My comment was based on the media coverage (especially 5 live) of Burgess being dropped, none of the other 8 players were mentioned.

That's the price of being a high publicity, highly paid RL convert though. Bound to make the headlines but I don't think he is the scapegoat.

I don't really care if Burgess is a scapegoat or not. If he ends up branded a union failure he'll be more likely to return to league, which will be a good thing. In a dreamworld he'll sign for Wires! I don't blame players for switching codes for the money, challenge or whatever, nor do I waste any of my time "hating" union. They're two different sports, with their own merits and faults, but I would prefer to see the best players playing league, as I'm sure everyone on here would.

I feel exactly the same. I would love him at the Wire.

Absolutely not but you are then factoring in the media bias (which IS real), the prejudice and snobbery heaped on our game allied to (mainly Southern) ignorance and our own wallowing in our negative self image and we immediately on a poor footing. We are the very worst people at promoting our game without doubt.

I have seen signs of more free-flowing rugby of late, witness what has happened in some of the better Super 8 games and the NRL final winning play. Long may it continue.

I have no 'hatred' of Union whatsoever, I am just relaying the facts as they have been broadcast.

Media Bias
Is it not simply that RU is of more interest and relevance to more people in the UK than League and so it's higher up the media priority in reporting? Top flight RL is only played in the NW of England and has no international appeal to speak off. RU is played in England, Scotland, Wales and has the draw of a World Cup and a thriving international scene.

wallowing in our negative self image
Bang on. We seem to be obsessed with RU and be "outraged" by what we believe to be injustice rather than just focussing on making our own sport more of a spectacle and tacking the dwindling live attendances.

I think the tone of some of the media reporting and the whole witch hunt surrounding Sam Burgess shows a distinct bias....

I think the problem that the home nations teams have is that there is no place for thinking outside the box or individual flair especially where the international games are concerned. They all seem to schooled in going through the "phases" even if there is a gaping hole in their opponents defence & the kicking game is still the be all & end all of the game, whether the punts into touch or the reliance on goal kicking. The emerging nations are so much more inclined to run with the ball & from our point of view better to watch. Another problem that RU gets bogged down with is the obsession with technical infringements at line outs & scrums & at times the games seem to be more about the ref. We could, however, learn from their use of the video ref.

Agree with this and specifically the kick and phase analysis.

I had the 'pleasure' of reading Guscott's appraisal of the Australian defeat. In short and amongst other things, blame was laid at England playing to an RL style where passing and keeping the ball alive through offloads gave the advantage to Australia because their top flanker could overturn the ball, or gain a penalty as the ball carrier was isolated hanging on to the ball as opposed to being under a heap of his mates, or having someone booting it up field...you know proper rugby.

Completely agree with you Mark.

This tone shows the blatant bias, the media are the controllers of popularity and they have no intention of flinging us into the limelight, that's not a chip that's a fact.
I'm surprised though seeing as Murdoch owns Sky?

Plus ask yourself why is it more popular?
More countries play the sport...well partly due to Union destroying us in any way it can France/Italy/UAE/Japan etc etc.
Marginalised into obscurity.

Oh and another reason for the Guardianista generation, Union is more inclusive, why you ask, well as a parent once said to me, me son isn't athletic enough to play Rugby League, there is a position for everyone in Union

Quite correct, biscuit

I go back to my post on page 4. People in this country are like sheep. They are TOLD what to do/like/watch, and like sheep, they obey. I'd lay a sizable lottery win, that the majority of people who've actually been to a match in this WC, haven't been to a Guinness Premiership game in years, if it all. It's just the "place to be seen at", or to drop in conversation in the work's cafeteria, the following day......"Hey. I went to Samoa v Uruguay, yesterday. It was awesome..." REALLY?

Biscuit recalls the Olympics. Evening Athletics events didn't have a seat going spare in the stadium in 2012. A year later, and top class athletes are invited back to compete at Birmingham, Gateshead and Crystal Palace. Guess what. Swathes of empty seats. You couldn't get a seat for Dressage/Basketball/Rowing in 2012. I've not seen a stampede for the grandstands when these sports have been televised, since. People get carried away in a whirlwind of hype.

Now, to me, Union is as dull as 3 hours of Soap Opera. It simply does nothing for me. I'll never understand why (in terms of entertainment) Internationals are ALWAYS packed out. BUT, matchday at Twickenham/Murrayfield/Cardiff is "where it's at". Media give it pages/hours of coverage, because people are told to like it. Will Mrs Brown of 23 Acacia Road, Tunbridge Wells, be reading match reports of Sarries v Bath, in a few weeks time? I very much doubt it. I bet a pound to a pinch of poop, that she was "glued" to the TV for the last couple of Saturday nights, though.

As a sport, RL hasn't got a chance, even if it had Alan Sugar's/Richard Branson's Head of Marketing in charge. Sky/BBC/The Press give it the bare minimum of coverage (particularly the press. I get the feeling they'd rather us not be here. We just take up a few column inches, that they'd rather give to other sports/teams). This is far from a "chip on shoulder" whinge, but they see us as little more than a parochial sport, that's got more punters than bog-snorkelling/cheese rolling/shin kicking etc. The media will NEVER change it's attitude to us. Sky see us as "filler". The BBC as an inconvenience. ITV don't see us, at all. And I'd be very surprised to see any RL coverage in any national newspaper, that has a printing press, south of Crewe.

I think we've got to put up with the media's love for international RU, and their disdain for League. It won't change within the next 20 years, bar a miracle.

Some great points made LG, I'm convinced most of the media still perceive RL to be not far removed from the one portrayed in 'This Sporting Life'

The reason why most people don't care much about RL is because they don't have a team of any note in their area - and suddenly franchising one in isn't the answer to that - and the international game is extremely weak. Their really isn't any more to it than that.

It isn't in our genes in Warrington, Wigan, St Helens etc that we will like RL, it's simply a fact that we grow up with it because it's been part of the fabric of our towns since the inception of the game over a century ago. Therefore we're exposed to it in the same way people in Leicester, Bath and Bristol are exposed to union. The reason why people who don't have local teams in either code might get involved at World Cup and Six Nations time is because RU has a strong international game that is relevant in all four home nations plus the three southern hemisphere powerhouses and then a handful of other countries as a bonus. It is a far cry from a truly global sport like football, but it absolutely dwarfs anything RL can muster and that's what captures the imagination of the more casual sports viewer who sees it as an event, because it most certainly is. Other sports like cricket operate much the same way - the international game completely underpins it. In RL we watch our clubs but no one can pretend the internationals are great. The best we've ever had has been the GB V Aus tours, but since both leagues started operating concurrently it has been impossible to truly get them back. Sad but true.

There will be plenty of people in Ireland who firmly believe GAA sports are "The Greatest", and similarly people in Melbourne, Perth etc will deem their " footy" to be superior to the codes played in the east of their country. For one reason or another the rest of the world doesn't agree with them though does it?

Personally I'm happy to just enjoy RL for what it is and not concern myself about what it isn't.