well said BM - there's a lot to be said for a bit of revolution and sheep burning now and again - it seems to be effective,witness the quality of healthcare,roads,public services etc etc - pity about the international rugby union & league teams tho'...........

You cannot compare RL to RU , who won the RU Championship in 1982 ?

Quote: sanjunien "well said BM - there's a lot to be said for a bit of revolution and sheep burning now and again - it seems to be effective,witness the quality of healthcare,roads,public services etc etc - pity about the international rugby union & league teams tho'...........'" I understand the result of last nights France v Wallabies game went down a storm with the fickle Parisienne public! www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union ... 18bw1.html

Quote: sanjunien "well said BM - there's a lot to be said for a bit of revolution and sheep burning now and again - it seems to be effective,witness the quality of healthcare,roads,public services etc etc - pity about the international rugby union & league teams tho'...........'" I understand the result of last nights France v Wallabies game went down a storm with the fickle Parisienne public! www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union ... 18bw1.html

Is the reason I can’t compare the two because it completely contradicts your statement that true competition is required for the international game to grow and be enthusiastically supported by everybody in the game?

As always, this conversation is getting side tracked so let me just stress the reason why I compared Rugby league to Rugby Union is that one completely embraces the international game at all levels of the sport will do everything to support it and the other is dominated by the interests of the clubs – all the clubs, at all levels of the game and in both hemispheres

Again, this is not a judgement just an observation

And by the way, I don’t know who won the RU Championship in 1982... if fact, I’m not sure what you even mean by RU Championship

He's hinting that they didn't have one. In 1982 RU clubs officially only played friendlies. I still remember, from my days as a sports hack, the reaction of the RFU when the WRU broke ranks introduced leagues and league tables in the mid '80s (along the lines of "this is against the amateur spirit of RU, it will introduce the idea of 'winning for winning's sake, rather than playing for the joy of the game, leading inevitably to things like player transfers and is probably the first step on the road to out-and-out professionalism. We won't be doing it in England"icon_wink.gif

Not seen the UK news recently then? Riots in London, strikes, mass protests.
As opposed to the wonderful Aussies who simply hold a referendum (average 1 every 2 1/2 yrs I believe and do so d all about anything)

My country and fellow country men may not be perfect but I fail to see how a descendant of convicts can preach to us.

I was o/s when the London 'riots' kicked off but the story got minor coverage on CNN.

So your government have decided to backtrack on the cost of tuition fees now have they?

Are the London 'riots' still going on?



It seems pretty quiet here in london to me.....



If that had happened in France it would still be going on until the government agreed to sort the problem out. Paris would be blockaded, main roads would be closed and they would have probably taken over the French parliament.



Never mind.. maybe the rioting pommie students (seemingly backed up by many members of the Socialist Workers Party) will start a Facebook campaign instead now their mums have told them all to come home and stop being silly by throwing things at the Police for a few days. That should do the trick.


LOL

that's the BIG problem with the brits - you actually believe the world map is still coloured pink,that you are still the superior race and everything british is best ! sorry to dissappoint you mate but you are way out of date...
Listen to BM - he is telling it as it is...

You cant fault the French. They don't like something.. they protest..and things change.

RU fans embrace International RU because for decades it was the only part of the game that was actually competitive [ there was the county championships as well [ I once was asked to drive one of my bosses and his mates to a county final at Lancaster , they came back to the car that pi553d they didn't even know who had won ] but club RU has never until the sport went pro 15 years ago had any decent support

As tb has pointed out , no club competition , yet we have had club competition for decades

That is why you cannot compare the two , it is a totally different social aspect of sport ' support '

We have supported international RL when we were competitive , but 30 years of getting hammered has diluted that interest , until that changes you will not see the support rise again

So, Rugby Union supporters embraced the international game as it was the only competitive element and Rugby League had a strong club scene

Now, RU has a strong club and international scene and League is exactly where we were before

Before I get branded a Union fan etc, I am not – the sport has a lot of faults on and off the pitch but what it does have is club administrators and fans who actually see the bigger picture and not just the success of their own teams

I will ask again – what do you think the reaction would be from both administrators and fans alike if RL clubs were asked to give up their top players for nine weekends ‘during’ the season to play international games

The biggest barrier to international development in our sport is the strength of the club scene and the power of the clubs

Again, many people will not see this as a problem but if you want to see the game of RL develop, the international game is vital

We are all interested in the result (some passionate fans and some observers) when Wigan play Saints, the Hull derby, the Featherstone Halifax final or Oldham York but this will not capture the wider sporting audience.... if we want a high profile, we need to promote the national brand and if that means beating France, Wales, Scotland etc then so be it

Russell Crowe wants to grow the game in the US and he suggests St George and Wigan play the WCC there... what would Union do, they would play Australia vs. New Zealand and I know which one would get the higher profile

The barrier.... the strength of the club game

I realise that this will not convince you but I feel very strongly about it so I needed to get it off my chest

Have a look on Wiki , about RU and how long it has had an International profile , for example , which country won the last Olympic gold medal for RU ?

In 1975 I emigrated to NZ , we flew from London to LA , on that plane was a touring English RU club team going to the US for 3 weeks

My point being , the ' damage ' has already been done

So how would the fans and admin react to being asked to release their players for 9 weeks ? , well first of all they'd want to know who the bloody hell we were playing , they could play every single international opposition in that time , the union lot have 115 member countries by the way

You dont have to convince me , I understand your point , but at the end of the day unless you actually have somebody to play , you will not grow international RL , nobody is interested in a one horse race

I'll leave it there as we could go on all night

We are aren't we

I do admire the french, but its a bit cheap coming from an Australian, when have the Aussies ever protested? Apart from the time where a bunch of racists wanting to throw the 'f**king Lebs' out of australia

Anyway back on topic, the main issue is the lack of quality teams, we can bearly make a tri-nations, RU have at least six decent teams at any period of time