The quality of the game has decreased and it's boring. The number of players who you recognise has decreased. People moaned about Eddie and Stevo but the Sky coverage has gone backwards as well. But with the drop off in standards I don't think sky are bothered. How many other sports have a worse tv deal now than 10 years ago, says it all
Makes some good points.
The overall trend is downwards, and if anyone at RL Headquarters thinks that is a good thing, then they are sadly mistaken.
The forthcoming Ashes series might paper over some of the cracks for a while, but the reality is that the game is on its knees.
Add in the Salford fiasco days after receiving a positive grading from IMG on the eve of the new season (how rigorous was that process by the way?), Huddersfield downsizing, and the latest news that Leeds Rhino's have just lost £1 million, does not present a picture of rude health for the sport or it's premier competition.
The whole thing makes me sad and depressed.
@dan1 I agree. I rarely watch SL matches anymore. There are very few good players about now & coupled with modern coaching techniques the games are boring. With the odd exception, usually overseas players, the majority of players are like robots & play the same way comprising of a few drives & a kick mostly.
I have been watching quite a few old matches especially of Widnes in the 70s 80s & early 90s & the standard of rugby & entertainment is far superior to what SL offers today.
I think most people of a certain age would agree. The entertainment value in RL is poor these days. Well, Super League anyway, not so much in Aus.
I mean, even the Sky content. OK, we might not have been involved much but there were some cracking SL rivalries/games up to about 2015 I'd say. And some absolutely top drawer players. But I'd struggle since then to pinpoint a great game, season or player that I was really keen to watch. Of course, there are some great pros but, it's not really edge of the seat stuff is it? Not in the main anyway.
I watch the Friday night game as I'm up the pub Fridays. But that's really the only RL I watch at the weekend. Unless we're at home and that's an all-together new level of depressing 😆.
It's a shame all-in-all.
You're four points clear, and five short of the dotted lines, so I reckon you'll be play-off free come the business end of the campaign, but.................
Will it matter?
We're hoping for a top four place to extend our fixtures, but...............
A lot of the talk seems to be that there'll be just one league below a 12 / 14 team top tier next term, albeit regionalised, meaning that your mob and mine, could well be locking horns again in league football.
If there's gonna be 14 dining at the top table, who'll be "promoted" to join the big boys? Bradford? A team with a chequered financial history, playing out of a ground that's well past its sell-by date. Toulouse? Doubling the number of French teams heading to and from Saints / Pies / Leeds, et al. London? With Hetherington pulling the strings, it can't be doing 'em any harm. York? Currently league leaders, and have a stadium that's a million miles from being Odsal-esque. The 'Yeds? Back at BP, and going well at present. Will the Pinks survive?
Like you, I know nowt for certain, so we'll have to wait and see what transpires, but at least we've got the battles with our cousins from Down-Under to embrace before (in whatever context it is) the 2026 season is upon us! Bring it on!
Spelly.
Question, would you rather finish 9th and have a 5 month off season or finish 10th and play the likes of North Wales and Swinton in the middle 8's.
Realistically we shouldn't finish below 4 of the other teams should we?? I enjoyed the trip to Colwyn Bay and a trip to Swinton/Sale should have a bit of atmosphere about it! Thoughts?
What is the difference in central distribution between finishing 9th and finishing 10th, is it small change or an amount that could be bettered by playing extra games?
genuinely could be a business decision 🤣
Question, would you rather finish 9th and have a 5 month off season or finish 10th and play the likes of North Wales and Swinton in the middle 8's.
Realistically we shouldn't finish below 4 of the other teams should we?? I enjoyed the trip to Colwyn Bay and a trip to Swinton/Sale should have a bit of atmosphere about it! Thoughts?
As I said earlier (although I've been wrong many times in the past!) with your current position on the ladder, I can't honestly see you being in action beyond the end of the "normal" season, so.........
I'm not anticipating a Chemics v Lions clash before next term, but ..........
Should it transpire that we do meet in the "Eights" I'm (with all the ex Swintonians you've got both on and off the park) 101% convinced it'd be a tasty encounter, and we'd love to give Coleman a(nother) bloody nose!
Spelly.
"
With yet another SL side overspending by £1m where is the cash for the enlarged SL coming from?
Is a BBC deal on the cards?
@scouseviking55 it goes on the IMG score now not league position. Hence why we lost something like £20 - £25k for this season based on the massive drop in our score. You do get points for performance based on a 3 year rolling cycle but the difference between 9th and 10th would be nothing. As we finished 5th last season though, a 4 place drop to 9th place won't help our points total overall.
As to the rest of the IMG points that we missed out on last season, I have no idea if we expect to make progress or not.
I hope our IMG a score will improve, attendances will be the same but the live streaming of 5 games will be a big plus and the tweaks from last time where we were underscored will all help.
With the attendances likely to be very low as people don't like paying over their season ticket price and the handful of lower league speccies from the likes of Swinton and Crusaders it would hardly be beneficial or even be operating at a loss.What is the difference in central distribution between finishing 9th and finishing 10th, is it small change or an amount that could be bettered by playing extra games?
genuinely could be a business decision 🤣
Surely we want to avoid these play-offs at all costs? Knowing us, we'd get relegated.
@gpo1971 that’s my concern!
couldn’t care less for the extra games just feel like forgetting about this year and moving on to the next