Lack of a star name in the English game, what can be done?

[DC80]

Over the past week I’ve seen the lack of a star name in Rugby League been brought up multiple times in the media.

Rod Studd on this week’s Proper Sport podcast (27 minutes in, at 34 minutes he goes into more detail)
https://audioboom.com/posts/6951125-proper-sport-rugby-league-psrl-podcast-30-7-2018

Chris Irvine, just lost his job at The Times, the paper no longer has a Rugby league correspondent and is only focusing on football, rugby union and cricket. Irvine mentioned the lack of a star being a major issue, adding the media is turning away from the sport.

Craig Harrison, player agent, spoke on this week’s Rugby League BackChat about the sport not having a superstar, a player to sell the sport.

This appeared last year in the Guardian about no kid being able to name a rugby league player.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/n...7/may/16/rugby-league-players-bbc-coverage-tv

The last big name was Offiah (Studd mentioned him as being the player that drew him into the game, and added the game doesn’t afford the same amount of space for a player like Offiah to stand out/make those length of the field runs).

Does the game need to change, become less structured/defensive, to allow players to stand out? Anything else can be done?

I concur with all three in that a big name player is the most vital thing to sell the game, to give it some publicity. Bringing in teams from abroad such as Toronto I don’t think will make one iota of difference in terms of changing the profile of the sport. Changing the structure of the league, Super eights etc. again, don’t think will change anything. A star player would, but right now, the way the game is played with the restrictions it puts on players to really stand out, I can’t see it happening. So I think the game needs to change, how I do not know.

 

[Coastbloke]

IMHO the lack of a 'star player' is a direct consequence of the utter apathy the British media has for the game.

We all know on this forum that the ESL has better athletes than union. If the media was fair to the game, someone like Ryan Hall or even Sam Burgess in Oz would be a huge name.

 

[hutch]

IMHO the lack of a 'star player' is a direct consequence of the utter apathy the British media has for the game.

We all know on this forum that the ESL has better athletes than union. If the media was fair to the game, someone like Ryan Hall or even Sam Burgess in Oz would be a huge name.

Absolutely! Ryan Hall is better than any English union winger in 20 years. He should be a National icon.

 

[VictoryFC]

IMHO the lack of a 'star player' is a direct consequence of the utter apathy the British media has for the game.

Pretty much the answer. You can create a star out of anything given good coverage. The problem isn't star players - the problem is coverage.

 

[Perth Red]

Yep it’s about media hype and profile. RFL and clubs are sht at it and the British media doesnt give a sht.

Doesn’t help the game is rarely on fta so the general public never actually get to see these players.

 

[deluded pom?]

Pretty much the answer. You can create a star out of anything given good coverage. The problem isn't star players - the problem is coverage.

You only have to see some of the so called reality TV “celebrities” to confirm how true that is.

 

[DC80]

IMHO the lack of a 'star player' is a direct consequence of the utter apathy the British media has for the game.

We all know on this forum that the ESL has better athletes than union. If the media was fair to the game, someone like Ryan Hall or even Sam Burgess in Oz would be a huge name.

Here’s the thing though, RU doesn’t have a star player either to draw people in. What RU does have are established events, most notably the Six Nations, that ensures the code is in the spotlight for at least five weeks of the year. Right now Rugby league doesn’t have events to do similar, therefore it’s more imperative for the code to have a star than RU to garner the spotlight.

The Six Nations gets heavy coverage every year, and yet not one star has emerged in god knows how long (the last is probably Jonny Wilkinson). So in regards to RU it has to be due to what happens on the field that is not providing the platform for a star to emerge rather than media coverage as to why there isn’t one. I believe similar applies to rugby league. You have rugby league commentator in Rod Studd being asked by a rugby league executive to name a star, and struggling to do so. Studd then went on and said the game doesn’t provide the space that an Offiah had to become a star, the Aussie fella in the studio agreed, stating it’s much harder to score now. So a better defensive game has only led to fewer stars, fewer eye catching runs that make the casual viewer sit up and take notice. This has definitely happened in Union where attacking play has been squeezed out of it.

This is the podcast up on YouTube. At the 53 minute mark they discuss the issue of the lack of people now playing the game, and again refer back to the lack of stars being a huge cause of this as there isn’t the role models for kids to want to emulate that exists in many other sports.

 

[latingringo101]

The main thing I find frustrating about SL is watching matches

I don't have Foxtel so it's quite hard for me to find footage of Super League. The NRL social media have updates, visuals and highlights of each match and keep fans up to do date on fixtures and results.

Super League is hard to find match footage online and hard to keep up with what's happening. I use to watch their highlight channel regularly but it's non existent and not updated.