Bring back the scrum

Rugby League as a spectator sport is like an old race horse that has passed its prime. If you study the history of the sport, its clear that since the late 90's the sport is on a steady decline in terms of popularity, respectability, entertainment, class and professionalism. There is not one single reason for this decline, but one has to point the finger at NRL executives for a series of poor strategic decisions.

First, lets start by reminiscing about the good old days and discuss what made them so good. In the 80's there were scrums. The scrums you see these days are not really scrums but a pathetic display of big men reluctantly bending over without any meaning. Forwards, especially front rowers, actually had skills like hooking, eye-gouging, elbow dipping, rib-tickling and many more tricks that were used to try to win a scrum against the feed - a rare occurrence in those days, but near impossible now. Half-backs used to get penalised for feeding a ball into the second row, now they are expected to do so. Bring back the scrum, and we'll see a more entertaining game. It just adds another aspect to the game.

One of the worst rules ever made - the one that penalizes the defending team when the attacking team has poor ball security. Too often we see a big oaf lose the ball in a tackle because he's holding it with one hand, then the defense is penalized. Rugby league is supposed to be rough and back in the old days, players had to hold onto that ball even when the tacklers were sticking fingers in their noses and giving them bunny killers on their heads.

Bring back Tina Turner - Rumour has it, shes coming back in 2008. How old is she now? 85?

Bring back spearhead tackles - Okay, this is a little extreme, but I've seen some guys get penalised recently for the weakest tackles just because the guys legs were lifted up a little.

Anyway, I'm sick of this shit. But right now there is a great game on between two of the best forward packs in the game : Panthers and Broncos.

Rhys Wesser you little beauty!