The great game has been ruined

[Eagle1306]

You people make me laugh. Just because Manly didnt make GF, you say the game is crap. Yeah right. I get sick of people who every time there team loses, they say " thats it, im done, im following AFL now." But these same people watch every NRL game every week. They couldnt even name 5 AFL players. Stop being so insecure about Rugby League, and enjoy it.

Problem is, the game IS crap. I'll never watch the kick and giggle or the union but it still won't stop me from turning off the NRL. I didn't watch either of this week's games because (a) I couldn't give a toss about any of the teams left and (b) rugby league as a "product" these days is pretty much horrible to watch (and the outcomes are horribly predictable). In fact this year I struggled to bring myself to watch Manly games.
It's not a good sign that someone who grew up playing and loving rugby league would rather let his wife watch "Fashion Police" on the E Network than tune into a major semi final of a game he always thought he loved…

The game is no better or worse than it has ever been. Watching old games on Foxtel, the game is much better to watch now, than in the 80's and 90's. The refs are probably better today also, just the fact they get scrutinised so much more today, makes them appear worse.

 

[manlyfan76]

I have been following League since seeing Wombat tear up Brookvale oval as a kid and except for the super league years loved the game even the NE days, nowadays NOBODY I TALK TO LIKES THE GAME it has gone to crap. I like watching Manly win I don't like anything else about the game.

 

[Aussie Battler]

Was out last night, so didn't watch last night's game, but has the "inside the 10 metres" rule gone out the window ? Not one penalty for it Roosters v Souths. Only offside penalties seem to be when the team are defending the tryline and they give one away early in the tackle count to get a line set. (unless your Josh Reynolds).
Ch 9 listening to the people again with a 7.15pm kickoff. (will end up 7.40pm). too late for me, in a game where I can't decide which team I hate more. Best result Dogs beaten by a dodgy call with a minute to go.

 

[EagleFromMay1967]

Massive rule changes are required to restore our sport, our game.
What we have now is a TV product, with all decisions based on marketing, venues, TV sponsorship deals, ratings.

The rules are stuffed, the refereeing is at its lowest point since Barry Gumshoe.

The important matches are 'bashathons' with niggle, disputes, and cowardly refeereing decisions. Take SOO II for example - was that Rugby League.?

The refereeing problems are compounded by inconsistency with the MRC and the Judiciary. Chicken wings, dangerous position, crushers, cannonballs, etc etc.

Souths, Roosters, Dogs, Storm and to a degree Manly, play an identical kind of game that is boring and formula based. The Tigpies and to some extent Panthers were the only ones early in season to be playing a game with any 'flair' - a breath of fresh air: look how that turned out.

Further: certain players ~ inseparable from the TV product ~ are a protected species. Ennis, C Smith, B Slater, GI and others get away with all sorts of actions which are not in the spirit of the game. Well the 'game' from the 60's thru 90s anyway. Coaches are silenced from critisizing: WHAT IS THIS ? an iron curtain FACIST AUTOCRACY ? Is the game so weak that it cannot handle honest appraisal by team coaches - what exactly are they afraid of? IDEAS !!

We are seriously at risk of losing completely the game we deserve. To get it back on track we need Fox and Nein to take a step or two back from influencing the NRL. We need Greenslime replaced with someone who cares more about the game than him/her's own career. We need ONE on field referee and we need video referees to be able to rule on forward passes and other similar events. Scrums should be either restored to their original purpose Or ELIMINATED. I suggest the former. The did serve a purpose of getting the forwards out of the game for 1 play.
We need a return to suburban grounds, and home semi finals.

In short, i assert that our two choices are
1: A breakaway competition with no TV affiliations OR
2: All positions at the NRL to be declared vacant, and a recruitment process begin to completely reform the beast if possible.

Next year, unless there are massive changes, it will all be EVEN WORSE.

 

[Aussie Battler]

In my son's under 7 soccer team, we have a player of the week trophy. Everyone gets a turn winning it, no matter how crap that play (has helped my son out a few times).
Call it a conspiracy theory, but the NRL premiership trophy has that feel about it. May not be deliberate, but the way things are officiated, judiciaries, salary cap etc. , it comes across that they don't won't any side dominating. Like last year's grand final, the Roosters momentum stopped, when of the first six penalties they got 1. While we were almost good enough to pull it off last year, Roosters folded.

 

[susan]

Could care less if I make you laugh Eagle 1306.If you want to watch that rubbish masquerading as Rugby League last night that is fine.Your choice.I spend a lot of time around league people,coaches,clubs and almost to a man they are sick to death of the way our game is going.

What you are seeing is masses of fans watching their own clubs play and almost totally disregarding neutral games.I used to basically watch every game,now it has reduced to half that and next year I can see me being solely a Manly watcher.

The administration of the NRL,the administration of most clubs.the embarrassing TV coverage presented by illiterate neanderthals,the disgraceful refereeing standards and the lack of respect for the fabric of the game via wrestling etc has our game on a slippery slope.

And 1306 if you think this is not about entertainment then you are sorely wrong.Channel Nein and Fox are in the business of entertainment and if they don't get it we wont get 1.2 billion next time believe me.

 

[manlyfan76]

I'm watching on Nitv the Murri carnival and it's much more entertaining than the NRL.

 

[Las Vegas Blvd]

I have never been so disenchanted with league in nearly 40 years. What Bandit and Killer wrote is very true. I can't be bothered spending nearly $100 and driving hours anymore on a slap and wrestle type mania and don't watch many games anymore. The contest seems to have vanished. At my school, there are probably only 5 full on footy followers in a staff of 80 yet 10 years ago the majority of staff was into it. Why is it and what has happened?

Because they are all women

 

[Darren]

lol very good Vegas!! no more guys than girls

 

[Budgie]

Las Vegas - have a look at the crowd next time you're at Brookie. You'll be absolutely flummoxed to find there are actual females there. Quell surprise!

Back to the thread, even more than the rubbish standard of last night's game, it was the uncertainty of the referees that stunned the hell out of me. Neither seemed to display authority, they didn't seem to agree, and the pocket ref was positively fearful of Steggles when he tried to voice a possible penalty. Twice he bravely went to him to tell him of an indiscretion and after the Steggles Julie Bishop death stare, he backed down and sort of kind of mumbled that it was, you know, no big deal, but you might want to, if you really feel like it, say something. Or not.
It was a disgrace for a professional sport..

 

[The Who]

I totally agree with the theme of this thread. I found myself yelling at the screen: "why are you going to the video ref; the decision is obvious...".
We need one ref per match and that ref must take full control. The way players are verballing the officials and opposition players is sickening.
It's not the sport I grew up loving.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

I was as big a Rugby League fan as you could come across, and will still support the game til the day I die.

Personally I think there is a culture in the world though to whinge and moan about everything these days and it is shown in this forum day after day about anything and everything, but it is not just on here, it is life in general

Having said the above, I do find myself having less attachment and meaning to the game these days, and I do find that the product of Rugby League in not as entertaining as it once was. As seems to be the case with everything these days, the tree hugging, tofu eating, knee high socks with sandal wearing brigade are in the vast minority of the world but seem to be the voices that get listened to the most, and in Rugby Leagues case we have seen that brigade get rid of the shoulder charge and the knuckle and taken the gladitorial aspect away from the game so little timmy can head down to the park on a saturday morning and mummy can remove 1 of the layers of cotton wool off him

I can't see anybody ever having the balls to let that stuff come back, and with the players so professional these days and all super athletes with full time training and coaching on every little aspect of the game it is hard to see how Rugby League can get back to the open spectacle it once was because they are all so finely tuned and dialed in on every aspect of the oppostion that 2 good teams always know how to cancel each other out these days and they can become a dour struggle, as we saw in Origin 2 this year

 

[susan]

Totally agree.Just another example of political correctness gone mad.

The game cleaned up the cheap thuggery of the 70s and 80s and rightly so BUT Why do we have to go down the path of completely sanitising the game. To be honest you have more chance of copping a hiding at Sunday School than an NRL game even when punches were allowed. Most footballers (like most people) have no idea how to throw a punch and the mob is usually so tight it is virtually impossible to connect.And the idea that the masses hate a bit of biff is garbage,the NRL used it to promote the games for years.

Except for a couple of instances in the last 10 years when has anyone been hurt by a punch. Hundreds of games played each year and one or two instances. And the byproduct of this ridiculous one punch rule is that grubs like Ennis turn the game into a penalty ridden nigglefest. Same with the shoulder charge.It is not the shoulder charge that is the problem it is the shoulder charge that hits the head that is the problem,just like any other tackle.Throw the book incredibly hard at any charge that hits the head or a dog punch that causes real damage and otherwise leave our game alone!

 

[Growler FNQ]

I was as big a Rugby League fan as you could come across, and will still support the game til the day I die.

Personally I think there is a culture in the world though to whinge and moan about everything these days and it is shown in this forum day after day about anything and everything, but it is not just on here, it is life in general

Having said the above, I do find myself having less attachment and meaning to the game these days, and I do find that the product of Rugby League in not as entertaining as it once was. As seems to be the case with everything these days, the tree hugging, tofu eating, knee high socks with sandal wearing brigade are in the vast minority of the world but seem to be the voices that get listened to the most, and in Rugby Leagues case we have seen that brigade get rid of the shoulder charge and the knuckle and taken the gladitorial aspect away from the game so little timmy can head down to the park on a saturday morning and mummy can remove 1 of the layers of cotton wool off him

I can't see anybody ever having the balls to let that stuff come back, and with the players so professional these days and all super athletes with full time training and coaching on every little aspect of the game it is hard to see how Rugby League can get back to the open spectacle it once was because they are all so finely tuned and dialed in on every aspect of the oppostion that 2 good teams always know how to cancel each other out these days and they can become a dour struggle, as we saw in Origin 2 this year

I like tofu !

 

[Frank]

You people make me laugh. Just because Manly didnt make GF, you say the game is crap. Yeah right. I get sick of people who every time there team loses, they say " thats it, im done, im following AFL now." But these same people watch every NRL game every week. They couldnt even name 5 AFL players. Stop being so insecure about Rugby League, and enjoy it.

That's harsh. This is my only input in this thread and I preface what I am about to say that it is NOT because we are knocked out. I have also been following rugby league and Manly for more than 40 years.

My biggest gripe at the moment is the video ref. Not whether he gets the decision wrong or right. Just the fact that it is a momentum killer. There has to be a better, faster way to come to decisions when using the video ref. A close second is the wrestle. Enough said on that.

Bandit's original post was spot on about the interchange. The modern game was born when the multiple interchange rule first came into play. We now have massive athletes who are never going to tire as they are replaced as soon as that starts to occur. You will rarely see the likes of Cliff Lyons again creating mayhem through tired opposition. If Cliffy were playing in the current era he would be no where near as effective as he was in his prime.

My enjoyment of the game has definitely diminished over the years. I can honestly say that if it weren't for our club I'm not sure that I would be all that interested. Apart from games involving Manly, State of Origin, and some finals games, I rarely watch other matches. Certainly not in their entirety.

 

[EaglesDontTweet]

Totally agree.Just another example of political correctness gone mad.

The game cleaned up the cheap thuggery of the 70s and 80s and rightly so BUT Why do we have to go down the path of completely sanitising the game. To be honest you have more chance of copping a hiding at Sunday School than an NRL game even when punches were allowed. Most footballers (like most people) have no idea how to throw a punch and the mob is usually so tight it is virtually impossible to connect.And the idea that the masses hate a bit of biff is garbage,the NRL used it to promote the games for years.

Except for a couple of instances in the last 10 years when has anyone been hurt by a punch. Hundreds of games played each year and one or two instances. And the byproduct of this ridiculous one punch rule is that grubs like Ennis turn the game into a penalty ridden nigglefest. Same with the shoulder charge.It is not the shoulder charge that is the problem it is the shoulder charge that hits the head that is the problem,just like any other tackle.Throw the book incredibly hard at any charge that hits the head or a dog punch that causes real damage and otherwise leave our game alone!

A typical family somewhere near us.........

"Hi honey, can you take Jimmy to soccer tomorrow morning, what are you watching?"

"Just the end of the league, no probs."

"I hear from what Mr Smith and Mr Greenberg say it is way too violent."

"Well they've now cut out punches and banned shoulder charges dear!"

"That's good honey, there is just way too much violence around these days. Now can we watch Game of Thrones."

 

[globaleagle]

Well....at the moment on tv 'over here' is the first semi final of the english super league.

St helens v catalans.

And it's pretty good.

1 ref....even when going to the video ref he doesn't say his thoughts.

No diving, no chicken wings, crushers, etc etc.

Possibly some penalties that could have been given, but let go....and the commentators dont go on and on and on about them.

Less stoppages so the tv broadcaster doesn't re-run a possible penalty 1000 times.

It's pretty good. Sorta reminds me of the games I used to watch.

If I had an affinity to any english town etc, I may just follow a team.

But for now, content with enjoying some old style footy....played today!

You guys could do the same maybe?

 

[The Who]

GE, Any teams play in maroon and white over there? Or any with an Eagle as their mascot. Or perhaps 'Stronger Together' as their slogan? Or a disfunctional Board?
If so let me know and I'll start following them.

 

[globaleagle]

Errrr.... After much investigating: No Eagles, plenty of red and white (maybe some maroon), No stronger together slogan - Hey did we all notice that the initials of our slogan can stand for Silver-Tails???????

Probably a few dysfunctional boards.

So, I dunno. Wasn't bad to watch though.

 

[Darren]

Kiwi, summed up a lot of how I felt. I used to love players backing themselves, the aggression, rivalry and physical hits, now it is 3 in a tackle, spin on their back and kick deep every 5. The game is of course struggling with numbers during the season. Always fair weather fans get on board finals week but weekly, people are staying away.

TV had made it so easy to watch and that is killing the tribal connection. I used to go and watch 10-15 matches every year until 2-3 years ago. Now, it's like, do I want to pay nearly $100 to drive 2 hours each way and watch this wrestling match. I imagine there are a lot of age: 40-60's diehards with families in the same boat. It's the younger generation's turn to pick up the slack (hopefully).​

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