Divided rugby league fell 25 years ago – but united has it conquered? by Steve Mascord.

[bad boy bubby]

This is a great insight into the insularity of the rugby league world. It definitely shows up some posters delusional thoughts.
I tried to paste the article but it didn't work.
Click on the link.

Divided rugby league fell 25 years ago – but united has it conquered?

Monday is the 25th anniversary of the creation of the National Rugby League – the organisation born out of the Super League-ARL war. In that quarter of a century, has the game learnt anything?

www.smh.com.au

 

[The Great Dane]

This is a great insight into the insularity of the rugby league world. It definitely shows up some posters delusional thoughts.
I tried to paste the article but it didn't work.
Click on the link.

Divided rugby league fell 25 years ago – but united has it conquered?

Monday is the 25th anniversary of the creation of the National Rugby League – the organisation born out of the Super League-ARL war. In that quarter of a century, has the game learnt anything?

www.smh.com.au

I fundamentally disagree with most of the assertions in that article.

I disagree that any form of entertainment can be extrinsically linked to a social class in such a way that it can never appeal to people of other social classes en masse. In fact there're plenty of examples of other sports (and cultural phenomena in general) throughout history that have had strong links to the working class, or other classes, but have grown to be ubiquitous throughout society given time. Soccer, tennis, and boxing are all great examples of that in their own ways.

I disagree that the numerous examples of historic self sabotage within the sport (intentional or otherwise) means that it's more or less impossible for the sport to grow or progress significantly outside of it's enclaves.

I even disagree that Super League was, as Mascord put it, getting 'a billionaire to fund our city in the clouds'. That may have been the intention initially to some extent, but it ended up as a handful of corporations pissing hundreds of millions of dollars up against a wall trying to wrestle control of the sport from each other. If even just a small percentage of that money had actually been invested into the growth of the product, instead of ending up largely wasted, then the sport would look completely different today, and I find it ridiculous to pretend otherwise.

Frankly the whole article comes off as a pity party written by somebody whom has given into despair because things haven't worked out how they wish.

What Steve has forgotten is that there's a difference between something having not been achieved and it being unachievable, and growing RL nationally, internationally, or even just across classes for that matter, is definitely achievable if we are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to make it work.

 

[Perth Red]

He is correct in how ‘right’ RL is. It’s super conservative and unwilling to take risk or invest for long term goals. It’s fearful to take hard decisions and has even set up its governance systems to prevent this from happening. RL will always be around but it will never achieve what it could be. For all SL’s faults and BS media rights war it was the one period in time the game cast off its conservative thinking and brazenly set some lofty ambitions and put on its big boy pants to do things totally differently.

 

[siv]

The SL War taught expansion cannot be actioned at the expense of tradition

The cull to 14 teams was also proved to be a wrong decision because within 10 years we were back to 16 teams

The only positives are the video ref and breaking into Melbourne via the Storm

 

[Wb1234]

Rugby league certainly isn’t united

unlike say afl clubs and players actively work against the governing body to grab more money at the cost of expansion and other areas

and the joint ventures are still a rabble today

in many ways rugby league is a bit messed up but it’s got enough strong points that people ignore the wounds

allowing manly to take the license over the central coast bears is a major example of poor thinking

Same thing with forcing the dragons to take over the sharks and Illawarra have their own team

the game is fixing past mistakes like brisbane 2 and Perth bears

but had there been no super league the game would be light years ahead of where it is today

 

[Wb1234]

This is a great insight into the insularity of the rugby league world. It definitely shows up some posters delusional thoughts.
I tried to paste the article but it didn't work.
Click on the link.

Divided rugby league fell 25 years ago – but united has it conquered?

Monday is the 25th anniversary of the creation of the National Rugby League – the organisation born out of the Super League-ARL war. In that quarter of a century, has the game learnt anything?

www.smh.com.au

What a dud article

couldn’t finish it so much drivel

he’s quoting a known troll in Peter fitzstupid as an expert on rugby league

he faffs on about working class roots the Brisbane broncos are one of if not the richest clubs in world rugby

rugby league clubs in Australia have over a billion in property assets and have owned who are worth tens of billions of dollars collectively

even in super league Leeds rhinos generate huge money from corporates

mascords heart is in the right place but it’s a poor article

 

[flippikat]

Wow. Just wow.

I knew Steve had become dismayed & disillusioned at the lack of expansionary "big picture" thinking, and tired of being that journalist that all the others chuckled at (even patronised) when he talked about the far flung outposts of the game...

But I never imagined he was THIS jaded.

 

[flippikat]

What a dud article

couldn’t finish it so much drivel

he’s quoting a known troll in Peter fitzstupid as an expert on rugby league

he faffs on about working class roots the Brisbane broncos are one of if not the richest clubs in world rugby

rugby league clubs in Australia have over a billion in property assets and have owned who are worth tens of billions of dollars collectively

even in super league Leeds rhinos generate huge money from corporates

mascords heart is in the right place but it’s a poor article

It's clear that he feels totally disillusioned with the game, and all he can do now is lament the number of 'false dawns' he's seen, because he's seen it fall back into the conservative muck every damn time... and that sense of hopelessness has filtered into his work, which is a million miles from the wide-eyed, passionate guy he was.

It's a crying shame, because he was one of the few in the media who looked beyond the horizon, beyond the oppressive self-interest of established, traditional powers.

 

[Wb1234]

It's clear that he feels totally disillusioned with the game, and all he can do now is lament the number of 'false dawns' he's seen, because he's seen it fall back into the conservative muck every damn time... and that sense of hopelessness has filtered into his work, which is a million miles from the wide-eyed, passionate guy he was.

It's a crying shame, because he was one of the few in the media who looked beyond the horizon, beyond the oppressive self-interest of established, traditional powers.

He’s been in England for ages so seeing how bad the game is over there is probably a big cause of it

plus killing off the Wolfpack was THE dumbest thing rugby league has done since I’ve been following it. Probably on par with super league which wasn’t the games fault

they had ottowa and New York ready to join too

they kicked them out and then found money to fund Leigh centurions

Robert elstone study determined Toronto as a city offered nothing to the English game but somehow Leigh does

 

[mongoose]

It's clear that he feels totally disillusioned with the game, and all he can do now is lament the number of 'false dawns' he's seen, because he's seen it fall back into the conservative muck every damn time... and that sense of hopelessness has filtered into his work, which is a million miles from the wide-eyed, passionate guy he was.

It's a crying shame, because he was one of the few in the media who looked beyond the horizon, beyond the oppressive self-interest of established, traditional powers.

I see Mascords articles occasionally on TheRoar, they never have any point and he seems out of touch with the game in Australia...

 

[LeagueXIII]

RL broke out of its working class stereotype pre super league when thegame was attracting women, people who werent rusted on supporters etc. Had the ARL gone with Murdoch and continued their strategy to grow the game without the war, which put it back 20years, it may be a diferent story today.
Post war we have been run by new ltd lackies who have no vision, including the cons that are st pete and the invisible ceo.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

He is correct in how ‘right’ RL is. It’s super conservative and unwilling to take risk or invest for long term goals. It’s fearful to take hard decisions and has even set up its governance systems to prevent this from happening. RL will always be around but it will never achieve what it could be. For all SL’s faults and BS media rights war it was the one period in time the game cast off its conservative thinking and brazenly set some lofty ambitions and put on its big boy pants to do things totally differently.

We only have to look at the insularity on this forum to see the game is littered with unambitious persons who don't want the game to grow.

Rugby union has exported their game across the world by staging major events in untapped markets and growing the game from the grassroots. The Hong Kong Sevens is a good example. We've got idiots on here who claim our game has zero chance of carving out a niche in the southeast Asian market, despite rugby union proving it can be done. That sort of low intelligence and low brow mentality from insular fans is the only reason our game doesn't have professional teams in Adelaide and Perth.

 

[Wb1234]

RL broke out of its working class stereotype pre super league when thegame was attracting women, people who werent rusted on supporters etc. Had the ARL gone with Murdoch and continued their strategy to grow the game without the war, which put it back 20years, it may be a diferent story today.
Post war we have been run by new ltd lackies who have no vision, including the cons that are st pete and the invisible ceo.

So the game should’ve gone with news ltd for a brighter future but instead it’s been run by news lackies who have held it back ?

Makes sense

 

[LeagueXIII]

So the game should’ve gone with news ltd for a brighter future but instead it’s been run by news lackies who have held it back ?

Makes sense

I see what you are getting at, what I was saying is pre war we had an opportunity to work with them and maintain the continuity of growth under Arko and Quayle.
However the war broke out costing millions the game came second for years as they recouped their money under the leadership of their people, lackies.

 

[Phil McGrawhan]

We only have to look at the insularity on this forum to see the game is littered with unambitious persons who don't want the game to grow.

Rugby union has exported their game across the world by staging major events in untapped markets and growing the game from the grassroots. The Hong Kong Sevens is a good example. We've got idiots on here who claim our game has zero chance of carving out a niche in the southeast Asian market, despite rugby union proving it can be done. That sort of low intelligence and low brow mentality from insular fans is the only reason our game doesn't have professional teams in Adelaide and Perth.

People want the game to grow .
Then there’s total nutters like you who have these bizarre unrealistic fantasies …SINGAPORE
Cull Syd teams
Cull Syd teams.

we can grow …..
the 18th team when added will show that.
& it won’t be Singapore …

 

[MugaB]

This is a great insight into the insularity of the rugby league world. It definitely shows up some posters delusional thoughts.
I tried to paste the article but it didn't work.
Click on the link.

Divided rugby league fell 25 years ago – but united has it conquered?

Monday is the 25th anniversary of the creation of the National Rugby League – the organisation born out of the Super League-ARL war. In that quarter of a century, has the game learnt anything?

www.smh.com.au

Most of the article is just going around in circles just pointing out SL war and how badly the sport has retreated back to its traditional areas, both in Aus and England... mainly poetic drivel really.
But what i did like was both quotes from fitzdumbshit, and mainly Graham Annesley
Fitzy said parra vs souths was terrible viewing, and even tho he was right then, they agreed that they were wrong now... forgetting that the competitions clubs fortunes are cyclical, and by the next decade there would be a new version of woeful clubs to take their place, like this past few years dogs and tigers.. that will always happen in most competitions that have an even salary cap type structure.. and that now those two clubs (eels and souffs) are powerhouses..

The other quote from Graham Annesley was spot on, slow expansion, and growth in other forms of the comp, will excite and bring fans aboard the ride, magic round and the 9s, even the mid year internationals are great examples, but too many rushed changes, rushed expansions or culling of teams, will have fans hate the whole game regardless which team they follow... the game is in a much better place it once was, it will only get better if we get on board, but we cannot rush into either expansion or culling/mergers/relocations, a slow progressive action to introduce areas like perth, adelaide or a 2nd NZ, need time rather than a quick fix, that goes for rule changes too

 

[Perth Red]

He’s been in England for ages so seeing how bad the game is over there is probably a big cause of it

plus killing off the Wolfpack was THE dumbest thing rugby league has done since I’ve been following it. Probably on par with super league which wasn’t the games fault

they had ottowa and New York ready to join too

they kicked them out and then found money to fund Leigh centurions

Robert elstone study determined Toronto as a city offered nothing to the English game but somehow Leigh does

If the owners had kept paying the bills and players they’d probably still be in. The financial strife was well known when clubs decided to vote them out.

 

[Perth Red]

Most of the article is just going around in circles just pointing out SL war and how badly the sport has retreated back to its traditional areas, both in Aus and England... mainly poetic drivel really.
But what i did like was both quotes from fitzdumbshit, and mainly Graham Annesley
Fitzy said parra vs souths was terrible viewing, and even tho he was right then, they agreed that they were wrong now... forgetting that the competitions clubs fortunes are cyclical, and by the next decade there would be a new version of woeful clubs to take their place, like this past few years dogs and tigers.. that will always happen in most competitions that have an even salary cap type structure.. and that now those two clubs (eels and souffs) are powerhouses..

The other quote from Graham Annesley was spot on, slow expansion, and growth in other forms of the comp, will excite and bring fans aboard the ride, magic round and the 9s, even the mid year internationals are great examples, but too many rushed changes, rushed expansions or culling of teams, will have fans hate the whole game regardless which team they follow... the game is in a much better place it once was, it will only get better if we get on board, but we cannot rush into either expansion or culling/mergers/relocations, a slow progressive action to introduce areas like perth, adelaide or a 2nd NZ, need time rather than a quick fix, that goes for rule changes too

Rushed? Lol the games over 100 years old and has managed to grow to one non rl city in that time. The games not got the balls anymore to cull anyone so we are left with a very slow burn that will probably see new markets not grown into in our lifetimes. We are super safe and super conservative, a big fish in a very small pond. Most seem happy with that. Probably part of the games working class legacy.
of the three things you mentioned only magic round exists now and that’s played in brisbane!

 

[MugaB]

Rushed? Lol the games over 100 years old and has managed to grow to one non rl city in that time. The games not got the balls anymore to cull anyone so we are left with a very slow burn that will probably see new markets not grown into in our lifetimes. We are super safe and super conservative, a big fish in a very small pond. Most seem happy with that. Probably part of the games working class legacy.
of the three things you mentioned only magic round exists now and that’s played in brisbane!

Rushed yes, as far as going into Auckland, Brisbane, Perth and Townsville, all in one year, instead of just Perth and Auckland for one stint then go into Brisbane and Townsville down the track... or vice versa, doing by 1-2 teams should have been the way to do it, instead now we stunted other areas, and not gone back to perth and just now introducing a 2nd seq team,
Slow burn is a far better way to do it, in the history of the competition, expansion was 15-20 years apart often in twos, then when they tried 3, they bumped to 4, then SL, then a mess, the only good thing to come from it all is Nth Qld, NZ and storm, hopefully from now on seeding new areas is taken with a bit of forethought involved, and not rushed to just include an area that won't reciprocate players or value to the overall comp... again im all for expansion, and i want to see a Perth team, an Adelaide team, and any other areas in and around the pacific, but not do it yet if its going to take away from the existing competition

 

[Wb1234]

I see what you are getting at, what I was saying is pre war we had an opportunity to work with them and maintain the continuity of growth under Arko and Quayle.
However the war broke out costing millions the game came second for years as they recouped their money under the leadership of their people, lackies.

Arko said at the end after packer stabbed him in the back and showed super league games that he should’ve just let Murdoch and packer fight over it and whoever won gone with them

packer got optus and the arl to use their money to protect his tv rights