Fallon wrote:
Don't forget, ours is a sport that sold the sponsorship of its top league for some painted lorries.
You want to know why we don't get coverage, look inside the sport not outside.
It's a mix of both.
The media that tell people what to go and see is all based in London and run by ex public school boys.
The major companies that sponsor and invest in sports are all based in London and run by ex public school boys.
Now that wouldn't necessarily be a problem (other than my utter disdain for the private school system) but unfortunately because they're ex public school boys (or generally come from that kind of world) they've been born, brought up and live in a world where Rugby League isn't relevant and so they don't report it or invest in it.
Unfortunately that is a vicious circle. The less RL is reported in the media the less relevant it becomes and so the less it's reported.
It's not all of RL's doing, just because RL happens in a different world to these "elite" doesn't absolve them of their responsibility to report on RL. It's why London (relevant) gets 24 times higher transport spending than the North (not relevant).
Where it is our fault is that we've not done enough to make ourselves relevant. We didn't get the international game sorted and are suffering from that now. And we persisted with the same old teams in the same old areas without realising the bigger picture. The likes of Sheffield & Newcastle should be receiving extra help from the RFL to expand the borders of our games as should London in the past.
Plus the retreat of the international game from Wembley to the KC/DW/John Smith's stadiums was a disaster.
BUT, it's not all our fault. Unfortunately, due to our unequal and imbalanced society, we aren't relevant to the right people.
