I think it would be crazy to not take him into our academy system just because his dad (the best winger of the super league era) went from league to union, we don't know what Robinson jnr wants to do, best just to take the best young players on offer and do what we can to improve and retain them rather than trying to guess at what they have planned for the future. If Ali Lauititi had a talented son who took up union, do you think their clubs would stay well clear on the basis that Ali converted? Doubt it.

I might put that comment up on my wall with the title:-

Fantastic quote from brain dead league fan who has difficulty in accepting the success of Rugby Union in England and who finds solitude in repeating the age old "League is tougher, has more tries etc" argument.

I'm a fan of both codes and surely you can see why a player would want to switch to Union based on the status of both games these days?

Chris Ashton will probably regard his switch as the best decision of his career, as will Jason Robinson.

Superb - give a spot to someone with less talent because of something that may or may not happen in the future.

Mate, it's you who is brain dead. Why do you find it so difficult to accept that not everyone feels the need to like something just because it's successful? You could say the same for football but the fact is many of us find it a pathertic excuse for a 'sport'. That's our choice and we're entitled to it. Mind you if you equate success with the need to like it then I suppose we can safely assume you also think the X Factor is the best thing to happen to music...and you must absolutely wet your trousers whenever Justin Bieber comes on!

Of course i appreciate that not everyone likes the most popular things but as a fan of both codes i feel embarrassed for some of the narrow minded League fans who use the same mindless criticisms to vent their feelings about Union.

If you ask most league fans about union they'll say "kick and clap, yawnion blah blah nonsense".

The attitude of most union fans towards league is usually much more appreciative of the skills required to play league not focusing on the sides of the game which aren't so enjoyable.

Ya see what i mean bruv?

And to use the basic arithmetic of tries/test ratio to rate a player is a typical example of the narrow minded thinking of these people.

How do you know? Have you taken a poll?

When I was living in the south, I was regularly in the company of a rugby union crowd who were belligerently anti-RL, and had no apparent appreciation of any of its skills.

Sorry, but don't try to claim you're the voice of reason when you too make assertions that you can't support with facts.

Saying things like "have you taken a poll" do make you look silly because you know i haven't taken a poll so what were you hoping to achieve by asking that?

I played union for over ten years and i've been to several SL grand finals and had a Rhinos season ticket when i lived in Leeds so don't try saying people who like union don't like league because that aint true.

A lot of the guys who i played union with now play league during the summer too and totally appreciate the skills required to play the game.

I've played both, watch both and like both.

It was as simple enough question. If you haven't done some extensive research, then how can you possibly make the claim that you made? The answer is that you can't.

I've played both codes as well, and watched both, which makes me at least as well qualified as you - and yet I don't feel able to call it one way or the other. I know some League folk who respect Union and some Union folk who respect League, but I also know plenty on both sides who have no time at all for the opposite code.

In no shape or form are you qualified to claim that "most Union fans" appreciate the skills of League. Your statement - and therefore the argument you built on it - was thus trash.

I'll say again, stop trying to play the voice of reason when all you're really doing here is having a pop at League people (with exactly the same biggoted, idiotic attitude that you appear to find so repulsive in us).

Got told ha

Are you seriously saying that it's simply "nip and tuck" and that union fans hold league in as much comtempt as a lot of league fans appear to hold union?

If that's how you feel/how you have witnessed it thats fine.

I have witnessed a very different attitude in the paths i've crossed.

An extensive poll of league fans views on union and vice versa would, i'm sure, prove me right. But then again that's just my opinion.

I'm sorry, mate, but you just can't be for real.

What kind of argument are you trying to sell here? That Union fans are more broad-minded and more understanding and better informed than League fans because "you are sure" that's the truth?

And do you expect to be taken seriously?

Having spent a bit of time in Leicester and Bristol I have to say that some of the attitudes RL people have about Union are quite wrong.

I hate the old school tie/social climbing rugger brigade as much as the next RL fan and personally I don't find RU particularly good to watch (though its got better in the last 15 years or so thanks to rule changes and to be honest I don't think the kick and clap description is fair any more, though it was in the days of Rob Andrew et al) but it isn't true to say RU fans hate league or league fans. In my experience there are plenty of people in the Midlands and South West who love their rugby (union) but who do appreciate league rather than hating it.

I think the problem is that the inept management of RL and the flat-earth brigade in RL missed a golden opportunity back in the late 80s/early 90s when Wigan and Widnes were closing the gap on the Aussies. If we'd brought in the SL concept then with a proper SC that encouraged growth while stopping clubs going bust we would have had a much stronger game now, with bigger TV revenues, a bigger geographical footprint and most importantly a better international game.

Unfortunately the die-hard parochial attitude of many in RL coupled with inept club and RFL management meant that this opportunity was missed, RU went professional and RL will now always be far more in the shadow of RU than it should have been.

There's actually little point RU people hating RL now. RL is I'm afraid destined to be a small minority sport in this country and the way things are going some people in RL (not RU) are going to get what they seem to have been wishing for - the slow death of the professional RL game.

It's the idiots running RL and the morons writing articles/letters in the RL press and posting on SC threads on this board that will kill RL, not RU people.

I agree. RU and RU people are nothing like as big a threat to us as we are to ourselves. But the other fella was still talking crap.

I certainly don't think all RU people are friendly to RL. You only have to listen to a certain former Bath fly-half to realise the real hatred towards RL that exists in some quarters in that code.

But yes, our biggest problem is the incompetence of our administrators and the ridiculous attitudes of many supporters and the RL press, who seem to want our game to fail. Compared with that, the annoying comments of RL hating rugger types are a minor problem.

Lets not forget that David stettle who is in the england squad is from these parts aswell

I know that he is the son of a great, but is he really that good?

He would have to be some player to have more potential than Liam F.

He was outstanding as a 14 year old, and always looked as if he was to be a top player.

His old man has obviously given him good advice then, fair play.

I am more than happy with the caliber of players that we are churning out.

Do you feel he is as good a player as Liam?

And if you remember how Robinson was for those years at Wigan if his son is gonna be like that then move on after a few years then I think the development is going to have been worth it.
Another Robinson even just for 2 years? Tar very much I reckon.

I was also thinking, on the subject of Robinson, what stopped you being allowed to do what he did when he played half a season for Bath? If players could still do that then the Union problem would be a lot less as they could have the best of both worlds then. (I'm not very old and was only 7 then so yano I didnt know much about it all so dont mock me)

I know totally where you're coming from, however I refer you to your own post:



You're arguing against something you've patently done yourself in your assessent of a 'brain dead league fan'. Have the same respect for other's views that you seemingly want for yours. Anything else is hypocrisy!

As for you decrying the argument that "League is tougher, has more tries etc."... frankly it is and it has, so why is this such a problem for you? Just because an argument doesn't suit your agenda isn't a good reason to dismiss it without so much as a reasoned response. That's why I levelled your own accusation back at you. Yours is the knee-jerk response...not the poster you were replying to.

My whole attitude on the Robinson matter is that if his son is in line for a contract with 13 others when there's little in ability between them and the club is offering ten places then he wouldn't be in there. We'd be far better off giving that place to a lad who will be far more likely to stay and seek a rugby career with us.

As for RU/RL attitues. There is a difference on how we feel towards people at Twickenham and those running local Union clubs.
When I was involved in the start up of the Liverpool Buccaneers the people at Sefton Union Club were superb. We played at their ground and still do, some of their Union players played for the Buccs and their committee were brilliant and that did come as a surprise.

Being involved there for over two years I drew a very great distinction as I said above between Twickenham and those at local clubs. I'm sure I saw it somewhere that around 75% of Rugby League summer conference clubs play at Union club's grounds. The Union people at Sefton are a great bunch and I will never have anything but praise for them.

The problem is, Ted, that anyone who turns out to be a real bright prospect is likely to be targeted by Union, regardless of whether he had a dad who went for the money or a dad who stayed.

The kind of money Chris Ashton was offered would have turned any kid's head. That decision was made easier for him of course by Maurice only paying our youngsters peanuts at the time. They're on pretty good wages now, so it won't be quite as easy to turn them. But if a real superstar emerges, a package to match his status will be put together at some point in Rugby Union, and whoever his dad was (or wasn't) won't matter much.

Robinson's son is in my year and he has expressed that he very much prefers league to union. whether he still decides to pursue his career in league, i do not know. and maybe his dad would rather him stay in league?

Interview with Snr and Jnr here: www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... d-two.html

Interview with Snr and Jnr here: www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... d-two.html

Quote ="Salopian Warrior"Interview with Snr and Jnr here: www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... d-two.html'" Good read.

Quote ="Salopian Warrior"Interview with Snr and Jnr here: www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... d-two.html'" Good read.