Falling out of love with RL.

[Wilderspoolmemories]

As a Warrington fan of about 50 years, but also a keen RL in general supporter, I have to confess I’m losing interest in the modern game and from discussions I’ve had I don’t think I’m the only one! I watched most of the games on TV over the weekend ( I don’t go at the moment as I’m ill with cancer) and to be honest they just didn’t generate any interest or enthusiasm for the sport  within myself. The Warrington match a little maybe, whether that’s because I’m a wire fan I don’t know? 
 

The game seems almost robotic now, players have one job and don’t deviate often from their set role. If a prop forward is told to drive it in and get tackled, then that’s all he’ll do for his time on the field. I remember Dave Chisnall who for a prop had fair pace, sold a good dummy and was very good at the chip & chase kick. Tommy Martyn Snr, a good ball playing second row, Harry Pinner, ball playing loose forward, Jonathan Davies who would kick ahead and then win the race to score. Scrum halves and stand offs who would try the short kick over a defensive line and regather. Maybe I’m looking back through rose tinted glasses I don’t know but modern players very often seem afraid of trying something different for fear of making a mistake and being reprimanded by an angry head coach? 
 

Full time professional athletes they may now be, but from an entertainment point of view I feel the sport has gone downhill and backwards. Sorry to sound negative but I’d be interested to know if anyone feels the same? 

[Chrispmartha]

30 minutes ago, Wilderspoolmemories said:

As a Warrington fan of about 50 years, but also a keen RL in general supporter, I have to confess I’m losing interest in the modern game and from discussions I’ve had I don’t think I’m the only one! I watched most of the games on TV over the weekend ( I don’t go at the moment as I’m ill with cancer) and to be honest they just didn’t generate any interest or enthusiasm for the sport  within myself. The Warrington match a little maybe, whether that’s because I’m a wire fan I don’t know? 
 

The game seems almost robotic now, players have one job and don’t deviate often from their set role. If a prop forward is told to drive it in and get tackled, then that’s all he’ll do for his time on the field. I remember Dave Chisnall who for a prop had fair pace, sold a good dummy and was very good at the chip & chase kick. Tommy Martyn Snr, a good ball playing second row, Harry Pinner, ball playing loose forward, Jonathan Davies who would kick ahead and then win the race to score. Scrum halves and stand offs who would try the short kick over a defensive line and regather. Maybe I’m looking back through rose tinted glasses I don’t know but modern players very often seem afraid of trying something different for fear of making a mistake and being reprimanded by an angry head coach? 
 

Full time professional athletes they may now be, but from an entertainment point of view I feel the sport has gone downhill and backwards. Sorry to sound negative but I’d be interested to know if anyone feels the same? 

The viewing figures, on line metrics and crowds are all on the up.

Sorry to hear about your illness

[Dave T]

36 minutes ago, Wilderspoolmemories said:

As a Warrington fan of about 50 years, but also a keen RL in general supporter, I have to confess I’m losing interest in the modern game and from discussions I’ve had I don’t think I’m the only one! I watched most of the games on TV over the weekend ( I don’t go at the moment as I’m ill with cancer) and to be honest they just didn’t generate any interest or enthusiasm for the sport  within myself. The Warrington match a little maybe, whether that’s because I’m a wire fan I don’t know? 
 

The game seems almost robotic now, players have one job and don’t deviate often from their set role. If a prop forward is told to drive it in and get tackled, then that’s all he’ll do for his time on the field. I remember Dave Chisnall who for a prop had fair pace, sold a good dummy and was very good at the chip & chase kick. Tommy Martyn Snr, a good ball playing second row, Harry Pinner, ball playing loose forward, Jonathan Davies who would kick ahead and then win the race to score. Scrum halves and stand offs who would try the short kick over a defensive line and regather. Maybe I’m looking back through rose tinted glasses I don’t know but modern players very often seem afraid of trying something different for fear of making a mistake and being reprimanded by an angry head coach? 
 

Full time professional athletes they may now be, but from an entertainment point of view I feel the sport has gone downhill and backwards. Sorry to sound negative but I’d be interested to know if anyone feels the same? 

Sorry to hear you're ill mate, best wishes to you.

I sympathise with some of what you're saying, I do think we see less individual agility being on show, the likes of Jason Robinson, The Paul brothers, Iestyn Harris, Rob Burrow etc appear to have been replaced with better structured players, which isnt always that entertaining.

That said, I think this is just a natural progression, and things evolve, move on, and it will change again over the years and some will love it, some will hate it. I despise this 5 drives and a kick tactic, particularly when its just an average bomb at the end of it, but there is enough in the game for me to enjoy.

The wingers tries are a very positive development, and I still enjoy the forward battles for territory and momentum, but I do feel there's less variety overall.

So I understand your view, even if not fully sharing it (I watch more than ever on TV) but I do just think it's a natural thing thats happening and people do drift in and out of the game.

[Vambo]

I try to be positive when it comes to RL but I also try to be honest so ...

Whilst I'm not 'losing' interest as such ... It's definitely 'lessening' somewhat.

Thursdays I now watch the Darts (unless Wigan are playing) which is something I never expected I would do. RL always came first for me and whilst Wigan always will, I find myself no longer as bothered about watching a lot of the other games.

I've given up watching the NRL completely and even Origin holds no interest for me anymore.

As I posted at the time, despite the loss I loved the Saints v Wigan game. It's was a fantastic watch but sadly it seems to be more of an exception than the rule of late.

Hopefully things may turn around for me but I have my doubts. Will have to wait and see how this NRL takeover/partnership pans out.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I follow the game much less than I used to but I a lot of that comes down to not having a season ticket these days, and that is basically financial constraints.

Certainly a few years ago, before I got sky sports, I'd basically completely stopped following the sport but now I'm able to watch it much more, the interest is coming back. I must say though, watching massive crowds and all the bright lights of the NRL on a morning and then a few thousand in a rundown SL ground on a night certainly doesn't help..! 

I don't attend many games now, mainly just big event games. I go to just one or two games a year which shows that I'm still excited for a big showpiece event but a half empty MKM on a rainy Thursday night to watch us get hammered doesn't appeal enough these days.

Back when I was religiously following the sport, I would buy every replica jersey Hull put out and loads more merchandise but I haven't bought anything for years now. 

As I say, I'm up for watching a lot of RL on tv and am still loyal to my team but I'm just not that bothered about going these days.

[Dave T]

One thing I would add is that it is very easy to fall out of touch with the game. I'm a casual football fan, I enjoy it, certainly the big games, but never base my weekends around football like I do Rugby league games. But it is harder work to follow sports like ours - if you're busy and cracking on with life, you won't just stumble across it like you do football. It's very easy to never see anything about it at all. 

I think it is less effort to follow football casually than it is to keep an eye on the RL, and sometimes life just takes over.

[gingerjon]

2 minutes ago, Dave T said:

One thing I would add is that it is very easy to fall out of touch with the game.

I've said before, but it doesn't exist here in any meaningful sense - and that is a bit of a change. There is literally one guy who walks around in a varying selection of NRL tops and, in the summer, some of our northern visitors seeking seagulls and a pebble beach might have some SL merch. But, and this is a difference from when I moved here, there is very little casual interest in the sport and you'll never find it on in pubs etc. I remain (I think) over an hour away from the nearest competitive team.

Combine that with how poor the RL media is, and how diminished traditional sports media is, and it can be very hard to stay connected. It's just as well I bore everyone to death on here.

I am watching far more soccer now than I did 15-20 years ago. There are a few reasons for that. One is that Tiny Ginger is interested in that ahead of anything else and so we tend to watch games together and there are a lot of games to watch. Second is that it's endemic locally and I like taking photos. So I now go to 40-50 games a year with a camera and that keeps an interest. Lastly, I do genuinely think football is, in the main, a better watch than it was and games locally are fun to attend.

As for whether RL is a better watch (etc). Personally, I enjoy it but I think the bigger issue is that you're seeing (in the UK) the outcome of a sport that has not had the money to invest in widening the player pool or focusing on development. There's a certain sameyness about it all.

[Martyn Sadler]

2 hours ago, Wilderspoolmemories said:

The game seems almost robotic now, players have one job and don’t deviate often from their set role. If a prop forward is told to drive it in and get tackled, then that’s all he’ll do for his time on the field. I remember Dave Chisnall who for a prop had fair pace, sold a good dummy and was very good at the chip & chase kick. Tommy Martyn Snr, a good ball playing second row, Harry Pinner, ball playing loose forward, Jonathan Davies who would kick ahead and then win the race to score. Scrum halves and stand offs who would try the short kick over a defensive line and regather. Maybe I’m looking back through rose tinted glasses I don’t know but modern players very often seem afraid of trying something different for fear of making a mistake and being reprimanded by an angry head coach? 

Full time professional athletes they may now be, but from an entertainment point of view I feel the sport has gone downhill and backwards. Sorry to sound negative but I’d be interested to know if anyone feels the same? 

You remember players like Dave Chisnall and the others you mention precisely because they were exceptional, not the norm.

I remember players like Neil Fox, Bill Ramsey and Lee Crooks for much the same reason.

And on the subject of robotic players, the great Welsh forward Joe Thompson, who played for Leeds and Great Britain in the 20s and 30s, was quoted in the late 1940s as saying that all the skill had gone out of Rugby League and that the forwards were content to simply be tackled and play the ball.

No doubt when he was playing there were people lamenting the fact that no one in the 1920s was as good as Albert Goldthorpe, and I'm sure you could have found someone in Goldthorpe's era claiming that no one could compare with William Webb Ellis.

I have no doubt that in 30 years' time there will be someone on this forum lamenting that we no longer have players of the calibre of the leading players of today.

And, for what it's worth, I think that Premier League football is much more skilful than it was in the 60s and 70s but it is far less exciting.

[Blind side johnny]

There are numerous factors. A key one is age - comedians aren't as funny as they used to be; TV is rubbish nowadays compared with...; beer doesn't taste as good; as for pork pies and fish and chips, well! I am guessing that most forum posters nowadays are fairly "mature" and I am certainly one who has been around the block many times. Apologies to all of the youngsters on here.

The other factor, very easily overlooked, is the athleticism of current players even in the lower leagues. Defences are quicker, gaps are fewer and possession is key. Now that the lottery of scrummaging is no longer then low percentage moves which lose a team possession are definitely frowned upon.

Finally, football is the all-consuming juggernaut. It dominates the media and sucks energy from almost every sport. The marketing power of football in this country is enormous, drawing younger eyes towards its every manifestation.

[Gerrumonside ref]

3 hours ago, Wilderspoolmemories said:

As a Warrington fan of about 50 years, but also a keen RL in general supporter, I have to confess I’m losing interest in the modern game and from discussions I’ve had I don’t think I’m the only one! I watched most of the games on TV over the weekend ( I don’t go at the moment as I’m ill with cancer) and to be honest they just didn’t generate any interest or enthusiasm for the sport  within myself. The Warrington match a little maybe, whether that’s because I’m a wire fan I don’t know? 
 

The game seems almost robotic now, players have one job and don’t deviate often from their set role. If a prop forward is told to drive it in and get tackled, then that’s all he’ll do for his time on the field. I remember Dave Chisnall who for a prop had fair pace, sold a good dummy and was very good at the chip & chase kick. Tommy Martyn Snr, a good ball playing second row, Harry Pinner, ball playing loose forward, Jonathan Davies who would kick ahead and then win the race to score. Scrum halves and stand offs who would try the short kick over a defensive line and regather. Maybe I’m looking back through rose tinted glasses I don’t know but modern players very often seem afraid of trying something different for fear of making a mistake and being reprimanded by an angry head coach? 
 

Full time professional athletes they may now be, but from an entertainment point of view I feel the sport has gone downhill and backwards. Sorry to sound negative but I’d be interested to know if anyone feels the same? 

I’m very sorry to hear you’re unwell and not enjoying your rugby league.

 

[daz39]

Sorry to hear about you not been well and best wishes to ya.

My brother and a few other older supporters have given up on the game after 30/40+ years. 

Mainly due to the product on the pitch but also becuase of the governance and lack of progress/vision from the governing body and the clubs self interests where they don't really seem to care about the future of the game just how much money they can make quickly, even including their own in it, and the fact that playing the same teams 3/4/5 times a year got boring, the same away trips - usually on a Thursday or Friday night drained the enjoyment out of them.

I agree about the game, it's getting like premiership football where every team does the same things at a certain part of the pitch and there is no deviation from it regardless of time of the game, scoreline etc.

It is played by 17 robots who just replaced others at a set time of the game and do the same thing too.

There doesn't seem to be the flair players of years gone by either.

At times Rugby League is a very boring and insipid game where it used to be exciting and thrilling.

 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

1 hour ago, Dave T said:

One thing I would add is that it is very easy to fall out of touch with the game. I'm a casual football fan, I enjoy it, certainly the big games, but never base my weekends around football like I do Rugby league games. But it is harder work to follow sports like ours - if you're busy and cracking on with life, you won't just stumble across it like you do football. It's very easy to never see anything about it at all. 

I think it is less effort to follow football casually than it is to keep an eye on the RL, and sometimes life just takes over.

I think this is it isn't it. As I say, when I gave up my season ticket and couldn't watch the sport much at all, I almost completely stopped following it, mainly because there was no easy way to do that. Now I am able to watch it regularly on a weekly basis, I'm getting a bit more engrossed again. 

As people on here know, I'm heavily involved in non-league football but don't follow top level much at all, yet I still have an idea about the basic goings, news, who the most famous players are and what have you. And that will just be because you hear so much little bits in passing. 

Edited April 21 by The Hallucinating Goose

[The Hallucinating Goose]

17 minutes ago, daz39 said:

It is played by 17 robots who just replaced others at a set time of the game and do the same thing too.

The absolute epitome of robots is Chinese snooker players. My favourite sport is snooker. I live and breathe snooker as I have since I was a little kid but there is a massive group of, for what of a better word, traditional fans that can't stand the wave of Chinese players coming through. 

Let me just make clear that this is not because of their nationality. It is the way that they are trained to play the game. They start playing when they are basically toddlers in massive snooker halls with hundreds of tables and they basically spend their entire childhood learning to play the game. None of them have any personality whatsoever and always look miserable because they are so focused on just doing what their coach has told them to do. 

Their style of play is all very samey as well, with that Chinese style always being looking for the big, attacking play; they are incredible breakbuilders, incredible scorers but their safety game, their matchplay, traditional snooker is rubbish which creates a very boring watch for traditionalists such as myself that like watching a good, long, tactical safety exchange once in a while. 

Mark Williams said in his pre-tournament press conference for the Worlds that if he was to win he would run down the M4 naked. This is a man that in the past has done a naked press conference!! There's always been plenty of characters, plenty of banter and laughs in snooker but this new breed of robot professionals are sucking a lot of fun out of the game. 

If anything sports people these days are TOO professional.

[Tommygilf]

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be...

[Just Browny]

The likes of Miller, Connor, Ashton, French, Field, Lewis, Litten, Wardle, etc would have stood out in any era, both as great athletes and as players who produce a bit of magic out of nowhere. There are exciting young players coming through in lots of positions. We are a bit light on exciting forwards and too many of our stars are getting injuries, but strongly in the camp of those who think these guys don't stand out as much as they are playing against more structured defences and better opponents.

I think it's normal and perfectly fine for people to look back wistfully on the players of their youth. I know I do. But I wouldnt say I thought things had gone backwards since Warrington replaced the likes of Dale Cardoza and Mateaki Mafi with Matty Ashton and Josh Thewlis.

[ELBOWSEYE]

Is this just nostalgia,  it was better in my day. The game now is highly visible on media options, when I started it was a CC tie, half a floodlit trophy game. So most games you had to be there in person. On the tapes of games then they looked messy, slow and not a patch on today's games. I enjoy a good portion of today's games , the biggest difference is the pool of players you can choose from is smaller,  working patterns , no converts reduces the pool. 

[whatmichaelsays]

2 hours ago, Dave T said:

One thing I would add is that it is very easy to fall out of touch with the game. I'm a casual football fan, I enjoy it, certainly the big games, but never base my weekends around football like I do Rugby league games. But it is harder work to follow sports like ours - if you're busy and cracking on with life, you won't just stumble across it like you do football. It's very easy to never see anything about it at all. 

I think it is less effort to follow football casually than it is to keep an eye on the RL, and sometimes life just takes over.

This is particularly true if your life takes you away from the heartlands. 

When I was living in London and during my brief time working abroad, it was very difficult to feel like you could keep in touch with RL. With only two televised games a week, behind a TV paywall and very rarely shown in the pub, you were relying on Twitter updates and often an "around the grounds" style radio stream from BBC local radio, and digital content was garbage. Merchandise was usually ###### as well, so not exactly something you'd want to wear away from the stadium because you just look like a billboard for skip hire companies 200 miles away. 

It has got better in the IMG era, but we still don't have that ubiquity and ease of consumption that only really football has. 

[sam4731]

Chocolate bars aren't necessarily smaller now, your hands are bigger.

[Josef K]

I have people telling me ‘RL was better in the 80’s & 90’s, attendances were larger than they’re now’. 
I don’t know how correct that is, but when i started watching Saints properly with a season ticket in the 80/81 season, i remember some really poor attendances along with some dreadful games. Oh and officials according to some fans back then were as biased as the ones today. 

[JonM]

 

38 minutes ago, ELBOWSEYE said:

the biggest difference is the pool of players you can choose from is smaller,  working patterns , no converts reduces the pool. 

The days when someone like Hugh Waddell could turn up for a trial at Blackpool Borough, while on holiday, never having played before and then be in the England team the following year are long behind us. Most people playing professionally today has been playing at a club (and been coached to play) since they were at infant school.

If you want to watch RL which is less 'nightclub bouncers crashing into each other five times' then the women's game currently has a far bigger range of body types, fitness and skill levels and is much closer to the RL of the 1970s/80s/90s IMO.

Overall, though, I remember my dad lost interest in RL 20+ years ago because it was better in the past. Maybe it's just a sign that you're getting old?

[Coggo]

Not to say it was better or worse, but I think it's totally fair to say there was more variety in play prior to full-time professionalism (and 10-metre offside).

[fieldofclothofgold]

The one thing about the game i find embarrassing is and yes i know its an old one been discussed before .uncontested scrums . Its hard enough explaining the game to newcomers ,but i do miss the old scrums specialised hookers etc now must roll the ball through the parted legs .

[EggFace]

Super League 2 year ago was a switch off with me with the red cards spoiling for the punter but last year and this year I have enjoyed it and the NRL is much better these days then the wrestle of past 15 years (and I enjoyed those years too) but I Im not a fan of the 6 again or Ashley Klein or any score hitting 50 but still loving the NRL and last years final was one of the best I seen both in Super League and NRL.

BTW I have went of Union a lot but loved the 6 Nations this year.

[Martyn Sadler]

16 minutes ago, Coggo said:

Not to say it was better or worse, but I think it's totally fair to say there was more variety in play prior to full-time professionalism (and 10-metre offside).

If we want more variety in the pattern of play, the solution is to modify the rules of the game to encourage it.

Rugby League is fortunate in the sense that it's rules are easily capable of modification to achieve this end, as we saw with the six-again rule, which I'm not entirely comfortable with but which does seem to have created more exciting play in the NRL in particular.

[Copa]

Sad to hear. If you feel strong enough one day go to a community game and eat a pie and drink a beer while watching. It’s a lot of fun and a great reminder of how enjoyable it all is.