Rugby League Dead....

[Wigan_forever1985]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/58264373

i have to say i knew there was unrest amongst fans but ive never seen so many people from within the game itself actually seeing it as a failing product.

[fozzieskem]

I agree with pretty much all of wat Pearson has to say especially the bit about super league needing an independent bird to run it,the main reason Elstone failed was the shameful self interest from all the SL chairmen,I include Lenegan in that as well none of them can come out of this mess that they created.

I can only see Sky pulling further back,the reason the tv deal is down is because they’re showing less games and the clarion call to other broadcasters has fallen on deaf ears they don’t want it for free,no BT,no Amazon and the best it seems no BBC to show super league games,that’s frightening if that’s the case especially with the BBC,the other two have never shown any interest in the sport.

Part time beckons I fear unless a new format is found but what new format? How many times can you keep putting the lipstick on the same pig?

Worrying times.

[jaws1]

Pearson hinted at merged clubs when that concept was first muted when Maurice Lindsay brought it to the table 26 years ago and was thrown out then .With hindsight would the concept have worked in the long term would this sport be better off now if it had been implemented.??

[Caboosegg]

Even with a new concept it's got issues the fan base Is so negative its off putting.

[Mike]

Even with a new concept it's got issues the fan base Is so negative its off putting.

Fans are getting older and older. And, if we go by the content on this site, dwell more and more on only negatives.

I think if anything was tried the reaction of the fans would be negative, unless it was a return to the format of the 80s, because the older fan base is very backwards looking. We need a younger fanbase and to look to the future, not constantly to the past.

[Wigan_forever1985]

Even with a new concept it's got issues the fan base Is so negative its off putting.

Fans are getting older and older. And, if we go by the content on this site, dwell more and more on only negatives.

I think if anything was tried the reaction of the fans would be negative, unless it was a return to the format of the 80s, because the older fan base is very backwards looking. We need a younger fanbase and to look to the future, not constantly to the past.

I agree with you Mike but its going to be difficult because traditionally sports are passed down through families i watch Rugby League because my dad did and his dad did etc, but im 36 and my interest in the sport is waning so at this rate i wouldnt be watching it for my son to pick it up for example and young kids rarely get into sports they arent surrounded with either at school or home

I think the biggest problem is i dont think anyone one can quite put their finger on what has gone so wrong with Rugby League, yes its run poorly but it always has been run poorly so that feels like an easy scape goat.

For me there is 3 pivotal moments that have produced a drop in interest in the game (personally)

1. The cheapening of the big 4 - salary cap has been around for a while for sure, however when i think back to my "best" memories of Rugby League i think back to the times Wigan, Saints, Bradford and Leeds were all top quality teams. I remember thinking when any combination of those teams were playing you were in for a cracker of a match. Maybe im romanticising there never seemed to be injuries on the scale of today either so the teams were always at near full strength when there were big bouts of injuries in a team you knew it look to our 75-0 team that team full of youth with a couple of seasoned pro's would probably be a standard team now but back then it was so weak against the better teams we got 70 points put on us twice in a row. That drop in top end quality for me has made games less of a spectacle- i think overall the league is closer but its because the better teams are worse not the other way around

2. Leeds winning the championship from 5th - feel like from that moment "pacing" of the season came in and teams started resting players a lot more and generally not putting the same form of effort into the league fixtures. Thats just my personal view iknow many will think thats rubbish

3. Probably the biggest for me Sam's move to the NRL.
When tomkins broke through he was the first Rugby League player i remember that started to transcend the sport, he was everywhere current superstars of the time like bradley wiggins in adverts with him, Manchester united/City players tweeting about him and about rugby leageue. He was on question of sport and played for the barbarians which for an actively league player doesnt happen often. The problem was the RFL didn't capitalise on that, same went to NRL-annoyed a lot of the union fans he was gaining because they thought he would go there and also all te casual fans he was starting bring in lost interest in him and just like that rugby league was forgotten about. Since that moment for me it seems to have got less and less popular year on year

[pedro]

number 2 was why I stopped getting a season ticket

[josie andrews]

number 2 was why I stopped getting a season ticket

So you punish your own club because of another?

[pedro]

number 2 was why I stopped getting a season ticket

So you punish your own club because of another?

no was the concept, showed clubs dont have to put in 100 percent in the year to win it, you pay for the weekly rounds which were and still are chosen to compete in, Not many teams win it from 1st as teams build for the end of the season,....not really hard to grasp

[josie andrews]

number 2 was why I stopped getting a season ticket

So you punish your own club because of another?

no was the concept, showed clubs dont have to put in 100 percent in the year to win it, you pay for the weekly rounds which were and still are chosen to compete in, Not many teams win it from 1st as teams build for the end of the season,....not really hard to grasp

I understand why, I felt the same but also think Leeds were given that game, but I would still support my own team