Sadly OP, I think League is in trouble. Like many on here, I just watch Manly and Origin, whereas I used to watch as much as I could.
The problems for me:
At kid level, AFL and Soccer are slaughtering the rugby codes in their attention to grass roots. That means money and access to player clinics.
At NRL level, where to start?
The NRL itself is not run like a professional organisation. It's full of people with ties to clubs where there is as much cheating as any team can get away with. Cheating seems to be encouraged.
The Third Party Agreements have created a hopelessly uneven playing field.
The response to Parramatta's cheating was ridiculously light.
The media is the most sycophantic of any sport. There is zero criticism or analysis of the game, the powers that be, the clubs. It takes an outsider like Kate McClymont to break a story or a leaker who threatens to give it to another RL journo. These people choose being buddies with players and good treatment from clubs over doing their jobs.
There are rule changes EVERY year and often during a season. Ridiculous.
The rules are so open to interpretation that those qualified to rule on them, cannot agree.
The scheduling is a farce where Brisbane gets regular seven day turnarounds and next to no Monday nights while others cop the most ragged of schedules.
The judiciary is completely inconsistent.
The game itself has become entirely predictable in the way it's played.
Now that we have individual owners of clubs, it's treated as a corporate money making venture rather than the old fashioned clubs with fans, in some cases.
Players are too tightly controlled by clubs and managers to the point where journos can't get decent in depth interviews with them.
An unbalanced State of Origin is not good for the game.
Players from Fiji can represent Australia etc. For what purpose?
Player managers run roughshod over clubs when it comes to negotiating.
The NRL pays lip service to player welfare.
If there were no Manly, I would have zero interest in the sport. And even Manly is testing my limits right now - but don't get me started!
