time for the hybrid game ?

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[G@v]

Gasnier, maybe you should consider the what the thought of an hybrid game as on your average Union fan. They have more reason to be scared than us!
How does it look any worse in England than what is happening in Australia? Did you know that amateur RU is one of the fastest shrinking sports in the UK? Sounds to me like you know next to nothing about RL outside of Oz...........then again I have my doubts that you are really a League fan.

 

[Gasnier]

I read where some England Club President suggests they sign loyalty agreeements to league. Doesn't that sound like the Australian clubs a few years back and the loyalty agreements to the establishment. next thing we had super league. I don't know a lot about the game in England,but I know a bad smell when I come across it. I am tired of big fish running little fishes lives. Remember it used to be our game. We ignore problem ,we get problem.

 

[Willow]

Well I don't take it seriously for a moment.
I'm not having a go at anyone here.
And before anyone asks, I'm not a member of the 'never can happen club' ... they were an OK club but then they merged with those bastards in the 'heads in the sand club'..
I've since joined the 'she'll be right club' and they're actually a very agreeable bunch.

The chances of a hybrid game getting 'legs' is somewhere between zero and zilch.
IF it did happen it would look like Rugby League with a few line outs.

The real battle would be over the administration of the game and if that scenario developed, then hold your hats...
If you thought the SL vs ARL war was big in the courts, can you imagine whatit would like if the respective 'owners' of RU and RL went toe to toe in court.
It would stuff up both games.
I can't but mention this analogy: M.A.D. ie Mutually Assured Destruction... the theory as to why we never had a global nuclear war.

I like watching RU but I don't like the antagonism they cause RL.
RL is a better game so it's no wonder RU is constantly trying to undermine it.
RU will never be able to compete with RL at the club level and it's been driving them nuts for years.
Alternatively, RU is doing infinitely better at an International level.

So there you have it...two different games.... and room for both.

 

[Cronulla_Mania]

If the codes ever merged (in any form) they will have lost me forever. No compromise as far as im concerned, union will try to dominate and i for one won't be sticking around.
It would be a case of hello soccer, goodbye rugby. The games need to be separate, if they are not, then sorry, but i will be heading to the hills...
MFC.

 

[Marcus]

MFC, I too would turn to soccer if they ever merged into a hybrid game. But I still believe that won't happen. Both codes will remain as they are, but I think many League clubs will start to field a Rugby team. The NRL has been furious with Parra with their flirtations with a Super 14 team. Because Rugby is the enemy. It looks very possible that some ESL clubs will be entering Rugby teams. Just look at Wigan.
What you will find is in the next 10 years League will field rugby teams. They will still have their League teams, but now they will have a Rugby team under their club. So clubs will have both a RU and RL team. Over a 5-10 year period of that happening, clubs then will realise which code has a better financial future. When thats decided, more players, administrates, and even fans, will move over to thestronger code.

 

[imported_kier]

Marcus

I agree that RL and RU clubs will do everything that they can to extend the "revenue year" by extending the sports offered at their facilities.

Leeds have done so by creating the Leeds Tykes - prior to this they had operated cricket/RL all year round.Many other RL clubs have linked to other sports - mainly soccer (Wigan, Huddersfield, Halifax, London...etc).

Maybe we will seeclubs operating summer and winter teams......but don't fall into the trap that this is all from RL to RU! Especially at the lower levels of the game.

Leicester RLFC have already given serious thought to running a RL team.Cardiff went as far as putting in a franchise bid for the ESL. Throughout the UK RU clubs are falling over themselves to let RL clubsset up using their facilities.

As for you argument about how players/admin staff will decide.........let me kust give a few examles to balance with your own assertions.

Kingston WarriorsRLFC and South London Storm RLFC.

S London are based at the Streatham and Croydon RUFC ground. S+C RUFC used to be run byDudley Wood (an RFU bigwig) and less than 20 years ago apparently ran 13 (how ironic) adult teams.........there are now 2. South London now has more players (adult and junior) than the union club.

Kingston (my own club) used toshare with the Old Johnians RFC - as with S. London the RL club very quickly outgrew the RU club. Sadly the OJs withered to such a point that they decided toclose the club. The Warriors are now the sole occupants of the clubhouse/pitches. I believe it may be London's first ever stand-alone amateur RL club........although I'm not sure.

The whole point about recent changes in "rugby" is that for the first time EVER people actually are having real choices in which of the two codes they can play..........and RL is benefitting!

I can however, see that in Australia the opposite could be the case - with its' "fair go" attitudeit must be one of the few countries where the social ring-fencing that RU employed to great effect throughout the world wouldn't have helped!

 

[G@v]

The move by Wigan to consider a RU side is mostly based on Dave Whelan's desire to make as much dosh as possible off the back of the Wigan public. Unfortunately, this move will probably fall on it's face. If there were a call for Union in the Wigan area, Orrell RUFC would have attracted the punters.

I don't blame people for wanting to make use of their facilities for 12 months of the year, but the chances of any RU club making a success in the M62 region of England are very slim.

I had to laugh when I read that Sale Sharks RU are considering using Maine Road when Manchester City move to their new stadium......maybe they are still considering a bid for a Manchester Super League franchise?

 

[Gasnier]

Yesterday i said English clubs are problem and I was told I don't know much. Today I read Wigan looking at having a Rugby Union team. Maybe I know a bit more than nothing.
Why is Wigan looking at Union.So they can beat the salary cap in English game.Now Australian game lose players to English league,English Union and Union. But no this isn't a problem.What game our kids going to play.

 

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[imported_kier]

Gasnier

Just focusing on the situation in the UK - as far as I'm concerned it's a question of perspective.

The Wigan situation may sound bad - but even now it has been resolved - wigan will not leave RL.

To show the flip side, don't forget that Leicester RUFC very nearly joined the ESL and that Cardiff RFU went a step further and tabled a franchise bid.

I'm unhappy about the international RL set-up, but we are only just beginning a (as yet modest) international programme. I'd like to see peoples views after the first ashes series for 7 years.

If in the UK one only looked at the internationalgame it may look grim for RL in the UK..........I actually think, if you look at all aspects of the game from the ground up, that RL has a healthy future.

There have never been as many people playing the game of RL in the UK as there are at this moment in time!

Only soccer and RL (ofthe major team sports) have rising junior numbers in the UK.

Never has RL had such a wide geographical base in the UK as it has now.

For the first time ever there are open age, junior, student, civil service and armed forces teams in all the four home countries.

I'm not complacent - there is a great deal to do. I, however, sincerely believe that most of the important "spade work" is already in place. I personally do not wantknee-jerk "fire fighting"decisions. These usually cause more harm than good.

I'd simply like to see a sensible re-organisation of the sports ruling bodies (the adoption of the joint policy group here in the UK is an example of how that can work). I however, am a believer in "evolution not revolution".

Revolution pre-supposes that one knows EXACTLY what needs doing............that is knowledge that no-one has access to.

Evolution means taking time to see what works - and building upon this. This is how the RLC and SRL in the UK became so successful.