Very narrow minded mate, the entire lions backline cud more than carry themself in at the very least the championship, and brian o'driscoll is as good as any centre in super league.

Although I am risking my sanity having read the first post on this thread, because I too have played both codes, I do agree with practically all of that original post.

Interesting note:

a London uni mate of mine came to Weymouth this weekend. He doesn't watch, or understand, either code.

First he watched the mighty Exeter Centurions beat South Dorset Giants in the South West RL Cup Semi on a local council field (Exeter won 56-14). Then he watched the 'best' two Union teams do battle in a game which was decided by the last kick.

His verdict? League is fast, open, great to watch. Union is technical, dull, obscured by piles of bodies and endless kicking.

I ended up in the very odd position of defending union.

I coach both. League is fantastic, the technical skill level is very high and the tactical coaching demands are extremely complex. Union requires much less individual skill, is slower, demands less fitness, and gives rise to far more dull and static games.

Union is no more a threat to RL now than it has ever been.

Well when i first started watching AND playing RL over 50 years ago I had no doubt which was the best of the two codes. Nobody did even those in the Valleys for example.

Any Rugby fan knows which is the best to play and the best to watch.

Difference is since TV money came into rugby one code has encouraged the grass roots and one hasn,t.

You have to ask the question. Why do Sale for example draw 5 figure crowds and Salford not ? Why can you turn up on the day and without a ticket pay to watch GB v Oz in the RL world cup final(I wish lol.) and try to pay on the gate at England v Argentina at raa raa and be turned away cos you haven,t got a ticket.

Corporate money and influence, mostly. From my experience in development areas, people who get the chance to see and play RL first hand generally find it more interesting that union from both perspectives. Not everyone, of course, but you only have to look at the experience in northern England and Oz where both codes have an equal crack and history. Sale get 5 figure crowds because they are the only top-level rah-rah club in the north west. The next one along is Sedgely Park. On any given average weekend, the numbers watching pro union in the catchment areas where there is pro league are pitifully small in comparison (Leeds Tykes, Sale Sharks)

Alll true of course but I still think the RFL need to spend TV money on clubs outside falling crowd Non Relegation league AND not just Championsip clubs.