Leader the sport is played nationwide funny how the article says the numbers playing it are falling...in Bristol where I live for instance they have had to introduce an 'A' Team due to the record numbers of players playing League in Bristol,its also being played in a lot of the schools here as well...perhaps Bristol is just bucking the trend but I see no signs of the sport being on its death bed here albeit at amateur level...here check for yourself......http://www.bristolsonics.com/

Barra thanks

Hope that example is not just a sole one, I think Leeds got a player form there a year ago so they must produce some decent lads.

The stats are worrying in that article though. 500,000 play union, some way to go on that if we have dropped to 44,000 sadly.

I heard about those figures and it does not add up.

There is something about each player having to play so many games in a season to be counted. The RFL said bad winter weather in the north had meant many players had not played enough games to be counted. The RFL said the switch to summer will mean games won't be cancelled and players will in future play enough games to get over the threshold Sport England set. That's my take on it. There is no way the numbers would drop like that, by players simply abandoning the game. It's all about lies, damned lies and statistics

Leader they did Mike Coady a good lad I think he he still plays for Leeds.

a lot of players outside the heartlands play both codes...just thought I'd add that on

It would be interesting to know the background of the people who come to these conclusions,are they made up from people from Wigan,Bradford ,Hull etc.
Or maybe they come from Bath,Gloucester,Leicester etc,
Sport England does not ring true when you talk about the M62 corridor.
In other words is Sport England biased towards the Home Counties. As one Ex England Centre said

That can't possibly be a true account of things, those figures dropped to harsh in such a short period of time. I'd be expecting a drop in numbers after the olympics with children giving another sport a go before coming back to league.

The biggest long term move for RL in england at the moment is to finally change amateur rugby to a summer game. Junior numbers would increase as footballers would play in their off season, the game would be more attractive due to the warmer weather.

RL community always beleive if people try the game (watching or playing) they will come back so a switch to summer rugby at amateurs would take away the world most popular sport as competition and make the game more fun.

no league will never die union might it is so blxxxy boring it will die

I've been to a couple of Union games I nearly died of boredom......smoking is a safer habit

My 7yo nephew has just started playing, He would not have wanted to play if it was in the winter.

U8214 has hit the nail right on the head.............move R/L to the summer, start the trial games a few weeks after the junior football finals and who knows the numbers may increase by 25% by youngsters wanting to give league a go. There are potentialy thousands of kids out there wanting a run. I can only see it being of benefit......

to true sydney lets hope it happens we need to beat the Aussies some owe cant think of a better way can you

Judging by the crowds, popularity and media coverage, League is already half dead and Union is in the prime of it's life.

do they get crowds in Union?........I never watch it or visit the forums......come to think of it e-mc2 neither do you, is the Union forum that dull you don't even comment on your own sport, you closet Leaguie

In answer to original question "NO"

League is not dying despite the RFLs best efforts to kill it with the idiotic franchise system and the welsh experiment. Richard Lewis hang your head in shame

insidious does that include ditching the sport at an amateur level outside the heartlands as well?

Shake up needed at red hall if its not too late

bring back promotion and relegation who cares what the stadiums look like its the entertainment on the field I go to see...

Just out of interest.....what was the salary cap $$$$ when the promotion/relegation stopped.
Are the teams in a position to come up in financial position to be competitive because none of us want to go back to the days when we witnessed 60 point ball games.
Cheers

I used to enjoy it Syd it was great to see Barrow playing teams like Wigan,St Helens,Leeds & Bradford...sadly the RFL have closed off that avenue of happiness.

It's all new ground to me this relegation/promotion but I can see how it would get exciting towards the end of the season down the bottom as much as it would on the top of the table to a degree. Only yesterday I saw some highlights of an Italian football club being relegated down for the first time in 130-odd years and grown men in tears......along with the riots......I just can't imagine how a lower division club could afford to be competitive that's all, when bigger clubs struggle to get the corporate sponsorship required that's all...cheers.

Syd was that River Plate???? if so that was in Argentina..