Re: Fitness Now V Then : Sat Apr 25, 2020 6:07 am  

Egg Chasing wrote:

I don't think one sided games was ever a factor TBH

It was asked by the local newspaper at the time.

Re: Fitness Now V Then : Sat Apr 25, 2020 6:35 am  

Egg Chasing wrote:

The majority of things I have read/heard from the time tend to point towards the move to summer and the s*it around the sale of CP from 97 onwards.

I was only a kid at the time so don't have too many clear memories of the goings on myself.

The move to summer rugby was indeed a factor at the time as many supporters, especially older ones who had been use to watching the game in winter were against the idea but as time as moved on, more and more have come to accept it.

The sale of Central Park was also a factor as many supporters, especially again the older ones would not accept the idea of watching games at the DW and ownership of the club by Whelan, but after a couple of seasons or so started to come back. A fact I was told at the time by a member of the club's administration staff at the time.

As new generations have come to accept that summer rugby played in better conditions both weather wise, together with better playing surfaces, any move back to winter rugby would in my opinion lead to lower crowds as many of the today's supporters have never been used to watching the game in the winter conditions and would stay at home and just watch the games on television.

Thank you, Maurice Lindsay, you were a visionary as far as I am concerned.


p.s. My only gripe is that I think the official season should commence on the first weekend of March and end on the last weekend of October with the Grand Final at Old Trafford as February is more often than not, the worse month of the year for bad weather.

Re: Fitness Now V Then : Sat Apr 25, 2020 1:20 pm  

Spot on. Going back to winter would be a disaster. And to counter the jibe that we play winter rugby now with a start in Jan/Feb, yes, fair enough, I agree, let's start the season at a more civilised time, in March. In fact, why not align it with the NRL season.

Re: Fitness Now V Then : Sat Apr 25, 2020 4:29 pm  

Ruddy Duck wrote:

The move to summer rugby was indeed a factor at the time as many supporters, especially older ones who had been use to watching the game in winter were against the idea but as time as moved on, more and more have come to accept it.

The sale of Central Park was also a factor as many supporters, especially again the older ones would not accept the idea of watching games at the DW and ownership of the club by Whelan, but after a couple of seasons or so started to come back. A fact I was told at the time by a member of the club's administration staff at the time.

As new generations have come to accept that summer rugby played in better conditions both weather wise, together with better playing surfaces, any move back to winter rugby would in my opinion lead to lower crowds as many of the today's supporters have never been used to watching the game in the winter conditions and would stay at home and just watch the games on television.

Thank you, Maurice Lindsay, you were a visionary as far as I am concerned.


p.s. My only gripe is that I think the official season should commence on the first weekend of March and end on the last weekend of October with the Grand Final at Old Trafford as February is more often than not, the worse month of the year for bad weather.

Spot on and incidentally the same happened with amateur rugby when BARLA were taken over by the RFL. I was against it at first (looking back I can only cringe at how silly I must have sounded) but it’s far better. Playing on a half defrosted pitch in 1degree cold with a wind chill and sideways hail was the worst, especially as a bloody prop.

I’ve always wondered why the SL and NRL seasons don’t follow each other, surely that would be easier for internationals etc. Same could be said for the French league albeit to a much lesser extent and importance to the international calendar