If you could bring it back...

[Desert Skipper]

Not intended to be too serious, just a bit of fun whilst it's a long off-season:

If you could bring something back into the RL matchday experience that you miss, what would it be?

I was watching a old YouTube video of my club's season review from 1994-95 (when I was a teenager), and remember how great it was to change ends at half time. I specifically recall the smell of 'Wintergreen' (?) as I passed the tunnel to the changing rooms. 

[Jughead]

International Rugby League. 

[OMEGA]

Full tours or something like them!

Its not beyond the wit of man to create an International Calendar is it?

2022 World Cup

2023 Lions Tour of NZ, Tonga & Samoa

2024 Kangaroo Tour of Europe

2025 Northern Hemisphere Cup / Southern Hemisphere Cup

2026 World Cup

2027 Lions Tour of Australia, PNG & Fiji

2028 Kiwi Tour of Europe

2029 Northern Hemisphere Cup / Southern Hemisphere Cup

cycle starts again......

[Wolford6]

The old hyper-religious guy who paraded outside the turnstiles before every big game wearing a sandwich board that declared "the End is Nigh. Repent Now or Face your Grim Consequences" (or words to that effect)

[Just Browny]

3 minutes ago, Wolford6 said:

The old hyper-religious guy who paraded outside the turnstiles before every big game wearing a sandwich board that declared "the End is Nigh. Repent Now or Face your Grim Consequences" (or words to that effect)

Not sure it is something I am dying to bring back, but this was certainly a feature of every home game at Wilderspool and seems bloody weird looking back now.

[Damien]

12 minutes ago, OMEGA said:

Full tours or something like them!

Its not beyond the wit of man to create an International Calendar is it?

2022 World Cup

2023 Lions Tour of NZ, Tonga & Samoa

2024 Kangaroo Tour of Europe

2025 Northern Hemisphere Cup / Southern Hemisphere Cup

2026 World Cup

2027 Lions Tour of Australia, PNG & Fiji

2028 Kiwi Tour of Europe

2029 Northern Hemisphere Cup / Southern Hemisphere Cup

cycle starts again......

France 2025 World Cup says hi.

[Damien]

Variety in play instead of everyone playing the same way with the same moves.

[Desert Skipper]

8 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

Not sure it is something I am dying to bring back, but this was certainly a feature of every home game at Wilderspool and seems bloody weird looking back now.

You could put the same guy outside the HJ with a 'Still not our year' board . Unfortunately.

6 minutes ago, Damien said:

Variety in play instead of everyone playing the same way with the same moves.

Yes, the off-the-cuff style is what seemed to make neutral sports fans take notice. I'm not sure what forced the move away from this, probably the perception of needing to be more effective defensively to compete with the Aussies?

[DavidM]

21 minutes ago, Wolford6 said:

The old hyper-religious guy who paraded outside the turnstiles before every big game wearing a sandwich board that declared "the End is Nigh. Repent Now or Face your Grim Consequences" (or words to that effect)

Not a great advert for buying season tickets 

[Desert Skipper]

2 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Not a great advert for buying season tickets 

But great ammunition to have if you're haggling over prices in the ticket office?

"Try Groupon instead, sir"

[John Rhino]

36 minutes ago, Wolford6 said:

The old hyper-religious guy who paraded outside the turnstiles before every big game wearing a sandwich board that declared "the End is Nigh. Repent Now or Face your Grim Consequences" (or words to that effect)

Blimey! Were they RFL issue so every ground had one? 

I remember seeing one at Elland Road but not at Headingley 

[Damien]

16 minutes ago, Desert Skipper said:

You could put the same guy outside the HJ with a 'Still not our year' board . Unfortunately.

Yes, the off-the-cuff style is what seemed to make neutral sports fans take notice. I'm not sure what forced the move away from this, probably the perception of needing to be more effective defensively to compete with the Aussies?

I'm certainly not one to harp on and say that everything was better in my day and age but some of the moves from the late 80s and early 90s were breathtaking and you even have to watch them a few times to see where the ball went. The variety has definitely been lost I feel.

[John Rhino]

1 hour ago, Desert Skipper said:

Not intended to be too serious, just a bit of fun whilst it's a long off-season:

If you could bring something back into the RL matchday experience that you miss, what would it be?

I was watching a old YouTube video of my club's season review from 1994-95 (when I was a teenager), and remember how great it was to change ends at half time. I specifically recall the smell of 'Wintergreen' (?) as I passed the tunnel to the changing rooms. 

International Rugby obviously but also a scrum (or rather a tap start for the opposition today)  if dummy half caught in possession. 

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, John Rhino said:

Blimey! Were they RFL issue so every ground had one? 

I remember seeing one at Elland Road but not at Headingley 

Central Park definitely had one. In our man's case he unfortunately turned out to be true  

[Wolford6]

1 minute ago, John Rhino said:

I remember seeing one at Elland Road but not at Headingley 

Supporting Leeds means you'll be going downstairs anyway.

[dkw]

39 minutes ago, Damien said:

Variety in play instead of everyone playing the same way with the same moves.

Absolutely this, it was only heightened for me while watching old games during lockdown just how little variety there is now compared to decades ago. Now its all about percentages, line balls etc. I was gobsmacked watching some games from the 70`s and 80`s as to how far back the players were lined out for a move.

[Big Picture]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

I'm certainly not one to harp on and say that everything was better in my day and age but some of the moves from the late 80s and early 90s were breathtaking and you even have to watch them a few times to see where the ball went. The variety has definitely been lost I feel.

It certainly has, and I'd say the culprits are the 10-metre rule the Aussies unilaterally brought in halfway through 1993 in a knee-jerk reaction to a downturn in scoring after they clarified "five metres or more behind their player taking part in the play-the-ball" to mean 8 metres from where the ball was being played, and the weird obsession with reducing the time between plays.

The result is that defenses can't move up like they used to, otherwise they'll never get back the ten metres in time to be back onside for the next play, and that's made it too easy for teams to advance the ball.  They're not as creative on offense now because they don't need to be, simple as that.

[Pete Grady]

Spilling hot oxo from a flimsy plastic cup all over my freezing hand.

 

[Dallas Mead]

Dairylea cheese triangles.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

1 hour ago, Desert Skipper said:

Not intended to be too serious, just a bit of fun whilst it's a long off-season:

If you could bring something back into the RL matchday experience that you miss, what would it be?

I was watching a old YouTube video of my club's season review from 1994-95 (when I was a teenager), and remember how great it was to change ends at half time. I specifically recall the smell of 'Wintergreen' (?) as I passed the tunnel to the changing rooms. 

The spiral staircase in the middle of the southstand that the sky sports team had to walk up just before kick off 

[binosh]

Torpedoes.

[The Blues Ox]

Running on the pitch to ask for tie ups.

[del capo]

Allow heading the ball forward and maybe even the flying wedge.......

[Harry Stottle]

43 minutes ago, dkw said:

Absolutely this, it was only heightened for me while watching old games during lockdown just how little variety there is now compared to decades ago. Now its all about percentages, line balls etc. I was gobsmacked watching some games from the 70`s and 80`s as to how far back the players were lined out for a move.

Yes most definitely, and see below

43 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

It certainly has, and I'd say the culprits are the 10-metre rule the Aussies unilaterally brought in halfway through 1993 in a knee-jerk reaction to a downturn in scoring after they clarified "five metres or more behind their player taking part in the play-the-ball" to mean 8 metres from where the ball was being played, and the weird obsession with reducing the time between plays.

The result is that defenses can't move up like they used to, otherwise they'll never get back the ten metres in time to be back onside for the next play, and that's made it too easy for teams to advance the ball.  They're not as creative on offense now because they don't need to be, simple as that.

This also,

And use a max of 4 interchanges - albeit I would prefer 2 - it would bring in fatigue and therefore more skill, that is a big reason why the game was more open along with the 5 meter rule, the behaemoth 10mtr charge down the middles would no longer be required forwards would be by nessacity more agile to play longer minutes and perhaps they would be required in field more, so instead of a second row playing in the centre all game, we would have winger v winger, centre v centre, and the Half's instead of being targeted by 8 fresh forwards could express themselves more, a bit like in the 70s/80's eh @dkw?

[Gerrumonside ref]

Some of the old songs from the terraces:

The Kevin Iro song (Hi Ho it’s off to work we go - complete with whistling)

The Sonny Nickle song (One, Two, Freddy’s coming for you)

Don’t get me wrong there’s good ones now, but I’m sentimental for the ones from wayback.