Mr Snoodle wrote:Stuff like this is why I don't go to the "big games" anymore. There is no way on God's green earth you would catch me at Wembley in a couple of weeks, nor at OT if we make it there either.
I go to the match to watch the rugby, not to get aled up and not give a toss about anyone else. And as for the 'industrial language' chanting, I for one think it paints the club & the town in a very sad light.....but maybe I've gone too sensitive in my old age?
The ‘industrial language’ chanting has been part and parcel of our support base for as long as I can remember. It isn’t a new phenomenon.
I've been known, on occasion, to let a Jake Connor or a Jack Welsby know that I wouldn't invite them to my birthday party, or even to wave my best regards to a departing Saints fan or two, but the fella behind me jumping on my back calling Moore a "F###### t###" all afternoon went a bit further than I felt comfortable with. I get that it is a way to let off steam but I wouldn't have taken my six year old.
Joined: Apr 09 2010 Posts: 13215 Location: The Moon
We still not as bad as football for language, some of the stuff you can hear from what the microphones pick up make rugby fan’s saintly in comparison. The thing is it is creeping more and more into our sport, I find it rather sad. I have no issue with asking the ref as he forgot his glasses etc but some stuff is way over the mark these days. No it’s not about being over sensitive or keeping the woke people whining just some things should not be said.
Swearing happens on a day to day basis in most people’s lives and not much concern is given. but on the terraces its frowned upon, I find that a bit bizarre.. as for the bottle throwing hopefully the club acts swiftly and efficiently taking the necessary steps to banning those involved.
Last edited by Bobby Digital on Mon May 20, 2024 8:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Rugby league crowds for many years have had unpleasant elements.
I think crowd behaviour has moved along with shifts of the type of people who go to the games.
When I started watching in the late 80s and early 90s, rugby league crowds could be quite intimidating. The crowds were mostly male and there were a lot of young lads who were up for a fight. It was a bit like football with semi-organised hooliganism, and when we were playing teams like Widnes, Saints or Hull there was usually something kicking off at the train station or outside certain pubs.
Then in the early 2000s there was a big marketing push to make rugby league a family sport, which worked to a certain extent. You had a lot more families and a lot more female fans which diluted the tanked up guys. There were still often stories of crowd trouble on forums like this but one feature of the 2000s from my memory was I would often come back from a game and read 13 page threads of people arguing about crowd trouble when I'd never actually seen any trouble myself. It was probably isolated incidents.
From the 2010s onwards I think the demographics shifted again. I don't have any statistics to back this up but just from what I observed, RL hasn't had quite the same happy family feel. You do find some "hangers on" who turn up especially at the big games who don't appear to be very clued up about the team but who see it as an excuse for a booze up and to behave like a total idiot. It's different from the angry hardcore which I remember from the 80s and 90s.
One thing I would say though for people who are worried about going to Wembley is Wembley doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as the Grand Final at Old Trafford. London is a long way to travel for a casual fan and the kick off is in the afternoon. Very different from Manchester with an evening kick off where anybody who supports a RL team other than Catalans can hop on a train in the morning, be in Manchester before lunchtime and spend 5-6 hours getting hammered.
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Sallys post reminded me of the time at the HJ when we played Hull fc.probably 2010 ish my memory isnt that great for dates. After the game outside around the Rodney was like a battle ground with it kicking off big time. I’ve never seen anything like it since. Wigan used to have a rowdy bunch called the big aunties or something but the most aggro they caused was sticking stickers in the toilets..
I remember complaining about the chants and language at matches decades ago and was met with a hail of 'disagreement' from 'fans'. The common response was 'you hear worse in the street' - or words to that effect. But I still find it extremely unsavory, and the world has moved on and many others - I would argue a higher proportion - find it increasingly unsavory and outdated in the 21st century. It won't stop me going to the matches but I can imagine it putting off some families. And if we want higher attendances and to grow our sport it's hardly a recipe for that. I cringe when I hear the 'swearing' chants on TV - as others have said it paints the sport in a bad light. And it's all so unnecessary. I feel the wits who come up with these chants are more than capable of coming up with some without expletives.
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