I don't believe the standard has dropped if anything it improves each year.

But if you believe the standards have gone down that is up to you but most people I speak to believe it get's better each and every season.

…so you know Eddie and Stevo quite well then Adam?

Who ever mentioned them?

I do not really watch one club and maybe because you watch Wakefield every week where the standards have improved then perhaps this is why you have come to this conclusion, i go to see different teams throughout the year and in my opinion across the board standards have slipped.

If you compare the interntaional sides from the last 10 years I think you will see the quality of player noticably drop off in the last 5 years.

If you look at the gulf in quality now from domestic SL to the first few games in the NRL it is scary.

I don't agree.

I watch Wakey every week and we have improved each season for the past few years IMO.

And across the board I think the standards have gone up. I see 2 games on sky each week, see highlights from every game and also go to the odd local game if I have the spare time if Wakey are not playing.

There are some quality players in the England team but none of them can play together well, seems like it's to do with the Leeds V Saints rival after recent stories. But if you look at the way they play in SL most of them are top quality players IMO.
So if that is the case DROP THEM and get some of the younger lads in who will play for the country not matter who they are playing with and I believe we would see a difference in performances.

Again its a question of quality. SL is there comfort zone and they look good because they are used to that pace and intensity of game. Up to 5 years ago for me this increased with the advent of SL but since then i think they have gone backwards.

The lack of basic skills ability to pass accuratley and catch has nothing to do with team cohesion in my opinion, it is the basic failings of the game in the UK. I would recommend watching of you get a chance the Cantebury v Manley game from round 1 of the NRL played in some of the worst rain i have ever seen, it was stunning the pace and skills on display in near impossible conditions, there are no quality outside backs in SL anymore we have not have halves for a long long time but they were a step up from what we have now, the backrowers in this country are also shocking compared to the names of the not too distant past.


In my opinion a failure to actually coach by most coaches, but i would say not Kear, has seen the skill level, pace and flair of players slip, and sadly from what i have seen this year the trend has continued.

I guess though we will have to agree to disagree on this one.

So what you saying about Kear?

As for NRL I find it rather boring, but maybe that is because I am used to SL? When I watched the world club final Manly blew Leeds away IMO

i have to agree with JonH on this one.

There are some great games in SL but i very rarely see bad games in the NRL (quality wise) and the skill levels are a step above, even before you get to State of Origin standard. If it wasn't for Wakey defying critics etc i would have watched alot less SL over the past 2 seasons and more NRL.

I heard Barry Mac going on about how stale and defence orientated the NRL is compared to the enetrtaining SL and i nearly spat out my coffee; i usually agree with what he says but on this i think he has been spending too much time with Eddie & Stevo.

I find myself agreeing slightly in what jonh is saying in regards to skill levels but i do feel the entertainment on off now is better than anytime in the SL era even though the skill levels may have dropped.

I can fully understand why richer clubs would want to spend more cash to improve their team and be the best.

I was against SL, i was against franchises and i was against the salary cap but i have been turned, the skill level in a game is not the be all and end all. You can not deny jon that there are more games now where the result is difficult to predict compared with just 3/4 years ago and it is making the game better for it, when Wigan where the all spending superpower they played marvellous rugby but my god what a boring 10 years we had as spectators, Wigan for me killed the challenge cup with the way they won it for fun, even Wigan fans at the time where saying how it was not the same.

If we stick with the salary cap as it is for say 2/3 years the leveling off will mean an even greater chance of other teams being able to win something, once we are on a level playing field where all clubs can spend the cap then we should look at increasing/altering it.