The NRL should be the strongest it's ever been. So why isn't it?

[Ojlovednicole]

At the moment fate has crossed paths to set up the platform to display the strongest talent it has ever seen on the park. The strong dollar/salary cap has allowed the NRL to pilfer talent from England, the Islands, nz and even France! A luxury not given in the 00's where the rugby union lure and strong English pound took half the top talent and spatterings of mid level NRL talent with no englishmen in sight in return. Morley aside, we had no Burgess, graham, Ellis and cooper to trade off what the NRL lost back then.

Couple this with the new age professionalism and sports medicine and fitness levels unprecedented, why are we not seeing the best rugby league we have ever seen?

The mid 00s and mid 90s to me, and generally speaking , appear to have been the most exciting. Wh can forget Benji in the '05 grand final? Or the mercurial footwork of Rod Silva, Mullins and Steve renouf or the ball work of Johns/Stuart/langer? Why is this?
I have some theories;
-shoulder charge was present.
-big units intermingling with smaller whippets created a visual feast.
-coaching evolution. Structure over excitement.
-strength over speed.
-Pacific Islanders. No offence at all but these guys are strong and they hit hard, but their game play isn't fleet of foot or 'excitement footy'. Maybe it's not a Pacific Islander thing so much as a pure battering ram showcase.

Either way the game has never been more criticised on the field. It was traditionally seen as quality on the field with off field bogan behaviour the games downfall.
Not so now.

A side point from this observation is the game quality doesn't necessarily suffer with diluted talent. It can open things up with the wider canyon of talent on display.

 

[fourplay]

The talent level is the best it's ever been. It just doesn't always translate into the excitement factor that well because the defenses are all improved too.

 

[rabbitohs95]

Because a majority of the people who run it have no idea how to execute things properly.

 

[lockyno1]

I'll try and be as blunt as humanly possible:

1. Very poor match day experience. You would swear that there is no money being pumped in to make the spectators come to the games and enjoy themselves at the game.
2. Food and drink prices
3. The game is BORING! I'm the wrong demographic, but my brother is the right one. He watches his team then doesn't watch another game. I can see his point. 5 tackles, kick, boring. Game needs to develop rules to promote tries through the hands. I have actually said for a while that if a try is scored through a kick, you lose the opportunity to kick the conversion as you have already taken the kick option.
4. Video refs, they take way too long. If you can't make a decision in 2-3 replays, move on, refs call.
5. Strip rulings are an absolute lottery, clean the mess up.
6. Too many big boppers coming on to bash up halfbacks. That isn't skill. Reduce the interchange to 5, make the little me more important and stop reducing the skill in the game.

Just a few thoughts.

 

[roostersrule2]

Number 3 is stupid.

 

[POPEYE]

Because it's hard to run when you keep f**king shooting yourself in the foot

 

[kdalymc]

The dollar is weaker than ever...

 

[bobmar28]

I'll try and be as blunt as humanly possible:

1. Very poor match day experience. You would swear that there is no money being pumped in to make the spectators come to the games and enjoy themselves at the game.
2. Food and drink prices
3. The game is BORING! I'm the wrong demographic, but my brother is the right one. He watches his team then doesn't watch another game. I can see his point. 5 tackles, kick, boring. Game needs to develop rules to promote tries through the hands. I have actually said for a while that if a try is scored through a kick, you lose the opportunity to kick the conversion as you have already taken the kick option.
4. Video refs, they take way too long. If you can't make a decision in 2-3 replays, move on, refs call.
5. Strip rulings are an absolute lottery, clean the mess up.
6. Too many big boppers coming on to bash up halfbacks. That isn't skill. Reduce the interchange to 5, make the little me more important and stop reducing the skill in the game.

Just a few thoughts.

Tries through the hands, boring.

 

[Canard]

Because people have become numb to the over exposure that is present via broadcasting they look back nostalgically to a time when only 2 or 3 games a week were broadcast with rose coloured glasses

To all the Gen Yers, guess what? People complained that League was soft and boring in the 70s,80s and 90s also.

 

[Bobby DIGital]

I definitely enjoyed seeing big units intermingling with smaller whippets and creating a visual feast back in the day.

 

[Flapper]

Because you touch yourself at night.

 

[Canard]

Every so often, there comes along an Oikee or a BHP

I say embrace the trolling!

 

[CC_Roosters]

I'll try and be as blunt as humanly possible:

1. Very poor match day experience. You would swear that there is no money being pumped in to make the spectators come to the games and enjoy themselves at the game.
2. Food and drink prices
3. The game is BORING! I'm the wrong demographic, but my brother is the right one. He watches his team then doesn't watch another game. I can see his point. 5 tackles, kick, boring. Game needs to develop rules to promote tries through the hands. I have actually said for a while that if a try is scored through a kick, you lose the opportunity to kick the conversion as you have already taken the kick option.
4. Video refs, they take way too long. If you can't make a decision in 2-3 replays, move on, refs call.
5. Strip rulings are an absolute lottery, clean the mess up.
6. Too many big boppers coming on to bash up halfbacks. That isn't skill. Reduce the interchange to 5, make the little me more important and stop reducing the skill in the game.

Just a few thoughts.

On point 3. That seems to be a perception many are holding onto but from the footy i have watched this year and i watch say 75% of games most of the games have not been "one out affairs". I have seen plenty of footy played but it may take a while for it too catch on with fans who have turned off partially. Add in the close games and thrilling finishes and imo its been a great season on field so far, sadly the fan base has become more apathetic and seemingly not willing to go to games even in perfect conditions (see crowds at big matchups on sunday arvo in sydney, very very average)

But some changes wouldnt hurt, in particular the reduction of the interchange to bring back the small players and reduce influence of battering rams by fatiguing them

 

[Canard]

On point 3. That seems to be a perception many are holding onto but from the footy i have watched this year and i watch say 75% of games most of the games have not been "one out affairs". I have seen plenty of footy played but it may take a while for it too catch on with fans who have turned off partially. Add in the close games and thrilling finishes and imo its been a great season on field so far, sadly the fan base has become more apathetic and seemingly not willing to go to games even in perfect conditions (see crowds at big matchups on sunday arvo in sydney, very very average)

But some changes wouldnt hurt, in particular the reduction of the interchange to bring back the small players and reduce influence of battering rams by fatiguing them

People read the Tele and Buzz and Bec, and just treat it as gospel.

 

[Ojlovednicole]

I think the guy that mentioned better defences suffocating the game is onto something.
We cant unteach defence, but i wonder what the merit would beof banishing the lock forward and going 12 on 12?

In one foul swoop, I believe that with rules untouched, the game opens up.

12 on 12 league?

 

[Canard]

Topball, that would beof the best for the game.

 

[DiegoNT]

I don't think our game is travelling to bad. Crowds could and should be better, but they aren't that bad ranked against all sporting leagues across the globe. We have the highest attendance of any rugby comp (both league and union).
The games have been great this year, we've had tough hard fought games, we've had open flowing games and we've even had high scoring thrillers. To much tinkering With the rules and we lose What makes this Game Great. There was a mention of to many Polynesian players, and that they are unskilled battering rams, but this is just an ignorant, semi racist look at things . Shaun Johnson may be the most natural gifted player in the comp, other Polynesian players have athleticim and skill.
And for the people that constantly want wide open football, with heaps of length of the field tries, and non stop scoring, try watching rugby 7s. Trust me it actually gets very boring very quickly.

 

[Ojlovednicole]

I don't think our game is travelling to bad. Crowds could and should be better, but they aren't that bad ranked against all sporting leagues across the globe. We have the highest attendance of any rugby comp (both league and union).
The games have been great this year, we've had tough hard fought games, we've had open flowing games and we've even had high scoring thrillers. To much tinkering With the rules and we lose What makes this Game Great. There was a mention of to many Polynesian players, and that they are unskilled battering rams, but this is just an ignorant, semi racist look at things . Shaun Johnson may be the most natural gifted player in the comp, other Polynesian players have athleticim and skill.
And for the people that constantly want wide open football, with heaps of length of the field tries, and non stop scoring, try watching rugby 7s. Trust me it actually gets very boring very quickly.

Shaun is Maori.

I like the rest of the points you make though.

 

[lockyno1]

Tries through the hands, boring.

Kick to the winger every set is ridiculously boring and there are no two ways about it

 

[Craig Johnston]

rugby league has become a mongrel of a game because the administration allowed it to be by accommodating so many rule changes. the fans therefore feel they can demand changes whenever they want and voice their opinions because of this. by being fan centric, the game is thriving commercially but has suffered because knee jerk rule changes have lost sight of what the strategy of the game should be.