Quote: Ex-Swarcliffe Rhino "The game needs positive exposure and the only way to do that is to showcase itself within communities who have potential to be brought into the fold.
The difficulty is balancing the needs of "expansion" with the needs of looking after the core / base.
I also love that it still has a "scuzzy / rough diamond" appeal to it that football has long sanitised away in pursuit of the £££
I love rugby league, I love the camaraderie, I love the rivalries and (most) fans, I love that fans can and do mix on the terraces, put differences to one side for causes and generally act as a big community who will generally look after one another. We need to use this community as its ambassadors its salespeople, use the players to get into schools in targeted expansion areas, draw people in, engage with them, share ideas and form new bastions of community away from the M62 corridor. (didn't we have such a scheme in the SW at some point doing just this?)
Of course this is where the catch 22 comes in, this all costs and we need money, we wont get money without exposure and vice versa.'"
Great post.
A big part is the current teams sacrificing a bit of short term revenue for a long term gain. I'm sure they've done it before, but a round on the road to promote the game. The issue is that some clubs are so reliant on every penny from gate receipts, they may not be willing to do it. Especially as a result of the pandemic.
Something for sure though is the passion that rugby league people have. Despite views on how the game should progress, we all want to see the long term future looking a bit more optimistic. There won't be a simple answer, otherwise it probably would have been done by now, but the RFL need more engagement with all stakeholders - fans, players, community clubs, pro clubs, etc.