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Guest Howaythetoon

It's shite and boring and I fucking hate the fairweather Six Nations fans who flood the pubs every year and those stupid inflatable Guinness posts when the footy is on. Fuck off.

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League is great to watch. It's pretty much non stop and the 5 tackle rule encourages attacking play. I've been to the last 3 Magic Weekends at SJP and thoroughly enjoyed every one. Already booked our tickets for this year. Can't get away with Union. I just find it too stop start and the game never seems to flow.

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Rugby League is fucking awful man, it's so contrived and sterile,  just a stupid attempt to satisfy the masses to make the game more "exciting", the popularity of the league game as opposed to union is all the evidence you need to have to see which one has the most potential to grab peoples attention. 

 

Honestly don't get all the hate on here, this was a great chance for the City's Rugby team to gain some much needed exposure after what has been a fantastic season for them, that's all. I find the game to be an excellent one to both play and watch but it's not to everyone's tastes. I absolutely hate basketball, don't get the fascination with the ridiculous amount of scoring that goes on but would be absolutely stoked if the Eagles got the chance to showcase what they have done for the city in the same way.

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Rugby League is fucking awful man, it's so contrived and sterile,  just a stupid attempt to satisfy the masses to make the game more "exciting", the popularity of the league game as opposed to union is all the evidence you need to have to see which one has the most potential to grab peoples attention. 

 

Honestly don't get all the hate on here, this was a great chance for the City's Rugby team to gain some much needed exposure after what has been a fantastic season for them, that's all. I find the game to be an excellent one to both play and watch but it's not to everyone's tastes. I absolutely hate basketball, don't get the fascination with the ridiculous amount of scoring that goes on but would be absolutely stoked if the Eagles got the chance to showcase what they have done for the city in the same way.

 

Each to their own. I'd far sooner watch a game of Rugby League before Union. Well done to the Falcons for yesterday though. Seems it was a huge success. Would be good if a few of those fans got themselves along to Kingston Park to support them.

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Rugby League is fucking awful man, it's so contrived and sterile,  just a stupid attempt to satisfy the masses to make the game more "exciting", the popularity of the league game as opposed to union is all the evidence you need to have to see which one has the most potential to grab peoples attention. 

 

I'm pretty sure the relative popularities of Union and League are a geographical and cultural thing that has existed since the split back in 1895, rather than any particular preference based on the rules or excitement of the game. Same goes for Australia and the similar geographical divisions that exist there between the two codes.

 

It's not like football where the sport is structurally completely different, and you can trace its global spread and popularity compared to other games based on how easy it is to pick up and play. The two rugby codes are far more similar in their make-up and any disparity in popularity is largely because they have just occupied different geographical niches. By and large they don't compete against each other, as they fulfill the same role in their respective regions of preference.

 

If Rugby Union had made the rule changes that League did and League had stayed the same post-split the two sports would still be in exactly the same positions of global status as they are now. As in Union would have still remained the more global colonial sport established in the 1800s, and league would still be the small minority sport played in the North West.

 

Attempts to establish Rugby League World Cups and the likes are largely nonsensical really. It's like trying to establish a Canadian Rules Football World Cup.

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Objectively rugby is probably a bit better to watch than football...

 

Objectively it's not.

 

Evidence = national and international attendance and TV figures

 

Rarely if ever do you see an empty seat at Twickenham, as opposed to Wembley for England games. The International games are extremely popular.

 

The English national team are hopeless at football and boring to watch which is why Wembley is hardly ever full whereas the England Rugby Union team are one of the best teams in the World (up until the 6 Nations just gone!).

 

There's no comparison in Popularity between football and Rugby which would suggest many more people enjoy watching football to Rugby.

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Don't the "superior" rugby types look down their noses even more at rugby league than they do at football ?

 

Oh yes. I fucking hate league. Awful awful sport. The fans are bellends too. There’s no segregation at Union games, yet at League it’s worse than some football games you go to with the vitriol and hate towards one another

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That sounds like it would make it much better. One of the worst things about rugby union is the lack of tribalism that removes all sense of sporting drama from the contest.

 

Also the fact that if England are playing, the league campaign just carries on so you could get the top clubs being penalised for having a handful of players off playing for England.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2018/02/15/premiership-clubs-put-signing-english-players-six-nations/

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Don't the "superior" rugby types look down their noses even more at rugby league than they do at football ?

 

Oh yes. I fucking hate league. Awful awful sport. The fans are bellends too. There’s no segregation at Union games, yet at League it’s worse than some football games you go to with the vitriol and hate towards one another

 

Yet Newcastle has hosted the Magic weekend  for the past 3 seasons, 12 different sets of Rugby League fans all drinking in the same city with virtually no trouble other than the odd isolated incident. Now imagine if 12 different football teams were all playing in the same weekend in such a small city. There would be hell on!

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Don't the "superior" rugby types look down their noses even more at rugby league than they do at football ?

 

Oh yes. I fucking hate league. Awful awful sport. The fans are bellends too. There’s no segregation at Union games, yet at League it’s worse than some football games you go to with the vitriol and hate towards one another

 

Yet Newcastle has hosted the Magic weekend  for the past 3 seasons, 12 different sets of Rugby League fans all drinking in the same city with virtually no trouble other than the odd isolated incident. Now imagine if 12 different football teams were all playing in the same weekend in such a small city. There would be hell on!

 

Good point.

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Don't the "superior" rugby types look down their noses even more at rugby league than they do at football ?

 

Oh yes. I fucking hate league. Awful awful sport. The fans are bellends too. There’s no segregation at Union games, yet at League it’s worse than some football games you go to with the vitriol and hate towards one another

 

Yet Newcastle has hosted the Magic weekend  for the past 3 seasons, 12 different sets of Rugby League fans all drinking in the same city with virtually no trouble other than the odd isolated incident. Now imagine if 12 different football teams were all playing in the same weekend in such a small city. There would be hell on!

 

I'm sure there was footage a year or so ago of it all kicking off inside the stadium...?

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Don't the "superior" rugby types look down their noses even more at rugby league than they do at football ?

 

Oh yes. I fucking hate league. Awful awful sport. The fans are bellends too. There’s no segregation at Union games, yet at League it’s worse than some football games you go to with the vitriol and hate towards one another

 

Yet Newcastle has hosted the Magic weekend  for the past 3 seasons, 12 different sets of Rugby League fans all drinking in the same city with virtually no trouble other than the odd isolated incident. Now imagine if 12 different football teams were all playing in the same weekend in such a small city. There would be hell on!

 

I'm sure there was footage a year or so ago of it all kicking off inside the stadium...?

 

Aye a Leeds fan fighting with a Hull fan. Lasted all of 10 seconds and that is as bad as it's got in the 3 years it's been held here.

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Don't the "superior" rugby types look down their noses even more at rugby league than they do at football ?

 

Oh yes. I f***ing hate league. Awful awful sport. The fans are bellends too. There’s no segregation at Union games, yet at League it’s worse than some football games you go to with the vitriol and hate towards one another

 

This isn't quite true ib my experience (although I'd imagine it would apply to a couple of fixtures like the Hull derby or Wigan vs St Helens.) I agree that League is a little more tribal and "edgey" than union appears to be, and there is generally an away "end" at all super league grounds. But fans do mix wearing colours in the other stands if there is either a high demand among away fans or people want to watch it with their mates who support the home team. Went to watch Leeds vs Castleford at Headingley stood in the South Stand last year and a couple of us were loudly celebrating every Cas try with no bother or nastiness at all. For context an NUFC equivalent would maybe be Boro fans celebrating goals in the middle of the old gallowgate.

 

As far as the game goes, I prefer League as it's faster and more end-to-end so I find it a bit more exciting. Find it hard to get into a game of Union as so much hinges on refereeing decisions that I just don't understand having never played it.  Just seems like everyone falls down in a big heap and it's a lottery as to which way the referees arm points?!? Got nowt against the sport like, each to their own and fair play to the Falcons for pulling off a successful event and generating a bit of excitement in the city.

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As far as the game goes, I prefer League as it's faster and more end-to-end so I find it a bit more exciting. Find it hard to get into a game of Union as so much hinges on refereeing decisions that I just don't understand having never played it.  Just seems like everyone falls down in a big heap and it's a lottery as to which way the referees arm points?!?

 

The breakdown is Union's greatest asset and biggest problem. The fact that play doesn't stop after a tackle is what most distinguishes it from league, and adds an extra flow and variation to the patterns of play. On the other hand, what's legal and what's not is often at the discretion of the ref, and varies over time with custom and practice. They are endlessly having to change the rules to keep up with what players are trying to do.

 

 

 

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