A lot of people are saying that the league this year has been poor. Now, what do we think the reasons for this are?

This year there seems to be better imports in the league than there has been for a while, Pritchard, Fonua, Sandow, Gidley, Segeyaro etc but people are bemoaning the quality.

I think it is down to a restriction on attacking rugby. Teams now, as evidenced by Wigan last night, tend to just attack side to side, there are less dummy runners, unsettling defensive lines and every team tends to use the same moves, the full back coming round the back.

I think that it is difficult now due to the over-policing of the obstruction rule. Defenders are no longer getting punished for poor reads due to great attacking movements by an attacking team, as they make contact with a dummy runner, fall down and win the penalty. This is meaning that attacking becomes a lot more conservative. Teams are also very capable of slowing the PTB speed down, to ensure lines are set each and every time, reducing scoots from Dummy Half, offloads from props attacking a broken line etc.

The above points for me come down to the refereeing. We need to set a time for the play the ball 3-4 seconds is completely adequate. Many times last night Widnes were in the tackle 6-7 seconds completely slowing the flow of the game down (I am not picking on last nights game, but it was compounded my opinion). There also needs to be a clearer definition of the obstrction rule to bring back the attacking structures we have seen a few years ago. The cup final i thought was refereed very well, in terms of letting the game flow. Although there were not many clean breaks, there were a lot of offloads creating a flowing game, it was just that the defending was so intense and strong that kept the scores down. Play the balls were quick (3-4 seconds) and i dont think one penalty was given for holding down.

Thoughts?

I've been wondering whether the levelling out in the league, where on a given day any team seems capable of beating any other, is in itself a factor. Once upon a time there used to be one or two teams experiencing long unbeaten runs, or at least extended periods of good form and the wannabes could target those games, often with the result that an anticipated clash would live up to its billing. That element now seems lacking, with many teams now playing no better or worse regardless of opponent, local derbies included.

Leeds, Wigan and Saints have played poorly for parts of the season, so people say the quality of the league has reduced. However I think most teams, especially the smaller weaker teams have improved.

There are quite a few factors why the Superleague Standard has fallen

The "traditional" top four has been replaced by a top 2 in Hull and Warrington who have recruited well for the season, most other clubs are struggling for strength in depth as the quailty player pool gets shallow. The likes of Leeds, Huddersfield, Saints and Wigan have had fairly extensive injuries to the spine of there teams over long periods. So in theory these teams have fallen into the "middle of the pack" and has proved a leveller.
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The way the game has slowed down is a disgrace, most games don't have long periods of intensity due to players implementing rest periods into the game and thats the reason we have each half taking on average 45+ mins. Try line drop outs, penalties to touch, forming a scrum, taking a field goal, kicking tee on the centre spot........... takes forever as players seem to have a bit of a meeting before hand.
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Then we have rugby league wrestlemania to the point where the ruck and PTB is frustrating and confusing when the match officials are not consistent in applying the interpretation of the game, however players are very good at conning the referee on trapping arms and legs and loose carries. Playing the ball 1 or 2 metres off the mark is now epidemic and its a 50/50 call from the referee on interference.
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We also have player discipline which is now inheriting secondary contact situations again with inconsistencies with match officials and reports to the disciplinary.
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Its natural instinct for the successful teams in this case Hull and Warrington to say there is nothing wrong with the game, when the underlying fact is that quality players, quality performances, quality control of the match game is falling.

The main reason is a pretty simple one. The best players dont play in SL. Whereas SL was the best british RL players, a couple of RU players, and some NRL players. Now the best british players, plus a few more, play in the NRL, we import low quality squad players and lose to ru rather than import.

A few others is that our season is too long both in games and calendar year, squads arent big enough, many clubs only pay lip service to youth development and too many clubs dont see themselves, and as such behave, like Super League clubs.

Off the pitch I think we play too many games, and I also think the current structure doesn't encourage teams to develop players.

On the pitch the Ruck and the wrestle in the ruck, as well as offensively trying to win pens or move off the mark is the biggest issue.

Are we playing more games now, than we did when we didn't have a "poor league" ?

I agree that we aren't keeping our best players in the UK but, I would suggest that people think it's poor because Leeds were dire in the first 23 rounds and Sky in particular love to drool over Leeds, Saints and Wigan (when they are winning).

Hull, Wire and Cas have played some great attacking rugby this season and we had a decent CC final as well, so it hasn't been a poor season and it's made a pleasant change to see Hull break the cartel that has existed for so long.

We should certainly have had a year on year increase in the salary cap but, even with this, League cannot compete with either Union or Aussie RL.

Defences are now very very good. They're very difficult to break down and teams don't crumble mentally as quickly as they used to do. It used to only take being more than 1 score behind for a team other than the big 4 to crumble and get a hammering. Now they don't. Or not anywhere near as often.

As for the obstruction being "over-policed"? Nah. Throwing a load of dummy runners into the defensive line and then running through the gap they create isn't good attack and not is it Rugby League. It's obstruction. It's very simple not to commit an obstruction in RL. Don't run in front of the ball. An attacking player has no business being in front of the ball and as such should do nothing except ensure he's not in the way.

Injuries are now a massive issue, not just for individual clubs but for the league as a whole. This needs proper investigation and it's worrying to me that there hasn't been proper comprehensive monitoring of injuries, their type, duration and how they're caused by the sport. We're a sport with very very little money in it. As such we're going to have small squads. It's vital we understand the nature of injuries and how to avoid/prevent them occurring using things like sharing injury/physio/rehab knowledge and, of course, either changes in the rules or the disciplinary.

Smokey is right in that some of our better players playing in the NRL/Union hasn't helped. SL would obviously be a better league with Graham, the 3 Burgii, Hodgson, Cooper, Whitehead and Eastmond in the league.

However I think the biggest issue is still the relatively poor effort we put in to junior and youth development. I think we range from merely average to god-awful and non-existent.
Even the "best" clubs at developing young players I think are only doing what I'd describe as should be the average across the board. We have some SL clubs who won't even provide a kit for their academy/scholarship teams. The players have to either fund it themselves or find a sponsor themselves. We have other SL clubs who are asking their fans to fund their academies. All SL clubs are, in my opinion, rubbish at both increasing amateur participation and improving the quality of the amateur clubs/leagues in their area. Most seem content to simply try and fight over the top few young players who naturally emerge.

Until that changes, and we have a revolution in our amateur leagues/clubs and in pro clubs attitudes toward player development then I don't think the quality of SL will particularly improve.

Also, the added benefit of increased amateur participation, is you get more people interested in the game, more people attending pro club games and so more money and interest in the sport. Which is why it's doubly disappointing clubs don't put anything like the effort or funding into it that they should.

1. Quality of players. In SL's peak in the later 90s early 2000s we had players like Lyon, Long, Sculthorpe, Vainikolo, Hape, Paul, Lautiti, Webb in their peak. Even the best ones we produce go over to OZ in their early 20s. I think the RFL's obsession to make every game count has dragged the top teams down. SC needs raising IMO.think I read somewhere that if you took inflation into account, the SC is actually less than 15 years a go. And we wonder why the quality has gone down.

2. Length of season and same teams playing each other all the time due to the eights. Saints/Wigan fans look forward to the derby against each other. But they played each other twice in the last 6 weeks and could face each other again in a few weeks. Its just saturating it. Throw in the CC and magic weekend it's possible you could play against your rivals 6 times. People are getting bored.

Probably not no, but we do have more big collisions, less subs and probably smaller squads.

I agree with your point on Cas Wakey etc playing some good stuff this year. I think part of the perception we've got a poor league is a lack of consistency in that while we want everyone to be able to beat everyone we don't want everyone to be able to beat everyone by 40, points, which has happened this year.

As I've said to me at least the mess that is the ruck is really taking away from the spectacle. I'd also agree with everything Him said about junior development and add that in terms of overseas players, while we seem to have been able to attract quality again, it's on top of average squad players rather than instead of them, my own club Leeds as guilty of this as any.

Nailed it for me on both points. I'm not really sure what we can do about it either which is the most depressing thing.

The game is worse to watch because wigan have taken cheating to a new level and every other team has had to copy them to be competitive. Sort out the ruck and the game would be much better. The ptb is so much quicker in the NRL it's unreal

I personally think the game is just a lot more defensive now and the fear of failure stops creative players from chancing their arm as much.
I watch nrl as much as sl and tho the standard is better, their game is first and foremost about defence and some games are little more then 5 drives and a kick and not great to watch. ( tho some are outstanding open rugby matches)
Unfortunately i think maverick half back play is considered too risky by most coaches in favour of safe get up field power house style rugby.
Dont know if the standard has got as low as some think .
Defo dont buy into the too many games excuse. The better nrl players at good sides prob play almost as many as ours if you include play offs and soo ( and most back up with club games a few days later)

It's rare to find a thread where I agree with nearly every post!


Except for the one about it being all Wigan's fault!

I fully agree that poor showings by Wigan, Saints and Leeds has coloured people's view. There has been some good footy played, if not by the usual suspects.

The abysmal officiating is causing extremely untidy rucks and making the game a complete mess.

Refs are coaching players through games instead of doing their job and using the thing that makes a high pitched noise that they hold in their hand.

If at the start of one season the refs actually applied the laws of the game from the get-go - if they're holding down, use the whistle and give a penalty; if they've got hands on the ball, use the whistle and give a penalty; if they're lying on, use the whistle and give a penalty; if they're turtling, use the whistle and give a penalty; if they're not standing square, use the whistle and give a penalty; if they're flying out of the line, don't shout "hold..HOLD", use the whistle and give a penalty; if players are moving off the mark, use the whistle and give a penalty; if a player is trying to milk a penalty, use the whistle and reverse it for unsoortmanlike behaviour; if they're telling you to " off", use the whistle and give a penalty...etc. and do it every time a player does it - our league would improve. It might be a penalty fest at the start of that season but after a while it would just become second nature not to push the boundaries.

Do not complain to players that they're doing something wrong and come out with "that's the fifth time you've done that and I'm getting sick of it". It's the fifth time, Mr referee, because you've allowed the other four times to go unpunished. APPLY THE RULES! Then when it's ingrained in the players psyche they will not be doing things wrong over and over again because they know they won't get away with it. At present players just push the boundaries willy-nilly and it is making the game a farce at times and simply a mess at others. Five years of the rules being applied properly and our product would be far superior to what we have now.

An example was Hicks today. He told Dixon "that's the fourth time you weren't standing square and I can't let it go anymore" - don't let it go at all you tool! Penalise him the first time and he won't push your weak officiating to see how much he can get away with.

I think that is the number one thing making our sport worse than it should be at present. Refs need to shut their mouths, stop pretending to be a coach on the pitch and simply apply the rules properly at the ruck and our sport would improve ten-fold.


We also need a bit of biff back. The shoulder charge rule is the worst thing I've seen changed in our sport. A fair, body height shoulder charge that isn't late is a joy to watch. By all means penalise shoulder charges that are above neck height, late and/or from behind. But let's bring back the front-on-front two men charging into each other at full pelt, please?!

I mean, everytime the man with the ball runs in he shoulder charges the defenders anyway, so what the difference if the defender shoulder charges [fairly!] the attacker? There's no difference that's what!


One other thing is that I think many players are very out of shape. I watch the NRL and some Union (barring the porkers in the front row) and they seem to be far more muscularly developed and cardiovascularly fitter than Super League players on the whole.


Other than that I think the game is great. We have some cracking players in this league, they just need to be given better opportunity to show their quality by the game being properly officiated.