Ripper is fishing, I think...
I honestly think Rugby League is the greatest sport on Earth. I think it's a great spectacle played between some of the fittest, toughest men on the planet. It's quick, it's tough and it's exciting. There used to be a day when I LOATHED rugby union but I have grown up (I have been on here for 4 years now afterall!) and now I respect union players, fans and clubs. I can sit and watch the sport. I don't really enjoy the stodgy Guinness Premiership matches but Super 14 and Tri Nations games are great and I actively go out of my way to watch 6 Nations matches. However:
- I think the game is too stop start. Too many penalties, infringements and stoppages make it too slow for me.
- Too many kicks at goal.
- Too much of a forward battle. I really admire the strength and fight in the scrum but it's not really for me.
I appreciate union is much more tactical and intricate with a lot more rules but league is the sport for me. Quick, exciting, tough and absolutely brilliant.
(nice to see this thread is light-hearted but respectful)
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I think League players have to much fitter to play their sport than Union because even tho play stops at every tackle, they have to run up and back 10m for every single play in defence. Each player in League has to be more all round better, but in Union you have the chance to become a master of your trade.
I like to think of league players as jack of all trades but master of none. They can all run with the ball and pass and tackle, and a lot of them can kick too. But not many have truly great kicking games (Andrew Jones and Lockyer are a couple with great kicking games), none know how to scrummage.. you cant be overly tall, overly large or slow in League, but i think that detract from the game. Union has something for all types, and high skills in particular areas are highly prized.
I think Union loses support in the masses for a couple of reasons.. (at least in Australia anyway)
First of all, League is a much simpler game to watch and play. Anybody can work it out (except for the scrums). So if you dont really enjoy the sport for the little gritty things, the ****le, the sheer brilliance, League is for you. I think for this reason a lot of females prefer league, because they can work out what is going on.
I find in league in australia, every time a ref makes a confusing call in a game, there is a call by stars past and present and coaches to change the rules of the game so everyone can go back to knowing what is going on.
Secondly, in australia league has a much higher frequency of high grade of rugby played. Watching Union, if you are only interested in your 4 domestic australian teams and then the wallabies, the amount of footy to watch as compared to league is quite low. The club level in union is quite a significant step down both in broadcast quality and quality of play, and the APC comp running this year is attempting to rectify it, but as it stands, league has at least 6 games of top grade level, broadcast very well (which is important to the people at home), played from February to October, every single year. So while nothing beats watching top grade union for me, i really enjoy watching league week in week out, and the coverage here is so good for it, its quite enjoyable to follow. There just isnt enough top grade union played for it to gain the support of the masses, and the fact that the super comp isnt on free-to-air anymore has damaged the support for union as well.
Lastly, i think at the moment in australia we have a really big lack of depth in union, and the juniors are not coming through in the numbers that we would like to see. the lack of depth at domestic level can be attributed to the fact that we have just introduced a new team with no grass roots (union is not big over in perth), and so they had to poach players from the east coast rather than put through young guys from over there. that should change with the new APC, and hopefully a greater exposure over there will create a strong rugby community in a few years. I think the signs are good that union is going to make a strong comeback in the junior ranks over here, but its gonna take a few years for this to happen. in the meantime, all the fantastic juniors are coming up in league and making it a fresh exciting game to watch. i think at the moment, there are at least 15 players that are 21 or under in the NRL that will become genuine superstars in a few years time, and thats to go with the current crop of great players. i just hope that my great game union can provide me with that type of outlook in a few years.
I think Union's problem here is that it has to compete with AFL and league for its players. Outside of NSW and QLD, AFL is the premier footy code, and everyone wants to play that first and foremost. In NSW and QLD, the hard thing for Union to keep their juniors is that League has a better pay base. what i mean is that you can be playing a very low level of league, but still be paid to do so, whereas in Union you really need to be playing at the Waratahs/Brumbies/Reds/Force to be getting any sort of decent pay. Sure the top guys in Union get a significant amount more than a league player, but the average union player gets paid much less than the average leaguie.
