Was the game more interesting to watch in the 80 and 90s then now?

[BunniesMan]

Short answer: yes.

Size and athleticism have become more important than skill and football IQ. It's sad. So many dumb footballers (and I mean dumb on the field, not just off it) who are only where they are because they are big and mobile. The smaller skillful types who need longer to develop their abilities get flushed out of the system before they are noticed. Meanwhile the big oafs who are 6 ft in under 13s and dominate by just running over the top of kids half their size get noticed and get fast tracked through the ranks.

For the good of the game we need weight classes. I understand the argument against it because you split up kids who go to school together making it less fun for them and making it more likely they might quit. But the current system is hurting the game.

You have 90kg man-childs running at kids who haven't even started puberty yet. The late developer could be the next Andrew Johns but he gets smashed (literally and metaphorically) out of the game before he gets a chance.

 

[typicalfan]

I disagree with passing being better today. Most halves today cannot steer away from the gameplan. A select few can and they are standouts. Thurston is the best at it.

 

[ozenzud]

Its not just the NRL. I've been coaching/watching local senior footy to the last 10-12 years. 2-3 years ago went to a reunion and they played our old 1990 GF tape. I was amazed at how fast the game was. Quick play the balls, rapid lateral movement and sweeping backline movements. The little guys were effective and the big guys were really good at the start of the game and started to fade as the game wore on.

I prefered the footy back then. Its not nostaligia. The game was better, faster and little guys were just as important as big guys. A good round the ankles tackle was still a good tackle. The refs now reward only high tackles. They should allow a little bloke who brings down a 120 kilo bloke not the other way round.

 

[Bengal]

1: You are easily pleased.

2: Totally disagree with your memory of the latter part of each half - actually the games opened up more.

Reckon if the game opened up more which essentially means it was more exciting in the latter stages of each half, then the interchange would never have been implemented. I can?t remember why the interchange was brought in, but I know for sure the game slowed down a heck of lot in the latter periods. What I don?t know (or can?t remember) is how often it slowed to a crawl other than, from what I do remember, it was often. It came as no surprise to anyone when games petered out.

Sometimes I kinda wish they?d get rid of the interchange so that people would understand just how vital this facet of the game really is. I mean, just because the forwards may tire doesn?t mean its open season for the backs to come into their own remembering, of course, that there are two backlines and just like the forwards largely cancel each other out then so too do the backs. Further more, the score lines on average today, are bigger than yesteryear (IMO) which suggests that there wasn?t as much open play, or certainly scoring as your memory suggests. Of course, the 80?s especially was a defensive minded era?maybe the interchange was brought in to help crack the mindset of the day. Who knows, someone here may know.

But all that aside, I agree with many of your earlier comments and like-minded comments by other posters ? the game is too fast, the need for speed (and power) has come at the expense of some skills but definitely brain-power. The heart of the matter is the speed of the play-the-ball which under today?s rules has almost become a team?s chief attacking platform as opposed to a simple restart of play that it once was. It all changed overnight, I sometimes wonder what would happen if they tweaked it back to the old days a bit.

I disagree with passing being better today. Most halves today cannot steer away from the gameplan. A select few can and they are standouts. Thurston is the best at it.

In general, players have much better passing games today than yesteryear. Long gone are the slow passes, the passes too far in front or too far behind , piss-poor backline moves because most backlines couldn't string a decent bunch of passes together (but then they rarely needed to in the defensive minded 80's). Having said all that, the halves of yesteryear largely crap all over the halves of today IMO.

 

[betcats]

In the game today if you don't control the ruck and slow down play the balls you wont be a top side, wrestling has effected the game massively, as well as the picking of atheletes over footy players.

 

[Springs]

Reckon if the game opened up more which essentially means it was more exciting in the latter stages of each half, then the interchange would never have been implemented. I can?t remember why the interchange was brought in, but I know for sure the game slowed down a heck of lot in the latter periods. What I don?t know (or can?t remember) is how often it slowed to a crawl other than, from what I do remember, it was often. It came as no surprise to anyone when games petered out.

Sometimes I kinda wish they?d get rid of the interchange so that people would understand just how vital this facet of the game really is. I mean, just because the forwards may tire doesn?t mean its open season for the backs to come into their own remembering, of course, that there are two backlines and just like the forwards largely cancel each other out then so too do the backs. Further more, the score lines on average today, are bigger than yesteryear (IMO) which suggests that there wasn?t as much open play, or certainly scoring as your memory suggests. Of course, the 80?s especially was a defensive minded era?maybe the interchange was brought in to help crack the mindset of the day. Who knows, someone here may know.

But all that aside, I agree with many of your earlier comments and like-minded comments by other posters ? the game is too fast, the need for speed (and power) has come at the expense of some skills but definitely brain-power. The heart of the matter is the speed of the play-the-ball which under today?s rules has almost become a team?s chief attacking platform as opposed to a simple restart of play that it once was. It all changed overnight, I sometimes wonder what would happen if they tweaked it back to the old days a bit.


In general, players have much better passing games today than yesteryear. Long gone are the slow passes, the passes too far in front or too far behind , piss-poor backline moves because most backlines couldn't string a decent bunch of passes together (but then they rarely needed to in the defensive minded 80's). Having said all that, the halves of yesteryear largely crap all over the halves of today IMO.

Sarcasm? You got it the wrong way round. All of those things happen several times every game. It's very rare we even see a backline movement now. In fact it can't even be called a backline because there's forwards running block plays everywhere.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

In twenty years time some plank will be asking if the game now is better than it is in 2033. And every man and his dog will be saying Yes! The game is becoming soft! :roll:

That said the best league I saw was played between 1989 - 1995, with the Canberra, Brisbane, Penrith, Norths and St George sides all being very good.

 

[Bengal]

Sarcasm? You got it the wrong way round. All of those things happen several times every game. It's very rare we even see a backline movement now. In fact it can't even be called a backline because there's forwards running block plays everywhere.

Guess we're watching different sports. I enjoyed the backline move by the Warriors that led to a Vatuvei try the other day. Ditto the one's the Storm put on us (Warriors) a wee while before that. Even though the players of yesteryear arguably had more upstairs than today's mob, the game was conservative attack-wise back in the 80's although definitely not in the 90's, (which was arguably, the best era for the game between the 80's and now).

As for block plays - I love em, they break up the defense. Of course they weren't called block plays back then either, just decoys designed to put defenses in two minds. Wouldn't be surprised to see them block/decoy plays get the heave-ho like shoulder charges and the like to be replaced by.....nada. The best attacking platform coaches have come up with in recent times are fast play-the-balls, hardly the type of stuff that sets the world on fire.

 

[Noa]

Players are far more skilled across the board, the game i.e. the coaches doesn't allow them to show it.

 

[newman]

I dont get where this 'The players had more skills in the old days" line comes from.

Players are full time professional now. They train every day and that training is skills intensive. Players in the pre professional eras were at work through the day.
I reckon most front rowers these days have way more skills than 95% of players in the 80s. Hell, Perry Haddock could only pass one way, and he was a half! Everyone thought it was the most amazing thing when King Wally came along and could throw a 25m cut out spiral pass.

There were some terrible, atrocious games in the 80's. Leather Balls, mud pits. The 85 grand final was a snooze fest. Players were instructed not to pass! No tries in the 86 GF, and these were the top teams. Newtown and Canterbury had a 0-0 draw. Sure there were some fine players in the era and some great, tough games but overall, week to week, the games miles better now as a spectacle.

 

[Danish]

The only games from the 90s, and ESPECIALLY the 80s, that anyone ever sees anymore are the absolute pinnacle matches of those decades. Grand finals, and only the complete best regular season games are all we ever see.

Hell even at the time we only actually had the match of the round telecast. Not too many cellar dweller battles getting a run on tele in those days, so the only people actually witnessing that shit were the 3000-5000 people who were actually in attendance.

The only thing we can truly compare would be Origin, as this was the best of the best each year facing off. When I watch past origins, games from the mid 90's are consistently the most enjoyable. Games from the 2000s are generally snoozefests, and games from the 80s are just a bloody cluster f**k or slow running fatties for the most part.

 

[God-King Dean]

Players of today are more athlete than footballer.

I honestly feel the scouts just look for the most powerful and athletic lads and try to turn them into 'footballers'. Some of the basic shit i see today where half the players wouldn't know how to put another player through a hole or even simply pass it to someone in a better position than they are astounds me.

Not saying the modern game is bad, i think this season has been pretty ordinary and probably 2010 being the next worse of recent memory (no offence dragons fans), but the modern game is has its downfalls but so did some aspects of the 90's as well. Striking in the play the ball was a shit rule that added yet another dimension to the penalty side of things in the ruck. Glad this rule has been eliminated.

Speaking of rules, I am 99% positive that during super league, when the zero tackle rule was invented, this was also applied to kicks in general play as well, to encourage defending wingers to get to the kicked ball and pick it up before it went into touch, basically rewarding the team for keeping the game flowing. I for the life of me can't remember what year it was changed to only be applied to knock ons?

Quite the contrary. It would be boring knowing who's going to win from start to finish. No shame in losing the greatest premiership winning team in NRL history.

 

[God-King Dean]

2005 was by far my favourite season, despite the heartache at the end.

Not just Wests with their flamboyance, but most teams were great to watch.

 

[Big Tim]

Who is comparing what was 'better'.

The question asks 'was it more interesting'?

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Alright, now is more interesting. I'm genuinely interested in how the warriors , the cowboys and the Titans are going. The expansion of the league outside Sydney has made for a more interesting comp.

I'm interested in the Polynesian influence in the game and how well the Indigenous players are going. Yes we have a proud history in league of Aboriginal players but the likes of GI, Barba and Thurston are some of the greatest players in the game. The influx of Kiwis, Tongans, Samoans and Fijians has been great for the game. Throw in the poms too, the 80s had a lot of Englishmen as well with cameos and I love seeing them over here.

In the 80s and 90s you had your usual suspects at the top of the table all the time and your usual suspects down the bottom. The modern era sees more fluctuations and is more interesting for me as a result.

As for the football - seeing Warren Ryan coached sides beat other sides 4-2 every week was boring. So were 'contested' scrums which were just a big a clusterf**k as scrums now, the only difference being that at least players now are in less danger of getting their neck broken when a scrum collapses. The game is faster paced now and the skills better. Look at the work wingers do on the sidelines scoring tries - some of that stuff is unreal.

 

[magpie4ever]

Alright, now is more interesting. I'm genuinely interested in how the warriors , the cowboys and the Titans are going. The expansion of the league outside Sydney has made for a more interesting comp.

I'm interested in the Polynesian influence in the game and how well the Indigenous players are going. Yes we have a proud history in league of Aboriginal players but the likes of GI, Barba and Thurston are some of the greatest players in the game. The influx of Kiwis, Tongans, Samoans and Fijians has been great for the game. Throw in the poms too, the 80s had a lot of Englishmen as well with cameos and I love seeing them over here.

In the 80s and 90s you had your usual suspects at the top of the table all the time and your usual suspects down the bottom. The modern era sees more fluctuations and is more interesting for me as a result.

As for the football - seeing Warren Ryan coached sides beat other sides 4-2 every week was boring. So were 'contested' scrums which were just a big a clusterf**k as scrums now, the only difference being that at least players now are in less danger of getting their neck broken when a scrum collapses. The game is faster paced now and the skills better. Look at the work wingers do on the sidelines scoring tries - some of that stuff is unreal.

What a load of shite. Are you sure you're an Aussie?

 

[PARRA_FAN]

2005 was by far my favourite season, despite the heartache at the end.

Not just Wests with their flamboyance, but most teams were great to watch.

I think the gap between the first placed team and last placed team was only about 16 points.

Shows the closeness of the competition back then.

 

[POPEYE]

Alright, now is more interesting. I'm genuinely interested in how the warriors , the cowboys and the Titans are going. The expansion of the league outside Sydney has made for a more interesting comp.

I'm interested in the Polynesian influence in the game and how well the Indigenous players are going. Yes we have a proud history in league of Aboriginal players but the likes of GI, Barba and Thurston are some of the greatest players in the game. The influx of Kiwis, Tongans, Samoans and Fijians has been great for the game. Throw in the poms too, the 80s had a lot of Englishmen as well with cameos and I love seeing them over here.

In the 80s and 90s you had your usual suspects at the top of the table all the time and your usual suspects down the bottom. The modern era sees more fluctuations and is more interesting for me as a result.

As for the football - seeing Warren Ryan coached sides beat other sides 4-2 every week was boring. So were 'contested' scrums which were just a big a clusterf**k as scrums now, the only difference being that at least players now are in less danger of getting their neck broken when a scrum collapses. The game is faster paced now and the skills better. Look at the work wingers do on the sidelines scoring tries - some of that stuff is unreal.

Profound indeed

 

[magpie4ever]

Profound indeed

More like a piece of dogturd prose found.

 

[Bobby DIGital]

I really hate the term "winning the ruck".