The End of the Affair (June 2006)
The love affair is over. The young and unattached who left their homely surroundings and the cobbled streets of Oldham, Wigan, and elsewhere to seek fame and fortune amid the bright city lights are facing the harsh realities of a bust up with the rich and powerful suitors who courted them for a convenient marriage.
The single and ambitious types who flirted with delusions of fame, fortune, and celebrity status and who eloped at dead of night with a dashing, wealthy, entrepreneur and the promise of a lifetime of excitement are returning home much wiser, albeit carrying a full suitcase.
Those in high places who once considered walking out with an attractive, starry eyed debutant on their arm to be a sign of their significance and importance are turning away those who still flock to their doors for comfort and keep. The love affair is over.
But Seriously:
Sceptics who see the relationships and happenings between the two codes of rugby over the past twelve months, and especially in more recent weeks, as being akin to a jilted lover's tale are, however, way off the mark. For what we are seeing is the natural workings of two types of rugby which, after more than a century of bitter struggle and strife, can exist alongside each other as professional bodies and can provide opportunities for any player, at any time, to realise his full potential both on and off the field in either code.
Just as the ardent lover has his or her mood swings so it will be with both the 13 and 15 a side codes. After a decade of the likes of Phil Larder, Joe Lydon, Dave Alred, Iestyn Harris, Henry Paul, Nathan McAvoy, Matt Cook and others crossing the once 'great divide' from rugby league we now see many of them, in true romantic fashion, returning to their first love. Some, after their flirtatious habits, have even been shown the door and, like the outcast waif, look to find a roof to put over their heads. They will and they must.
For that is the future for both Union and League. Players will come and go between the two games with greater regularity, the two sports will combine with greater flexibility in regard to the use of pitches and facilities, and both will borrow ideas off each other on and off the pitch. Like the great supermarket chains, League and Union offer similar goods and promotions in different packages. And, as when shopping, the excitement lies in sampling those differences.
So, League devotees can welcome any exiles back to the fold. They can enjoy again the talents of a Iestyn Harris or a Henry Paul. And, if only Andy Farrell can regain full fitness, the Union supporters can delight and take pride in seeing yet another strike out for the big city lights and a taste of something different.
Ray French
The love affair is over. The young and unattached who left their homely surroundings and the cobbled streets of Oldham, Wigan, and elsewhere to seek fame and fortune amid the bright city lights are facing the harsh realities of a bust up with the rich and powerful suitors who courted them for a convenient marriage.
The single and ambitious types who flirted with delusions of fame, fortune, and celebrity status and who eloped at dead of night with a dashing, wealthy, entrepreneur and the promise of a lifetime of excitement are returning home much wiser, albeit carrying a full suitcase.
Those in high places who once considered walking out with an attractive, starry eyed debutant on their arm to be a sign of their significance and importance are turning away those who still flock to their doors for comfort and keep. The love affair is over.
But Seriously:
Sceptics who see the relationships and happenings between the two codes of rugby over the past twelve months, and especially in more recent weeks, as being akin to a jilted lover's tale are, however, way off the mark. For what we are seeing is the natural workings of two types of rugby which, after more than a century of bitter struggle and strife, can exist alongside each other as professional bodies and can provide opportunities for any player, at any time, to realise his full potential both on and off the field in either code.
Just as the ardent lover has his or her mood swings so it will be with both the 13 and 15 a side codes. After a decade of the likes of Phil Larder, Joe Lydon, Dave Alred, Iestyn Harris, Henry Paul, Nathan McAvoy, Matt Cook and others crossing the once 'great divide' from rugby league we now see many of them, in true romantic fashion, returning to their first love. Some, after their flirtatious habits, have even been shown the door and, like the outcast waif, look to find a roof to put over their heads. They will and they must.
For that is the future for both Union and League. Players will come and go between the two games with greater regularity, the two sports will combine with greater flexibility in regard to the use of pitches and facilities, and both will borrow ideas off each other on and off the pitch. Like the great supermarket chains, League and Union offer similar goods and promotions in different packages. And, as when shopping, the excitement lies in sampling those differences.
So, League devotees can welcome any exiles back to the fold. They can enjoy again the talents of a Iestyn Harris or a Henry Paul. And, if only Andy Farrell can regain full fitness, the Union supporters can delight and take pride in seeing yet another strike out for the big city lights and a taste of something different.
Ray French