[Pemps]

Re: BILKO : Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:46 am  

jinkin jimmy wrote:

...I was at the MOS dinner last night...

3 pints of lager, 2 glasses of wine and a jug of water please Garçon.

Re: BILKO : Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:47 am  

Pemps wrote:

3 pints of lager, 2 glasses of wine and a jug of water please Garçon.

Sussed!

[Pemps]

Re: BILKO : Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:50 am  

jinkin jimmy wrote:

Sussed!

Re: BILKO : Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:55 am  

Ive felt the same for a while now. Ive only been to 1 game in 3 years after being season ticket holders for a number of years. Admittedly, this was due to my daughters arrival and lack of £££'s but I have to be honest and say I haven't really missed it. I still watch Wigan when they are on Sky/SL show etc... but I dont bother watching the other televised games until its play-off time

[Pemps]

Re: BILKO : Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:59 am  

Sad to say I'm of a similar opinion. I take my lad with me and his interest has tailed off towards the end of the season too. I've been thinking that I may give up my season ticket next year and just go to the non televised games and the odd away one.

I've no doubt that come November time I will have 2 shiny new season tickets in my wallet though. I'm weak.

Re: BILKO : Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:14 am  

Pemps wrote:

Sad to say I'm of a similar opinion. I take my lad with me and his interest has tailed off towards the end of the season too. I've been thinking that I may give up my season ticket next year and just go to the non televised games and the odd away one.

I've no doubt that come November time I will have 2 shiny new season tickets in my wallet though. I'm weak.

I cant wait to take Holly to her first game but will be a few years off yet. Once shes got over her habit of telling the players to stop running and walk nicely

Re: BILKO : Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:21 am  

It's also difficult being enthusiastic about a sport that is slowly but surely sinking back towards the doldrums of semi-amateurism.

It may actually be beyond the RFL's ability to change this, but the constant threat of players going to RU and the NRL is disillusioning me in a big way. Whatever our game does, it can't seem to generate an income sufficient to raise or even moderate the salary cap significantly. Half our so-called elite clubs can't even spend what they're allowed to (some of them are clearly struggling to exist even in this poor man's environment - what a joke the legendary Bradford outfit turned out to be), so that means the genuine go-ahead clubs are pegged back disastrously.

I appreciate that it isn't an exodus of talent, but it doesn't need to be to continually weaken us and prevent us progressing. I said when Joel went to RU that if (when?) Sam goes as well, that will be me done with the game. If we can't protect our most prized possessions, then we don't deserve to have any and we don't deserve to have any fans either.

Add to that the 'British RL disease' - the embedding of little men in big jobs (Nigel Wood, Stuart Cummings, Steve McNamara, Eddie, Stevo etc) - and you feel like giving up straight away. One thing's for sure, we'll all have abandoned RL before parochial, talentless oiks like that lot give up their positions voluntarily.

When you look at individual clubs like Wigan, Warrington, Leeds, Saints and probably Hull, you get the feeling of sleek professionalism. But that's where it ends. Beyond those lies a wasteland; it's no wonder that we barely figure on the Aussies' horizon.

A sea-change is needed: we need to hack the dead wood out of SL and start concentrating the talent at the 10 or so clubs where it will do most good. We need another French club too (the Dragons have been one of our few success stories in recen times, but for how long?) and we need to find mechanisms by which our star players can maximise their earnings. But as long as people like Eddie Hemmings and Nigel Wood can lord it at the Man of Steel and tell the world how wonderful everything is in the RL garden, then expect more of the same next year, and the year after that, and the year after that ...

Sorry for the moan, but I'm with Bilko.

Re: BILKO : Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:36 am  

I feel that there is a lot of disillusionment within the sport at the moment (with perhaps the exception of Wire fans I'd imagine).

A lack of quality imports being signed to play in the UK.

The last remaining quality imports heading back to the NRL.

The UK's best players tempted away to NRL/Union, set to continue.

A franchise system which isn't working.

Three SL clubs fallen into administration in two years.

Challenge Cup competition which nobody bothers about until the final (even that fails to sell out these days).

A playoff competition which nobody bothers about until the final.

Poorly supported international games at the end of the year.

For the third year running only two clubs (Wigan & Wire) taking the regular season seriously.

A playoff structure which rewards a club in 8th place the chance to become "Champions" despite losing more than 50% of all league matches.

Match Official standards - where do we start? Possibly the worst seen since the start of SL.

Incorrect video ref decisions.

RFL disciplinary panel inconsistency with players banned one week and not the next for similar offences.

SKY commentary team with their constant nit-picking of incidents/negative play, rather than concentrating on the rest of the game.

Re: BILKO : Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:40 am  

Cruncher wrote:

It's also difficult being enthusiastic about a sport that is slowly but surely sinking back towards the doldrums of semi-amateurism.

It may actually be beyond the RFL's ability to change this, but the constant threat of players going to RU and the NRL is disillusioning me in a big way. Whatever our game does, it can't seem to generate an income sufficient to raise or even moderate the salary cap significantly. Half our so-called elite clubs can't even spend what they're allowed to (some of them are clearly struggling to exist even in this poor man's environment - what a joke the legendary Bradford outfit turned out to be), so that means the genuine go-ahead clubs are pegged back disastrously.

I appreciate that it isn't an exodus of talent, but it doesn't need to be to continually weaken us and prevent us progressing. I said when Joel went to RU that if (when?) Sam goes as well, that will be me done with the game. If we can't protect our most prized possessions, then we don't deserve to have any and we don't deserve to have any fans either.

Add to that the 'British RL disease' - the embedding of little men in big jobs (Nigel Wood, Stuart Cummings, Steve McNamara, Eddie, Stevo etc) - and you feel like giving up straight away. One thing's for sure, we'll all have abandoned RL before parochial, talentless oiks like that lot give up their positions voluntarily.

When you look at individual clubs like Wigan, Warrington, Leeds, Saints and probably Hull, you get the feeling of sleek professionalism. But that's where it ends. Beyond those lies a wasteland; it's no wonder that we barely figure on the Aussies' horizon.

A sea-change is needed: we need to hack the dead wood out of SL and start concentrating the talent at the 10 or so clubs where it will do most good. We need another French club too (the Dragons have been one of our few success stories in recen times, but for how long?) and we need to find mechanisms by which our star players can maximise their earnings. But as long as people like Eddie Hemmings and Nigel Wood can lord it at the Man of Steel and tell the world how wonderful everything is in the RL garden, then expect more of the same next year, and the year after that, and the year after that ...

Sorry for the moan, but I'm with Bilko.

Seconded, I'll probably get a season ticket next year out of loyalty to the club. I think the individual clubs (particularly those listed above plus the French team) are trying to make things work despite the RFL. But, if the next season is like this one - a lot of so-so games with little intensity marred by inconsistent refereeing performances that (at the end of the day) don't count for much anyway - I might as well dump the season ticket and pick my games.

Like others on this thread, I have no confidence in the governing body who are plainly unfit to administrate, to develop the game or even sell the game to a sponsor.

Re: BILKO : Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:47 am  

MattyB wrote:

I feel that there is a lot of disillusionment within the sport at the moment (with perhaps the exception of Wire fans I'd imagine).

A lack of quality imports being signed to play in the UK.

The last remaining quality imports heading back to the NRL.

The UK's best players tempted away to NRL/Union, set to continue.

A franchise system which isn't working.

Three SL clubs fallen into administration in two years.

Challenge Cup competition which nobody bothers about until the final (even that fails to sell out these days).

A playoff competition which nobody bothers about until the final.

Poorly supported international games at the end of the year.

For the third year running only two clubs (Wigan & Wire) taking the regular season seriously.

A playoff structure which rewards a club in 8th place the chance to become "Champions" despite losing more than 50% of all league matches.

Match Official standards - where do we start? Possibly the worst seen since the start of SL.

Incorrect video ref decisions.

RFL disciplinary panel inconsistency with players banned one week and not the next for similar offences.

SKY commentary team with their constant nit-picking of incidents/negative play, rather than concentrating on the rest of the game.

All bang on. But what's really annoying is a fan has just been able to compile that list off the top of their head, when there are people who actually get paid to make these decisions. There are plenty of good ideas kicking around these boards (loads of awful ones also ) with respect to improving league structure, playoff format, international games, scheduling of the CC, sponsorship, disciplinary, refereeing etc. Usually I would be against massive changes all at once but a complete overhaul is needed. The RFL needs to stop letting SL be a competition where the tail wags the dog.