Rugby League is in the greatest shape ever. (Discuss)

[Suitman]

Great thread.

Good thread.

It's just another thread but I appreciate the sentiments.
What has been good is that generally and more importantly mostly, the replies have been thoughtful, constructive and insightful. There has been some great comments throughout.
That's what a discussion about the state of the game should be about.
Truly, there is a lot of great and learned posters on this site.

 

[Vlad59]

It's just another thread but I appreciate the sentiments.
What has been good is that generally and more importantly mostly, the replies have been thoughtful, constructive and insightful. There has been some great comments throughout.
That's what a discussion about the state of the game should be about.
Truly, there is a lot of great and learned posters on this site.

And me!

 

[Suitman]

And me!

Yes, despite all the thoughtful, constructive and insightful comments, there is also you. All good mate.
Anyway, I'm off to watch another great game of RL.

 

[Colk]

Yeah hun

Not really. I know your team is winning atm which is clouding your viewpoint obviously but there are a lack of decent halves going around for one and most teams severely struggle in terms of attack and set plays etc.

The athleticism shown is brilliant don’t get me wrong (Coates try clearest example) but skill wise definitely no. I’m confident that the product will get better (there are a bunch of good young players coming through) but we need to cool our jets a little. 2020 and 2021 were the worst years of football I’ve ever seen and we are not that far removed.

 

[Chins get the wins]

Not really. I know your team is winning atm which is clouding your viewpoint obviously but there are a lack of decent halves going around for one and most teams severely struggle in terms of attack and set plays etc.

The athleticism shown is brilliant don’t get me wrong (Coates try clearest example) but skill wise definitely no. I’m confident that the product will get better (there are a bunch of good young players coming through) but we need to cool our jets a little. 2020 and 2021 were the worst years of football I’ve ever seen and we are not that far removed.

It's ok if you can't appreciate what you're seeing. That's on you

 

[Canard]

Everyone seems happy with the way the game is going early in the season, then come round 15 when your team is staring down the barrel of 5 straight losses, you start to get a bit less optimistic.

 

[Chins get the wins]

Everyone seems happy with the way the game is going early in the season, then come round 15 when your team is staring down the barrel of 5 straight losses, you start to get a bit less optimistic.

Wouldn't know the feeling tbh

 

[Colk]

It's ok if you can't appreciate what you're seeing. That's on you

It’s ok also if you think it is the best it has ever been or some other outlandish statement because your team is winning. That’s on you as well.

If you want to be objective though go through the squads now if you want and tell me how many good halves are going around.

By the way I didn’t say it was terrible - it was objectively awful a few years back though. The on field product is going well and hopefully getting better with some good young players coming through but there is a bit of a way to go yet. I also said the athleticism is superb but skills wise it just objectively isn’t.

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

It's just another thread but I appreciate the sentiments.
What has been good is that generally and more importantly mostly, the replies have been thoughtful, constructive and insightful. There has been some great comments throughout.
That's what a discussion about the state of the game should be about.
Truly, there is a lot of great and learned posters on this site.

Why thank you .

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

Not really. I know your team is winning atm which is clouding your viewpoint obviously but there are a lack of decent halves going around for one and most teams severely struggle in terms of attack and set plays etc.

The athleticism shown is brilliant don’t get me wrong (Coates try clearest example) but skill wise definitely no. I’m confident that the product will get better (there are a bunch of good young players coming through) but we need to cool our jets a little. 2020 and 2021 were the worst years of football I’ve ever seen and we are not that far removed.

Wonder how much of that goes way back to the littler kids getting intimidated out of junior league by the bigger PI kids. There’s been talk of weight limits over age for years. Maybe there’s another thing the game needs to get right.

 

[Colk]

Wonder how much of that goes way back to the littler kids getting intimidated out of junior league by the bigger PI kids. There’s been talk of weight limits over age for years. Maybe there’s another thing the game needs to get right.

It is a good point.

There is some hope though. Katoa for the Dolphins, Sam Walker for your mob, Strange for the Raiders and Galvin for the Tigers all have a bit of promise.

 

[Chins get the wins]

Wonder how much of that goes way back to the littler kids getting intimidated out of junior league by the bigger PI kids. There’s been talk of weight limits over age for years. Maybe there’s another thing the game needs to get right.

That would hurt halves not help

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

That would hurt halves not help

How so, Chins? I’m just talking the very early years when their dads are into more than they are. By early teens they should learn to take on bigger bodies

 

[Chins get the wins]

How so, Chins? I’m just talking the very early years when their dads are into more than they are. By early teens they should learn to take on bigger bodies

Maybe at real younger ages it might help but halves need to learn how to deal with being smaller. I've seen it suggested for ages up to 14-16s and that would be awful.

 

[taste2taste]

Everyone has covered the positives, I'll mention my gripes.

1) We currently have all coaches talking about high percentage footy aka not taking any risks.

Alot of posts have mentioned how good the footy was in the early 00's and I'd have to agree, it would be good if we could encourage a more open, risky attacking game.

2) International footy is a farce but it has the potential to be big! Aus V NZ games have been crackers for a few years now, England are as competitive as they've ever been, Samoa V Tonga games are next level, Fiji aren't far off and if France can find a way to stop Union pinching all thier talented juniors they'll be up there too.

3) The current TV deal was solid but the next TV deal needs to be next level. And if 9 win the rights the NRL needs to insist they completely overhaul thier coverage, Gus, Joey, Thompson should never be allowed near the microphone again.

 

[mongoose]

The type of football being played is the best since the early to mid 2000's.

The one problem I have is the illusion of trying to make this sport "safe". It's always been a game for tough merkins and meatheads. I understand why the NRL have to be perceived as making the game safer but the actual fans of the game enjoy violence.

1999- 2005 was awesome on the field, terrible off it though. I watched the 2004 grand final recently, two hated teams and the speed and skill of this game was incredible. No wrestle or slowing down either.

 

[Chins get the wins]

1999- 2005 was awesome on the field, terrible off it though. I watched the 2004 grand final recently, two hated teams and the speed and skill of this game was incredible. No wrestle or slowing down either.

Oh yeah the game was still being ran by NewsCorp puppets at that point. Awful times off the field

 

[gerg]

yeah people are forgetting just 2 years ago we had one of the most unexciting, uncompetitive seasons ever... to argue that just 2 years later its the best its ever been on field? people are f**king delusional. I think the on field product could be a lot better.
Would like to see some better standards of commentators as well considering the broadcasters are an extremely important partner in selling the game. The Nine commentators are some of the worst in the world of professional sport. Fox are not much better, I like Warren Smith but Voss and Ginane are atrocious.

Nah. If we're talking the worst the standout for me was a Sharks / Storm game from 2016 or 2017. They wrestled the crap out of each other for 80 minutes. From memory it was the game that Cam Smith got binned - being the highlight of a very ordinary game. It was awful.

 

[ColdWetPanther]

Great thread.

I’m loving the game at the moment. The one thing I would look at to improve the competition is to see the salary cap overhauled to help get a bit more fairness. I’m not sure we are worried about teams going broke anymore, so I would rather see a point based system put in place to give the less glamorous clubs a chance to compete.
-

 

[ColdWetPanther]

It needs to change this year I think.

As a Penrith fan, how would you like to see that happen? Not trying to be defensive, genuine question.

I think no one could argue that Penrith plays by the rules in term of salary cap/roster construction.