Union vs League

For any rugby league fan there comes a time through conversation with non followers when you have to explain it's rugby league you're talking about not rugby union

"that's the six nations...."

One of the next discussions you get into is why there are such differences. For me there are a number of fundamental differences between union & league.

One critical factor is that of PR and perception. The PR machine driving union quite clearly makes the players national household names. Ask yourself how many south of Knutsford know who Sam Tomkinson is, what he does and moreover the merits he has already achieved within our sport. How many people knew of Chris Ashton when he left Wigan and how many will have heard of him now?

The players are the stars of our sport let's raise their profile which surely will have a positive effect on our game and the public perception it carries. Let's hope the powers that be invest in a more powerful PR machine.

There is nothing more disappointing when watching our sport on the TV to see main grand stands almost empty. One of this seasons big games was St. Helens vs Warrington in February. The game was a marketeers dream. Two great clubs, lots of history, lots of passion and both with lots of supporters. In fact on the evening there was 10514 fans at the Stobart Stadium along with the brilliant Sky cameras. However one stand was full and the other was almost empty - which one, the one on public view - public perception - very poor........

In an article by Sky pundit and former player Phil Clarke he says:

"I appreciate a good game of rugby when I see it and am not blinkered in my view. We do have poor games of rugby league to watch at times, remember the contest between the Crusaders and the Bulls recently (Feb 2011)"

As Phil says as rugby fans I'm sure we can appreciate both codes when the quality on the pitch is high

The Crusaders vs Bulls game had a very poor 2600 attendance. - this is supposed to be Super League - not Sunday league...

Let's spread the word and get our ruling body to invest in strong PR and let's shout from the roof tops about a fantastic sport that we all love....