"I'm not watching anymore"

[EggFace]

I thought this thread was a bouth Rugby Union and thought it odd it wasn't in Cross Code.

[EssexRL]

6 hours ago, Eddie said:

Do you think you’ll go to watch their SCL games mate? 

A few but it’s not the same as watching Oldham or Rochdale or Whitehaven. I’ll certainly go to CC matches. 

[Rapscallion]

15 minutes ago, EssexRL said:

A few but it’s not the same as watching Oldham or Rochdale or Whitehaven. I’ll certainly go to CC matches. 

I think I’m the same. It’s probably a weird sentence to those with clubs like Saints, Wigan, Warrington etc in their immediate vicinity but there was a bit of an allure when it come to teams like Oldham, Rochdale, Whitehaven, Workington, Hunslet coming down to London to play Skolars and seeing young lads who didn’t quite make it at Super League level, some lower league journeymen and a few elder statesmen who are on their way down. 

No disrespect to teams like Bristol or Bedford but it’s not the same. Maybe the lack of rugby league will make me miss it and make me go. Right now though, I struggle to have the enthusiasm for it. 

[EssexRL]

24 minutes ago, Rapscallion said:

I think I’m the same. It’s probably a weird sentence to those with clubs like Saints, Wigan, Warrington etc in their immediate vicinity but there was a bit of an allure when it come to teams like Oldham, Rochdale, Whitehaven, Workington, Hunslet coming down to London to play Skolars and seeing young lads who didn’t quite make it at Super League level, some lower league journeymen and a few elder statesmen who are on their way down. 

No disrespect to teams like Bristol or Bedford but it’s not the same. Maybe the lack of rugby league will make me miss it and make me go. Right now though, I struggle to have the enthusiasm for it. 

Yes I think that sums up how I feel. 

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, EssexRL said:

A few but it’s not the same as watching Oldham or Rochdale or Whitehaven. I’ll certainly go to CC matches. 

The gaps between games will be longer, the season shorter ... even compared to League 1.

Things like that can make a difference too. You get out of the rhythms of following something.

[hindle xiii]

I tell you what though. I do still feel the urge to just hold a rugby ball in my hand. I don't think that will ever go away.

[gogledd]

Imagine your team had only 9 home games, and someone f**ked up and 7 of those home games were played at other stadia. Imagine you lost the first 7 games of the season and half your team was injured and you never played with the same 1, 6, 7 and 9 for weeks on end. Imagine some how, by some amazing twist of fate your team end up in a play-off situation, and you win...then you win again.....then you win for a third time and end up in a play-off final with a chance to get promotion to the league above.ay

 

Just imagine being a North Wales Crusaders supporter...You'd definitely have Fear OF Missing Out.

Ive missed two games this season, home and away....I've even cycled to Thatto Heath, Rochdale, Midlands Hurricanes and.....Cornwall ( as well as Chester, Rhyl and Colwyn Bay).

I'm definitely watching....and hoping for one more win on Sunday!

Edited September 21, 2023 by gogledd

[The Hallucinating Goose]

On 20/09/2023 at 20:54, Dave T said:

While there is plenty melodrama in these 'announcements' , there absolutely are people that walk away from the game. Everyone has that tipping point. 

There ain't much that gets me so riled that I think of sacking the game off, but more and more I feel that the sport doesn't really care too much about the fans, and I find myself caring about the sport less and less. I'm perfectly happy to do other things at weekends, and I look around at other sports for major events far more now. 

But I also accept that some of that is just my changes in circumstances, age, family etc. 

 

 

On 20/09/2023 at 21:34, gingerjon said:

If I wasn't on this forum I doubt I'd follow rugby league in any meaningful way any more. It's invisible down here and notably fewer and fewer people who I interact with on social media obviously respond to it.

Like you, I know a lot of that is personal circumstances but ...

My feelings towards the game are basically just like you two. I stopped going to games a couple of years ago due to personal circumstances and as a result of not being actively involved anymore, I find myself keeping up with the game less and less to the point where in all honesty, I really aren't that bothered. Just like you Ginger, if I didn't come on this forum I probably wouldn't be following the game at all anymore. It's not because I'm disillusioned with the game or anything, I still love it, it's just that I've drifted away from it. 

[hindle xiii]

15 hours ago, John Drake said:

Mostly it's just people moaning about stuff and being miserable though.

That's my impression.

It's a mindset. Glass is always half empty. 

This thread is a great example of it.

No solutions, just misery.

But it's also been said, this forum you gave us, is one of the few instances that keeps some of us involved at all.

[Dave T]

8 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

 

My feelings towards the game are basically just like you two. I stopped going to games a couple of years ago due to personal circumstances and as a result of not being actively involved anymore, I find myself keeping up with the game less and less to the point where in all honesty, I really aren't that bothered. Just like you Ginger, if I didn't come on this forum I probably wouldn't be following the game at all anymore. It's not because I'm disillusioned with the game or anything, I still love it, it's just that I've drifted away from it. 

And I do think that in some cases, these things just can't be avoided. I'm more than aware that I have changed and my priorities are very different to when I was younger. My time is far more valuable these days, and tbh, if I'm not enjoying something, I won't give up spending that time with my family out of some blind loyalty. I think this is why I've always felt so strongly in recent years about this being the sports entertainment business and that can't be forgotten. 

I also accept that Rugby League at the top level owes me nothing and doesn't have to do the things I want them to - and that's fine, similarly, I owe RL nothing and if it doesn't do anything for me, i's relatively easy for me to find other things that do. And I don't mean that in any kind of stroppy way, it's just the way it is.

I'll always be a follower of RL, but how I follow it is very different than how I did in the past. IMO, Rugby League serves too narrow a population (and I don't mean geographically) - the sport claims to be for all, but I don't see what it actively does that supports that claim, apart from some very nice things done in the LDRL and PDRL spaces. 

[Dave T]

19 hours ago, John Drake said:

What a depressing thread.

Why are Rugby League fans so miserable?

I think that's wholly unfair John and a bit of a stock answer that doesn't really address what the thread is about. 

This thread just isn't a whingeathon at all. It's a fairly interesting discussion (once past the light-hearted OP point) that talks about why people may drift from the game.

Just branding your customers as miserable is quite tiresome tbh.

[EssexRL]

12 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I think that's wholly unfair John and a bit of a stock answer that doesn't really address what the thread is about. 

This thread just isn't a whingeathon at all. It's a fairly interesting discussion (once past the light-hearted OP point) that talks about why people may drift from the game.

Just branding your customers as miserable is quite tiresome tbh.

Part of my drifting away is no longer reading RL media like League Express. Last years WC was a chance to reinvigorate and I felt very positive travelling home from Newcastle but then…

[The Hallucinating Goose]

35 minutes ago, EssexRL said:

Part of my drifting away is no longer reading RL media like League Express. Last years WC was a chance to reinvigorate and I felt very positive travelling home from Newcastle but then…

This is a big part of it for me. I think when it comes to RL media, you actively have to seek it out rather than something like football which is always right there in front of you, and when I stopped going to games, stopped being actively involved in the game, I stopped making the effort to seek out that media because I'd found something else to fill the hole that had been left by not going to games, and that something else is so much easier to keep up with. 

[JohnM]

It's important to remember, glass half full, glass half empty, there's still room for more champagne. 

[JohnM]

13 hours ago, EggFace said:

I thought this thread was a bouth Rugby Union and thought it odd it wasn't in Cross Code.

Understood. The negative attitude predominates amongst social media users  across almost all sports. Soccer is a massive sport compared to both rugby codes, but so too is the volume, intensity and frequency of "the game's gone" posts.

[OriginalMrC]

I've drifted away from the game somewhat. I volunteered for Coventry Bears doing social media and even a podcast. Don't do any of that any more and try as I might don't feel the same way about Midlands Hurricanes so stopped going to games altogether. 

I really enjoyed the world cup and that really invigorated things for me. Had hoped to go to France for the next one. So to have a cut down world cup down under next time is a massive disappointment and think I'm pretty much done with intl RL. Probably only a GB test series vs Australia in proper stadiums would change that. 

Saying that I do still watch SL despite not supporting any particular team and being very disappointed about the demise of the Wolfpack. The games still offer wonderful entertainment and this season has been one of the best in years. 

[unapologetic pedant]

On 21/09/2023 at 11:24, John Drake said:

What a depressing thread.

Why are Rugby League fans so miserable?

I posted something enthusiastic and hopeful about the game on the field.

Followed by an observation that some view RL as a political vehicle. In my view, these fans tend to be more prone to despondency and likely to drift away.

This must have triggered the rigid rules about mentioning politics. So no discussion.

[The Masked Poster]

54 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

I posted something enthusiastic and hopeful about the game on the field.

Followed by an observation that some view RL as a political vehicle. In my view, these fans tend to be more prone to despondency and likely to drift away.

This must have triggered the rigid rules about mentioning politics. So no discussion.

I know you're a bit of a music fan so will try to use a musical analogy. Imagine you knew a band who were extremely talented but had a member that kept ruining opportunities by his stupid antics.....getting drunk at inopportune moments and scuppering record deals by insulting people. A sort of less charming and verbose Keith Moon if you will.....

If the band stuck with this member despite umpteen transgressions (which on the face of it is loyalty) would you feel that in 10 years time they had wasted their opportunities or that it was just the way it was and nobody was that interested anyway? (Despite them being very, very talented but insisted on sticking with this loose wheel) At some point you have to point the finger at the other band members for not taking action. 

Not the greatest analogy perhaps but it's similar to where I am. 

[unapologetic pedant]

5 hours ago, The Masked Poster said:

I know you're a bit of a music fan so will try to use a musical analogy. Imagine you knew a band who were extremely talented but had a member that kept ruining opportunities by his stupid antics.....getting drunk at inopportune moments and scuppering record deals by insulting people. A sort of less charming and verbose Keith Moon if you will.....

If the band stuck with this member despite umpteen transgressions (which on the face of it is loyalty) would you feel that in 10 years time they had wasted their opportunities or that it was just the way it was and nobody was that interested anyway? (Despite them being very, very talented but insisted on sticking with this loose wheel) At some point you have to point the finger at the other band members for not taking action.  

However exasperating for those on the inside, the fans would stick with the music if it delivered. Proof of the pudding...

Soccer fans with quasi political gripes don't seem to lose interest in the game of Association Football. If they reject the corporatism of the Premier League, they go to non-league instead.

In the post that was nuked I bemoaned the lack of interest in the rules of RL and how they and their application influence the play. Can't help wondering whether some of the purportedly disillusioned ever paid anything more than superficial heed to the game on the field. All the focus seems to be on off-field matters. 

[jacksy]

On 21/09/2023 at 09:09, hindle xiii said:

I watch some FTA games now. I also had a break from here. I don't go to Odsal anymore nor do I keep tabs on the Bulls.

One particular moment stuck out; a Hull FC prop (Taylor?) was sent off because Wigan's McIlorum fell into his elbow a few years ago. Granted other things were going on with me at the time, but I just wondered why am I getting so annoyed with something I'm supposed to enjoy on a Friday night. From then on the drift away began. I'm not even sure I remembered hearing when Catalans won the Challenge Cup. This post is a bit fragmented but that's when I stopped caring.

That was Watts.

[Jeff Stein]

As someone who has lost the professional club they support at the end of this year, I make no bones about feeling pretty miserable about the game. Normally I watch every televised game and would have been buzzing about last night, but I just had absolutely no enthusiasm about it and the boosterism beforehand. It just appears that those running the game have no real interest about anything or anyone whether supporter, player or volunteer outside a very small geographical area and I have to ask myself whether it is worth the unrequited emotional input anymore.

[The Masked Poster]

9 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

However exasperating for those on the inside, the fans would stick with the music if it delivered. Proof of the pudding...

Soccer fans with quasi political gripes don't seem to lose interest in the game of Association Football. If they reject the corporatism of the Premier League, they go to non-league instead.

In the post that was nuked I bemoaned the lack of interest in the rules of RL and how they and their application influence the play. Can't help wondering whether some of the purportedly disillusioned ever paid anything more than superficial heed to the game on the field. All the focus seems to be on off-field matters. 

Except most music fans would never get to hear the band due to their unprofessional and lackadaisical approach to their own band. So far from sticking with the music, they'd never know about it to begin with. 

As for the point about sticking to the on field action only, that's exactly what I did for many years. Until it began to nag at me that the game wasn't growing, or seriously trying to and felt like a bit of a league of gentlemen style affair. If you're ok with that, that's your call and good for you. Personally, I'm not into that mentality but it seems like I'm in a minority and happy to concede so.....

I *know* RL could be much bigger than it is, ultimately that's what is so frustrating. Not soccer huge but it could be much bigger, and I'm not just talking about the pro game. It's all immaterial now anyway but thanks for the discussion. 

[The Masked Poster]

24 minutes ago, Jeff Stein said:

As someone who has lost the professional club they support at the end of this year, I make no bones about feeling pretty miserable about the game. Normally I watch every televised game and would have been buzzing about last night, but I just had absolutely no enthusiasm about it and the boosterism beforehand. It just appears that those running the game have no real interest about anything or anyone whether supporter, player or volunteer outside a very small geographical area and I have to ask myself whether it is worth the unrequited emotional input anymore.

I met up with a friend for a couple of drinks last night in a pub in a Bradford suburb. I know the pub as I used to go there sometimes in the early 00's as he was a Bradford Bulls supporter and it used to be full of RL fans (not just Bradford but Leeds and a random Wigan fan) Anyway the SL game was on in one half of the pub and the football was on the other half. It was only something like Birmingham v Whoever but almost the entire pub was watching the meaningless football match. 

I'm not saying that RL commands the same number of devotees or something, nor comparing it with soccer but it was sad to see in a place that once was bouncing with people watching the Friday night SL games. To rub salt in the wounds,it was decked out in RUWC regalia. Sad. 

[John Drake]

On 22/09/2023 at 07:08, Dave T said:

I think that's wholly unfair John and a bit of a stock answer that doesn't really address what the thread is about. 

This thread just isn't a whingeathon at all. It's a fairly interesting discussion (once past the light-hearted OP point) that talks about why people may drift from the game.

Just branding your customers as miserable is quite tiresome tbh.

It's just how I feel reading this thread. 

Not much I can do about that (other than not read it, I suppose).

Too much negativity brings me down.

[hindle xiii]

1 hour ago, John Drake said:

It's just how I feel reading this thread. 

Not much I can do about that (other than not read it, I suppose).

Too much negativity brings me down.

Use the ignore function.