I don't want to be accused of having a chip on my shoulder, but I thought this sort of patronising tripe of a feature had been consigned to the dustbin of history. I don't know anything about Michael Calvin but I assume he is The Independent's equivalent of Stephen Jones.

[url=http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/rugby-league/the-calvin-report-a-prisoner-of-geography-fluffs-its-chance-to-shine-8783750.htmlThe Independent[/url

It is littered with mistakes ("Tompkins"icon_wink.gif and inconsistencies (Leigh is, apparently, a rugby league 'outpost'). We all know it wasn't a classic but this just seems nasty. In between the outbursts of snobbery he makes one or two decent points but they are almost lost.

I know I shouldn't even bother getting slightly worked up about this and it was probably done to get reactions like this but I thought we'd moved on.

Ever heard of the phrase [iall publicity is good publicity[/i?

Super League fans need to quit being so insecure.

You are Gerald Ratner and I claim my £5.

And I think the correct phrase is "no publicity, is bad publicity", which has entirely different meaning.

I knew there'd be at least one bozo who replied along those lines. Did you actually read what I wrote? I don't think it was indicative of insecurity but hey, a cheap soundbite is always the best response isn't it?

the article covers a lot of things people are trying to hide about RL at the moment, it's nothing new to some of us who are trying to get the game to be more honest with itself.

It is a bit of a hack job, but there are a lot of truths in there that people need to accept.

Before shooting from the hip, it might be an idea to do a bit of research first.

[url=http://www.michaelcalvin.com/biography/Happy to help in that regard[/url.

It's not pro-Union conspiracy to attack Rugby League. The world has moved on since 1990. No longer does League sign up Union players. Union no longer cares about RL and is not threatened by it's presence.

It is not healthy to be bleating all the time just because people offer opinions and critiques about the game. RL has been doing that for far too long and needs to grow a thicker skin... but more importantly, it needs to grow up!

Spot on.

Unions biggest problem is Australia, they are miles behind League as are cricket, much like RL in the UK is miles behind those.

I told Nigel Wood face to face about 10 years ago he needed to get onto the NRL and their administration practices and processes, he threw it back in my face. The NRL are now signing sponsorship deals in the Billions of dollars, whilst the RFL are not really signing much of anything anymore.

I rest my case.

Union in Australia is getting left behind by Soccer too.


He's too busy to listen to anyone mate.

Spends way too much time obtaining dead horses so that he can relentlessly flog them.

Magic Weekend, Exiles, etc.

Well that was one of the points I tried to make in the original post. The article doesn't make the points very well and is poorly written and full of cliche. Extras from Phoenix Nights?! I don't jump on every article or journalist who criticises RL or comes up with some decent arguments but this article wasn't that sort of piece.

God knows there's plenty wrong with the game, and I don't agree with sweeping it under the carpet but it reeks, if not of a hatchet job then written for cheap laughs without any substance.

I didn't think I was particularly thin-skinned but maybe I'm the only one bothered by this sort of article.

I thought some points he makes are correct, Just he made them badly by trying to offend as many Rugby League fans as possible.

What is he saying that is so bad? Nothing I can see that hasn't been said on here a thousand times before. We all moan about the state of the game, but as soon as a reporter does it in a national paper, well he's just doing a "hatchet job". He raises a lot of good questions and points, it'll be interesting to see if the RFL respond as they did a couple of months back.

I'm not sure you have picked up on the patronising tone of his piece or indeed the inaccuracies within it which when put together portray our sport in a negative light. We have precious little space in the national media as it is so that when someone as ignorant of the sport as clearly he is decides to be derogatory it does us no favours whatsoever, especially in a world cup year.

According to Martyn Sadler Calvin did not actually watch the match. He sat alone in the media room. When Sadler contacted the RFL about him following his piece they said they presumed he had watched the game on TV. Sadler believes that the RFL has mishandled the situation, that they (the RFL) should have put someone in the room with him to explain the game and the sport so that he would have had appropriate and accurate background to work from. He isn't usually in attendance at rugby league matches it would seem.

No wonder the newspaper industry is going down the toilet with that kind of lazy journalism. Does no one check facts any more before going to print - basic things like spelling names correctly and noting Leigh as an outpost of rugby league (that latter one made me chuckle rather than annoyed to be honest - it is just such a basic mistake)...

Great opportunity for the RFL to make some corrections and put a positive spin on things.

IF he didn't watch it then the RFL should demand a printed apology or at least make a statement -that cretin shouldn't be able to get away with it...

Truth is he was having some cheap pops while making some half decent points.

The game has got problems, which hopefully it will address it the coming years, but something that will probably prove to be harder to change is the attitude of some "outsiders" for want of a better word.

RL at times comes across as amateurish, and low key (for example the guy awarding the Challenge Cup). Hopefully in the future we can big things up a bit more which should help a little.

The other aspect is the fans, or more accurately the view of RL fans to journos like the one who wrote this article.

Watch a RL game and when the camera pans across the crowd you will see some people overweight, some with bad teeth, some who look a bit "loutish", some who have a lot of tattoos, some who look drunk mixed in with what you may call the average looking people.

Now watch a Football game, and you will see exactly the same, same with Union, same with most sports, yet one of the things that constantly gets thrown in these articles is references to our fans.

Rarely is it mentioned that opposite fans sit together at times and have good banter, or that a lot of families go with kids, or just how much fun the fans have.

The bottom line, if a journo wants to write a piece showing RL in a good light, its easy. Equally if they want to write a bad piece, its just as easy.

Right now, more of the big papers so to speak like having people write bad pieces, and there is not a lot we can do about it. This comes down to money. You get a big money sponsor, and money pumped into the game, you get advertisements and more exposure. You get them and suddenly, newspapers arent so keen to belittle what could be a good pulling piece for their paper, and a paying advertiser at some point.

RL used to be described as the Working Class game, and it was something to be proud of. These days that isnt the case, peoples views have changed. You want something to be successful, you make it Premium.

The only thing I do hope is that if RL ever does do well and flourishes to the point everyone wants a piece of it, the people in charge remember who tried to help them up the ladder, and the people who ed on them while they tried to move up it.

We know the game has issues, but this guy's basic knowledge of RL seems non-existent at best - he's in no position to slag off the sport. Admittedly, there were a couple of decent points made but it was lost in all the 5h!t he was spouting. A proper RL journo would have written it much better and had more credibility...

As a Broncos Season Ticket holder, I regret to say that his line about the semi-final was all too accurate.

To the fans it was patronising and laden with stereotypes but hidden in it was (unfortunately) some home truths that we pretend don't exist.

I'll be honest, I'm glad be wrote it, not for the fans, they don't need to be treated like they're second rate citizens but to the RFL who are the worst for burying their head in their s.

I always wondered what I'd do if I ever won the quad rollover euro lottery, I often fantasised about buying a club and helping them out, possibly build a stadium and let a fans consortium run it.
Now I would just spend millions on the best marketers and directors my money would stretch to. I hate the clueless idiots we have and I hate the fact that the clubs have a say in how everything is done, it's hard to evoke change with all the self interest the clubs show.

I think the RL fan needs to realise that rugby league as a business sport has very little value and significance. We have been losing primary sponsors now for quite a few years now and now rely on secondary sponsors and partners of no real value.
We have no media presence and the editorials can always make cheap shots knowing the RFl have no backbone to offer a constructive response.
Also SKY have got the game on the cheap, they are viewer orientated and are not interested on the fan support at live games and can manipulate games 5 days a week.
The RFl have a lot to answer for and the current administration is not fit for purpose, they cannot produce a working model to halt the decline and the club chairmen/owners are very fragmented because of it.

They are almost going into meltdown about it on that other forum. Extremely insecure lot over there for sure. Some of them ought to know better. Thin-skinned fans with their heads stuck in the sand. The amount of chelping on twitter is even more embarrassing.

try being me with the London Broncos mate......

OMG 3 pages of drivel from chippy iccle SLE fans

No idea who he is, so he's a nobody to me.

Calvin is a Millwall Fan, so the concept of Community sport is lost on him.