Danny

There's just no "big" clubs in England currently, not compared to the three Spanish clubs, Bayern and Juve.

Even PSG do better than most of ours and they're gash.

5 hours ago, Smiley Culture said:

Of course Super League will be associated with Rugby League and the North (probably because thirteen of fourteen sides in Super League are northern) but for years the RFL supported London Broncos, who were hideously mismanagemed once Richard Branson left them. 

To say it's down to a name that the game won't grow is totally wrong. There are 'expansion' sides in Newcastle, London, Hemel, Oxford, Coventry and Cheltenham (with more likely to join in years to come) and vast amounts of amateur stuff across the country.

I don't think you can say it's purely down to a name that other sports have had success. Other sports have had success because they market their game and sell their game better than Rugby League, the name has little to do with it. 

Rugby League's biggest problem is that it's managed very insular. The powers that be are old fashioned, set in their ways and small minded. What a Rugby League needs is a lot of younger people at the top end of the game that can sell the game much better than the current bunch of people in charge. 

I did have a longer response written but my internet crashed as I posted it. But to sum up it was I don't disagree too much and you'll know more about the ins and outs of Super League and the RFL than me, but I do think the Super League branding holds the sport back and a Premiership title would do more to open it up on mainstream level for viewership.

Just now, Smiley Culture said:

There's no other competition called the Super League though, so there is no reason to need to differentiate. Super League's and The RFL's biggest problem is marketing and I don't mean in terms of the names used to describe competitions. 

No but Super League to me just screams "t'up nooorth" and not in a good way. Rugby League maybe growing down south but you'd be kidding yourself if you thought most people didn't see it as a northern sport and I think Super League is associated with that, I don't think it'll ever really grow down south or try to match nationally Unions popularity whilst it's still called Super League. To me the term Premiership is nationwide and there's a reason other codes/countries have used the term Premiership due to the marketing success is brings.

1 hour ago, Smiley Culture said:

Eh? Why would it? The Premiership is Rugby Union's elite level here so using the same name is just going to breed confusion. 

The South is one of the fastest growing areas for the game of Rugby League, its problem is so few clubs of a decent level and mismanagement in the past, especially at the London Broncos who've rebranded numerous times and played home games at something like twenty different venues since their inception in 1980. 

 

I just reckon if it was marketed as say "Rugby League Premiership" people would be able to differentiate quite easily, I mean Rugby Union doesn't have a hold on the term "Premiership" considering its been used for football and even NRL.

I don't think he's too wrong. It is bad for football if direct/defensive teams constantly win trophies. You'd rather watch a United of old than what the last two years has produced.

What do people on here think about a Super League re-brand? May not go down well with some, it may sound a bit silly or simple but I reckon changing it from Super League to Premiership would help change perceptions of the sport in the Midlands and the South.

Saracens and Gloucester both a bit pissed off at the timing of the Lions meet up before their European finals...

People who think British food is shit have never had proper British meals, go to a tasty countryside pub/restaurant and you're in heaven.

On the subject of Italian food, yes, yes and yes. I went to Rome on a lads weekend (weirdly ) and it's an amazing city, history all over the gaff and the food is something else. Going to Rome from the UK must be the equivalent of a yank going to London.

Currently stuck in Sydney working though I do plan to go to Melbourne and Perth, but once that's up the next plan is to go to South East Asia.

Edit: I said stuck in Sydney but I live in Bondi Beach so stuck is probably not the word ha

The middleweight division needs this fight as it was becoming a bit stagnant, won't be long after until one of them unifies against Saunders.

Glad there's a fight of this magnitude also because it makes Eubank Jr's IBO title even more pointless. 

That fight was one for Mexicans really, the best thing to come out of it is the triple G announcement

Watched the Haye v Bellew fight the other day....seemed pretty even up to the 6th with probably Haye edging it. Bellew didn't throw a lot but he didn't take any damage either, rematch would be interesting to see what happens if they'd taken the right that mate on with Haye fully fit.

So it looks to be London Irish vs Yorkshire Carnegie in the Championship Play-Off Final. Yorkshire beat Ealing on aggregate after both sides won away and Irish have a fairly healthy lead over Doncaster but the second leg is yet to be played.

Neither Ealing or Doncaster applied for promotion so only Yorkshire or Irish could go up anyway.

Fantastic stuff from Ealing, a few years ago in League 1 and now after the second season in 3 years in the Championship (relegated in the first) have reached a playoff semifinal. There's definitely plans for growth at Ealing which is good for west London as currently the only alternative are Harlequins  Irish maybe coming back to London via Brentford but have spent years out on Reading

On 30/04/2017 at 8:08 PM, Smiley Culture said:

Having more English and UK born players in matchday squads would weaken the reputation of the Premier League and would have little, if any, effect on the International side.

Completely agree. People state the opposite as if we used to have the best league, filled with great English players.

The worst thing is there is not a top club in the country that wouldn't give an English player a chance. Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, Ashley Young etc, not the sort of players you'd see at Barce, Real, Bayern...but they're English so they're in.

On 30/04/2017 at 8:08 PM, Smiley Culture said:

Having more English and UK born players in matchday squads would weaken the reputation of the Premier League and would have little, if any, effect on the International side.

Completely agree. People state the opposite as if we used to have the best league, filled with great English players.

The worst thing is there is not a top club in the country that wouldn't give an English player a chance. Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, Ashley Young etc, not the sort of players you'd see at Barce, Real, Bayern...but they're English so they're in.

Paddy McGuinness looks more like Lukaku than him 

1 hour ago, LFCMike said:

Might not hurt Joshua from a distance but I could see Fury winning a points decision if Fury is close to what he was at the point of the Klitschko fight

Potentially but he was fighting someone who didn't want it up close and personal...Joshua on the other hand loves it.

Fury's so lanky and has such an awkward fighting style, I don't think he'd harm AJ from a distance and AJ has a class uppercut which I could see him ending a fight with Fury with.

Don't really rate Wilder that much, massive right hand but that's about it. Still it's a big hit and would make for an interesting fight as he won't be holding back.

Incredible banter

If Bellew fights Wilder next that will be a disappointment, unless Joshua fights Parker.

Bellew needs to have his re-match vs Haye too, Bellew didn't really offer much before Haye rolled his ankle and Haye was starting to land some good shots too. Although I'm sure he wouldn't have much to lose if he did fight Wilder, Haye will still want to prove he's the better fighter.

Joshua proving he's one of the best, shat a brick when Joshua got knocked down

Big test for Joshua this, obviously supporting him.

The fights on from 7am tomorrow morning, need to find somewhere with it on

Thought that happened to Llorente?

If Joey Barton was that good he wouldn't be playing for clubs like Newcastle and QPR. Average Prem footballer with a decent eye for a pass.

English players always get a chance at top clubs, the only reason Fabian Delph, Stewart Downing, Ashley Young, Gareth Barry and James Milner played at the clubs they've been able to is because they're English and fill a quota.

Foreign imports don't hold back our youngsters, they improve them as they're often some of the best in Europe or the world at their age group.

People look back at pre-2000s with nostalgia but really the quality of football has improved in England since the influx of foreign players and our lads can only benefit.

Congrats phillywilly, how do you not wind her up? Like if my missus was pregnant she'd probably end up aborting me instead.