The problem you've got is that it would just end up being Rugby Union.



League is not big enough to have a say in what goes on, the union purists would object to the league influence, and the league lot would desert the new game because they find union slow and boring.



Within 10 years, we'd have THREE forms of rugby. Union, League and the hybrid.



I take the view that RL should now try to distance itself from RU. RU have cleverly engineered a monopoly on the use of the word Rugby. Well, if they want it, let them have it - we can call ourselves League, or even RFL. We already refer to the NFL, NBA, AFL etc, so why not RFL?



Then, and only then, will people 'get' that RL is a completely different sport to its union counterpart - too different to be merged into it, for sure - and only then will it be taken seriously as a sport in its own right, and not just a northern way of playing rugby.

Just take a look at the reaction when you mention the 'M' word in the same sentence as Wakey and Cas .

That should give you an idea of what reaction you will get . If teams are not prepared to merge with a neighbour that plays the same sport , then I very much doubt they would entertain the idea of a merge with another team AND a change of the sport that their team plays .

This BS has been suggested 1000s of times over the last 100 years. Havent you got anything better to talk about?

I agree with you regarding union taking over and we would end up with three codes of rugby,no thanks.



As for our game dropping the name rugby why should we.



As far as I am concerned rugby is RL,stuff union let them think they have claimed the name rugby,couldn't care less.

In fairness Union has been around longer than league

stop this hybrid talk please!



Rugby League fans dont want it.

No it has not. They were both the same game, started at Rugby school. It was the northern clubs that broke away (1895) & the clubs carried on with the same rules they just evolved. Union & League are nothing like they were at the time of the split but our history is shared before the split even if the Union try to deny it.

Phipps says that the reason that a unification game was tried in Australia is that RL crowds are down. In fact NRL crowds were the highest ever last year if you include both the regular season and the finals. See here.

[urlhttp://stats.rleague.com/rl/crowds/summary.html[/url

For RU neither super 15 nor club rugby publish regular attendance figures but the crowds in both competitions were certainly well down a year ago. Final figures are not yet available for either code for this year.

yep spot on.



excellent post

Only an idiot would think that the 2 codes didn't originate from the same game, Rugby Football. Where has the IRB denied the history of the two games being shared? Is it available in a published and accredited link, or is it an opinion?



As for Unification...stupid idea.



League has it's strengths at club level, Union at International.....as has been seen at Harlequins.....your average Union fan has no interest in League and the same goes for the other way around. Same at Leeds.



As a Union convert, I can honestly say that they are two totally different sports with different sets of skills required.



at the risk of being burnt at the stake.....this website is actually a pretty good read

[urlhttp://www.rugbyfootballhistory.com/originsofrugby.htm[/url

interesting indeed...

[urlhttp://www.rugbyfootballhistory.com/Schism.html[/url

The two codes stand on their own two feet. Hybrid would just create a third code.



Whats interesting is that kids play play a hybrid game. When my kids played in U7's (Union) it was 7's with 6 tags and a handover...........sound familiar. At U10's they still played 7's but introduced scrums but no lineouts.



I once read somewhere a quote about 'Union being great for even the unsporting big kids', to be honest my eldest is no great rugby player but he's 5' 8" only just 12 years old so he does OK in Union. Younger boy (see avatar) thinks he's Jonathan Thurston ala scrum cap and flashy boots, and too be honest he's pretty good.

IF IT WERE TRUE IT WOULD BE AN EXCELLENT POST... THE REALITY IS THAT THE GAME IS MUCH... MUCH OLDER (sorry didn't mean to shout) the game evolved from a series of rules played at different public schools across England... the common [imyth [/iis that our game was founded at Rugby school by William Webb Ellis 'pick up the ball and running with it'...





the reality is that all codes of football have the same root, and all games evolved over time... it just happens that 2 of the codes have taken a more recent diversion, and both claim the same name!