Wigan V Leeds

[fozzieskem]

Friday night while baking in the sun and listening to the laughable Cas supporters behind us,I got summer rugby,ok I couldn’t see a thing other than black silhouettes running around till about 3 Mins from the end,it was warm if nothing else,yes I too yearn for a return to winter rugby,given in most average summers you get what two or three games such as conditions on Friday there’s no compelling reason really not too.

[jobo]

It is tongue in cheek this isn't it?

Not at all, I'm deadly serious. Check my previous posts re Tomkins/Rads.

So you're basing this decision on supposition and heresay without actually knowing the true facts of what went on? Yet you're critical of the club for its lack of clarity? Do you even understand the hypocrisy in that approach or do your own morals not apply to yourself?

Sorry Morley but got to agree with Flash

[DaveO]

not to mention that the idea of Aussie players being free to come here in their close season: does anyone really imagine that NRL contracts these days would allow this? Or that top players would want to do it even it it were allowed, for the relatively small sums that English clubs could afford to play them?

You have not idea if that would be the case. For players who fancy a go in either SL or the NRL but don't want to relocate their families for three years it suddenly becomes an option. As to contracts nt allowing it, see how far that goes as a restrictive practices.

And many of those who pine for winter rugby are the same ones bemoaning declining gates. Do they really imagine that cold and rain and snow will encourage fans to desert their living-rooms?

We start the game in Feb and finish in October. It's only summer RL for a part of the season as it is.

In any case the argument for winter is that there is less competition for your time. Outdoor leisure activities are reduced and there are not so many bank holidays and school holidays (summer and half terms) where the pressure is to go away on holiday and not support RL.

As for supporting the international game: just buy tickets for Liverpool, Leeds, and Hull!

Well the comment about the international game was about the fact moving to summer killed off proper tours. When the Aussies were here for weeks playing club sides as well as GB the international game was high profile for weeks. Same when GB went down under. Now internationals are just three match series if we are lucky.

[morley pie eater]

Flash, check out my posts re Joel T and the club.

What I am saying re my attitude to supporting Wigan/Batley is that principally due to travel on the M62, I get to less and less games. Leaving home at 530pm for a 745/8pm kick off and joining a queue 1 mile from home on the M62. If lucky, get to match just before kick off and home again about 1130pm. No fun.

Then add in summer, when I may be on holiday, riding my motorbike, or spending time with grandkids.

Finally factor in the negative feelings about how the club handled the Tomkins affair.

My conclusion is that I can get more pleasure at less cost: financial, time and effort wise, by watching Batley plus 4 or 5 Wigan away games.

Other posters who repeat the same old stuff about summer don't seem to have read the post. If that's true for you, then fine. But my point was that though I enjoy watching in shirt sleeves, I have many more competing things to do in summer, and winters are now emptier. If you were interested in a genuine discussion rather than digging up tired old quotes, you could always try addressing the point.

[moto748]

And yet people say, rightly, the sport should be concentrating on attracting the young: how many teeangers, do you think, would welcome winter rugby? Do you really think it would reverse the decline in gates? On the contrary, I would have thought. And I don't share any optimism that NRL sides would suddenly start organising tours, even if we did go to winter rugby. The travails of SL are of little interest to them.

[DaveO]

And yet people say, rightly, the sport should be concentrating on attracting the young: how many teeangers, do you think, would welcome winter rugby? Do you really think it would reverse the decline in gates? On the contrary, I would have thought. And I don't share any optimism that NRL sides would suddenly start organising tours, even if we did go to winter rugby. The travails of SL are of little interest to them.

Winter doesn't stop teenagers going to watch soccer and I don't mean the Premier league either or just the top teams. There are big crowds in winter even in the lower leagues and traditional sporting fixtures like boxing day are a huge draw. No six week summer holiday to contend with either. RU plays in winter, they are now getting bigger average gates for their club game in winter than we do in summer. There was a crowd survey a short while back and of the two sports something like the top seven or nine (can't remember) verage gates were all RU clubs with only Wigan, Leeds and Hull getting a look in.

I was not suggesting NRL sides organise tours. They never did. I am on about the International sides doing tours, where the touring International side played a selection of the top teams. Once of the best games at central park I ever saw was when Wigan played the Aussies the last time that happened (Inga scored a great try). The place was packed out.

[morley pie eater]

Flash, check out my posts re Joel T and the club.

What I am saying re my attitude to supporting Wigan/Batley is that principally due to travel on the M62, I get to less and less games. Leaving home at 530pm for a 745/8pm kick off and joining a queue 1 mile from home on the M62. If lucky, get to match just before kick off and home again about 1130pm. No fun.

Then add in summer, when I may be on holiday, riding my motorbike, or spending time with grandkids.

Finally factor in the negative feelings about how the club handled the Tomkins affair.

My conclusion is that I can get more pleasure at less cost: financial, time and effort wise, by watching Batley plus 4 or 5 Wigan away games.

Other posters who repeat the same old stuff about summer don't seem to have read the post. If that's true for you, then fine. But my point was that though I enjoy watching in shirt sleeves, I have many more competing things to do in summer, and winters are now emptier. If you were interested in a genuine discussion rather than digging up tired old quotes, you could always try addressing the point.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "digging up old quotes" as I was directly responding to the one made above re: the handling of the Tomkins incident.

As for the rest of your post that is, of course, your prerogative and I wouldn't presume to argue against it. It's frankly none of my business what you choose to do with your time.

Exactly. And that was my only aim - to explain how I feel. Not to convince or represent anyone else.

The "digging up old quotes" referred to others on the summer rugby debate. I was trying to reply to 2 or more posts in 1.

[moto748]

Well we'll have to agree to differ. I do think that

a) Summer rugby is in general a much better spectacle than winter mud-baths. There's union for that.

b) Winter rugby is pined for by some older fans, but if re-introduced would drive gates further down, and

c) Winter rugby wouldn't make Aussie tours, or more international games, more likely. OK, Kangaroos tours would be organised by the ARL, but it's the NRL that rules the roost down there.

[Wiganer Ted]

Winter rugby is a non starter.
Sometimes during winter it's not possible to play due to frozen grounds both on the pitch and the terraces.
We could end up as we used to with weeks of cancellations then a backlog of games. Any tv broadcaster wouldn't put up with this and it would happen every year.

Summer rugby is here to stay, thankfully for me too.

[mickh]

Winter Rugby! Bring it on! Let's have a vote!