Is it almost the end .

[Poower Lad 47]

Sorry to be doom and gloom . But reading about the shambolic GB tour and seeing the organisation of other sports at the moment . Where does Rugby lLeague go from here . Just to say I am 100% league , it’s just there is never anything exiting anymore in the game . 

[Wellsy4HullFC 3,687]

No.

[Damien 7,045]

Presuming exiting is meant to be exciting, are Toronto Wolfpack not exciting?

[The Daddy 1,889]

I don't think it's the end but UK RL ain't in a good place right now. Listening to muppets like Nigel Wood about bringing back 'The great institution' that is the GB Lions instead of building on the England brand, bringing in the 8s, getting rid of franchising, loop fixtures etc has done untold damage. Change needs to happen. 

Don't like to be negative but I'm not gonna bs either. 

Edited October 19 by The Daddy

[Oliver Clothesoff 2,696]

We liquidate as a sport, all records of the game are burnt on a bonfire, all stadiums are demolished to make way for supermarkets, players defect to Union and fans make no mention of the embarrassment they feel at ever having been a fan of Rugby League. It’s the only way. 

[Poower Lad 47]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

Presuming exiting is meant to be exciting, are Toronto Wolfpack not exciting?

Fair point , but what other sport is closed in such indecision . I love rugby league but I want to see competitive internationals at big stadiums like when I was younger , we seem to be begging fans to attend now fixtures now . CC semi finals a case in point , let’s not beat about the bush double headers are not innovative we have them to fill stadiums that we used to on occasions , where’s the column inches where the exposure . The armature game looks in absolute freefall in the heartland areas just feel that the guys at the top have done such an appalling job . I think the big question is what can be done .

[ojx 1,952]

The 2021 TV deal will be the major indicator. If it is significantly lower, the writing will be on the wall.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield 1,070]

The end of GB? Hopefully, the England Rugby League brand has been growing and they already don’t play enough games, to play some of those few and far between fixtures as Great Britain makes no sense. 

[Man of Kent 4,960]

As Samuel Johnson once said, when a man is tired of rugby league, he is tired of life.

[Poower Lad 47]

1 hour ago, Man of Kent said:

As Samuel Johnson once said, when a man is tired of rugby league, he is tired of life.

Good point . 

Reasons to be cheerful

Toronto

Salford

New Headingley 

Brits in the NRL

Anthony Gelling on YouTube 

York

 

 

[rlno1 187]

8 hours ago, Poower Lad said:

Sorry to be doom and gloom . But reading about the shambolic GB tour and seeing the organisation of other sports at the moment . Where does Rugby lLeague go from here . Just to say I am 100% league , it’s just there is never anything exiting anymore in the game . 

Ummm....try watching the nines....great tournament...plenty to get interested about there.

Stop worrying about crowds.

In 1971 only 13,000 watched 3 tests between NZ and Gt Britain did that kill off GB? Or 36,000 who watched the 3 tests v Australia in 73 or 19,000 in NZ who watched 3 fantastic tests in 1990.

The game went on and grew.

Enjoy the matches.

[rlno1 187]

7 hours ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

We liquidate as a sport, all records of the game are burnt on a bonfire, all stadiums are demolished to make way for supermarkets, players defect to Union and fans make no mention of the embarrassment they feel at ever having been a fan of Rugby League. It’s the only way. 

But where will union get their future coaches, particularly their defensive coaches?????????????????

[Pie tries 432]

9 minutes ago, rlno1 said:

But where will union get their future coaches, particularly their defensive coaches?????????????????

Or any of their ideas

[Mr Frisky 503]

8 hours ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

We liquidate as a sport, all records of the game are burnt on a bonfire, all stadiums are demolished to make way for supermarkets, players defect to Union and fans make no mention of the embarrassment they feel at ever having been a fan of Rugby League. It’s the only way. 

However if all history of RL was lost and if RU was the only Rugby game anyone on the planet anyone has heard of...... Eventually (say in 2095) some RU players and fans would think - if we change these boring rules, drop a couple of players and let skill and flair shine we could invent a better form of Rugby.

Rugby League would be invented again as with all evolution the best form of that species will always survive in the end.

Sorry to be positive.

[Oxford 3,528]

2 hours ago, Man of Kent said:

As Samuel Johnson once said, when a man is tired of rugby league, he is tired of life.

 

42 minutes ago, Poower Lad said:

Good point . 

Reasons to be cheerful

Toronto

Salford

New Headingley 

Brits in the NRL

Anthony Gelling on YouTube 

York

 

 

The 9s have been great too !

And I've never been nor will I ever be embarassed to be a TGG fan.

I've never cared for the arguments about how it looks to the world because the world likes things I wouldn't cross the road to p ee on if they were on fire.

I believe the real problem for RL is the Qincy's of Doom that are rife and like to view everything as a cadavor and evidence of impending demise.

Being depressing about mistakes and wrong turns all the time is waring and there's a reason one of the themes of The Hitchhiker's Guide is leaving Marvin behind all the time and it's not just so he can have funny lines once you see him again!

 

 

[Nearenough 316]

57 minutes ago, Poower Lad said:

York

Thank u, great to be on the positive side of the equation at long last! Up the Kneets!

[Man of Kent 4,960]

58 minutes ago, Poower Lad said:

Good point . 

Reasons to be cheerful

Toronto

Salford

New Headingley 

Brits in the NRL

Anthony Gelling on YouTube 

York

 

 

Kangaroo tour in 2020 (details unveiled next month) 

Biggest ever World Cup in 2021

[Chronicler of Chiswick 858]

10 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Kangaroo tour in 2020 (details unveiled next month) 

Biggest ever World Cup in 2021

Also the average attendance at SL games last season was much the same as the season before, in spite of Widnes being replaced by London whose average gate was under half theirs.

[JohnM 5,872]

You may find the answer here. Why are we so gloomy? 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csyv01

[Man of Kent 4,960]

21 minutes ago, Chronicler of Chiswick said:

Also the average attendance at SL games last season was much the same as the season before, in spite of Widnes being replaced by London whose average gate was under half theirs.

Aye. Largest ever Super League TV audience for the GF too.

[Toby Chopra 737]

The GB tour is a pointless and potentially loss making aberation that does indeed illustrate the lack of imagination and strategic thinking among many of those in charge. That said, let's not kid ourselves that sending England down under on the same tour would have produced wildly different results. It wouldn't. 

Yes, part of the reason the tour might fail is becasue the Aussies rejected it, but at least in part that's becasue they're committing to regularly play their own tournament, the Oceania Cup. Not great for us, but great for southern Hemisphere international rugby league, so it's not all negative. 

Aditionally, there ARE things to get excited about. The World 9s was great, it needs to be more than every 4 years and needs to come up here v soon too. The players seemed to enjoy it and it only takes up 1 week, including prep. 

But the big one is the World Cup. We finally have a fixed 4 year cycle that even the Aussies are committed to, and the 2021 tournament here looks like being the best organised and promoted one ever. It's going to be fantastic. So we do have things to look forward  to and the game's number 1 priority is to get the 2025 tournament locked down so we can build on what I expect to be a really successful 2021 event. 

[Oxford 3,528]

And there's more .....

 

 

 

 

 

If this sport doesn't seem magic to you, what's wrong with you?

Edited October 20 by Oxford

[GeordieSaint 5,598]

Loads of positives. (Semi) Professional RL continues to be played across the UK in places like Wales, Newcastle and Coventry as well as traditional areas. Featherstone had a storming end to the season and were 40mins away from promotion. Saints were sensational all year and showed the other SL clubs the level/quality they need to aim for. Canberra made the NRL Grand Final. African RL competitions took place. Canada were in Serbia. And so and so on... loads of fantastic activity ongoing.

However, we need to look forward; not backwards. The GB tour is a prime example. Remember our history and be proud of it but the world has moved on and our sport should as well. Traditional tours to Aus/NZ look dead... they were binned for a reason after all; that’s why we ran the 3/4 Nations. Multi-nation competitions are the way forward as the WC/4 Nations have shown and the APRLC are clearly thinking (Pacific Cup)... we need a bit of strategic long term forward thinking rather than looking to the past all the time.

[Bedfordshire Bronco 907]

10 hours ago, Poower Lad said:

Sorry to be doom and gloom . But reading about the shambolic GB tour and seeing the organisation of other sports at the moment . Where does Rugby lLeague go from here . Just to say I am 100% league , it’s just there is never anything exiting anymore in the game . 

People have been saying this since 1895

The good will out

[Oxford 3,528]

TGG what it says on the tin!

The Never Ending Story .....