Rugby League Dead....

[Mike]

For me, it's none of things mentioned above, but my interest has also waned a bit. I personally feel that the games are not as entertaining as they used to be. IMO the professionalism and physicality of the players hasn't improved the sport, it's made it less interesting. The opportunities for exciting breaks and individual skill have been much reduced and the players are much more uniform than They use to be. If we're going to persist with giant athletes with almost unlimited substitutions then the rules of the game have to change to allow more excitement and skill to be more important. We've been through a phase where only strength and size mattered and skill was almost irrelevant, but we seem to be coming out of that a bit. We have to encourage skill players because they are what the fans want to see.

Id say either reduce the number of substitutions or the number of players on the field. Something has to change for sure because the players of today's game are very different from those from 20, 30 or 40 years ago.

[AndyNick]

Some very valid points here.

The Tomkins one set a major precedent (confirming what the majority of us already knew) as at the time he signed for the NZ Warriors, there was literally a clause in his contract saying he couldn't talk to the NRL. He showed every single player that their contracts were completely meaningless. It showed the NRL that they could take any Super League player they wanted, whenever they liked. I dare say it was a factor in George Williams completely ignoring the clause in his exit deal and going to talk to Wire. Wigan didn't hold Sam to his contract so why would they hold him?

The winning it from 5th thing is something that I discuss regularly with a friend. Quite often when discussing the fortunes of the team one of us will say "We only have to make the top 6" and its true. The LLS is literally worthless. Does anyone care that we are the current holders? Do you think Huddersfield celebrate the fact that they won it? Or are they more bothered about the fact that when they did, they were dumped out of the playoffs at the earliest opportunity? Even Wire fans don't bleat on about the shields they've won because they know that the immediate comeback as that they failed when it mattered. How many times have we seen it in May/June, We're struggling with a few out injured, and Wire are sweeping all before them, Come September, they lift the shield but run out of steam and Wigan/Leeds/Saints are all hitting form at the right time? Its as if there's a 28 Game Pre-Season then a short KO at the end.

They just need to stop with the Gimmicks. We've had the Super 8s debacle, now we've got the loop fixtures. Got SuperLeague 2 on the horizon. Season before last I think we ended up playing Wire 6 times! Home and Away, Magic, Loop game, Drew them in the cup and playoffs.
Find a format that works, isn't overly complex and stick with it. Stop pandering to Sky, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday games need to sod off. If Sky aren't willing to pay a decent amount for a broadcasting deal, put it out to tender and find a broadcaster who will. Channel 4 perhaps? They seem to be expanding their sports portfolio. Get us on Free to Air, that will up the viewer figures.

[jobo]

Some very valid points here.

The Tomkins one set a major precedent (confirming what the majority of us already knew) as at the time he signed for the NZ Warriors, there was literally a clause in his contract saying he couldn't talk to the NRL. He showed every single player that their contracts were completely meaningless. It showed the NRL that they could take any Super League player they wanted, whenever they liked. I dare say it was a factor in George Williams completely ignoring the clause in his exit deal and going to talk to Wire. Wigan didn't hold Sam to his contract so why would they hold him?

The winning it from 5th thing is something that I discuss regularly with a friend. Quite often when discussing the fortunes of the team one of us will say "We only have to make the top 6" and its true. The LLS is literally worthless. Does anyone care that we are the current holders? Do you think Huddersfield celebrate the fact that they won it? Or are they more bothered about the fact that when they did, they were dumped out of the playoffs at the earliest opportunity? Even Wire fans don't bleat on about the shields they've won because they know that the immediate comeback as that they failed when it mattered. How many times have we seen it in May/June, We're struggling with a few out injured, and Wire are sweeping all before them, Come September, they lift the shield but run out of steam and Wigan/Leeds/Saints are all hitting form at the right time? Its as if there's a 28 Game Pre-Season then a short KO at the end.

They just need to stop with the Gimmicks. We've had the Super 8s debacle, now we've got the loop fixtures. Got SuperLeague 2 on the horizon. Season before last I think we ended up playing Wire 6 times! Home and Away, Magic, Loop game, Drew them in the cup and playoffs.
Find a format that works, isn't overly complex and stick with it. Stop pandering to Sky, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday games need to sod off. If Sky aren't willing to pay a decent amount for a broadcasting deal, put it out to tender and find a broadcaster who will. Channel 4 perhaps? They seem to be expanding their sports portfolio. Get us on Free to Air, that will up the viewer figures.

Think you'll find that Wigan sold both Sam Tomkins and George Williams, in fact the fee received for Tomkins was a world record.

As for ditching Sky, no other broadcaster was prepared to come anywhere near the amount offered by Sky. It's unfortunate but without this broadcast deal, RL would be back to the semi-pro days pretty sharpish.

[nathan_rugby]

If we are talking about loop fixtures then magic weekend needs to go.

Why does it need to be an additional fixture? Why can’t it just be one of the regular rounds?

[Nezza Faz]

If we are talking about loop fixtures then magic weekend needs to go.

Why does it need to be an additional fixture? Why can’t it just be one of the regular rounds?

Important word, "money" ?

[the pieman]

If we are talking about loop fixtures then magic weekend needs to go.

Why does it need to be an additional fixture? Why can’t it just be one of the regular rounds?

Important word, "money" ?

probably sky driven too

re regular rounds - no club wants to give up a home fixture and think its been discussed before. Can you imagine Wigan or Saints wanting to only play their home game against each other somewhere on the road? the only way that it would have any legs as a regular round is if the home club had a guarantee that they would make the same income from the game as if played at home

[nathan_rugby]

If we are talking about loop fixtures then magic weekend needs to go.

Why does it need to be an additional fixture? Why can’t it just be one of the regular rounds?

Important word, "money" ?

probably sky driven too

re regular rounds - no club wants to give up a home fixture and think its been discussed before. Can you imagine Wigan or Saints wanting to only play their home game against each other somewhere on the road? the only way that it would have any legs as a regular round is if the home club had a guarantee that they would make the same income from the game as if played at home

This is the problem.

Clubs acting in their own self interest causing issues down the line.

- bigger clubs not wanting to lose a home fixture that generates revenue
- smaller clubs blocking salary cap removal because they can’t get close

[fozzieskem]

Important word, "money" ?

probably sky driven too

re regular rounds - no club wants to give up a home fixture and think its been discussed before. Can you imagine Wigan or Saints wanting to only play their home game against each other somewhere on the road? the only way that it would have any legs as a regular round is if the home club had a guarantee that they would make the same income from the game as if played at home

This is the problem.

Clubs acting in their own self interest causing issues down the line.

- bigger clubs not wanting to lose a home fixture that generates revenue
- smaller clubs blocking salary cap removal because they can’t get close

And there is rugby leagues issues in a nutshell,power and money plus self interest leads us to were we are today

[AndyNick]

Some very valid points here.

The Tomkins one set a major precedent (confirming what the majority of us already knew) as at the time he signed for the NZ Warriors, there was literally a clause in his contract saying he couldn't talk to the NRL. He showed every single player that their contracts were completely meaningless. It showed the NRL that they could take any Super League player they wanted, whenever they liked. I dare say it was a factor in George Williams completely ignoring the clause in his exit deal and going to talk to Wire. Wigan didn't hold Sam to his contract so why would they hold him?

The winning it from 5th thing is something that I discuss regularly with a friend. Quite often when discussing the fortunes of the team one of us will say "We only have to make the top 6" and its true. The LLS is literally worthless. Does anyone care that we are the current holders? Do you think Huddersfield celebrate the fact that they won it? Or are they more bothered about the fact that when they did, they were dumped out of the playoffs at the earliest opportunity? Even Wire fans don't bleat on about the shields they've won because they know that the immediate comeback as that they failed when it mattered. How many times have we seen it in May/June, We're struggling with a few out injured, and Wire are sweeping all before them, Come September, they lift the shield but run out of steam and Wigan/Leeds/Saints are all hitting form at the right time? Its as if there's a 28 Game Pre-Season then a short KO at the end.

They just need to stop with the Gimmicks. We've had the Super 8s debacle, now we've got the loop fixtures. Got SuperLeague 2 on the horizon. Season before last I think we ended up playing Wire 6 times! Home and Away, Magic, Loop game, Drew them in the cup and playoffs.
Find a format that works, isn't overly complex and stick with it. Stop pandering to Sky, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday games need to sod off. If Sky aren't willing to pay a decent amount for a broadcasting deal, put it out to tender and find a broadcaster who will. Channel 4 perhaps? They seem to be expanding their sports portfolio. Get us on Free to Air, that will up the viewer figures.

Think you'll find that Wigan sold both Sam Tomkins and George Williams, in fact the fee received for Tomkins was a world record.

As for ditching Sky, no other broadcaster was prepared to come anywhere near the amount offered by Sky. It's unfortunate but without this broadcast deal, RL would be back to the semi-pro days pretty sharpish.

Yes they did receive a world record fee for Tomkins. However this was after they'd made a massive song and dance about there being a clause in the contract which forbade him from speaking to an NRL club. Whether or not we got a fee the simple fact is that with his contract he shouldn't have gone to the NRL until 12 months after he did at the earliest. The point i'm making is that the Tomkins transfer showed to any player in Superleague that when it comes to the NRL, contracts are worth nothing.

[josie andrews]

Also when he, Sam, went to Catalan as well! Didn’t he stay behind & meet up with McNamara & McIllorum well before the transfer window which allowed you to talk to other clubs?