Why we love Rugby League

[Peppers]

Is fairly rare these days but I love those games that at a certain point the temperature rises a bit, the hairs on your neck stand up, the forwards eyes start spinning like poker machines, they start charging off their line with the sole intent to put a huge shot on, the atmosphere explodes etc etc. Only our game makes me stand up out of the chair at the slightest hint of a massive hit, a good try or a disastrous decision.

 

[Rhino_NQ]

I like it, your dead right.

There is something profound about walking out against tough opposition and be willing to bleed for the bloke beside you. It goes way past sport, it is something primal and it does not matter about color race or any other of society's barriers, its about your mates, and that lasts a lifetime.

I have been in to large corporate functions and some of the roughest Bikie clubs in Australia, and found people i have played with or against, and even now years after finishing football, the same respect flows from one player to the other as an unspoken bond.

What i miss the most playing, i reckon the most accepted i have ever felt is walking off to a cheering local crowd after winning with 12 men and having a large wound bleeding hideously on the side of my head. I was a front rower for 12 years and gave it up when i started uni, i am now a 21 year old graduate civil engineer and even though my knee hurts from ligament damage, my shoulder cracks when i roll over it from a cracked AC joint, my neck needs to be cracked once every 15 minutes after a swinging arm i copped some time ago, the crack in my skull can be felt easily when running fingers over it and my 6 broken noses didnt do my looks many favours i would never have the great memories i have, the friends i have had and still have and have the disclipline, drive, commitment and all the other things that brand into you as you develop as a player. I was very fortunate in my age group and being a representitive player i got to play alongside and against the likes of

Greg Eastwood
Steven Michaels
Darius Boyd
Sam Moa
Benji Marshall
Anthony Watts
Rangi Chase
Junior Sau

makes me verry happy to see these guys doing so well

 

[kruzin]

I love the passion most players play with..

 

[joshreading]

1. Shoulder Charges - players should be paid bonuses for pulling off huge hits (I am not joking either)
2. Deep sweeping backline movements
3. The little men that won't stay down (eg. Preston)
4. The Gladatorial contest - League is very much position V position - individual brilliance shows.
5. The balance of sheer ferocity and amazing athletic abilities that are allowed to show
6. It contains pretty much everything good about other sports rolled into one
7. Chip and Chase

 

[caspersparks]

as a manly fan, born on the northan beachers... what they did last year against the storm in the final (after the 07 grand final, and the fact they beat us all year) is why i love league... it still makes me feel warm on the inside... :roll:

 

[Mr. Snrub]

I enjoy all the emotions. frustration, happiness, anger. League has it all. I have a feeling that the middle one won't happen much this year, being a raiders fan and all

 

[kruzin]

as a manly fan, born on the northan beachers... what they did last year against the storm in the final (after the 07 grand final, and the fact they beat us all year) is why i love league... it still makes me feel warm on the inside... :roll:

I gotta say the manly supporter's make games more interesting too bunch of noisy pricks haha, love it.

 

[joshreading]

Whilst the general feeling and culture around the game itself is great what do people love about THE GAME? (ie. Why RL and not RU or AFL or Soccer or American Football?)

 

[eagles4eva]

Loved playing it, love watching it, love seeing my boys play it, and in regards to childhood memories watching Wombat take the ball up, still the greatest game around. And all those AFL commentators who scream out “OH WITH COURAGE” when someone takes a mark, they wouldn’t survive the first 10 minutes of origin

 

[Big Time]

I love how AFL fans get excited when someone catches a ball. Rugby League fans expect it. AFL so famous for the mark, yet I would say on a percentage basis more Rugby League passes are actually caught then AFL.

 

[Lambretta]

I grew up in England in football and Rugby Union territory. In fact, I was born in Northampton, which is only a few miles from Rugby itself.

When I came to Australia I didn't know anyone outside of my work. A woman used to sell 1st try scorer "Doubles" with the money going to Souths Juniors - so I bought my doubles every week and sat down at home to watch the game and to see if I was going to win any money.

After a while I started to learn the game and the teams involved and I decided to choose to follow my local team, the Roosters as I was living in Double Bay.

That decision led to me meeting a lad in a pub one night who was also a Roosters fan. We decided to go to games together and for the next six or seven years, I went to virtually every single home game. I was hooked. Rugby League provided me with a point of reference in Australia. It provided me with one of the best mates I've ever had and it's provided me a sense of community that you can only get from living and working and intending to die in a place in a place I call home.

Sure you have the big hits, the drama of the event, the terrible calls by the referees, the wonderful runs, the brilliant kicks and catches, the heartbreaking, nail biting, nerve shattering finishes but that's all icing on the cake for me.

Without Rugby League I wouldn't feel as home in Australia as I do. I wouldnt have the mates that I do, I wouldn't have the relationships with work colleagues that I do. In short - without Rugby League, my life would be far poorer.

Bill Shankly, the great Liverpool manager said that football was much more important than life or death and he wasn't far off the mark. Rugby League makes life one whole lot more interesting. Without it, we would be poorer in ways that we could hardly begin to explain.

Rugby League is the greatest bloody game on the planet and so much more. I owe it more than I can ever put in writing.

 

[maccattack]

For me its the honesty and integrity of the game. As previous posters have said, there is nowhere to hide. Everyone is accountable for themselves as well as the team. This is one of the reasons the British army now use it after decades of it being banned.

That's another thing I love about it. It's underdog status. The game has few friends in the elite media who love to run it down for no other reason than their own weakness. As Roy Masters once said. "Rugby League is the cockroach of sport. It can't be killed"

I love that the game has survived against the odds. It is the true Australian game, the one that defines what we all want to be.

I love why it started. To give people a fair go.

I love that every inch is so hard fought. When you score a try, you have worked bloody hard and you deserve it. Nothing comes easy against good opposition.

I love that it tests each individual to the maximum.

The players will have my admiration forever.

I love the speed, the toughness, the skills, the memories and the memories to come.

I love that the game gets better every year.

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

I grew up in England in football and Rugby Union territory. In fact, I was born in Northampton, which is only a few miles from Rugby itself.

When I came to Australia I didn't know anyone outside of my work. A woman used to sell 1st try scorer "Doubles" with the money going to Souths Juniors - so I bought my doubles every week and sat down at home to watch the game and to see if I was going to win any money.

After a while I started to learn the game and the teams involved and I decided to choose to follow my local team, the Roosters as I was living in Double Bay.

That decision led to me meeting a lad in a pub one night who was also a Roosters fan. We decided to go to games together and for the next six or seven years, I went to virtually every single home game. I was hooked. Rugby League provided me with a point of reference in Australia. It provided me with one of the best mates I've ever had and it's provided me a sense of community that you can only get from living and working and intending to die in a place in a place I call home.

Sure you have the big hits, the drama of the event, the terrible calls by the referees, the wonderful runs, the brilliant kicks and catches, the heartbreaking, nail biting, nerve shattering finishes but that's all icing on the cake for me.

Without Rugby League I wouldn't feel as home in Australia as I do. I wouldnt have the mates that I do, I wouldn't have the relationships with work colleagues that I do. In short - without Rugby League, my life would be far poorer.

Bill Shankly, the great Liverpool manager said that football was much more important than life or death and he wasn't far off the mark. Rugby League makes life one whole lot more interesting. Without it, we would be poorer in ways that we could hardly begin to explain.

Rugby League is the greatest bloody game on the planet and so much more. I owe it more than I can ever put in writing.

Now thats Australian Rugby League, not sure what British footy is like, but here in Australia, this game is character shaping.

Gotta know, who did you go for in the World Cup?

 

[dikefalos]

I know why Nathan Friend loves rugby league.

 

[Lambretta]

Now thats Australian Rugby League, not sure what British footy is like, but here in Australia, this game is character shaping.

Gotta know, who did you go for in the World Cup?

England and then when they were out, New Zealand

It's a love of the under dog thing.

It's one of those things. I cant stand Union, but I'd cheer the Wallabies against the All Blacks just purely on the basis that the All Blacks always seem to win. Then I'd cheer the Kiwis against the Kangaroos. It's not a national thing.

 

[PARRA_FAN]

Its a fast game, never a stop start game, plenty involved:

The chip and chase
40/20
Big hits
Massive hit ups
Sideline conversions
Attempted field goals
Flick passes
Massive hit ups
The crowd favourites, like the Wolfman David Williams, Wendell sailor, Manu Vatuvei and Billy the kid Slater.

Plenty of on field drama, the atmosphere at the games, Sunday alvo games, well day games really. Talking about the old games, great topic in conversations "oh remember when Balmain played Easts in 1994, geez that was a good game".

Booing the referee, the little blokes, angry big blokes, injured blokes still playing on, the biff.

Mascots, cheerleaders, reserve grade watching the future stars. Tipping comps, fantasy league, forums.

Oh dont know what my life wouldve been like without Rugby League

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

I love when the ref makes a mistake, its only one of the teams that gets dudded.

 

[WireMan]

From Warrington so watching rugby league is part of me.

I like the fact that it represents my home town, and is something that towns in NW england can play without being overshadowed by Manchester and Liverpool. People the other side of the world have heard of Warrington, Wigan, St Helens, Widnes etc. Not just Manchester United or the Beatles!!

The support for Rugby is intense because it is so overshadowed by Football, Cricket, and Union so the fans defend it more, and there is more of a family thing going on, its not just big business.

 

[OVP]

I grew up in England in football and Rugby Union territory. In fact, I was born in Northampton, which is only a few miles from Rugby itself.

When I came to Australia I didn't know anyone outside of my work. A woman used to sell 1st try scorer "Doubles" with the money going to Souths Juniors - so I bought my doubles every week and sat down at home to watch the game and to see if I was going to win any money.

After a while I started to learn the game and the teams involved and I decided to choose to follow my local team, the Roosters as I was living in Double Bay.

That decision led to me meeting a lad in a pub one night who was also a Roosters fan. We decided to go to games together and for the next six or seven years, I went to virtually every single home game. I was hooked. Rugby League provided me with a point of reference in Australia. It provided me with one of the best mates I've ever had and it's provided me a sense of community that you can only get from living and working and intending to die in a place in a place I call home.

Sure you have the big hits, the drama of the event, the terrible calls by the referees, the wonderful runs, the brilliant kicks and catches, the heartbreaking, nail biting, nerve shattering finishes but that's all icing on the cake for me.

Without Rugby League I wouldn't feel as home in Australia as I do. I wouldnt have the mates that I do, I wouldn't have the relationships with work colleagues that I do. In short - without Rugby League, my life would be far poorer.

Bill Shankly, the great Liverpool manager said that football was much more important than life or death and he wasn't far off the mark. Rugby League makes life one whole lot more interesting. Without it, we would be poorer in ways that we could hardly begin to explain.

Rugby League is the greatest bloody game on the planet and so much more. I owe it more than I can ever put in writing.

What a great post . I feel honoured to be a 40 year-old Roosters fan thanks to your great post. Top shelf