You can state a fact and still slag something off. All I meant by slagging off was that he was saying a lot of negative things about the sport. There are also a lot of positive things about the sport but he doesn't care to state these things. I was just saying that I am getting fed up with people constantly having a go at the game.

He says that he knows none of the players, there are no superstars. I agree with that to a certain extent but I also don't really see why it matters so such. There are a lot of fantastic players in our game but I would say that people that don't know about the sport are looking at the game play on the field rather than specific names. If people like the game on the field then they will look into it more and learn about the great players. I like football but I don't watch it to see specific players, I watch it to see the game as a whole. A team sport is not about individuals.

He says crowds are dwindling. Again, I agree to a certain extent. They are at certain clubs but at others they are holding firm or even increasing. This is the same with other sports as well though. In football, a team in the premier league will get a full ground, they get relegated and the ground is half empty. If a team does well the casuals come to watch, if a team does rubbish they bugger off. Crowds are certainly a lot better now than they were, say 30 years ago. (www.rugbyleagueproject.org/compe ... asons.html) compared to (www.rugbyleagueproject.org/compe ... asons.html) and actually if you look at those super league crowd averages you will see that they haven't changed that much over the years.

He says there is less interest from broadcasters; just about every England game is shown on free to air tv these days (wouldn't have been just a few years ago) and more challenge cup is shown now than has ever been before on free to air. There has never been so much rugby league available on free to air tv or streamed for free as well.

Commercial partners; We might not have massive international companies sponsoring us but we have some decent sponsors, Betfred, Dacia, Specsavers, Patient Claim Line, Ladbrokes, these are all decent size national companies (Dacia actually worldwide). Would we have had an worldwide brand sponsoring our competitions in the past, no, we would have had beer or fags or something else stereotypically northern.

Our game is in a lot better position than it was just a decade ago, and a better position than Hearn makes out in the article in my opinion and with all the expansion going on at the moment surely it can continue to get better. Look at the amount of interest that has come from places wanting to host world cup games in 2021 for example, someone must be taking note of the game. These are exciting times for league and all people do is slag it off.

You can state a fact and still slag something off. All I meant by slagging off was that he was saying a lot of negative things about the sport. There are also a lot of positive things about the sport but he doesn't care to state these things. I was just saying that I am getting fed up with people constantly having a go at the game.

He says that he knows none of the players, there are no superstars. I agree with that to a certain extent but I also don't really see why it matters so such. There are a lot of fantastic players in our game but I would say that people that don't know about the sport are looking at the game play on the field rather than specific names. If people like the game on the field then they will look into it more and learn about the great players. I like football but I don't watch it to see specific players, I watch it to see the game as a whole. A team sport is not about individuals.

He says crowds are dwindling. Again, I agree to a certain extent. They are at certain clubs but at others they are holding firm or even increasing. This is the same with other sports as well though. In football, a team in the premier league will get a full ground, they get relegated and the ground is half empty. If a team does well the casuals come to watch, if a team does rubbish they bugger off. Crowds are certainly a lot better now than they were, say 30 years ago. (www.rugbyleagueproject.org/compe ... asons.html) compared to (www.rugbyleagueproject.org/compe ... asons.html) and actually if you look at those super league crowd averages you will see that they haven't changed that much over the years.

He says there is less interest from broadcasters; just about every England game is shown on free to air tv these days (wouldn't have been just a few years ago) and more challenge cup is shown now than has ever been before on free to air. There has never been so much rugby league available on free to air tv or streamed for free as well.

Commercial partners; We might not have massive international companies sponsoring us but we have some decent sponsors, Betfred, Dacia, Specsavers, Patient Claim Line, Ladbrokes, these are all decent size national companies (Dacia actually worldwide). Would we have had an worldwide brand sponsoring our competitions in the past, no, we would have had beer or fags or something else stereotypically northern.

Our game is in a lot better position than it was just a decade ago, and a better position than Hearn makes out in the article in my opinion and with all the expansion going on at the moment surely it can continue to get better. Look at the amount of interest that has come from places wanting to host world cup games in 2021 for example, someone must be taking note of the game. These are exciting times for league and all people do is slag it off.