They caught up about ten years ago if that is what you mean. In france been decades since RL was pulling decent crowds at any level. NZ outside the NRL has very poor figures. That leaves only Australia where it is the clear winner at domestic level. Everywhere else it comes off second best unless you coun t PNG.

Source from 2000?

the less we say about RU in france the better.

sports that need to cheat to survive are quite pathetic really.

lets not get too distracted in a failing sport.

lets just celebrate how well RL is doing.

crowds like the hull clubs get really symbolize how league has always been a game where its clubs have strong roots in the community

heck even cas and wakey in new grounds will go well over 10,000 as well.

RU, a failing sport ? Only in Australia. Here in England, the Guinness Premiership continue to grow their attendances. Albeit on the back of a high profile International scene.

Celebrate how well RL is doing? Yet again, you're lucky, you live in a country where RL is king; here in England it falls a long way behind soccer, even in Wigan, Leeds and Hull, the soccer teams get much higher attendances.

RL will never compete with soccer in this country, and if it wants to compete with RU, then it needs a vibrant International fixture list .

Tragic, but I cannot help but come to the same conclusion, although I think it links in with media dominance and an established mindset as well. After getting in last night in a celebratory mood after Wakey beating Leeds and watching Sky Sports News on loop whilst awaiting Offiah's (ahem) 'analysis', I saw no evidence of anything that actually made a spectator sport from the rah-rah reports. The majority of the domestic games seemed to offer little more than a try a side, yet produced inflated scores from kickfests borne out of various technicial infringements by cumbersome so-called-athletes. The international games seemed little better. The crowd at the Leeds Tykes match seemed pitiful, yet the match (which included one whole try) warranted an interview with both coaches (repeated twice in half an hour), who appeared to have the audacity to imply it was the shocking pitch that was at fault.

the sport just isnt growing anywhere. even in england it struggles. if union spent more time on trying to grow their game rather than banning all its players who want to try league, they might get somewhere.

union in nz will follow australia.

french union will poach their players and the nrl will just keep growing whilst the S14 lags behind.

once NZ stagnates as well, their game hasnt got much going for it.

its inevitable RL will dominate union, with the nrl leading the way.

It will be an interesting crowd at Odsal on Friday.

Cas will probably bring more than St’s did, but, will the lure of the T.V keep a few away, especially the home support, on the back of an under-par performance yesterday.

leeds i will accept, they are a massive club. but hull and wigans attendance are only what they are because of the glamour of the premiership. when both are relegated watch the attendace tumble, especially at wigan i suspect

probably right in union in australia but your forgetting the international rugby board are pumped full of cash and can step in at any time with a cash injection for struggling unions. plus they have 7's and the world cup which they can count on to generate millions at regular intervals.

we shouldnt worry about rugby union or for that matter any sport. sure if they have a good idea like the twickenham double header and the big game then lets pinch it and do it ourselves. double header at old trafford anyone?

Hull and Hull KR combined get more in than Hull City (which is a fair way of assessing crowds), don't they?

They are already getting less home fans than the rugby team.

Nope

Hull and Rovers combined get 23,643, City average 24,290.

So not "much higher attendances" as one poster stated.

dont worry mate, hull fcs crowds will rise, especially with the derby.

hull is a real rugby town

hte only disasspointing thing is hull tigers are now out of the drop zone. damn. get relegated you buggers

Couple of abysmal crowds last night.

12k Leeds
8k Bulls