Quote Wellsy13="Wellsy13"Indeed they aren't. They are the dominant code of football in the most populous areas, therefore they can call it that. However, they wouldn't try calling it that in AFL strong areas, they call it something else. So why do we insist on "rugby" in the rugby union strongholds I don't know, and we definitely can't call it footy! '"
I don’t insist on calling it anything, Chief. To be honest, it really doesn’t matter what we call it. It would change precisely nothing, except maybe some confusion amongst people who barely know it exists anyway. I don’t really see the point in changing it at all.
Quote Wellsy13="Wellsy13"How many clubs have we lost in the last decade? Blackpool.
What about the decade before that?
How many clubs have we gained in the last decade? Skolars, Crusaders, Scorpions
How many clubs did we gain in the decade before that? '"
Like I said, we lose and we gain. The apathy, in RL’s old heartlands, has been gaining in the run up to the licence period and since it’s introduction. It is an apathy that sees clubs struggling to find local financial backers, sponsors and hinders their attempts at increasing their support base.
Licence criteria is also giving some clubs an ultimatum to either be happy to remain lower league forever or, at great expense, build new stadia while ensuring they have a team good enough appear in finals. Now, this is a perfectly reasonable demand. If a club achieved this and was awarded a licence, it would stand them in good stead. The problem is when they are turned down. They end up saddled with debt and huge rental agreements which are just not sustainable outside of Super League. So some Championship chairmen have some very risky decisions to make. Either give up all ambition, or risk everything. Leigh are a case in point here.
Look, I’m not necessarily moaning about licencing, for some it may work well, but it is having a detrimental effect on lower league clubs, that has seen its ties, to top flight RL clubs, gradually cut away.
How are the Crusaders coming along with their bid to enter the Championships, by the way? (genuine question)
Quote Wellsy13="Wellsy13" I never said it was all rosy. I said that we were gaining clubs, and we are. You said we were losing clubs, and we aren't. We've lost A club. We lost more clubs in the decade before. So how are things much worse?
Once the top league became full time, it was always going to be harder for some of the small town clubs to compete. It's about finding your level, and clubs have struggled trying to get to a level they clearly aren't ready for. Blackpool? Who else?
A lot of clubs have been in administration recently, but a lot in the past have as well.
How can you be so sure? Sports clubs across the country are struggling. Why are RL clubs different?
Apart from the different points system, what other gimmicks have been introduced?
What amazing treatment do lower league clubs in other sports get that RL clubs are missing out on?
'"
There are still some clubs down there who have ambition, and have tried to put a package together that is capable of moving them forward in SL, but it could end up acting like a millstone round their necks in the lower league, where such a set up just isn’t viable. We seem to have some limbo clubs, in that respect. There is a plethora of problems that licencing is causing lower league clubs, and they won’t be solved by a fancy name change, introducing a French club or a different points system.
Quote Wellsy13="Wellsy13"No, it is not. When people play the game, are they thinking SL?
You're just thinking from purely a spectator point of view.'"
When I played, I thought I was playing RL. I'm sure it is the same now. I think that would always remain the case. What the public perception is, is exactly what we are supposed to be discussing anyway, isn't it? A name change to what and why.
Quote Wellsy13="Wellsy13" Super League is what makes the money, gets the attention and is going to help the international team. It's the same for any other sport that their top league is the be all and end all. And isn't there more central funding for lower league teams now than ever?
Should we just call football "Premier League"?'"
I’m not arguing about whether the licence system is right, or demanding money from SL clubs, I’m merely pointing out the effect that decades of change, most of it totally out of anyone’s control, is having on lower league RL. For good or bad, right or wrong, it is affecting lower league RL badly. I would like to see money given to the lower leagues but, as you say, this is money generated from showing Super League and not Rugby League in the wider sense. You are right about SL providing players for England, but who do England play against, other than teams from the antipodes?
That’s right, teams from Wales, Ireland and Scotland, who need to draw from lower league clubs. If nothing else, this is why it might be worth tipping some of the tv monies, generated from broadcasting SL, at the lower leagues. Maybe link it entirely to youth/academy projects and ensure that any players that move to SL clubs from these academies mean recompense for the developing club. It’s not much, but it would at least be something.
I am not arguing about, or blaming everything on the licence system. That has been done to death. The licence system is one of many reasons we are seeing a declines in the health of lower league clubs, imo.
I have already pointed out that my post was a little tongue in cheek. It was referring to the fact that the vast majority of people watching it, would associate the game almost entirely, at a professional level with Super League, unlike, say football and the Premiership. I feel that this perception may grow over the next few decades, due to the withering of the lower leagues’ profile, status and ties to the top flight over several decades. Most of the changes are a reaction to issues beyond our control; the modern world and all it has to offer now, Professional RU, the dominance of premiership Football, the move to summertime &c. All these things have chipped away at RL as we knew it and are leaving its scars. The game is profoundly different to the one I grew up watching. It is played differently for a start, with many rule changes. There were many other facets to the game, outside of the league interest, such as all the cup competitions we once had and even international touring teams visiting your club.
But now, everything seems to be bundled up in Super League. Sadly, the international aspect, particularly from a northern hemisphere point of view, seems relatively poor, and even interest in the Challenge Cup seems to be waning. I was desperately disappointed to see all those empty seats in the Wigan v Leeds final, that would have been filled in the 70’s and 80’s by two smaller clubs.
So, “Super league” has become the games' [iraison d’etre[/i in this country.
'"
, pack it in , Wellsy says 
