Think what you like John, but I have been watching RL on tv for many years and read many comments from League fans who call RU "kick and clap".

I must have misunderstood your first post in this thread when you said "I cannot believe what I have been missing out on for years". It gave the impression that you were new to rugby league, yet you obviously had a good knowledge of the attitudes of league fans to rugby union. I have already apologised if I have misjudged you, so if you are simply a new and enthusiastic fan of Salford Red Devils then welcome aboard.

Another welcome, An interesting perspective, I remember attending Sale games 2006/7 ( freebies from my employer who was into RU ), I remember getting vocal at passages of open play involving talented players like Richard Wigglesworth , Ben Foden , Jason Robinson and Sebastien Chabal ,and being stared at by a largely silent crowd, yet the minute the ball disappeared under a pile of forwards the crowd would spark into life with cries of ' Heave ' or ' Sale !' .
I tried to go along with the tactical elements of the RU game. ( Booting the ball downfield at every opportunity , even when there was obvious gaps to run at . ) , but it seemed to me the overriding tactic of Sale and most visiting sides was to lure the defending team into a technical offside or rucking penalty. to bag a penalty kick & 3 points . I realised then I was a ' league man ' .
RU is still eminently preferable to soccer, and Chabal was ' wasted' playing RU and would've been in his element with ball in hand in the 13 a side code.

Haha, yes those were the days when they had a really decent pack. Robinson was truly awesome to watch in union. Of course when I said earlier I watched RL on tv, it was yonks ago when Robinson scored some amazing tries for Great Britain against Australia in RL. Seeing him in union was still an experience to watch, but as you correctly said "being stared at by a largely silent crowd", that is something I have also experienced many a time at Edgeley Park. Maybe I always had an RL heart (Dad used to watch Belle Vue Rangers from time to time but prefered Man City) and after all, Stockport was originally an RL town and EP was built for RL. I miss EP which is a great venue for rugby (miss the Birtles Stand), and I guess similar to The Willows (The Shed) perhaps?

A belated welcome Worzel.

I once attended a Sale game at Edgeley Park when I lived in Stockport, when a friend and neighbour of mine who was on the Man City coaching staff had a couple of freebie tickets. The match was Sale V Liecester and both teams were star studded so I decided to go.

It was on a Friday night and it was absolutely p***ing down. When we got to Edgeley Park, we couldn't get in as the queue was a mile long and so were wet through. Whilst we were in the queue a roar went up and someone had got a penalty, and another roar when it was converted.

We still hadn't got inside the ground yet: then another roar went up as another penalty was given and converted.

Finally, like two drowned rats we got inside and took our seats. I never saw a player closer than thirty yards away.

No tries, no penalties, no breaks............nothing for the rest of the game. That was it a 3 all draw and we hadn't seen a single point scored. I never went again, I never will. It was dreadful.

The only positives were 1. There was plenty of noise and 2. The fans were lovely, and much less hostile than a lot of league fans I've come across.

I'm not having a go Worzel: I'm merely recounting my brush with top class RU.