What’s the point?

[Davo5]

6 minutes ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

Talk about missing the point. That attitude beautifully sums up why the sport is struggling.

He is not a loss to Melbourne.... He is a loss to the GAME.

 

It would have if he’d played over here,given our lack of star players but the NRL are awash with exciting try scoring wingers.

[Mumby Magic]

14 hours ago, tonyvikinggee said:

As Stated above by iffleyox, give us a structure and stick to it, from P&R to playoffs to rules in games, lets just settle down and stop making knee jerk reactions and decisions every season. I know people who have watched the game for 40 years who struggle to keep up with the rule changes. Have a Whole game review, from grass roots to pro that is independent, and act on its findings.

Stop concentrating on a faster game, and start concentrating on a more skilful and exciting game. All i see at matches now is Complete Sets, attack the ruck, get to the kick, compete for kick. Its Boring, Its tedious and its far from exciting. 

 

 

 

Exactly. For me it's not the structure. I feel it's fine and everyone knows where they stand. Teams can plan off and on the field. It's not the game either it's how it's run.

[EssexRL]

2 hours ago, Robin Evans said:

Despite the bucket of sludge that RL finds itself in, and I find myself agreeing with most comments on this desperately sad thread, I think our game ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to diversity.

Learning dis rugby league is very well recieved 

I’ve personally never experienced any fans who are racist, homophobic or transphobic although as the Skolars coach has written there are issues in the game. Given the rich diversity of the part of London my club is based in, it’s outreach does engage with diverse communities.

[Methven Hornet]

On 05/08/2021 at 09:45, EssexRL said:

As any one who reads my posts know I love RL and always try to be positive about it; however the state of the sport, the poor way it’s run, the uncertainty around restructuring, and of course the cancellation of the WC (I really don’t think it’ll happen next year) is depressing and collectively is ebbing away my enthusiasm for the game. I have other things I could do with my time and money. For the first time in years I’ve missed Skolars home games this season. This is no reflection on the club who do a fantastic job under difficult circumstances but more my general feelings about the sport. 

How do other people feel? 

How do I feel? I wish I could feel shocked and surprised at what has happened in the game in recent times but I can't. I grew up watching the game on BBC Grandstand - the second half shown as a filler before the full time footy results (probably because ITV's World of Sport had bagged the rights to professional wrestling) - but my first live game was Hornets against Trinity in a top 16 playoff game in 1973. Even to a kid it was obvious that the Athletic Grounds, and even the game itself, had seen better days. The action on the pitch was just as good as I'd seen on the telly, though.

What I could never understand, when I looked at the league table, was that all the clubs were in the north of England. Was it that northern clubs were just better, and that the southern clubs were in lower divisions? No, what you saw was what you got. Of course, come the 1980s with Fulham and the other expansion clubs, then the promise of Super League and the "global game" in the mid-nineties, I discovered why the game was so stunted in its geographical spread.

Any opportunities the game has had have been squandered by a lack of leadership. And that is down to the fact that the game has never had governing bodies, either at domestic or international level. The RFL has always essentially been a club-based competition, a group of professional clubs that takes decisions based upon their immediate interests and not those of the game as a whole.

For me there have been highlights during the half century I've followed the game. 1995 was the high point: a professional game with the opportunity for meaningful expansion, a real world cup with a real England side like other grown up sports and, at last, a Scotland team playing internationals. I travelled all over Scotland and the north of England following Scotland teams, would turn up at places like Galashiels and Meadowbank to watch exhibition games, and I even watched the Scottish Schools Cup semi-finals on the North Inch, Perth one year.

Gradually that interest waned as I realised that those responsible for overseeing the game didn't believe in it. Or, some did, like those who wanted to affiliate to the GAISF, wanted to develop the game in new countries and, via the 2021 World Cup, establish a bona fide international governing body, but not the people who held the power.

I lost interest in "British" rugby league after the debacle over North America (yes, Toronto's replacement choice showed real ambition for the game) but I kept in touch with the Australian game via the NRL and, in particular, NRL WA - a part of the country I'm familiar with. I'm afraid even that has gone now after the NRL's behaviour.

Having returned to this board just to find out what was going on regarding the now seemingly lost world cup, I find that the stock of the game here is so low that it is having to reduce its flagship competition to just ten clubs, ideas are circulating about an all-in competition embracing the likes of Wigan, St Helens, Leeds, West Wales, and Coventry - hello late 60s/early 70s! - and there are even proposals for an 8-a-side reserve league. It's come to something when even managed decline descends into farce.

A French world cup in 2025 would be something to see but, realistically, it has as much chance of happening as rugby league being included in the Olympics, ie none.

As for me? I'm done with the game.