It used to be thought that the early '70s were a low point in British RL at club level or the test match series of 1980 at international level. But surely today the game is weaker than ever - a 70 - nil challenge cup semi in front of a half empty stadium? I really think the game is in one almighty mess.

Lets not go that far.

Why not?

You start to ask the question wether full time proffessionalism and RL is susstainable with the rules the game currently has

Once a team gets on top it seems it is very difficult to reverse that dominance, and fatigue sets in much earlier than other sports

This was 2nd against 12th best teams in Britain. It was a big game. It was wholly uncompetitive. There was a pathetic crowd in a little town like Leigh. I honestly cannot think of such a pathetic day in the game's history.

And many still believe that Super League and summer rugby has been good for the game

Low crowd nothing at all to do with the venue, and all to do with Broncos being the opposition. They brought no fans and also ensured that the game would not be competitive, thereby not attracting any neutral support.

Four or five Championship teams would have conceded less than Broncos today.

Both concepts soon to be scrutinised and subject to critical analysis in the Blackwell's catalogue: "Rugby League: The Sport that Alienated Itself"

Price: £18.99

I'm expecting another open letter next week from Brian Barwick telling us how great the product is after today's shambles.

Fixed your omission BTW.

So the last blow out of this nature in a CC semi happened before SL - things were so much better in those days, winter rugby can't beat it (sic)

How many years before SL were we unable to compete with the Aussies? Jeff has a very selective memory

Actually we were getting competitive and very popular- that's why Super League came into being. It took the development of RL back 20 years.

But the best of them were knocked out by the Broncos as were the Bulls