Can't disagree with any of that, the game is on its a[irs[/ie with falling crowds and complete media indifference.

Compare the RU World Cup with the equivalent in RL, is there an equivalent in RL, is there going to be some international games this year, really - theres a small circle of people in the north who go and look for this information, the rest of the country have never heard of these events.

& their fans (or some of the more die hard ones anyway) hadn't just had to fork out ridiculous amounts of money to go to Wembley.
The problem as I see it is that in the current economic climate having to fork out for the playoffs almost immediately after the Challenge cup run culminating in a final appearance is too much outlay in a short space of time.
For my part I chose to stay at home to watch it on tv along with the Wigan vs Saints game after the Spurs vs Liverpool & Man U vs Chelsea games.

Well said that man.

Are you Malcolm Tucker in disguise spinning like that?

I love this post. It's spot on. I like it even more that it came from a Wigan fan.

I especially like the "too busy defending themselves and pointing out what a great job they're doing to sort it out." line. Which is true. They spend more time telling us how they're going to sort it, rather than just sorting it. The "[ilook how good we are[/i" news articles are starting to become embarrassing. I'm sure that if you were to just do a bloody good job, people are intelligent enough to notice what a bloody good job you're doing. I don't need people spending time writing a "[iwe're doing a bloody good job[/i" article, I just rather they spent the time doing a bloody good job.

Don't you mean "lying back after eating many hamburgers"!

I recall Eddie or Phil predicting a 25 k crowd for the Wigan/Saints game . I think it was Eddie .

Agree rising costs and wages not or dropping, when a game is on TV you can't blame people for not attending games that come at extra cost

Which crowds are falling? Is the SL average up or down this season? Playoff and Challenge Cup crowds have been an issue for years and they have been worse than this year in the Summer era. I think you're conflating your own indifference or even the present short-term indifference of Leeds fans with the wider picture. The fact of the matter is the game is in robust health - nothing is perfect, but it is stable, reliable and is secure for the future.

And I'll repeat the point I made to the Pie Eater - what is the point of seeking to tear down our sport by making deliberately negative comparisons with another one which faces few if any of the same challenges and shares few if any of the same defining social characteristics? If you continue to view Rugby League in this way it will forever be self-defined into perpetual failure. You are setting an impossible, unreasonable challenge, but one which gives you free scope to forever abuse the sport for its so-called failures. If you judge Rugby League "success" on its own merits, in relation to its own history, its past failings and its past successes I believe you would come to very different conclusions.

Leeds crowds are falling

Looked more than 9k in the ground today yesterday given the amount of Hull fans in the Western Terrace. That said, the Southstand wasn't that packed.

Its down, quite significantly rlhttp://www.slstats.org/Attendances/rl (see bottom two lines)



I think you'll find that most RU clubs face the same challenges of getting people to pay to come through the gates and the "defining social characteristics" is a nonsense phrase which is meaningless in the professional era, if you think that all RU crowds are public schoolboys let out on daddys allowance then, frankly, you're wrong.

My comparison was of the current RU World Cup and the forthcoming RL international series and the promotional prospects of both, even a fool would admit that one is cashing in on the opportunity while the other (on past history) will not.

I think it helps that the rights to the games have gone to a terrestrial broadcaster, and have been that way for the sport for many years. They have built up an anticipation about a game of rugby, even though IMO the product is pretty poor. The sport does a great job at promoting the product, wheras League have a great product, but don't seem to be able to generate any interest in the international game.

Thats all perfectly true.

It also helps greatly that they have a viable international product to sell to the broadcasters.

I'm fairly sure those figures are significantly incorrect; by my calculations the average is slightly up - again (by about 2% ignoring the Magic Weekend).

Yes but when has RL EVER been in the same league as RU internationally? It never will and no level of wishful thinking is going to change that. Will RL make its international series successful in its own right? I don't yet know but if the only way to measure it is by comparing it to another, much bigger and more media dominant sport then it is an impossible ask. Completely ignoring RL's historical and still to large degree current position as a niche and largely regional sport is irrational.