The Good Old Days

[t-ba]

Dont forget that rule where Terry Lamb is allowed to take out your gun player to gain an advantage.

That's what I was thinking. Baa is still probably picking out fragments of Hanleys teeth from his arm to this day.

I can't sit through much old football. It's of a woeful quality. Towards the end of the 1980's it starts getting good as the players were fitter. The standard of top teams playing in the 1990's blows the current game out of the water, but the lower quality sides are f**king awful. I think we've traded a couple of brilliant football sides and about 10 sides who are dross for consistency amongst all the clubs.

 

[Nathan B]

I think we've traded a couple of brilliant football sides and about 10 sides who are dross for consistency amongst all the clubs.

And, IMO, that will wear thin eventually. I'm not talking about the obvious die-hard fans, but the new fans the game must recruit in the future. Sports are defined by their brilliant teams, and the game will lose out if we don't have any.

How many Australian's of my age (27) jumped on the MJ/Chicago Bulls bandwagon as youngsters? I know I did, and I still enjoy basketball to this day. How many Brisbane kids jumped on the AFL/Lions bandwagon when they were in the midst of a three-peat? I'd say plenty.

If the league team from your area or the team of your family is just as good or bad as everyone else, and whether they win or lose seems to be as random as coin flip, it will not get young kids excited by the game. Well, not as many, anyway - I'm certainly not saying we're going to have no kids following it. My choice of team, the Dogs, was pretty random. But I can tell you that it was bloody easy to get right into the team/sport as I grew up in the 80's and watched them be so successful. If we had the even comp we had back then, the Dogs were so-so just like everyone else, and only managed to jag one premiership, I might not be passionate enough to frequent an internet league forum today. (Although, some might say that's a good thing )

It's a big issue, IMO. We need to get this salary cap/evenness issue sorted.

 

[petetheileet]

i think its this that is wrecking our game...the closeness just causes soo many more problems!

 

[dubby]

The standard of the game has improved alot.

I watched the 81GF and TBH the Jets would have been flogged by 40 by any team today. The scrums were a joke...not a single one packed properly; they all collapsed in the front row.

Rex Mossop commenting about Cronins "amazing" 66% success rate at goalkicking.

The game was boring. Parra had much more ball skill and speed than the Jets it wasnt funny. I couldnt believe how much fitter and stronger the players are today.

If there is something missing from todays game, its probably the tribal feel. It still exists to a degree, but not like it was during the years of 1970-1999 we see on Fox.

And I hate how today there are too many experts giving opinions on the game (Nine has Gus/Sterlo/Ikin etc.) Give me Fox so I can just listen to a commentator without the Gus verbal diarrhea.

I do miss watching the old fatties like Brohman/Dave Hosking/ Brent Todd. They gave us a sense of not being fat....

 

[The Engineers Room]

How many Australian's of my age (27) jumped on the MJ/Chicago Bulls bandwagon as youngsters?

NRL doesn't need fair weather fans.

 

[salivor]

And, IMO, that will wear thin eventually. I'm not talking about the obvious die-hard fans, but the new fans the game must recruit in the future. Sports are defined by their brilliant teams, and the game will lose out if we don't have any.

How many Australian's of my age (27) jumped on the MJ/Chicago Bulls bandwagon as youngsters? I know I did, and I still enjoy basketball to this day. How many Brisbane kids jumped on the AFL/Lions bandwagon when they were in the midst of a three-peat? I'd say plenty.

If the league team from your area or the team of your family is just as good or bad as everyone else, and whether they win or lose seems to be as random as coin flip, it will not get young kids excited by the game. Well, not as many, anyway - I'm certainly not saying we're going to have no kids following it. My choice of team, the Dogs, was pretty random. But I can tell you that it was bloody easy to get right into the team/sport as I grew up in the 80's and watched them be so successful. If we had the even comp we had back then, the Dogs were so-so just like everyone else, and only managed to jag one premiership, I might not be passionate enough to frequent an internet league forum today. (Although, some might say that's a good thing )

It's a big issue, IMO. We need to get this salary cap/evenness issue sorted.

But it's always easy to say that as fans who support big sides who could hold their own in a survival of the fittest scenario.

Take your same example and image if the team in your area was a perenial bottom dwellar as they didn't have the money of the big 4-5 clubs that would dominate the competition. It'd be pretty damn hard to get into that club knowing you'd probably never see them win a competition in your lifetime wouldn't it? You'd probably end up supporting one of the big 4-5 club and so the cycle would go on of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

Being a Broncos supporter, sure if we scrapped the salary cap my club could hang on to more of it's stars and probably win a few more premierships but I've gotta say it was probably more satisfying seeing my side rise to the top last year in such an even competition than some of our previous premierships where we had a team unrivaled by any other club.

Long live the salary cap IMO.

 

[Nathan B]

NRL doesn't need fair weather fans.

I don't know why you highlighted the line you did... If you're suggesting I'm a fair-weather fan of basketball, then you're wrong. I jumped on the bandwagon at aged ~10 and have stayed on it until this day. When the NBA season is on, I watch the highlights and check the box scores every day.

The point I'm making is we need to ensure the kids turn into 'real' fans and not into fair-weather fans. I'm talking about giving kids a reason to be excited about following their team. Any father can throw his 6-year old a jersey and tell him/her you're supporting that team, but for that kid to turn into a 'real' fan, many of them will need a reason. A large % will say they support the team at dinner parties, but they won't fork out for jerseys, season tickets etc and really support the game.

 

[Nathan B]

But it's always easy to say that as fans who support big sides who could hold their own in a survival of the fittest scenario.

Take your same example and image if the team in your area was a perenial bottom dwellar as they didn't have the money of the big 4-5 clubs that would dominate the competition. It'd be pretty damn hard to get into that club knowing you'd probably never see them win a competition in your lifetime wouldn't it? You'd probably end up supporting one of the big 4-5 club and so the cycle would go on of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

Being a Broncos supporter, sure if we scrapped the salary cap my club could hang on to more of it's stars and probably win a few more premierships but I've gotta say it was probably more satisfying seeing my side rise to the top last year in such an even competition than some of our previous premierships where we had a team unrivaled by any other club.

Long live the salary cap IMO.

Hey, I'm not arguing for an end to the cap. I don't want an EPL-style comp where we only ever get the winner from a group of 4 teams. I want any given year to have great sides, good sides, average sides and poor sides. But I also want the table reversed (or thereabouts) in 5 years from then. How we go about that is a complex issue and I really don't want to gt into it at this time. I just wanted to point out that I don't think year after year, decade after decade of even comps and (seemingly) toss-of-the-coin premiers is a good thing for the game.

 

[salivor]

Hey, I'm not arguing for an end to the cap. I don't want an EPL-style comp where we only ever get the winner from a group of 4 teams. I want any given year to have great sides, good sides, average sides and poor sides. But I also want the table reversed (or thereabouts) in 5 years from then. How we go about that is a complex issue and I really don't want to gt into it at this time. I just wanted to point out that I don't think year after year, decade after decade of even comps and (seemingly) toss-of-the-coin premiers is a good thing for the game.

But that can still be the case under the curren system. The Roosters played in 4 Grand Finals in the space of 5 years and then fell back to the pack, the Eels also had a similar run of success but obviously missing a premiership. Now Melbourne are building a mini dynasty. You've also had clubs consistantly competitive over the last 5 years in the Broncos, Bulldogs and Dragons. I don't see how we don't and can't have great clubs under this system. The great this is now is that EVERY kid can pick a team and dream the dream of their club winning a premiership.

 

[Nathan B]

But that can still be the case under the curren system. The Roosters played in 4 Grand Finals in the space of 5 years and then fell back to the pack, the Eels also had a similar run of success but obviously missing a premiership. Now Melbourne are building a mini dynasty. You've also had clubs consistantly competitive over the last 5 years in the Broncos, Bulldogs and Dragons. I don't see how we don't and can't have great clubs under this system. The great this is now is that EVERY kid can pick a team and dream the dream of their club winning a premiership.

Firstly, I don't think the comp has stopped getting more even. Over the last few years it has gotten closer than the year before (I don't have figures to back me up, but it certainly seems that way). There's nothing that suggests to me that we're not going to get an even closer comp next year. I reckon Gallop twiddles his thumbs at home and wishes for a day to come where the top 8 finishes 13-12, and the bottom half finishes 12-13. That would be disastorous, IMO, but I digress...

While there are some good sides still around - Melbourne are certainly a good side, although they've won nought - I don't see any 80's Dogs or Parra, 90's Broncos or Canberra. These are truly great sides, and, yeah, we don't have to see one every year. But the way we're going, I worry we'll never see one again. And that's a bad thing.

 

[Nathan B]

I reckon Gallop twiddles his thumbs at home and wishes for a day to come where the top 8 finishes 13-12, and the bottom half finishes 12-13.

Forgot about the bye...

I bet Gallop wishes every team finishes 12-12 and positions 1-16 are decided by F/A. Wouldn't that be great!

 

[eels_fan_01]

Although it is a very close comp and might get closer their will always be better teams with better attitude, less injuries and better form. Look at Penriths roster and they are last.

 

[salivor]

Firstly, I don't think the comp has stopped getting more even. Over the last few years it has gotten closer than the year before (I don't have figures to back me up, but it certainly seems that way). There's nothing that suggests to me that we're not going to get an even closer comp next year. I reckon Gallop twiddles his thumbs at home and wishes for a day to come where the top 8 finishes 13-12, and the bottom half finishes 12-13. That would be disastorous, IMO, but I digress...

While there are some good sides still around - Melbourne are certainly a good side, although they've won nought - I don't see any 80's Dogs or Parra, 90's Broncos or Canberra. These are truly great sides, and, yeah, we don't have to see one every year. But the way we're going, I worry we'll never see one again. And that's a bad thing.

I disagree. I don't think the likes of Parramatta, Canterbury and Brisbane winning 4 premierships in a decade is particularly healthy for a sport even if it is great for the few blessed fans of those sides. I also don't think putting the 80's up as some great example of what we should go back to is a great idea either. We're talking about a decade that only saw 4 premiers and 2 clubs took home 8 premierships between then. Excuse me if I don't want to see league headed in that direction.

I also think we do see great sides these days. Parramatta of 2001 are up there with one of the best sides I've seen, statistically at least they rip shreds off just about every other premier in the history of our competition. The Roosters side of 2002-2004 again was one of the best sides I've seen and Melbourne are very much on the way to being in that league.

 

[Nathan B]

I disagree.

OK, let's agree to disagree...

Parramatta of 2001 are up there with one of the best sides I've seen, statistically at least they rip shreds off just about every other premier in the history of our competition.

Sorry, but as Dogs fan I couldn't let this line go without reminding everyone... they bombed it in 2001!!!

And wasn't that fekking terrible? Bring on tomorrow night!

 

[salivor]

Yes they did, but Brian Smith like Cronulla is doomed to always fall at the final hurdle. Statistically they're still one of the best sides we've ever seen.

 

[t-ba]

The 80's were actually a bit of a disaster...Crowds were low for most of it and the competition only really forged ahead in the late part of the decade as the NSWRL moved towards nationalisation.

 

[LeagueXIII]

The game hit rock bottom (before the SL war) in 1983 when the Humphrey's era ended suddenly after the 4 corners revelation. He was replaced by Tom Bellew before Quayle and Arko took over gradually building the game up year on year until Murdoch arrived. The game averaged less than 7000 in 1983.

Shows the importance of strong leaders.

 

[stuke]

Although teams rarely want to take a risk on their first tackle, spreading the ball wide from a scrum win is still one of the best attacking opportunities in the game.

That's because even though the forwards aren't contesting the scrum, the fact they even have to be there takes them out of the defensive line.

the problem with the uncontested scrums is that they are putting any player into the scrum and putting their best defensive players into the defensive line.

Parra use the centre and fullback regularly in this capacity. Hayne would be packing into more scrums of late than Hindmarsh.

 

[stuke]

i'd like to bring back that markers can rake at the ball during the play the ball.

i know it can get messy but it is such a huge turnaround for the team that can effectively do it.

to many players, especially in the last few minutes, get up place the ball and take an eternity to play the thing.

bring it back as a contest!!

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Parra use the centre and fullback regularly in this capacity. Hayne would be packing into more scrums of late than Hindmarsh.

Every team's been doing it for years. It's mostly to do with defensive zones.

As for fullbacks packing at lock, it's a great idea. Why stand your fullback in the defensive line where he has to move up and leave the team vulnerable to the kick?

At the end of the day though, posession is so important, why should a team who knocks on get the ball back more than half the time just because they have a better scrum?

Scrums are boring. I want them to be over as soon as possible. Lengthy contested scrums are one of the reasons rugby union is so gay.