Our Game

Re: Our Game : Sat Sep 02, 2017 11:42 am

To give an indication of my vintage, when I started following the Wire I used to wait behind the main stand at Wilderspool every home game and ask Brian Bevan to sign my match programme. Although he seemed reluctant he never refused. Perhaps because I was a little kid he had some sympathy. He was an odd looking character, shabby gaberdine mac with his boots in a brown paper parcel tucked beneath his arm. You'd never dream he was the greatest RL winger who ever lived. When I was old enough and had the cash I purchased a season ticket and had one every season until three years ago. I had the privilege of seeing all the Wire greats from the early 50's until three years ago. Until that time three of us had seats in the North Stand. Slowly but surely my interest waned. The game I started watching all those years ago had changed irrevocably. The skills had gone from the game, sidesteps, dummies, change of pace, swerves and what you might call kidology...The game had been reduced to a biff bash wrestling match, no skills required but brute force and ignorance and endless kicking of the ball, something we used to laugh at Rugby Union for. I found myself leaving the match earlier and earlier, I was bored rigid. Of course I couldn't leave my mates stranded for transport so I went to my car and listened to the radio. Eventually I was sat in the north stand at one match, can't remember which and I asked myself *What am I doing here* I left and have not been back since. What to do ? Well perhaps something I wrote to the sports page of the Post and Evening Chronicle 50 years ago. Reduce the teams to 11 players and do away with the scrums...any infringements to be restarted with a tap penalty to the opposition....Present day scrums are a farce anyway with half backs joining the scrum, the other halfback joining the centres and a biff bash forward playing standoff....I knew my time had come when coaches and commentators started talking about left and right channels and wingers being called edge runners...Perhaps I'm looking at the old game through rose tinted spectacles and yes there were terrible games in the old days particularly when Yorkshire teams paid a visit and they tended to stick the ball up their jumpers and you just couldn't get the ball off them but in the main they were a rarity and most of the matches were good entertainment. I still watch the game on TV but rarely last more than twenty minutes. To quote a hoary old cliche *I didn't leave the game, the game left me*