Called off because 12 players decided to break the 'bubble' protocol to go and have dinner. ****s them!
A footballer is feeding impoverished children, and rugby union players are going out and getting pissed, breaking a bubble and forcing a match to be called off. The national press loves to unfavourably compare footballers with rugby players whenever the opportunity arises. I would imagine that they'll be consistent in their judgements here too...
I'm not denying that, simply calling out the inconsistency of the treatment of rugby players and footballers in the national press (and beyond).
Union players aren't as high profile as footballers, except in NZ. Doubt if any of them spent £68,000.
Even taking their respective profiles into account, if a rugby player was doing something as worthwhile as what Rashford is doing, you'd be deafened by calls of "what are the footballers doing?". How many calls for rugby players to 'do something' have you heard on the back of what a footballer is doing? Worth mentioning that one of the rugby players was a former long-serving England captain, too, so not exactly low profile.
You can imagine the headlines and outcry if it were 12 England footballers getting pissed etc and a RU or RL player in Rashford's role. This will be tomorrows chip paper already. Remember when one the local RL clubs did the Christmas present run at HRI children's ward. Local paper all over it, Look North etc. City players had been the day before and done exactly the same plus several players donated their club Christmas turkey and hampers to the homeless..........not a mention, not a column inch anywhere.
Don't disagree. Same as the calls for footballers to take pay cuts or have their salaries capped. You don't hear similar calls for Lewis Hamilton on £800,000 a week to do so. And, unlike tax exile Hamilton, footballers pay tax here. No similar calls for golfers,tennis players etc. Or the pop and film stars who earn far more than footballers.
I do think tho both RL clubs have always been better at pr than city. And that’s pre Allams too. they certainly get out into the schools more than city have ever done
Cannot disagree with that although City do all sorts of stuff which goes under the radar and have done for a long time. We have had a PR problem long before the Allams came on the scene and it is no better now. I don't think we could ever win a football v rugby league popularity contest around here no matter what we do.
When I was at school in the 80s we'd often have City players doing stuff for us, more so than the rugby teams. You could get schoolboy passes easily, which was a great move, and John Davies did loads of stuff in the schools. My mum's school would have one day a season where all the children could get into a game for free and get City goodies and all that. They'd get one City player a year come in and talk to the kids/give a coaching session too. They never saw anything of the rugby teams. That all died off in the mid-90s. I think that there was a concerted effort round the move to the KC and then under Duffen to be involved in the community too. When you speak to Brendon Smurthwaite - former press officer at City - he was huge on us doing this. I know a cousin of mine turned up to school one day and had a kickaround with Jay-Jay Okocha, which is quite a thing to boast! One of the things I loved around that time was younger relatives telling me that all the lads at their schools supported City. In the 80s, I was always outnumbered by Liverpool and Man Utd fans. I hope it hasn't reverted back to that. I fear it has.
I couldn’t disagree more rich Don’t think city have been once with my three kids Over the last 20 years FC have been loads of times And in east hull rovers are always in those schools. when ever I see city in a school in hdm it’s at an East Riding village school.
Fair enough, and that's sad to read. Obviously not living in Hull anymore I'm reliant on reports from others, but my younger relatives were all in Hull schools around the 2000s and tended to get decent City representation there. It's such an easy win really. There's no excuses for not reaching out the the community in this way.
Great story on BBC News just now about Exeter RUFC - champions of Europe, and half the team are local. Proper rugby town.
Well, it was often said over half of City season ticket holders had East Riding postcodes. And, there is zero interest in rugby league outside of the HU postcode area.
The rugby clubs have had the benefit of reporters in the local mediawho act like PR agents for the RL clubs. It's rough, it's tough, it's... Whilst we had useless, disinterested twats like Fieldhouse. Look at what Geraghty said when Hull was awarded City Of Culture. At a time when City were the only Yorkshire club in the PL he said it was a great opportunity for people to see what a great sporting city Hull was. Not only did Hull folk love their rugby league, they loved their darts and wrestling as well. Can you imagine someone from the council in Leeds or Sheffield coming out with stuff like that if it had been either of them?
