In other news, since I've dug up this thread, I feel like having a rant about the state of the game in this country. Because I'm bored. And because it's an utterly infuriating farce.
The RFL have made mistake after mistake after mistake for years now. They sold their soul to Sky, who have taken the it for granted and seem to think the sport owes them something, only putting in a derisive bid for the rights to show the world cup, by all accounts. They've struggled to market the game, with Super League lacking a major sponsor for over a year now. The Super League clubs are at loggerheads with the RFL over the format of Super League beyond this season. Over the last few years, Bradford, Crusaders and Salford have all gone bust, and other clubs are looking like heading that way as well - Wakefield are in severe financial difficulties and are on the edge of administration by all accounts, and London Broncos (who've been a lost cause for about 15 years now) struggle to get attendances of more than 2,000, haven't got a ground to play at next season and currently only have a squad of five players anyway! And on top of that, playing figures at the grass roots are well down. Sport England's active people survey estimates that that number of adults who participate in rugby league once a month fell from 131,900 in 2008/2009 to 76,800 in 2011/2012.
The people who run the sport have let it down on every level. The whole lot need lining up against a wall and shooting