Club first, Its my love of watching Widnes that got me interested in Rugby league, Its that which keeps me interested in rugby league and were we still in the championship after next year it would be the RFL's treatment of that league and my club that would kill my support and interest in the game.

Rightly or wrongly i view our national team as the RFL's club, they do not realy represent our nation as players can switch nations seemingly at will. A player will be Irish one year, then welsh, then when theres a big tourny come up hey presto they are English, its a bleeding joke. I have paid many times to watch england, and have in the past supported them with the same kind of passion as i do Widnes. But my dislike of a lot of what the rfl are doing, and have done has turned me away from the national team.

And dont give me any of this, its your country blah blah. I didnt support England when we won the RU world cup, they dont represent me. I dont cheer us on in hockey, i dont care about it. I Dont care if england win the ashes in cricket, i dont like the sport so im not going to pretend i do when a big game comes up. At the end of the day its just a bunch of blokes that come from the same island as me, you could say the same is true of Widnes. But it feels different.

In short, Club first, club last. there is nothing in between.

Fairly sure last year it was dearer than that



They must have a lot of shirts left over

Just checked and you're right, it's £107.

Bringing back proper tours where the tourists play the top club sides in addition to tests would make me more interested and would, I think, get the fans behind the national team more, particularly if the club sides had given the tourists a run for their money during the build up. But that would depend on clubs from the touring nation putting country first which isn't likely to happen.

That joke would only make sense if England had the same shirt this year as last year.

That's not true though, is it? We don't all know what the problem is. There isn't just one problem either. There are many issues, some of which not everyone was aware of as it doesn't affect them personally. That is the point of this thread: to highlight the problems, not necessarily provide the solution. There's no point in providing a solution to one problem if it doesn't address the others, especially if it might exacerbate them.

+1

So sorry I didn't know they had a new shirt , not

The main problem is the lack of success , that is the reason most fans that don't go , don't go , all the other reasons including mine aren't really an issue

I disagree. If that was the case how come the Aussies and Kiwis don't get huge home crowds? I think lack of success is an excuse rather than an actual reason.

An opinion you are entitled to