a memorable quote from ex-wigan coach graham lowe in the david lawrence book " the rugby league miscellany"
quote lowe..." im 49 and ive had a brain haemorrage and a triple heart bypass and i could still play a decent game of union but i wouldnt last 30 seconds in league"







WHAT A QUOTE THAT IS...HOPE ALL THE KICK AND CLAP BRIGADE READ THAT....

Pemps should use that on one of his t-shirts.

I don't believe it ..played both codes like anything you put all your effort into the games both hard and still get big hits ..if you get tackled in union and finish under about 7/10 players you feel every breath in your body being draw out as they pile on ..both hard contact sport

thing is in union you hardly ever get tackled, when an oppposition player moves in, usually this results in the ball carrier punting the ball as far as he can, mostly in to touch...how boring!!!!!!!!!!

I hate Union, can't stand it.

i have that book...not read it yet though

You ever played Union or League?

union is being made softer though, you can no longer put in big hits, both hands have to be around the player in an attempt to tackle! Pffffft, southern fairies!

Although I did play once and found myself on the wrong side of the ruck, which led to my face being scraped by a size 12 left boot!

A bit of 'shoe pie' as it is known in some quarters.

Don't like Union at all, but having seen the recent Lions test matches my thoughts on it being a game for Southern softies has changed somewhat, especially compared to the sterile spectacle that is modern RL. Not enough "biff" in SL now a days. Only one player sent off this year is proof of that. Whilst I want it to be fare I also want to see some raw emotion and agression. Big Jim Mills, Paul Basher Woods et al.

That said I know union players who are in their 50s and still playing. I can't imagine a RL player lasting past his late 30s whatever the standard.

The RU Tri-nations tournaments has moved on their game and is quite watchable.

If that the case somebody should have told the players I played against ..I played a game where I when to tackle a winger ,,Has I was making the tackle he turn sharply my head caught him in the ribs He got 3 broken ribs I finished up with neck and shoulder problems I didn't play for 16 months ..in that time I went from a Centre/winger 8stone 9 to a prop the next time I played I put on over 9 stone plus I have a scar on the inside of my left knee were I got stood on ..don't tell me you hardly get tackled in union ..and I played when you played for 80 minutes no subs in them days

I played till I was 39 gave it up when a snotty nose kid called K Tindall made me look a prat

Union ALL the way

The Lions tour saw two tackles. On both Lions players shot out of the line and put the shoulder into the Springboks player chest and both got penalized because you must put your arms around the player when you tackle them


However, you can stamp on a man with studs on his head and get away with it!

I thought the Lions played well with the ball in hand as a demonstration of how the game can be played. SA, the world champions, kicked everything showing how the game can be won. Union need to do something about the amount of kicking.

On a similar note, I think League needs to do something about kicking the ball over the dead ball line from deep (and maybe even from close). If the ball goes over the dead ball line from a kick perhaps the kicker should be penalised. That would mean there would be fewer tries from kicks and fewer hoofs up the pitch just to pin the opposition back to a 20mtr restart without having to do the hard work to get there. You often see this from teams (Leeds do it a lot) when they are leading with only 15 minutes to go.

Both games have good merits. Union, if there still exists such a game has become faster and more akin to watching league over the last couple of world cups. Players in both codes have to have fantastic skill levels and playing at the top level in either would take some b*lls.

You have to say though the other code is knocking spots of our game in the promotion of the sport. We even set back without so much as a whimper and allowed them to take the "Rugby" word as their own. No such thing anymoe as Union - just the Rugby World Cup, a competition that grows the game and will coninue to do so. Attatching the word League to rugby now makes it look an inferior brand somehow. Very clever marketing on their part. They even now have a "Challenge Cup" competition. No-one in league think to protect that name at some point? We get trampled on all over the place in respect of not protecting our interests as we should imo.

Each game has differing advantages and disadvantages for me playing the game. I loved playing league but had also enjoyed playing union for the last 8 years or so. Both are pretty much as physical as each other in differing ways, in most ways union is slightly more brutal. Think comments in books like has been made here at the start of the thread are slightly disrespectful.

I been watching rugby league since 1975 started attending rugby union matches in mid 1980,s used to go to the Circle to watched Hull East Riding play there before the merger with Ionians RUFC in 1989 the sport of rugby union has improved little bit better since the mid 90,s what it was years ago still prefer league in my opinion like both codes of rugby

Rugby League Hull FC supporter since 1975
Rugby Union since 1984 or 85 Hull East Riding and Ionians from the mid 80,s right up to when both clubs merged in 1989-Hull Ionians to this day sometimes I go to see Hull RUFC and Hessle

Watched West Hull ARLC from 1996 to2006.