Jon Wilkin writing for The Times timesonline.typepad.com/rugby_le ... olumn.html

Jon Wilkin writing for The Times timesonline.typepad.com/rugby_le ... olumn.html

Very good article , always thought that we should be a sport not afraid to play ' catchphrase ' and say what we see

Far too much bull and spin both in the sport , the administration of the dprot and most definatley on here

Of course a player can have opinions. Just don't be upset when people have opinions of those opinions.

Bit shocked JW thought "and if their children wanted to play the game, there is no way that can happen"
when there are plenty of RL teams in Scotland.

Its only a good article because it is provocative

You dont hang your dirty washing out in any business and as an employee, particularly one with a media profile, you must respect your employers wishes.

He went on about Wigan/Saints getting 20000. Yes they would if we played a third match but if it wasn't for this extra ordinary event it wouldnt happen

He has a typical small mind mentality, what about the publicity RL got from the event, extra finances the RFL made to plough back into the game.........

James Graham should think himself lucky he has played on the big stages with saints and England unfortunately that special event doesn't come to all players, more a select few.

I suspect he has to write a weekly article and he is hardly going to go on week after week about saints falling standards. If he is so disgruntled with what he currently says then change and front up-be a man and say the opposition were sh*t if that makes you feel better and you think it will do the sport a world of good

I was Graham's biggest critic at the time of his comments. However, I do think that players should be encouraged to speak their mind - but they shouldnt complain when their idiotic views and opinions get criticised by the public at large.

Exactly right.

Wilkin is basically saying it's unfair for us to have a poor opinion of Graham's opinion. You can't have it both ways.

What a bizarre thing to write. As has been said above, nothing wrong with having an opinion, that's fine, but others are allowed a different view. Does he want no-one questioning the 'superstars'?

As he's in The Times and on the BBC, aren't there any other players intelligent enough to 'write' a column than Wilkin?

Jamie Jones Buchanan and Jon Wells write columns for Rugby League World. And they both 'write' them themselves!

Why do people always assume that Canyoubelieveit is Chris Irvine?

What a load of crap. Of course he can have an opinion, but if he comes across as a whinging waste of a ginger wig, everyone else is allowed to (rightly) criticise him for it

It's either him or an over-dedicated student

who else would devote their life to linking every Times blog post on every forum on here?

I always assumed that Chris Irvine posted as, erm....rlchrisirvinerl.

And seeing as he's advertised rlWilkin's columnrl (and many other articles) before now as himself, I can't see why he'd adopt a pseudonym.

The RFU can relax, with high profile players like that in RL, they need do nothing to see us wither.

Magic Weekend is nothing to do with expansionism, but with publicity and revenue generating.

Never mind that there are precicely NO stadiums in the heartlands area that such a weekend could be played in, never mind that not one city in the heartlands would PAY the RFL what Cardiff and then Edinburgh have done for the privalidge of hosting this event and never mind that every single fan that attended considered it a fantastic experience, never mind that it generated huge ammounts of publicity (and even in this article continues to do so)

Messrs Wilkin and Graham perhaps need to take a long look at the career they have chosen and the wage it earns them, and the oppertunities it affords them and then decide if they want to continue on in it - or would they settle for a lower wage packet, lower oppertunities and an easier life?

I am sure if its the latter there are any number of National League clubs interested in their playing ability.