06-07-2005 15:19									#61
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quote: Originally posted by Alexander's Horse union - kick off - mall collapses - the play breaks down - scrum - play breaks down - someone kicks the ball out - play breaks down - stoppage while they line up - ball isn't thrown in straight - stoppage - do it again - everyone line up again - someone gets the ball and kicks it out again - start again after a stoppage..... that's the first 5 minutes and so on for 80 minutes.

League- teams give themselves horrifically embarrassing names in a desperate attempt to make themselves seem more exciting- game whores itself into extinction- all the really good players switch codes to Union....that's the present and future.

"Bristol Shoguns" my arse.

	06-07-2005 15:22									#62
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I'd be less pissed off if they'd picked names that actually had some degree of cultural relevance to their home town. Like these-

Bristol Slavers
Bradford Slums
Castleford Consumptives
Hull Inbreeds
Wigan Rickets-sufferers

	06-07-2005 15:22									#63
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Oooh. I'd watch it then.

	06-07-2005 15:22									#64
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Or a more modern slant-

Bradford Race Rioters.

	06-07-2005 16:45									#65
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Havak

"Only bits of league are on Sky - the unvalued tournaments (e.g Challenge Cup) all get shown on the BBC"

Bits of league on Sky? Two or three games a week matey.

	06-07-2005 17:07									#66
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And I'm very grateful to them as it means I can easily avoid them.

But don't the BBC have the rights to the Challenge Cup?

You need to also look at what they pay for UK TV rights to League - then contrast it to the money paid for the Guiness Premiership and the ludicrous amount spent to secure the three England autumn Internationals.

Even if League is growing robustly it is playing a huge catch up game - and as the international scene consists of Australia, GB and then effectively Australia B-Z teams(masquerading as other nations) there is a limit to how far the sport can grow I suspect.

	07-07-2005 05:24									#67
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League players who switch to union go straight into the national side here because they simply have superior skills.

The main international teams are Australia, England, New Zealand and France.

Rugby League is the national sport of Papua New Guinea

Union has this snob and class factor, which some of the comments above positively wreak of. Its got nothing to with skill or spectacle where League is clearly is the better game. Stew is right when he says the game is looked down on in the UK because it comes from the North.

I can't stand a game where you can win consistently by kicking field goals from breakdowns in play and penalties, as England did with Johnnie Wilkinson. In League you must score tries to win, which means exciting imaginative play.

	07-07-2005 12:58									#68
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France being a main international team in League is a bit worrying for the sport considering that League is hardly played by anyone here. There are only a few clubs around Toulouse and Perpignan, where Union is the main sport (well, there's soccer too). You won't find any kind of snobbery in France as to Union vs League. As for penalties, yes they play too much of a role in Union - I wish they didn't award a kick but gave one point for every penalty and give the ball back to the offended instead-, but Wilkinson had other qualities than just kicking.

	07-07-2005 13:16									#69
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Yes the France thing was a huge stretch indeed Horse.

I’m working class btw as are most people who go to watch Leicester Tigers. Leicester is in the Midlands by the way just in case you thought it might be “down south”. And I don’t see how pointing out the fact that union draws more for TV rights than league in the UK can be seen as snobbish to be honest.

And just out of interest how does someone living in Australia feel qualified to tell me how League is viewed here? You know that how exactly?

Your comments about Wilkinson btw tend to suggest that you never watched England in anything other than the Sydney RWC final. Still that is your loss. Personally I cannot stand a game where you have to meekly hand the ball to the opposition simply because men have acted like copulating dogs on top of your players for the required number of times to force you to do so.

Strangely most of the snobbery I encounter in Rugby these days is reverse snobbery and shown by league fans some of whom seem permanently driven, as PA seemingly is, to say “League is better”, “you hate us because we are northern” and “you hate us because we are working class”.

I am afraid the disappointing truth for League fans is that Union fans hardly think about League at all. We are normally thinking about Union. They might be happier if they had the same focus on their own game?

You think league in the better game – I know Union is for me. The majority of those paying to enter rugby grounds across the world every year would apparently agree with me. That doesn’t mean League has no merit at all – I’m very happy for those who enjoy watching it.

Still if you feel driven to try and covert someone from the Union game why not go to work on Finbar – I am sure he will thank you for it.

	07-07-2005 14:21									#70
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quote: Originally posted by Havak Personally I cannot stand a game where you have to meekly hand the ball to the opposition simply because men have acted like copulating dogs on top of your players for the required number of times to force you to do so.

I'm not entirely sure old chap but someone else might actually have a claim to that particular phrase?


As for NZ being a major interantional RL side ... ...
I think I remember a horse thread in the Civ2:MP section that went something like this ... something to do with building cities on mountains wasn't it Horse?

	07-07-2005 14:24									#71
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Ah - um - yes. I might have borrowed it ever so slightly.

	07-07-2005 20:31									#72
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quote: Originally posted by Havak I am afraid the disappointing truth for League fans is that Union fans hardly think about League at all.

Excuse me? Stew starts a thread about league and you all have to pile in here to say how great your game is and then you claim union fans hardly think about league?

Do you see us invading your threads?

That is almost as bad as the 6 hours I just wasted playing a Cossacks II skirmish.

	07-07-2005 21:26									#73
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quote: Originally posted by Alexander's Horse Union has this snob and class factor, which some of the comments above positively wreak of. Its got nothing to with skill or spectacle where League is clearly is the better game. Stew is right when he says the game is looked down on in the UK because it comes from the North.

Oh, absolutely. You've only got to glance at the snobbish, effete homelands of Union in the Welsh Valleys, or the spectacularly rich county of Cornwall, haven't you?

	08-07-2005 01:08									#74
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quote: Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp League- teams give themselves horrifically embarrassing names in a desperate attempt to make themselves seem more exciting- game whores itself into extinction- all the really good players switch codes to Union....that's the present and future. "Bristol Shoguns" my arse.

Bristol Shoguns are a Union team.

	08-07-2005 01:14									#75
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Well, what do I know? I'm not a Union fan either.

	08-07-2005 03:01									#76
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quote: Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp Oh, absolutely. You've only got to glance at the snobbish, effete homelands of Union in the Welsh Valleys, or the spectacularly rich county of Cornwall, haven't you?

Its affirmative action for celts

	08-07-2005 04:17									#77
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League is easier to understand, but less rewarding to watch in the long run because the play is far more predictable - running/passing then tackle and running and passing...repeat after 6 tackles. Rugby Union players will have far more options available to them at any given point in the game than will a League player.

	08-07-2005 06:18									#78
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that's pure BS - union players seem to have only one option - if in doubt, kick a goal

Union would be a much better game if field goals were reduced to one point so teams had to score tries to win instead of relying on a pair of golden boots.

I like both codes - in other areas union has improved a lot over recent years - remarkably so - through the rule and refereeing changes that encouraged more phases of play. Its much more enjoyable now. In the 70's it was simply dreadful most of the time, with the occasional stand out memorable game - Wales versus the Lions, the Barbarian games.

	08-07-2005 12:16									#79
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quote: Do you see us invading your threads?

Yes.

What a strange thing to post given your habit of doing exactly that.

But relax - the thread is all yours now.

	08-07-2005 12:34									#80
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quote: Originally posted by Havak Ah - um - yes. I might have borrowed it ever so slightly.

Fifty Euros, thanks!

	08-07-2005 19:35									#81
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quote: Originally posted by Alexander's Horse that's pure BS - union players seem to have only one option - if in doubt, kick a goal

Rubbish. A league player's options are either pass or run...unless the six tackles are up, in which case they hoof the ball as far downfield as they can - no need for accuracy either, they just have to kick it as hard as they can. Meanwhile, union players have tons of options - kick a grubber ahead and try to regather, kick a bomb, kick for touch, kick a drop goal, pass, run, or set up a rolling maul.

quote: Union would be a much better game if field goals were reduced to one point so teams had to score tries to win instead of relying on a pair of golden boots.

How often do teams win games because of a "pair of golden boots" - hardly ever. And if they do then good on them because a great kicker won't win a game without a good team behind him.

quote: I like both codes - in other areas union has improved a lot over recent years - remarkably so - through the rule and refereeing changes that encouraged more phases of play. Its much more enjoyable now. In the 70's it was simply dreadful most of the time, with the occasional stand out memorable game - Wales versus the Lions, the Barbarian games.

From what I've seen (didn't watch much union pre-1995) that seems to be true. The era of professionalism has definitely sped the game up.