Does anyone think the game is in a good place?

[sam4731]

Lots of negativity on these threads recently but I'd be interested in the point of view who thinks we're actually doing well at the moment.

[crashmon]

If your in the NRL, the yes its a good place.

 

[doc]

Do you?

[Welshleaguelover]

I'd say yes if we're talking world wide rugby league.

I'd say no if we're talking about rugby league in the UK at this moment.

It's not a case of doom and gloom though. The game has massive potential here.

[moorside roughyed]

The rumors about Newcastle aren't helping. If they turn out to be true it will be a big loss for the game. I don't think the game is in a good place.

[paul hicks]

depends what you mean by the game. i would think the game in France is in a much better place than it's been for a long while. 

in Britain its a mish mash with some parts doing well and others a right mess .

wheelchair rugby doing well

womens rugby doing very well

half of super league clubs doing well either on the field or by been financially stable

the other half of super league well not so good.

the championship well again in mix with some clubs doing very well compared to previous seasons and others you have to worry about survival

league one. well, what do we do with it.

community clubs again a bit of a mix with some doing really well but others struggling to field teams. maybe time to merge some clubs

[ghost crayfish]

The game in the UK at the top level is clearly not in a great place, but the exciting thing  is that despite all the terrible mismanagement,  it is still hobbling along and the potential is still clearly there.  Crowds are actually up, the England team has its best set of outside backs in 25 years, and the international game is at least starting to organise itself. There's definite reason to be positive.

The NRL was in a similar place about 15 to 20 years ago in some ways - obviously from a higher platform, but still a victim of mismanagement and blatantly not achieving its potential. The game felt at serious risk of being overrun by rugby union here. It took some big reforms such as establishing the ARLC and getting News Ltd out of the management of the game for it to start turning that around.

For Super League, a similar big reform is happening now, with the partnership with IMG - big change needed to happen to get the top level competition structure right, and lift the whole operation, and hopefully it will. The potential is there and it feels like the next 3 years are massive for the sport in the UK and France. 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by ghost crayfish

[unapologetic pedant]

2 hours ago, sam4731 said:

Lots of negativity on these threads recently but I'd be interested in the point of view who thinks we're actually doing well at the moment.

You gave us "Are we stuck?" a week ago.

[Pulga]

At the international level it's a complete shambles.

NRL is better than it's ever been. Room for improvement in Australia below NRL level.

SL is still falling victim to the clubs running the show. SL or IMG (or both) need to be given more power. Good to see attendance on the rise and hopefully signs of SL coming into the 21st century finally.

The Pacific is still on the rise which is fantastic. We're seeing what happened with Tonga and Samoa trickle back to the actual grassroots of those nations. It seems only Cook Islands have to field any non-professional players in their national squads.

[rlno1]

2 hours ago, Pulga said:

At the international level it's a complete shambles.

NRL is better than it's ever been. Room for improvement in Australia below NRL level.

SL is still falling victim to the clubs running the show. SL or IMG (or both) need to be given more power. Good to see attendance on the rise and hopefully signs of SL coming into the 21st century finally.

The Pacific is still on the rise which is fantastic. We're seeing what happened with Tonga and Samoa trickle back to the actual grassroots of those nations. It seems only Cook Islands have to field any non-professional players in their national squads.

Which is ironic for the Cook Islands as they have had a consistent league with juniors since the early 1980's.

[Barley Mow]

4 hours ago, rlno1 said:

Which is ironic for the Cook Islands as they have had a consistent league with juniors since the early 1980's.

Nonetheless, it makes sense given the Cook Islands' tiny population that those competitions don't produce any/many professional standard players.

[sam4731]

8 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

You gave us "Are we stuck?" a week ago.

A genuine question. Just interested in the other side of the argument too.

[rlno1]

9 hours ago, ghost crayfish said:

The game in the UK at the top level is clearly not in a great place, but the exciting thing  is that despite all the terrible mismanagement,  it is still hobbling along and the potential is still clearly there.  Crowds are actually up, the England team has its best set of outside backs in 25 years, and the international game is at least starting to organise itself. There's definite reason to be positive.

The NRL was in a similar place about 15 to 20 years ago in some ways - obviously from a higher platform, but still a victim of mismanagement and blatantly not achieving its potential. The game felt at serious risk of being overrun by rugby union here. It took some big reforms such as establishing the ARLC and getting News Ltd out of the management of the game for it to start turning that around.

For Super League, a similar big reform is happening now, with the partnership with IMG - big change needed to happen to get the top level competition structure right, and lift the whole operation, and hopefully it will. The potential is there and it feels like the next 3 years are massive for the sport in the UK and France. 

 

 

I can go back to 1983, the season after the Invincibles came home, when the game hit rock bottom. Blow out scores, only two teams in the race for the title, violence on the field eg Les Boyd elbow, low crowds the game season average was 6,996, clubs going broke particularly Cronulla Wests and Newtown, the league had an unworkable 40 plus man committee which the public lacked confidence in and most importantly the boss of the league had to resign due to corruption allegations that nearly brought down the NSW government at the time. The game was at a low point, enter Quayle and Arthurson within 10 years the game was the number one football code in Australia.

It can be done.

[Eddie]

Super league is in an ok place, after the most exciting season for years and attendances up. For most of the rest though, it seems in a state of decline with the retreat back to the heartlands happening at pace. 

[Cerulean]

9 hours ago, Pulga said:

 

...SL is still falling victim to the clubs running the show...

Could you, perhaps, list these powerful and destructive entities which are running the show and victimising SL, so that we on the forums can better direct out contempt?

[M j M]

I don't imagine there has been a majority of people, at any time in the game's history, who thought it was going great. It's just the way it is.

[crashmon]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Super league is in an ok place, after the most exciting season for years and attendances up. For most of the rest though, it seems in a state of decline with the retreat back to the heartlands happening at pace. 

Is it though.  Could SL be in an OK place if SKy reduce the funding again by another 5M in three years..

While SL is 100% reliant on one source of income, and that source of income is shrinking every deal, I would  question if SL is in a good place off the field

[M j M]

Just now, crashmon said:

While SL is 100% reliant on one source of income, and that source of income is shrinking every deal, I would  question if SL is in a good place off the field

The good news is that SL is nowhere near reliant on one source of income.

[Eddie]

3 minutes ago, crashmon said:

Is it though.  Could SL be in an OK place if SKy reduce the funding again by another 5M in three years..

While SL is 100% reliant on one source of income, and that source of income is shrinking every deal, I would  question if SL is in a good place off the field

Don’t they get gate receipts and merch sales then? 

[The Masked Poster]

22 minutes ago, M j M said:

I don't imagine there has been a majority of people, at any time in the game's history, who thought it was going great. It's just the way it is.

I too don't ever recall a time when some  people didn't say the game was doomed or that they had had enough, there have always been these people - and always clubs folding. 

However, they tended to be the Kents and Mansfields of this world, losing a club like Newcastle that has been at the coalface (pun intended) for 25 years is a bit more serious. Personally I was convinced (genuinely so) that in the early 00's RL was going to break through nationwide. I don't mean at SL level, but grassroots. It never happened sadly and I suspect I'll be an urn of ashes before it ever happens. Which I don't think ever will. It's a sad affair.

[crashmon]

21 minutes ago, M j M said:

The good news is that SL is nowhere near reliant on one source of income.

SO if Sky walked away tomorrow SL would be fine?    Salaries would be paid?

[M j M]

5 minutes ago, crashmon said:

SO if Sky walked away tomorrow SL would be fine?    Salaries would be paid?

What a ridiculous assertion. Super League's TV rights have value, this "if they walk away" stuff is obvious nonsense. The question is how to arrest the recent decline, not pretend that they could go from 100% to zero.

[Rovers13]

32 minutes ago, crashmon said:

Is it though.  Could SL be in an OK place if SKy reduce the funding again by another 5M in three years..

While SL is 100% reliant on one source of income, and that source of income is shrinking every deal, I would  question if SL is in a good place off the field

This for me if sky pull their money it will be like watching dominoes fall, we are massively reliant on a major company who at any time could say right curling (just an example of a sport maybe on the up I’ve no idea lol) is getting a good audience now we will drop SL for this more subscribers etc. 

[Martyn Sadler]

The problem with the game is that the vast majority of the clubs are unsustainable without benefactors topping up their income.

In any individual case, if the benefactor tires of constantly having to subsidise a club or suffers financial setbacks personally, then any club is in danger.

Semore Kurdi, who not long ago was declaring that his ambition was to win Super League, has clearly decided that enough is enough and that starting again in League 1 isn't worth the time, trouble and money.

Whether he would have made the same decision if club hadn't been relegated is a moot point.

The tragedy is that at one time the club appeared to be making so much progress and the development work done in the northeast has been generally outstanding.

The only consolation is that we haven't lost a team from the elite competition, compared to three clubs being lost by the other code.

But what we must all hope is that we don't now have a domino effect of clubs falling over.

[EggFace]

4 hours ago, rlno1 said:

I can go back to 1983, the season after the Invincibles came home, when the game hit rock bottom. Blow out scores, only two teams in the race for the title, violence on the field eg Les Boyd elbow, low crowds the game season average was 6,996, clubs going broke particularly Cronulla Wests and Newtown, the league had an unworkable 40 plus man committee which the public lacked confidence in and most importantly the boss of the league had to resign due to corruption allegations that nearly brought down the NSW government at the time. The game was at a low point, enter Quayle and Arthurson within 10 years the game was the number one football code in Australia.

It can be done.

And then 10 years or so later the game screwed again Rugby League is a tough game and has had tough times but shows you how resilient the game is in down under and hopes for the game in the England and France.