[Durham Giant]

Rugby league is becoming unattractive : Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:25 pm  

Says Tony Smith http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/41271778 Hard to,disagree with him. The game is slowly dying. No vision in the sport to develop it. It is also a lot less attractive to watch. All players just trying to milk penalties and make the game slow and uninteresting. Rugby Union is getting miles ahead and actually watching Rl is becoming boring. Still as long as HKR are back in SL and crowds will average 5oo more everything is rosy no problem that the game seems to be contracting ( at top flight level). Any positives out there anyone can think of ?

Says Tony Smith http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/41271778 Hard to,disagree with him. The game is slowly dying. No vision in the sport to develop it. It is also a lot less attractive to watch. All players just trying to milk penalties and make the game slow and uninteresting. Rugby Union is getting miles ahead and actually watching Rl is becoming boring. Still as long as HKR are back in SL and crowds will average 5oo more everything is rosy no problem that the game seems to be contracting ( at top flight level). Any positives out there anyone can think of ?

Re: Rugby league is becoming unattractive : Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:40 pm  

He's not sour then? Keep reading how we need expansion and the game is on its knees? For me it's more poor management RU has proper marketing and business men in charge.The Stobart debacle and devaluing of own product was criminal. I still love watching rugby league we have a great game but RU has took coaches and attacking structures from us and improved their product alongside long term planning of international game.Their world cup was very good alongside a great Lions tour. I think we cannot compete with them financially but our actual product is a good one. In my opinion club RU is poor fare at club level. That is our strength. We need a proper sports management team in and a clear professional business plan sharpish because this shower we have are not fit for purpose

Re: Rugby league is becoming unattractive : Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:49 pm  

Says little really , nothing specific , just randomly fed up with the sound of it

Re: Rugby league is becoming unattractive : Thu Sep 14, 2017 7:20 pm  

The game has been slowly dying now for the last 5 years, originally the product of the game was its best selling point but were other sports get premier sponsors we get Mushy Peas and Foxy Bingo. Salary Cap no longer competitive for quality players, poor officials conned by players who have been allowed the game to be a running wrestle match for long periods.

Lots of games pretty boring and always stop/start with the video refs prolonging games to nearly 2 hours which goes past the editorials time dead lines so not much in the nationals the next day. SKY not too bothered though.

Re: Rugby league is becoming unattractive : Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:02 pm  

Explains why he's always so blooming miserable all the time.

Re: Rugby league is becoming unattractive : Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:05 pm  

The game has been dying since before I was born. I think people just need to get a bloody grip.

Re: Rugby league is becoming unattractive : Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:13 pm  

Wellsy13 wrote:

The game has been dying since before I was born. I think people just need to get a bloody grip.

Ever since I started watching it I've heard little else other than the game is dying.....if it is, it's taking a long bloody time to do it!

We're at roughly the same number of fans as we had a decade ago and for all the structure changes and attempts at expansion, the core support in the league still comes from the main sides, with everyone else making up the numbers.
The game isn't dying...it's simply stagnating and the guys in charge are adept at making it seem like they're making changes and moving ahead, when in reality they're just rearranging the furniture.....a new look, but same furniture.

The biggest problem OFF THE PARK is the average age of our support. None of us are getting any younger and I suspect the average age at games is about 10 years up on a decade ago....if we want to grow we need to grow our audience and if we do that, then the corporates will follow.

ON THE PARK? We don't have a problem....we just need to figure out how to best market ourselves.......and to do that, the Furniture Re-arrangers need to go!

Re: Rugby league is becoming unattractive : Thu Sep 14, 2017 9:25 pm  

The game is so slow nowadays with the stop/start from video refs it is becoming unwatchable. Even the most straight forward of tries are being referred to the video ref. Why?
The marketing of the game is truly abysmal. Most of my mates didn't have a clue the Challenge Cup final was on a couple of weeks ago and no doubt it will be the same for the Grand Final. It is such a shame.

Re: Rugby league is becoming unattractive : Thu Sep 14, 2017 9:58 pm  

Less attractive!

Has he not watched Cas this year?

I'll have a pint of that Tony.

T.B.H. I wish in the forthcoming W.C, the England team would play the same expansive game that Cas have played all year, 'cause as sure as hell, we won't beat the Aussies at their own game.

Re: Rugby league is becoming unattractive : Thu Sep 14, 2017 10:54 pm  

It's never good is it when a bloke with smith's life in the game is saying what he's saying. But he's too long in the tooth to say it because he's sour about a job.

He wants rugby league to be run by people who have a bit of vision and can get us punching our weight commercially. Not a lot to ask. I'm not a Tony Smith 'fan' but I'd wager the guy's probably got a few decent ideas and the nouse to get it done.

So let him go to Union or wherever. He'll not be the first, or the last. Or... we give him a job. And if not him, find jobs for some of the other decent, intelligent people we've got in the game. Because what is sure to kill us at some point is letting our best people take everything they've given rugby league, and vice versa, somewhere else.