it's not just this board though is it? i mean, the Saints board is a ghost town these days compared to 5-10 years ago. at least we have some activity on here even if it is the same old stale stuff we have to discuss.

TVOC has nailed it above.

Not just Leeds but the whole sport in this country needs to rediscover some of its previous mojo. I'm not seeing any indications of that happening anytime soon.

A depressed game creates a depressed fanbase so the fans are following suit.

I'd suggest Leeds fans have been somewhat insulated from the overall malaise throughout the sport in recent years for no other reason that the club has been winning silverware. Now that's no longer looking a likely prospect, boredom has set in and the product on the field is now being seen for what it is... very underwhelming.

apart from last season its been boring watching leeds for a while. I stopped my season ticket 4 years ago because of this. just pick my games nowadays

Agreed Tad

For me the whole show has become boring. British Rl seems to have a serious inferiority complex with both NRL and RU. Instead of trying to be the best it can be it's trying to ape two arenas that it has no hoep of competing with.

The loss of the schooles liaison officers and the regional development officers is causing a malaise in grass roots rugby that will reach the top in a few years. Let's face it, if you're good you're going where the money is, and it isn't SL is it?

No he hasn't.

This website hasn't died a slow death over the last few years because of what's happening in a sport where crowds were up last season and dropped very slightly this season.

RLFans, like 1000s of similar websites across the world has died a death due to social media.

Maybe Saints' 100,000 fans across the 2 most popular social media networks are to blame?

Spot on, not this "oh it was better back in t'day when everyone knew everybody and you didn't have to lock your front door at night and a pint of milk only cost X amount" nostalgia stuff.

Like attendances at a game, as older fans start to stop going for whatever reasons, boredom, family etc. new younger fans will start going. That's why despite quite a number of older supporter saying they've stopped going the attendances haven't taken a big drop because new people start going. However in the form of the this message board as is alluded to above by Lioner81, social media is much bigger now than 10 years ago and people have more options to keep up with following Leeds online. Especially when this sites demographic is mostly made up of the older fan who isn't shy in telling newer younger fans they don't know how lucky they've had it and look down on them because they weren't there through the struggles of the 80's and the boards troll who will try target anybody who wasn't watching RL in 1972 and is only old enough to have seen Sooper Dooper League.

Maybe... maybe not i really couldn't give you an educated response as I don't bother with either myself, and certainly don't feel like i am missing out.

Crowds were down last season and are down again. 2012 was the last year crowds rose. About 250k fewer people attended a game last year than 2012.

I started posting nearly 15 years ago? It was a way to reconnect to with the sport after many years of living away from Leeds. It was early days of Internet, dial up modems etc. I tend to agree a little with '81. Social media's proliferation has for many people made RLfans redundant.
Why have some of the older posters stopped posting? People just change the things they do and what they are interested in.

Is SL a worse product, less entertaining to watch? etc. Is a different question. There is some overlap sure, but I don't think it's as big as some make out. After all, I would guess that the most traffic on Southstander appeared when Leeds were playing badly. People like to complain. Would be interesting to see the figures for traffic this year compared to last. As a scientist I would like to see evidence to support or deny my hypothesis.

To play devil's advocate traffic on this board and the Saints board may just be down because both clubs aren't contesting finals this season. I think many people are projecting their feelings onto the game as a whole. Most of the moaning about the game seems to come from Leeds and Saints fans.

Traffic is up on the Hull board and busy as ever on the Wigan and Warrington boards.

I think a lot of older posters just move onto other things. Many of the names mentioned I know have developed other interests. Young fans tend to use other platforms like Twitter and Facebook rather than RLfans.

Personally I feel more positive and enthusiastic than ever. Even though Bradford have just endured their worst season in 40 years.

I think there is some truth in that.

The Hull board has always seemed busy on the few occasions i have popped over there, but mostly page after page of angry posters demanding the coach and the boards heads on a platter!

For me this season has been as dire as it gets, and yes i'm sure Leeds being abysmal has contributed to that view point. I have looked forward to the internationals all year as a saving grace and now they are upon us so i am a bit more upbeat right now

The sport has been sanitised, the skills in this country have been dumbed down - scrums, play the ball, obstruction - half-backs who can't pass or kick or in one case even run. The video referee is beyond a joke where a referee's on field 'guess' is nine tenths of the law. Little movement of players between hemispheres or sports, crowds that turn up through what I can only imagine is a sense of duty rather than the prospect of being entertained. Too many games, too few that mean anything.

The game in my eyes is on it's in this country.

There used to be a smilie you could choose of someone hanging themselves - that would be apt after your post tvoc.

Taking your points in turn. The sport has been sanitised but it had to be didn't it? Look at the NFL where players are getting millions in compo thanks to the sport ignoring medical advice. RL had people trying to clean it up for decades and it needed it - we both remember how many players got head injuries when the clothesline was "part of the game". What era would you say had the balance right in your view? Would you allow a punch up now? I did enjoy them but the litigious world we're in makes it difficult to allow. Do other sports allow this sort of thing to continue?

Skills dumbed down in this country? I'm not sure it's necessarily that. Young players now get better skills coaching than they ever did in the 80s and 90s. I think it's more to do with the rules of the game and the gameplans that are put into practice. There's an opportunity for a revolution in the way the game is played - maybe then next Jack Gibson is around the corner - I hope so.

Scrums have been a foregone conclusion since the late 80s. It's a bit late to blame them IMO. We've had some superb rugby over the past 30+ years with uncontested scrums.

Play the ball - totally agree. That's an area that needs properly sorting out as it's become the be all and end all for coaches and teams to "win the ruck". It's become too important. Probably due to the imposition of the 10m rule.

Obstruction - IMO it's just a minor thing. It's not going to put the game on it's backside. We just need common sense and consistency. We used to have that, no reason why it can't happen again.

Halfbacks - Think the 10m rule has caused the change in halfback play to some extent. Halfbacks now facilitate getting a roll on and build pressure with a kicking game. The loss of the battle for possession at scrum and play the ball means fewer players are prepared to chance their arm with risky plays.

Video ref - I'd get rid of it.

Movement between NRL, Union and SL? Well we are where we are. It does remind me a little of RL in the 70s before the international transfer ban was lifted. We do need an injection of overseas talent and we have missed the odd union convert lighting things up. Short of a massive cash injection changing things those days are gone.

I wonder if many Leeds fans have become too used to success and too used to playing the same old teams? What you need is a period of decline and fall like us. It really helps re-focus your expectations. I now look forward to games almost as much as when I first began. I'm involved more than ever with helping our U16s and U19s. When you get closer to the game it can re-ignite your passion for it.

Indeed...i think we should go down to 10 SL teams and bring back the Regal trophy and county cups to keep interest flowing throughout the year

A note of positivity followed by apprehension and then downright misery.

This is why I wanted this rock n roll Mod job.

Don't. Ever. Change Southstander.

And mud, don't forget the mud

Good to see all those negative, pre-SL stereotypes making a reappearance



And it wasn't even broadcast in standard definition.

It were worse that that!

And it was all in black and white.

Not a coloured pixel in sight back then.

Pah!

Pixels?

Sheer luxury!!

My rugby league was sent via t'pony express and when it were delivered we had to look at a black and white painting and imagine.

You had it delivered?

Luxury!

I had to get up an hour before I'd even had chance to go to bed and carry coal all the way from Pontefract before I could even think about collecting my rugby league fix.

And it weren't even always there to collect cos it were played in winter and frozen off.

I think the game has changed because of the recent generation of players and coaches. There are some rediculously daft things going on with rules and management of the game (completely agree about the VR, what the hell is that all about?) which aren't helping.
I don't doubt that kids are taught techniques make ch better and more often than they would have 30 years ago but they're not "skills" until you perfect them under pressure - and that means trying them during games when it matters. I bet all the SL players today could look fantastic against very weak or non existent opposition but as soon as the heat's on decision making and skills disappear. And why bother when 5 drives and a kick will get you from one end of the pitch to the other.

Some good skills on display in the MPG.

I have a friend who is 84 been watching the game since 1939 and halfway through last season he gave away his season ticket .He said the game has become like high speed human Bagatelle and can no longer follow the game .He said ive still got respect for the players and what they put in ,but its what the game has become

In fairness this could just be one of myriad reasons that almost all 84-year-olds may find for giving up on the game. I'd be surprised if I'm still watching at 84 - after all, few do = though whether it's down to health, cost, changed interests or changes to the game, who knows?

My 88 year old uncle was still watching until he passed away a few weeks ago. He was of the opinion that it was a different game now but each era had things that made it appeal to him.

When I chatted to him about the game he thought the 1954 cup final replay at Odsal in front of 100k was a good game but he thought many SL games this season were good too. But massively different.

I also knew Trevor Foster well and a few of his mates of the same age. They were of the same opinion. The game has changed. That's not necessarily good or bad. They all thought the players of the 40s and 50s would be stars nowadays. A few of them hated the SKY hype and bluster and watched matches on TV with the commentary turned down with the radio on instead but that was the extent of their dislike for the game really.