I find it immensely sad that committed fans like Bilko and DD over on Redvee are feeling so disillusioned and disenfranchised that their enthusiasm for the game has fallen so low, and sadly I fear it's part of a wider malaise among fans, with many I've spoken to expressing doubts over whether to renew season tickets.
Notwithstanding the senior management of the game including things like the Stobart deal and the frankly ludicrous 'Clubcall' - which have been discussed to death - the product on the field is an absolute mess. It says something about the state of the game that my team Saints were able to bore their way from 10th in the league to 40 mins away from a Grand Final by simply reverting to the most boring, sterile gameplan I've ever seen in all my years watching the sport and the most scary thing is that, in some quarters, that will be, and is being, defined as a job well done. Never mind entertaining the fans or trying to play with any kind of expressive style - points on the board even in the most turgid fashion possible = mission accomplished. Most games this season I've spent checking my phone or reading the programme and to be honest I have renewed my Season Ticket more out of loyalty and hope that things will change than anything else.
Wayne Bennett summed up Rugby League's ills earlier this year when he said:
Quote "We need to understand what the hell we are about. We are all talking about huge TV deals, right, how much the game is worth - well, the game is worth nothing if we can't entertain people. My grandson said it to me recently, he's nine. "I said, 'Mate, come and watch the footy with me'. Anyway, one of the teams was coming out of their own end and the other was defending. He looked at me and said, 'Hey coach, give me a yell when they get down the other end of the field, when they look like scoring a try'. And he picked up his ball and went outside. I mean, these are the people we are trying to attract. It's not the 40 or 50-year-olds who have been rugby league fans their entire lives and love the game. This is for those who want to be converted and those who aren't sure. It's our next generation.""'"
As a sport we need to rediscover our identity and what made us fall in love with the sport. It wasn't artificially close scorelines or a falsely conceited pride in this flawed concept of 'innovation' it was fast-flowing excitement where anything could happen at any second from minute 1 to minute 80, imperfect heroes going toe-to-toe and pitting their skills against each other. A set of rules and an ethos that rewarded attacking efforts to score tries, not 'completion rates' and 3rd man tackle wrestle techniques, not a game where five drives and a kick is the safest way to make yards downfield and hope the opposition coughs up possession or gives you a cheap penalty.
A badly structured playoff system that allows a team that finishes 8th in the competition to, with a straight face, be called 'Champions' and even 'World Champions' is one thing. But even that's academic if the weekly rounds, the bread and butter, the product the RFL and the Clubs are trying to sell to paying customers, totally and utterly stinks.
Bilko, wish you well whatever you decide to do. Your site's a credit to you and all Wigan RL fans.
