I can't help but feel that Saints losing every Grand Final since 2006 has somewhat clouded his view of the game.

Fair comment, balanced out by half the clubs in SL not being good enough for SL

A bit weird that he's not harking back to a time when Saints were successful, but rather a time when they are worse than what they are now!

In itself the article is fine, with many good points worth discussion.
It is the fact that it only highlights negatives rather than a balanced view that make it less worthwhile.

If he could bring himself to see some of the positives in the game, or even the negatives of the past he may find a different conclussion, rather than the game is dead.

At the same time, I know at Saints of fans who have bought their first season ticket for years, including ones for their kids too. Attendances across the board appear to be growing so these must be a new generation of fans and old fans returning to the game now that it's more professional. Someone may wish to argue about the professional aspect but I bet if you looked at clubs' business plans from 1990 you'd laugh.

Interestingly the Championship isn't as methodical as SL, so maybe the Saints fan would be better hoping that Saints were in this league? I do enjoy watching the Championship because it's not as polished on the whole.