I would agree with you as I believe that is a factor too.

At the risk of taking the topic somewhat on a different course, the standard of domestic RL has been on the decline for some time, there are seldom interesting things to talk about which have not been covered before for instance - with the exception of it being in 'our blood', RL in 2017 has very few talking points and is a much duller, manufactured version of its former self, for instance 2003-2007 where I believe the SL at the top of the tree was at its highest standard.

Players and coaches have "media training" and how to play with the straightest possible but it has made listening to players and coaches a mere waste of time. Interviews are the same old regurgitated soundbites time after time and what should be RL's most marketable asset (the players) are mere foot state soldiers - perhaps that was why Macs interviews in the last couple of games were so refreshingly captivating to listen to. The game has very few characters these days and very few things to talk about. As a result, the element of engaging fans is far lower than what it should be.

I stopped following him on Twitter when he started disappearing up his own , he followed me back briefly until my views weren't the same as his and he didn't like it

Surely all we need is to keep the Ryan Bailey thread going and this place will be humming again?

This sort of forum simply isn't how most people, particularly younger ones, interact with each other on the interweb. Personally, I'm happy not to have facebook which seems to be the home of narcissism and cat videos, and find twitter utterly pointless. Probably cos I like talking cr*p using lots of words where one would do and don't particularly care if anyone reads what I write. I'll go down with this forum like one of the band members on the Titanic.

It's actually Wire FM who provide the bulk of my games but I do occasional stand ins on Wish FM and I'm also fortunate to get some games with Radio Yorkshire as well. I'm very fortunate to do what I do and I don't take any of it for granted. There's a great responsiblity on the radio of bringing the game to life and putting pictures into the person listening and it's one I enjoy greatly.

In the peak times of this forum, it was perfect for me as being as I was obviously based outside of the city. I've met some of the best people ever via this forum, some now who I would class as very close friends indeed. The fact I first encountered my now wife on these forums should also tell it's own story.

Before the advent of Facebook and Twitter this was the only real way to vent your frustrations about the game and talk about what was going on but the advent of social media has changed all that. I'll be honest to being more of a casual observer at the moment. I tend to drop in a couple of times a month or if a big news story has broken.

The people involved in this forum, I'm talking Paul and Gary who moderated for years bought a lot of people together for little to no reward. If you look at some of the events put on over the years, three spring to mind for me. The event at Bradley Mills Cricket Club after the Huddersfield away game in 2003 was epic. The live "Stevo Bingo" event painstakingly put together by John_D to raise money for Katie Butler and finally one I didn't go to but heard lots about was the Matt Adamson leaving do on the Monday after the first Grand Final win.

It was a place for debate, discussion and arguments and that probably still continues to this day. I'm just not around much to see it.

Good to know things are going well for you (Oldham) Matt.

Aye, seconded big man.