I think that is massively disingenuous to pretend 2 or 3 clubs are going into administration every season since franchising, we have had only 3 and they have, unfortunately, coincided with a massive worldwide recession.



I have never argued the lower leagues are irrelevant and in the next few years we will have more clubs playing semi-pro RL not less.

Play it indoors , give them ' blades ' and motorbikes , along with metal studded gloves



ROLLERBALL





They could franchise it around the world to places Like Houston , Tokyo and Madrid





Stupid thread

Oikball.

Whenever I talk to anyone about RL I always say rugby no matter what fan of any sport they are.

It's what I and I would say the majority of fans have grown up with so we obviously call it rugby.

Very appropriate.

open rugby

I bet there are more RL fans in the world that call it footy, since that's what the Aussies call it and that's where the most RL fans are.

Except in Australia, where RL is biggest.





Last time I checked, we were gaining clubs. Clubs have been struggling in the lower leagues for years, in all sports, at semi pro level. Can you name a significant amount of time when they weren't?



All it proves is that some fans will look so hard for something to complain about that they'll actually make up facts to back up a point that isn't there. It's called being a cynic.

Why do you so often use such exaggerations ? There was never a global recession let alone a massive one, there was a slowdown not strictly the same as a recession. If as you claim there was a global recession why were China and India themselves would have been experiencing negative GDP growth.

Geoffrey

Although RU is named after the school whose rules were adopted, they were adopted at a meeting in a Pall Mall restaurant.

So, we should tell them to change theirs to Pall Mall Ball.



RL was called League because it was played in Leagues, which RU wasn't, they were a bit picky about stuff like that, you had to play for the sake of playing, winning was an incidental and, as for having a league table ... well, that would have been beyond the pale, old boy.

(That's "beyond the pale" comma "old boy" ... not "beyond the pale old boy"icon_wink.gif.



If we dropped the League part of the name, the RU crowd would swoop it up pretty damn sharpish to describe the league structure of their divisions.



I say we keep League.

And we keep Rugby too because it evolved from the Rugby rules game.

And we keep Football for the same reason.



But RL did the "playing in a League table" bit before RU did.



So how about "Original Rugby League Football"? ... and compel the BBC to call it by that name.

They'd have to keep saying "Original" over and over again.



Brilliant.



I astound myself sometimes.

League Rules Rugby

Northern Rules Rugby