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Scotland Needs A Professional Rugby League Team


sigesige00
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I might be wrong on this, but were there not plans to set up a Glasgow-based side a year or so ago? (ie. around the same time Celtic Crusaders - that is the superleague side, right? or am I getting them mixed up with the Celtic Warriors? - were set up)

 

However, a major problem is that Union is struggling to run two pro teams, while Internationals get 67,000+ against most top sides. given that international League matches get just 2-3,000 (ie. less than our two professional union clubs now get), how can we expect to run a club side?

 

League is almost non-existant outside of the north of england and australia. It was popular in Southern France, but professionalism in Union (combined with a political decision) means it it is no longer as popular as it once was. (In the '50's and '60's League was the biggest sport in France!) Compare USA Perpignan with the Catalan Dragons, and its obvious where french alliegances now lie. And Perpignan arent even one of the top french clubs support-wise.

 

 

Despite being a Union man through and through, I decided to give League a chance at the last WC. (believing, as a supporter of a minority sport, that all sports should atleast be given a chance) But FFS, that tournament was an utter joke! 3 groups: 1 group of 4 (NZ, Aus, Eng and A.N. Other) with 3 going through to the Semi-finals, and 2 groups of 3, with the winners playing each-other for the 4th semi spot... Whats the point on having a pool stage?

 

Mind you, if there was a Glasgow based side, I would probably go along a few times to see what its like. (from what ive heard though, it takes all the good bits about football, removes them and replaces them with the bad bits from football...)

 

BTW, anyone know the result of the Scotland v France game at Currie Rugby Club tonight?

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Rugby league is huge here, but God it's dull. I've tried hard to get into it, but it is a game lacking much in the way of skill or tactics. I've also them train, and they rarely use the ball: it's strength and speed.

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Murrayfield is hosting "the Magic weekend" where there will be loads of rugby league on this weekend, I imagine they'll be trying to see if there is interest in Scotland for rugby league.

 

Saturday May 1

 

Bradford Bulls v Crusaders RL (1300)

Hull FC v Harlequins RL (1500)

Salford City Reds v Warrington Wolves (1700)

Leeds Rhinos v Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (1900)

 

Sunday May 2

 

Castleford Tigers v Catalans Dragons (1400)

Wigan Warriors v Huddersfield Giants (1600)

St Helens v Hull Kingston Rovers (1800)

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I don't mind rugby league, but I much prefer union. I can't get excited about league if there are no Scottish teams, and with the national side made up of Australian, English and Kiwi players without any Scots.

 

I like both Union and League, but I think that scrum is the fault of this sport. Scrum is boring, and must be replaced by free kick/penalty kick.

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I like both Union and League, but I think that scrum is the fault of this sport. Scrum is boring, and must be replaced by free kick/penalty kick.

 

 

... aye right mate ... and goalkeepers should be naked, cricket should replace the stumps with a door, baseball should play with a tennis racquet and downhill skiers should replace their skis with a bin-lid :wall:

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Give it a go lads n' lassies.Many of the Aussie teams have players who hail from Scottish decent,Ian Henderson of the NZ Warriors for instance.

Almost half of the fans are young girls and women too!

A very physical game and the skilful players like to throw the ball around causing great excitement in forward play.I

follow the Penrith Panthers here in the NRL and they have acouple of exciting players and regularly pull in around 15,000 fans to home games.

Edited by thistledome
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Give it a go lads n' lassies.Many of the Aussie teams have players who hail from Scottish decent,Ian Henderson of the NZ Warriors for instance.

Almost half of the fans are young girls and women too!

A very physical game and the skilful players like to throw the ball around causing great excitement in forward play.I

follow the Penrith Panthers here in the NRL and they have acouple of exciting players and regularly pull in around 15,000 fans to home games.

 

 

I'm a big League fan and am a season ticket holder for the Warriors here in the NRL. I've got my Scotland Rugby League shirt signed by Hendo (who is a great bloke and hugely proud of his Scottish roots, by the way)

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Sorry, not attending this forum as frequently as the previous one and just saw this.

 

 

To the poster who asked above, I France A beat us 25-18, highlights here

 

The SRL are still keen on getting a professional team I believe, although it has been a year since I was on the West of Scotland Service Area Board in the SRL so I am not up to date.

 

The Scottish League Conference is run parallel to the Rugby League Conference in England, an amateur and developmental league at the lowest level of English Rugby League. There are now 8 teams in the league (although membership has been quite transient, as some clubs tend to last for only a few seasons - while others such as Edinburgh, Fife and Easterhouse are more established). Until this season, there are usually a couple of teams who are very good, and could maybe compete with lower levels of semi-pro or part-time teams, while the rest tend to be making up the numbers. The Playoff winner is entered into the first round of the Challenge Cup, and for the first time last season advanced though two rounds of the competition (which is surprising as this takes place during our Union season and the squad hadn't trained or played together all year (League is only played in Summer in Scotland) - I'm not sure how they got on this season though.

 

I don't really think there would be much support for a Pro team in Scotland though - Murrayfield Magic as a one-off event doesn't even manage to pull in 60,000 over the two days and fans of all the English Super League teams attend this. I was there in 2009 and the only Scottish accents I heard were the guys I played rugby league with and they were there on free tickets to organise the Ball Boys while I got a Hospitality ticket as the Chairman of one of the SRL teams.

 

 

sigesige00, the scrum is boring?! It is boring in RL where scrums are a foregone conclusion, and possibly at international level where scrum halfs aren't penalised for feeding in the scrum, but they are a neutral way of getting play started without conceeding too great an advantage for a minor infringement.

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i like both League and Union depending on the competition. tri-nations or the six nations for Union and NRL and State of Origins for League.

 

harder to get to watch the latter two in the States than it used to be.

 

i like the six tackle rule in League, it's like downs in American and Canadian football, but used to speed up the game.

 

thing is, League is so staunchly working class and that market has been spoken for in Scotland for 150 years that it seems too tough a market to crack. could you really expect to generate the same passion football experiences for a sport with no strong history north of the border?

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