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Thread: £200 million into union coffers

  1. #26
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk STIDDY's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Upside View Post
    I don't think we have fallen behind, we have always been behind, they are an international sport capeable of large attendances which bring in lots of money and we are a regional club game.

    If I wanted to promote my company who would I chose? If my company was regional up north RL may be on with a shout, otherwise we are not competing like for like

    I'm not sure we realise how small we are, and that's why the RFL are keen to expand the sport, it's needed if we want those investments
    The first decade of Superleague we were in pretty good shape as far as a sporting product goes and media exposure was decent and better than the union individual clubs. However our administration lost there way in trying to change things so that we didn't have a "Top 4" and the vision was a more competitive super league. all it did was drag down the standard to meet up with the "middle clubs".

    So this second decade is what we have now, whilst Union have improved there product with better quality players, made the game more attractive and the 6 nations is probably a sponsors and medias dream, better than any other sport in the UK. Another major factor is the officials and commentary in our code is very much rock bottom no consistency by refs and commentators very amateur. In Union its completely the opposite officials very much in control of games and some of the commentary is very educational. We can't market our game anymore and Brian Barwick should have been kicked out of the door years ago once the decline was heading into freefall.

  2. #27
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk Belgian Saint's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by STIDDY View Post
    The first decade of Superleague we were in pretty good shape as far as a sporting product goes and media exposure was decent and better than the union individual clubs. However our administration lost there way in trying to change things so that we didn't have a "Top 4" and the vision was a more competitive super league. all it did was drag down the standard to meet up with the "middle clubs".

    So this second decade is what we have now, whilst Union have improved there product with better quality players, made the game more attractive and the 6 nations is probably a sponsors and medias dream, better than any other sport in the UK. Another major factor is the officials and commentary in our code is very much rock bottom no consistency by refs and commentators very amateur. In Union its completely the opposite officials very much in control of games and some of the commentary is very educational. We can't market our game anymore and Brian Barwick should have been kicked out of the door years ago once the decline was heading into freefall.
    I think this is dead right, except when you mention RU commentary and Stuart Barnes comes to mind. Can't stand him.

  3. #28
    In The South Stand Sean Day's Avatar
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    I’ve mentioned before I watched the C5 highlights show a few weeks ago and everything just looked smarter and more professional - less garish kits, less tacky sponsors, decent stadiums, less sensationalist and patronising commentators etc. It’s not so much the game itself as it’s how it’s packaged, branded and put in front of people. I couldn’t care less for RU and I generally can’t watch a full game, but I liked the way it was presented and it engaged me for an hour or so because it wasn’t some cheap nonsense like SL must come across as to a casual fan

  4. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by L.S.F View Post
    Excellent post. The game needs a massive internal shake up. I'm sick of all this competitive nonsense, why should we and other teams reduce our quality so the like of Salford can compete with us? And as for your point regarding the actual packaging of the game, all this sensationalist, lowest common denominator crap needs cutting out ASAP, we're like the celebrity jungle of sports at the moment. Just because we're notherners doesn't mean there isn't intelligent, savvy people who follow the sport. I find it quite embarrassing to be honest.
    This this this.

    We’ve all but destroyed RL as a brand and as a sport with the “race to the bottom” over the last decade. A pitifully low salary cap, a mundane season until the play offs, devaluation of cups and the international game, bargain basement sponsors, dirt cheap tickets.

    The salary cap has been the worst. Why should clubs have to limit themselves in this way? It’s total socialist claptrap that’s supposed to “save clubs from themselves” - typical of the nanny state. So we have greater equality but absolutely nothing that is elite. We have no marketable stars anymore - the panel on Question of Sport couldn’t even name the England captain!! Without them there’s zero chance of increasing the sport’s profile. In terms of club rugby there wasn’t that much between RL and RU from 1996-2006 and arguable that RL was likely more popular, exciting and had as many bankable stars. Since then just an awful succession of mismanagement, lack of clarity and vision has chucked that position away - disgraceful really when you think about it.

    Can it be turned around? Well first thing is a 5 year plan to double the salary cap to £4m. Tbh I don’t care if some clubs fall by the wayside, we should be about elitism...best players, best stadia, best partners, best quality. If Widnes or Salford etc can’t make it, tough. Stick with the league structure as planned for next year without buggering about with it and stupid gimmicks. Start playing as GB again - immediately - one of the few instantly recognisable RL brands which was well known throughout wider sports fans. Something that had real value which was destroyed. Scrap magic weekend. Structure the challenge cup so it’s a genuine high point of the season - August bank holiday for the final sucks - choose a format, timing and stick to it so it builds it’s place again for fans.

    That will do for now.

  5. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Belgian Saint View Post
    I don't believe that RL has always been behind. I may be wrong but I don't remember much Union being on TV when I was a kid and Union was an amateur game..
    If your company was a large global concern then much of the marketing is just about brand awareness. RL may not have the largest viewing figures, but when you look at how often someone like Saint are on TV, then the costs are peanuts for a large company.

    England based club rugby you may be right but as a sport yes we have always been behind since the Vichy government anyway

  6. #31
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk Belgian Saint's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Upside View Post
    England based club rugby you may be right but as a sport yes we have always been behind since the Vichy government anyway
    As the OP was talking about English Premiership RU, I was comparing British RL.
    I don't believe the Vichy Govt had that much effect on the game as a worldwide marketing opportunity. Also if you are talking about just after the Vichy Govt. There wasn't TV. so those advertising revenues didn't exist for any sport.

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    In The West Stand Ralph Fridge's Avatar
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    Union is a better game than League now (In this country).

    It's also branded better, marketed better & presented better.

    The refs are better, the flow of the game is better.

    We could do worse than learn from them rather than stick our fingers in our ears.

    Acceptance of the state RL is in in this country is simply not an option if we want to remain professional

  8. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ralph Fridge View Post
    Union is a better game than League now (In this country).

    It's also branded better, marketed better & presented better.

    The refs are better, the flow of the game is better.

    We could do worse than learn from them rather than stick our fingers in our ears.

    Acceptance of the state RL is in in this country is simply not an option if we want to remain professional
    I would agree on every bullet point there. Maybe its time for Elstone and Hearns to make a move to jump start the Publicty Bandwagon.

  9. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ralph Fridge View Post
    Union is a better game than League now (In this country).

    It's also branded better, marketed better & presented better.

    The refs are better, the flow of the game is better.

    We could do worse than learn from them rather than stick our fingers in our ears.

    Acceptance of the state RL is in in this country is simply not an option if we want to remain professional
    I agree

    My only point would be that refs do ref the game better, but they are allowed to. Union doesn't accept talking back, league does, union refs are stricter, league refs are not, league refs are very familiar with players, union isn't. For me it's more a case of how thy are told to ref than their individual ability. If we want it refer like union I am very happy, but to many people justify poor behaviour from players as I see. Union refs also make mistakes but they are accepted, in league a mistake is used to bash the ref and justify poor player and coach behaviour

  10. #35
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk Belgian Saint's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ralph Fridge View Post
    Union is a better game than League now (In this country).

    It's also branded better, marketed better & presented better.

    The refs are better, the flow of the game is better.

    We could do worse than learn from them rather than stick our fingers in our ears.

    Acceptance of the state RL is in in this country is simply not an option if we want to remain professional
    Generally agreed, but with regard to first point, I still prefer to watch league over Union

  11. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by Upside View Post
    I agree

    My only point would be that refs do ref the game better, but they are allowed to. Union doesn't accept talking back, league does, union refs are stricter, league refs are not, league refs are very familiar with players, union isn't. For me it's more a case of how thy are told to ref than their individual ability. If we want it refer like union I am very happy, but to many people justify poor behaviour from players as I see. Union refs also make mistakes but they are accepted, in league a mistake is used to bash the ref and justify poor player and coach behaviour
    I would be very happy to see the same firmness from our Ref and have the players show the same respect as Union refs get. We could also learn a lot about video decisions from RU.

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