Union or League - what did you start with?

[Patto.]

I voted in the raised on Rugby column, although I did play a year of soccer and two years league in primary, then twenty years playing heavens game plus another thirty supporting it. Soccer was very much against dad's wishes and league was only tolerated as it was a better option than soccer. I never followed any football team other than Rugby teams.

 

[Nelse]

My dad played Soccer and League when he was a young bloke, But when I was growing up, we lived up the road from a field called the Green at Kyle Bay, home of Blakehurst Rugby and my grandfather's nephew was running the juniors at the time. They got me down and its been the only sport I've enjoyed (and been better than mediocre at) since. Going to a Catholic school was also great. So it mostly a choice of convenience.

Dad now only watches rugby outside of origin and soccer world cups and my mum loves it even though every year she asks me what position I played and whether second rows were in the scrum. I was very suprised when during the RWC she asked who the ref was, and when she got the answer she exclaims "Bloody Kaplan! I hate him!" Can't remember where the second row is but can remember Kaplan...

 

[BPC]

Dad played union (Brisbane school), league (Brisbane first division) and then union (mighty Hornsby lions) but mainly follows league so grew up with league but never really 'got it'.

Then I went to a North Shore Catholic high school so steeped in union with many examples of teachers/coach rubbishing "Mungo football". I never actually played union at school though. Being 5'9" and 53 kilograms in Y12 was not a recommendation for contact sports so I played soccer instead but actually began to enjoy and appreciate union and followed it ever since. I watch the occasional soccer game or SOO match but don't 'follow' those codes.

I can state with pride that I have never watched a game of AFL in my life. Two hours of knock-ons and shitty tackling.

 

[wamberal]

I can state with pride that I have never watched a game of AFL in my life. Two hours of knock-ons and shitty tackling.

If you have never watched AFL, how do you know? I don't like it all that much these days, but that is probably because I do not care much who wins. Soccer ditto. Both games are intrinsically more interesting than league, because they are not as formulaic.

 

[TOCC]

rugby league was easier to understand when i was younger, i think thats why i enjoyed it more...

But these days, all teams employ similar tactics... Cowboys and West Tigers are the only two who are entertaining to watch..
The top teams like Storm, Broncos and St George all play percentage football and if you remove the number of tries from kicks 20m out from the opposition goal line then the scorelines would be halved.

Thats why i like rugby union these days, things like scrums and rucks might be boring for some to watch, but i enjoy the constant competing for the ball..

 

[suckerforred]

I can state with pride that I have never watched a game of AFL in my life. Two hours of knock-ons and shitty tackling.

If you get the oportunity to go to a live match, go. The TV coverage of AFL does not do it justice.

 

[BPC]

If you have never watched AFL, how do you know?

Purely personal prejudice.

Prejudice is a wonderful thing. It saves so much time and energy.

 

[Cutter]

Growing up, from when I was just running, we would go to watch the local rugby team play on saturday afternoons. I "played" "league" on the side of the field while the local team played from when I was tiny. I say league because it was probably less than 10 of us playing and you'd get tackled and everyone backed off while someone else had a run.

My school only had a league team until I went to high school and the local rugby club juniors didn't start until high school age as well. I played both league and union at high school and rugby for the local club. I then moved to Sydney to play rugby (and go to Uni). I don't watch league and don't read the results but I used follow Balmain because my uncle played for them. Another relative by marriage played for the Wallabies (and toured South Africa in 1963).

I didn't mind playing league but preferred (and was better at) rugby. I never played a competitive game of soccer. I played one game of AFL at school.

 

[matty_k]

Grew up playing hockey.
Watched league supporting Manly as my Grandfather played for them in their first year.
I remember being taken to some local union games in Grafton by my dad.
The first game I remember watching on tv is the Bledisloe match with Gregan's tackle.
I went to Joeys in 95-96 and haven't really looked back.

 

[fatprop]

I am a different category.

I played both until I was 17'ish (Rugby Saturday & League Sunday for a long time)
Then watched Eastwood play at Milner on Saturday afternoon and Parra Eels at Cumberland on the Sunday.

Then, girls, Colts and drinking made it all too hard with rugby's social life winning out

 

[Polynesian Warriors]

there was never any rugby league in samoa when i grew up so it was just rugby. all the males of playing age in our family played for our village team including my dad, uncles, cousins, helpers and two older brothers. anyone between the age of five and 19 played for their primary or high schools and both this competitions can sometimes lead to street battles between villages and also between schools that will rage on all week.
send to school in nz and played rugby for our primary school on wednesdays. i didnt even know what league was until some school friends asked me and my brother to come and play for their team. to this day some of those mates and our coach are still talking about our first game. we had no idea what the rules were but we somehow found the tryline on many occassion and gave out some brian lima hits that left opposition players lying all over the park.
played a bit of both and made several rep teams in auckland righty up to high school. at high school it was a different story it was rugby all the way and in nz school rugby is very much like high school football in america and the rest is history as they said.

 

[Garry Owen]

I began by following RL as a nipper, Steve Rodgers was a personal hero, and didn't know much about Union until my old man roused me in the early hours to watch a touring Wallabies game in Europe. (My old man played both codes, but I only found this out when I started to play for our local Rugby club.) All I remember about the game was that Paul Mclean was flyhalf, and I was blown away that there was snow in the sideline gutters. Playing in the snow, WTF?

At high school I played RL, and remember coming across a team mate of mine talking to a science teacher about a Wallabies game from the previous weekend. The Teacher was mad on Union, and coached the school side. Within the year I made the first XV.

At Uni I played both, and remember coming across blokes watching a 4 nations match in a common room and being mesmerized by the different style of rugby game, and by the voice of Bill Mclaren. By second year I was only playing Union.

These days, I find it hard to sit through a game of RL, and only do it as a reason to have a beer with mates. Evolution complete.

 

[Train Without a Station]

My dad was a leaguie so I grew up playing league from under 6's through to about high school. From there I lost interest and preferred cricket. Spent my years 11 and 12 punching cones rather than playing sport but then played AFL in under 18s. Played that for a couple of years but when I realized I was too fat and too slow with no skill I moved to rugby and haven't looked back.

I still watch a bit of AFL and actually just moved down to Melbourne so i will likely be watching even more, but having started training with a Rugby team I doubt I will lose interest in the game played in heaven.

Like most guys, being brought up on League and moving to rugby, I can no longer stand League, primarily due to the way the game has evolved to an overcoached generic fest resembling none of what we grew up watching.

 

[Sully]

I hate the "Game played in heaven" tag. I think it makes us sound up ourselves. Hope it gets lost somewhere along the way to Rugby's dominance in this country.

 

[spooony]

Union. Never saw a league game or knew that it existed until we moved to the city with better TV reception lol True story

 

[Jethro Tah]

Is there any way to ensure the marketing people at the ARU see this thread? Surely someone with a bit of marketing nous could make use of this info for the better of the game.

 

[p.Tah]

Is there any way to ensure the marketing people at the ARU see this thread? Surely someone with a bit of marketing nous could make use of this info for the better of the game.

You'd hope they would be reading this Paris. Any decent marketer would be scouring forums where 'consumers' discuss their 'product'... And their competitors for that matter. They would have paid a market research firm a bundle to get this sort of information. They should send G&GR and Swat some free test tickets!... Wouldn't that be good PR from the ARU?!!

 

[Swat]

You'd hope they would be reading this Paris. Any decent marketer would be scouring forums where 'consumers' discuss their 'product'... And their competitors for that matter. They would have paid a market research firm a bundle to get this sort of information. They should send G&GR and Swat some free test tickets!... Wouldn't that be good PR from the ARU?!!

They should definitely send me some free tickets... I'll even do a write up about it, especially since I'm a rural australian from a town just north of the victorian border I'm up against a heap of die hard league fans and AFL nutters. Could be good PR. Plus I promise not to go the game in black face...maybe

 

[Swat]

Just thinking about the Radike tribute boys, if my favourite player is Rob Horne does it count as support if I rock up on crutches with one arm in a sling?

 

[BPC]

You'd hope they would be reading this Paris. Any decent marketer would be scouring forums where 'consumers' discuss their 'product'... And their competitors for that matter. They would have paid a market research firm a bundle to get this sort of information.

They will probably be advertising shortly for an unpaid intern to start doing some market research. It's hard to believe that ARU market research is happening already.