Us northerners carry a chip on each shoulder...so has to have a balanced view.

The sexist comment is rather typical of the southerners code IMHO.

(Union) Forward "play" LOL now that's really funny.

As a long time player of both games they do both have merits. I love Union, but I think the scrums are a mess, and take up far too much of the game. When the ball is in play the game is fun to play, and can be very dynamic.

In terms of competitive I think this is the right word. the nature of the game means that two teams can be mismatched but with a few decent players in certain positions can compete in a game by slowing it down. That does not exist in League, there is no hiding place.

This can give the impression that Union is a more interesting game because games are usually closer and therefore have tension. In league there are fewer really close games but when they are they are corkers.

A recent example being the Semis and Final weekends at the RLWC. One an a mismatch, and it resulted in the biggest margin of the tournament. The other semi was two good teams going at it hammer and tongs. However good that game was, the quality was not a jot on what Australia produced the following week, yet as a spectacle it was poor due to the one sided nature.

In short there are many way that people can get enjoyment through sport, and the two sports tend to provide different ways of getting that

What happens at the breakdown is key to both sports. Anyone who doesn't acknowledge taht doesn't know enough about either sport

I agree, I am just arguing from a union perspective. At the breakdown in union the ball is in play and the defending team can compete for possession. At the breakdown in league the ball is not in play once the referee calls held and the defending team cannot compete for possession. Any union supporter looking at the stats offered above would immediately claim the figures were biased and therefore not worth consideration.

Indeed, and if you wished to argue the point you could show that whenever a referee needs to stop play (for an injury elsewhere on the pitch for instance) he will stop it at the next PTB, which is where the game has naturally stopped in its momentum.

There is still only one set of stats which break down the stoppage times and explains how the measurements were made and that is the one that I linked to and I'll say it again, removing the two elements that are unique to RU still leaves a lot of stoppage time for both codes, more time in fact than any other RL stats are prepared to admit to.

No there isnt one set of stats.

You're not reading again.

Of course the ball is live at the PTB.

If the attacker drops the ball its a knock on. If the defender steals the ball its a penalty.

Seems our so-called "parochial" game is offically recognised as one of the 5 top sports in the country.
If the ball is stolen /interfered with in RU it is also a penalty. I've seen this happen at a scrum, at a lineout at a penalty, therefore I again suggest that you are taking two different criteria to judge the two games.