Yep and with boxing you get 3/4 month builds (and often several months beforehand of will they/won't they even face each other) in what could be their only meeting. Tricky to try replicate that when you're playing weekly games and you could face teams 4/5 times a season.

I don't think hyping it up in the same way as boxing will work. Firstly the coaches don't want it as it gives the opposition a leg up (there's a reason other than good decorum as to why coaches generally don't slag off another team) and club's management don't want it because you look daft when you lose.



What I think could be done is the introduction of "heritage" rounds. Each week for the first 12 rounds of SL, a different team would have their "heritage" (or whatever you wanted to call it) round.

Each club would produce a heritage kit which would obviously be worn in any heritage games they played in.

Maybe designate a heritage decade each year so that all clubs are roughly similar?

Each club, when the fixtures are being organised, could pick their opposition for their heritage game.



So if it was taking place this year,

Say we designated the 60's for this year. So all clubs would produce a heritage shirt from the 60's and, ideally, pick an opposition who they had a big/important/memorable game against in the 60's.

So for instance Leeds could pick Wakefield with the Watersplash Final.



It gives clubs some extra basis from which to market that game and we'd have the RFL additionally marketing each clubs heritage round. So the entire focus of the sport for that week is on the club whose heritage round it is. Obviously get the game on Sky with some decent videos for them to market the game in the week too.

Good idea, just so long as they don't flood the pitch too.

Heritage round - trouble is you'd have to get Sky TV to recognise that there was RL prior to 1996.

Maybe Sky could use the 'infidelity factor.' Im sure you would of increased the audience if Massey v Carney was publicised.

I thought those adverts were asking for problems back in 2012. Was a Good Friday 8PM kick off I think and it was a bit naughty in the ground.



RL doesn't like to play on animosity too much but publicising the rivalries could generate more interest from new fans.

Can't believe it was as far back in 2003 when Wires got themselves in bother over the three eyed fish poster when hyping up the local derby with Widnes. www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/a ... warrington

Can't believe it was as far back in 2003 when Wires got themselves in bother over the three eyed fish poster when hyping up the local derby with Widnes. www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/a ... warrington

Quote shinymcshine="shinymcshine"Can't believe it was as far back in 2003 when Wires got themselves in bother over the three eyed fish poster when hyping up the local derby with Widnes. www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/a ... warrington'" Of course this was the idea of Sean Mellor, who is Joe's dad.

Quote shinymcshine="shinymcshine"Can't believe it was as far back in 2003 when Wires got themselves in bother over the three eyed fish poster when hyping up the local derby with Widnes. www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/a ... warrington'" Of course this was the idea of Sean Mellor, who is Joe's dad.

That never dampened the Auld Firm rivalry in Glasgow. They used to play four league games and then face each other in the two cups as well, almost every season.

WE should do anything (within reason) to generate interest in the games, I think it's called Marketing.

Most SL clubs pay people to do this and some are better than others.



The problem that the game has is that we have very, very little national exposure, due to the game (at the top level) being played in small parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire (I'm including Cheshire in with Lancashire

).