Re: british lions : Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:29 pm
frankb wrote:
Well when i first started watching AND playing RL over 50 years ago I had no doubt which was the best of the two codes. Nobody did even those in the Valleys for example.
Any Rugby fan knows which is the best to play and the best to watch.
Difference is since TV money came into rugby one code has encouraged the grass roots and one hasn,t.
You have to ask the question. Why do Sale for example draw 5 figure crowds and Salford not ? Why can you turn up on the day and without a ticket pay to watch GB v Oz in the RL world cup final(I wish lol.) and try to pay on the gate at England v Argentina at raa raa and be turned away cos you haven,t got a ticket.
Any Rugby fan knows which is the best to play and the best to watch.
Difference is since TV money came into rugby one code has encouraged the grass roots and one hasn,t.
You have to ask the question. Why do Sale for example draw 5 figure crowds and Salford not ? Why can you turn up on the day and without a ticket pay to watch GB v Oz in the RL world cup final(I wish lol.) and try to pay on the gate at England v Argentina at raa raa and be turned away cos you haven,t got a ticket.
Corporate money and influence, mostly. From my experience in development areas, people who get the chance to see and play RL first hand generally find it more interesting that union from both perspectives. Not everyone, of course, but you only have to look at the experience in northern England and Oz where both codes have an equal crack and history. Sale get 5 figure crowds because they are the only top-level rah-rah club in the north west. The next one along is Sedgely Park. On any given average weekend, the numbers watching pro union in the catchment areas where there is pro league are pitifully small in comparison (Leeds Tykes, Sale Sharks)
