International Rugby league will never have the pulling power that Union does. People who watch league constantly speak of the fast paced nature of the game and how supposedly it is superior in every way to union.Then why is the Rugby Union World cup the worlds third most watch sporting event?through aLeague is stagnaiting whereas union is reaching beyond its traditional borders, like whats happening in argentina and italy. The union World cup also provides upsets which league never will. league will always be huge in the areas its played but with never expand further.And whats the point of competing with football

International Rugby League is growing at last, but it won't happen overnight. Most sports journalists are fairly familiar with Rugby Union, where the internationals are the big events that keep the club game afloat. It is the other way round for Rugby League, but media commentators still judge it by the same criteria as the 15-man code. Perceptions will change over time, but only if Rugby League's administrators don't mess everything up by reverting to the bad old ways of selfishness and short-sightedness. With more and more nations taking up Rugby League, and the game growing to record levels in the traditional territories, even the laziest of hacks can't ignore it forever. As for the Rugby Union World Cup being the third most watched sporting event, don't make me laugh! There is a colossal difference between the viewing figures claimed before the event by the organisers and the real figures that are made public by the official, independent sources afterwards. That is the gulf between hype and reality

you ask any international player who's played league and union and they always say league is a tougher game.

The reason rugby league never gets a fair press is that the media is union friendly = anti league. if league was to get equal column inches as union in the so called quality papers and equal air time on tv and radioit would be the death of union. all we ask for in league is to be treated the same as union, then watch our game grow in all areas.

When will my fellow leaguies earn that it is pointless claiming the superiority of our code over union? to us it will always, of course be better, but you have to respect the views of people who have watched union all their lives. The trouble is that most of us are still bitter about the way the media, especially the BBC, have treated our sport, and in my case I'm going back to the 60's, from which rugby league, in my opinion, is only just recovering. But it's playing into some of the more ignorant posters' hands, Daniel, if you try to pretend that the Rugby (Union) World Cup wasn't fantastically well supported. We should admit that we envy this success. On the other hand, as I haave mentioned before and will no doubt again, the fact that one sport is better supported than another doesn't prove its superiority.

Graham, I wasn't claiming the RUWC wasn't well supported. I was comparing the claimed TV figures to the real ones. The difference is vast - a question of a different number of zeroes on the end, rather than a judicious rounding-up. In real figures, I'm very comfortable with the relative viewing figures of Superleague and the Guinness Premership.

I have always been a union fan until recently league is a far superior sport to watch as far as im concerned union is pathetic to watch its almost as boring as soccer.

come on now ,we al no union is bigger than league union has had 100 year head start .and yet in 25 years and now it has grown from 10 teams to the 44 playing nations we see to day ,yes true i do hear u some do not have a local comp ,but is that realy a problem ,thay have to start some were ,thats how union got a start dont forget, with the army team playing in al the british countrys

League is a joke regional northern sport against some Uk based kiwis i hear a team from Russia has gone back to Union. League regional sport.

a washedup tongan ex rugby league player is in the england rugby union squad for the 6 nations,to me that says it all about rugby union and the england team,a JOKE,

In AUS the only time yawnion gets any airtime is when another nail gets hammered into the ARU's coffin http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0, 22049,23129755-5001023,00.html