Says Tony Smith www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/41271778 Hard to,disagree with him. The game is slowly dying. No vision in the sport to develop it. It is also a lot less attractive to watch. All players just trying to milk penalties and make the game slow and uninteresting. Rugby Union is getting miles ahead and actually watching Rl is becoming boring. Still as long as HKR are back in SL and crowds will average 5oo more everything is rosy no problem that the game seems to be contracting ( at top flight level). Any positives out there anyone can think of ?

Says Tony Smith www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/41271778 Hard to,disagree with him. The game is slowly dying. No vision in the sport to develop it. It is also a lot less attractive to watch. All players just trying to milk penalties and make the game slow and uninteresting. Rugby Union is getting miles ahead and actually watching Rl is becoming boring. Still as long as HKR are back in SL and crowds will average 5oo more everything is rosy no problem that the game seems to be contracting ( at top flight level). Any positives out there anyone can think of ?

He's not sour then? Keep reading how we need expansion and the game is on its knees? For me it's more poor management RU has proper marketing and business men in charge.The Stobart debacle and devaluing of own product was criminal. I still love watching rugby league we have a great game but RU has took coaches and attacking structures from us and improved their product alongside long term planning of international game.Their world cup was very good alongside a great Lions tour. I think we cannot compete with them financially but our actual product is a good one. In my opinion club RU is poor fare at club level. That is our strength. We need a proper sports management team in and a clear professional business plan sharpish because this shower we have are not fit for purpose

Says little really , nothing specific , just randomly fed up with the sound of it

The game has been slowly dying now for the last 5 years, originally the product of the game was its best selling point but were other sports get premier sponsors we get Mushy Peas and Foxy Bingo. Salary Cap no longer competitive for quality players, poor officials conned by players who have been allowed the game to be a running wrestle match for long periods.

Lots of games pretty boring and always stop/start with the video refs prolonging games to nearly 2 hours which goes past the editorials time dead lines so not much in the nationals the next day. SKY not too bothered though.

Explains why he's always so blooming miserable all the time.

The game has been dying since before I was born. I think people just need to get a bloody grip.

Ever since I started watching it I've heard little else other than the game is dying.....if it is, it's taking a long bloody time to do it!

We're at roughly the same number of fans as we had a decade ago and for all the structure changes and attempts at expansion, the core support in the league still comes from the main sides, with everyone else making up the numbers.
The game isn't dying...it's simply stagnating and the guys in charge are adept at making it seem like they're making changes and moving ahead, when in reality they're just rearranging the furniture.....a new look, but same furniture.

The biggest problem OFF THE PARK is the average age of our support. None of us are getting any younger and I suspect the average age at games is about 10 years up on a decade ago....if we want to grow we need to grow our audience and if we do that, then the corporates will follow.

ON THE PARK? We don't have a problem....we just need to figure out how to best market ourselves.......and to do that, the Furniture Re-arrangers need to go!

The game is so slow nowadays with the stop/start from video refs it is becoming unwatchable. Even the most straight forward of tries are being referred to the video ref. Why?
The marketing of the game is truly abysmal. Most of my mates didn't have a clue the Challenge Cup final was on a couple of weeks ago and no doubt it will be the same for the Grand Final. It is such a shame.

Less attractive!

Has he not watched Cas this year?

I'll have a pint of that Tony.

T.B.H. I wish in the forthcoming W.C, the England team would play the same expansive game that Cas have played all year, 'cause as sure as hell, we won't beat the Aussies at their own game.

It's never good is it when a bloke with smith's life in the game is saying what he's saying. But he's too long in the tooth to say it because he's sour about a job.

He wants rugby league to be run by people who have a bit of vision and can get us punching our weight commercially. Not a lot to ask. I'm not a Tony Smith 'fan' but I'd wager the guy's probably got a few decent ideas and the nouse to get it done.

So let him go to Union or wherever. He'll not be the first, or the last. Or... we give him a job. And if not him, find jobs for some of the other decent, intelligent people we've got in the game. Because what is sure to kill us at some point is letting our best people take everything they've given rugby league, and vice versa, somewhere else.

Quote Durham Giant="Durham Giant"Says Tony Smith www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/41271778 Hard to,disagree with him. The game is slowly dying. No vision in the sport to develop it. It is also a lot less attractive to watch. All players just trying to milk penalties and make the game slow and uninteresting. Rugby Union is getting miles ahead and actually watching Rl is becoming boring. Still as long as HKR are back in SL and crowds will average 5oo more everything is rosy no problem that the game seems to be contracting ( at top flight level). Any positives out there anyone can think of ?'" YES we might get in the world cup Final and we might win it I doubt it but we might after reading what smith says he must have bean sacked and to save face they said he has left now he is moaning about Rugby league that has been is bread and butter for so long yes we have problems but wile the shower we have in charge are in charge it will not get any better

Quote Durham Giant="Durham Giant"Says Tony Smith www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/41271778 Hard to,disagree with him. The game is slowly dying. No vision in the sport to develop it. It is also a lot less attractive to watch. All players just trying to milk penalties and make the game slow and uninteresting. Rugby Union is getting miles ahead and actually watching Rl is becoming boring. Still as long as HKR are back in SL and crowds will average 5oo more everything is rosy no problem that the game seems to be contracting ( at top flight level). Any positives out there anyone can think of ?'" YES we might get in the world cup Final and we might win it I doubt it but we might after reading what smith says he must have bean sacked and to save face they said he has left now he is moaning about Rugby league that has been is bread and butter for so long yes we have problems but wile the shower we have in charge are in charge it will not get any better

Its difficult to put a whole point on saying the game is dying. I totally agree with craighkr about the Stobart joke. It set the whole game back with no monetary input whatsoever and whoever arranged that debacle should have lost their job. The thing for me is look at the quality of the game from say 98-2007. The game for me was so much faster and I really think we had better players playing then than now. Yes the game is more even across the league which is fantastic but for me the end product isnt as good. We can't compete moneywise with the NRL and the longer it goes on the bigger the gap will become