: Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:59 pm
Couldn't agree more Dave,
Frankly i'm getting really narked off with it.
I totally understand the fact that as the best two teams in the Superleague over the last few seasons the rivalry has grown increasingly more intense and as a result of our respective title victories (in all comps) there has been a degree of gloating and counter gloating - this is expected when one team beats another to any trophy especially when two teams such as ours are so evenly matched.
What concerns me is the complete lack of thought, common sense,
respect (both to individuals and opposing players/teams), and honourability shown by many fans lately when posting on here.
I'm all for a bit of banter but things seen to go way beyond that lately. As Ski mentions in the past we were regularly inundated by Wigan 'trolls' who managed to so regularly get regular bites that eventually virtually all threads turned into bitchfests about Wigan vs Saints. In the end many regular posters were either banned, stayed away or simply posted on redvee.net to find meaningful rugby discussion.
Unfortunately this week has highlighted how many immature, one-eyed/blinkered, vitriolic, spiteful and nonsensical people there are from
both sides.
In a week which has seen the tragic death of a very talented young player and a subsequent outpouring of shared grief and support from across the RL community - demonstrated by the volume of messages on the various board - i was once again made to feel proud to be a RL fan.
Sadly I have since been extremely disappointed and at times disgusted by some of the childish backbiting and to-ing and fro-ing in threads both on here and Southstander mostly regarding/stemming from people's differing opinions on Ryan Bailey and his actions.
Every club, and i mean EVERY club has players who will push the rules at some point, and anyone who suggests other wise needs to take a good look at themselves. Players like this will always bring out strong opinions from opposition fans which will in turn bring staunce reponses from the home support, and it is inevitable that arguements will ensue however I for one depise the fact that these feelings spill over into other unrelated threads and ruin them.
I don't know whether it's a generation thing but I don't think the respect is there as much as it used to be on many fan's behalf, maybe it is due to arrogance on some people's parts i don't know? I hoped as a Saints fan that if we continued to be successful throughout (and beyond) the first decade of Superleague, that we would retain our dignity and not become the overtly arrogant lot that we so often accused the Pie-Eaters of being but evidently it has happened to some degree.
You can be rivals and still retain some decorum and respect for the achievements of your opponents and you don't have to take the worst behavior of others as a standard for yourself. You can choose to be better than that.
Lets try to be the bigger man and get back to discussing rugby league in a more eloquent, enlightened and educated manner and lessen the trolling, tit-for-tat arguments and bitching please!!!
