Quote: Once were Loiners "The sport as a whole is in far better shape in some ways than the 80s/90s. Crowds, profile etc were a joke through the 60s and 70s and the early 80s, and if we're honest, the standard of play was often laughably bad compared to today, even if entertaining to watch. Our crowds didn't really peak until the Murray era and early 2000s. Personally I think the game has become less entertaining, but in terms of physicality and technical ability players are a long way ahead of where they were even 20 years ago.
There's also a clear tendency to link your own club's performance to the game as a whole. I doubt KR fans think now is the worst time ever, or Salford, or Leigh. Lots of people on here talk about 2005 as the golden season in terms of performances. Yet we AVERAGED 40 points a game across the whole season and topped 50 points ten times. That should tell you everything you need to know about the quality in the rest of the competition. It sucked. Leeds fans loved it, but the gap between top and middle was enormous, let alone bottom.
SL has let itself become too small no doubt to keep the cash among fewer clubs. That's led to loop fixtures and other nonsense, and the league itself would be better with 14 teams, but I'm not sure the talent exists to open it up. Although history suggests people don't mind watching their team put big scores on rubbish teams every now and then.
I do think the game needs to find a way forward that lets it grow in a sustainable way. But frankly old timers (I've been around 40 years plus) whinging should be the last people anyone listens to.'"
Yep. League games are far better attended in the modern era, and attendances have also stood up against blanket TV coverage this year. The big exception is the crowds generated for challenge cup games in the 80's. Remember being at HQ with over 24k in for a 3rd round tie against Widnes ( we were well beaten) and also travelling to Central Park with (if memory serves) with 25k in. Again, we were well beaten.