself is heading in this direction

I think that's true and the class thing sometimes redefines yobbish behaviour as high jinks.

 

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Let's be honest, the issues around drink are a societal issue. We have a very poor attitude as a society towards alcohol and it is only natural that RL is affected by that in the same way that most other sports are. From a supporter perspective, I've been to football, cricket, racing, darts and I wouldn't say that RL is in any worse than those events when it comes to spectators having more than they can handle. 

As for the players, we're a sport played predominantly by the very demographics that are most likely to suffer from alcohol-related issues, according to https://alcoholchange.org.uk/alcohol-facts/fact-sheets/alcohol-statistics

In England in 2016, the alcohol-related mortality rate of men in the most disadvantaged socio-economic class is 56% times higher than for men in the least disadvantaged class, while for women the figure is 50% times higher [8].

Most of our players come from those low socio-economic classes and what we do (inadvertently) is put them together in a macho environment where it is perhaps inevitable that alcohol becomes a big factor in their behaviours. Our players also still come from towns and social circles that index higher than average for alcohol-related issues. Throw into the mix that we also don't give our players particuarly good job security and that, particuraly at the younger end, we don't pay them well - these are also factors that contribute to mental health and alcohol-related issues. 

I'd like to think that our professional clubs are doing the right things in terms of player welfare, player conduct / discipline and education, although we've got still got recent examples of where those structures still aren't working perfectly (the incident with the Tomkins brothers in a Wigan bar, Zak Hardaker, Tumina Tautai and Craig Mullen all being convicted of drink-driving in the last 12 months). There's clearly still a lot more to do. 

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As a guy in his late 40's, I firmly belong to the generation that uses alcohol as a social tool.  I wouldn't have dreamt of a night out with friends taking place without the booze and most nights were binges... both at University and then socially after starting work.

There is a big shift taking place with now though as research shows that young people are far less likely to drink to excess (if at all)... this article from the NHS summarizes things very well.

https://www.nhs.uk/news/lifestyle-and-exercise/young-people-turning-their-backs-alcohol/

"A study involving nearly 10,000 young people in the UK found that the proportion of 16- to 24-year-olds who say they never drink alcohol rose from 18% in 2005 to 29% in 2015. The study also found that young people who did drink alcohol were drinking less nowadays and that binge drinking rates were falling".

For me, this is a very welcome development.  I have spent a lot of time in Italy over the last 10 years and I was initially amazed and then delighted to see that young people could enjoy a social life without having to drink to the point they puke.

I remember one night in particular, I went to a restaurant with my wife and there was a group of around eight guys at a table near us in their early 20's who were eating, taking a glass of wine each (or water) and chatting and laughing.  I asked my wife what they were doing and her answer was that they were simply enjoying a meal together.  I remember thinking that when I was growing up in Wigan if I had suggested going for a meal rather than going to the pub for 10 pints I would have been laughed out of town.

It's a very welcome development if our kids are thinking this way now.

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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