I think I have the wrong sport. Where is the Rugby League for adults?

The adults are not being distracted by name calling or mascots

If we don't capture their interest as kids it's much harder to capture their interest when they're adults.

Kids have massive social pulls towards football and games consoles (& the nationally pushed sports of Union, cricket & tennis). If RL doesn't actively market itself to kids then there won't be any adults watching in 30 years time because they'll all be watching football, Union or cricket.

Psychologically speaking don't you grow-up to be embarrassed of what you enjoyed as a kid? It may have an inverse effect, where once a lad becomes a 16 years old - the little cutesy Wildcats may hold less appeal, than something which has a more grown-up sensibility. Besides, to appeal to kids, RL doesn't have to patronize them with nihilistic arbitrariness, at the expense of meaning, and the wider dignity of the sport, right?

Are you suggesting RL is too soft and "cutesy" for 16 year old lads?


At 16 they're paying attention to what's on the pitch and can see the mascots etc for what they are.
If you only have the tough, on-pitch element that 16 year old will be watching Man United or England rugby union on tv instea because he'll never have been introduced to the sport.

Why do you think a friendly mascot appealing to kids is patronising to 5 or 6 year olds?
Kids aren't stupid. As they grow up they realise who and what the mascot etc is there for and transfer their attention from the mascot and kids stuff to the adult stuff on show on the pitch.

There is a big problem in RL. Far too many of us seem to assume that kids should immediately and unconditionally support or play RL regardless of other concerns or opportunities available to them. We have to provide a pathway for kids to be interested and support our game, in the same way we have to provide a pathway for kids to play the game.

Personally, I never even say Wakey, never mind Wildcats.
But I'm old.

Wakefield Trinity ... ah yes, that's got a nice sound to it you know ... and it speaks of the origin of the club.

I have only ever watched my team in the Super League era and have never referred to them as 'Wolves'. I refer to them as Wire and see no reason why the 'next generation' won't either.

Given the choice though I would do away with such tacky names as Wildcats etc.

Fully agree with your view, unfortunately Wildcats is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. I had hoped the administration would've ridded the club of the ridiculous name, but alas its has as much staying power as the club itself!

Still for the supporters who are older than 12, the club have a perfectly good name with which to associate, Trinity. I just hope the name is not lost as the next generation refer to the club as Wakey Wildcats.

Why is Trinity, or Loiners, or Wires, or Pies, or Northern anymore adult than Rhinos, Wildcats, Wolves, Warriors or Bulls?

It seems some people are just hung up on old nicknames precisely because they are old. As if simply existing for a long time is a measure of quality.

There is no stasi or Gestapo demanding you use one name or the other, you can choose which ever you want, but more people choose the newer nickname because they are more relatable and clubs choose them because they are easier and better to market

The Wildcats aren't 'cutesy' - they're big 'orrible rugby players smashing the bejesus out of each other, just like they always were. An element of the brand might be, and that 16 year old lad you're talking about might just be taking his younger siblings, nieces & nephews etc to games thesedays, because the cutesy element of the brand is now doing the same job on them that it once did on him.

They are not more adult necessarily. But the point was the new names were brought in (or so it seems) to appeal to children, whereas the older names just represent the locality, community and context of the clubs and they're formations. And it's not just a hang-up, because these names are old, but rather because they possess meaning, a narrative, and identity related to the clubs - where as the new names don't. It's not difficult to understand the argument for those in favour of the old names - especially as it definitely is (to relate to the title thread) ing on histories which should be cherished and relevant today.

What meaning? If you spoke to most people in leeds and called them a loiner they wouldnt have a clue what you were talking about, What relevance does a group of men from the holy trinity church 130 years ago have to the people of Wakefield today? Do you think many people from know what a dreadnought even is and what link it has with a city which is miles inland? How many people under 40 know the link between Castleford and Glassblowing? You start calling people glassblowers and they're likely to think you were accusing them of some weird sex act. The old names just arent relevant today, things change

If they were still relevant, they would still be used and there would be no need for the new ones.

We have a lot of history we can celebrate and cherish, what some people used to call the team 50 years ago isnt one of them