Great coverage in there today. The Editor (Simon Caney) has mentioned RL quite a bit since the Wembley game. In his editorial he says that he gave Tompkins one of his 10 nominations for SPOTY, describing him as a "wonderboy" and "thrilling to watch". And the article you refer to as well, essentially putting tomorrow night's game forward as the highlight of the next 7 days of sport, is very encouraging.

I think this goes to show the importance of events like the Wembley double header in terms of spreading the word. Although they do carry RL in here (previously they have interviewed Roby and Peacock off the top of my head) the coverage during the 4 nations has been very positive and suggests to me that a genuine interest now lies behind it.

Because they are a public funded broadcasting company not a commercial station.

I'm a big fan of the BBC and think it's worth every penny but they do give RL the sh@tty end of the stick IMO.

I contact Mike Bushell this morning (chap from BBC morning sport prog) about the coverage or lack of. He has informed me that the preview of the game is on tomorrow (sat) morning and he also mentioned that the choosing of an Aussie ref 'needs to be looked at'. I mention that a point for neutrals has to be sam Tomkins as this would appeal to many watchers as well as the game itself. If only Sam was a tennis player or a sprinter; he'd be a world superstar.

TWEET ME: Antwigan

Great post this thankyou.

Got tried at Orrell, but for entirely different reasons...

And on another note, Radio 2 mentioned the World Trampoling Championship earlier this week in the sports news. Bizarre.

Don't agree here. There is and always has been a condescending attitude to RL from the hierarchy at BBC.

Considering how little national media coverage we get, it's amazing just how well placed within the nations sporting psyche RL is.

Now the sports desk has moved to Salford, especially if Salford themselves start to do something, hopefully, we will get more of shot. They definitely owe it to us.

Did this opinion really send you into a fit of giggles? why?

I don't think thats true.I would say the attitude towards rl only began when sky came in and financed SL and then the situation was made worse when RU went pro.

Not sure if that is the case or not but if it was it is revealing too. There was that Five Live hatchet job a decade or so back which involved some Sheffield student's university thesis but tied in with that I well remember a top BBC bod's comment "well Rugby League has sold its soul to Sky".

And that sums up to me the mentality - conscious or not - amongst some at the BBC: other sports negotiate TV deals; Rugby League "sells its soul".

It's a short reverse step to understand the original thought - that Rugby League should know its place, that Rugby League should be grateful for what it gets, that Rugby League isn't a sport which can be considered or should be treated as mainstream.