To Combine or Not to Combine that is the Question: League and Union

League or Union are they so incompatible? I love both codes and get sick of the stupid tiff between them. Growing up, however, was different, I was born into rugby. From the minute I could walk I was into it, transfixed by the hey-day of Australian rugby. Tuney, Horan, Ealsy, Campo, Little, I couldn't get enough of them and their exciting brand of "we won't die wondering" rugby. I glimpsed league here or there, it was boring, slow and for ball hogs. It also was too simple to me and seemed very routine. I

It was run, crash, get up, run, crash. 

I was a typical die-hard until my later high school years when I became more even-minded. League was pretty tough, the hits were spectacular and you could watch hours and hours of it. Union also began to falter, with too many penalties, the reds were suffering a slow painful slump due to no more Ballymore and no more super rugby on free-to-air. More annoyingly, the only thing that brought me back was when the Australian Rugby Championship was axed and I began feeling the game was slowly dying. Meanwhile, so much bloody league, Thursday you got the Footy show then Friday Night Footy, Sunday you got a whole day of footy shows and a game.

Differences

I became full a blown league-lover and still am. I love both codes and today and I am excited at any unifying experiment and why not. The old gulf of professionalism and amateurism is gone and the class differences that separated bothcode no longer need to exist. In Australia however league is still more grass roots and more of a peoples game. Yes, Union is still a private school and University domain, but increasingly it is looking towards state schools for player talent. I say smash the old differences they are pointless if we really want to spread the game worldwide to other cultures and societies we need to push for something more universal.

Incoming Threats

Both codes are struggling against the growing AFL and A-League. The AFL is building an image perfect youth development with programs such as AUSkick. It is developing stronger than ever in areas of traditional rugby or league domination. Best of all, it has no opposition from any other country for talent and a huge amount of cash. Soccor has also long been the sleeping giant of Australian sport with one of the largest player bases. The large crowds and increasing wealth in post-world cup Australian soccor which is alarming for a cavemen such as myself. Soccor's biggest problem in Australia, is keeping kids in the game at later years. Perhaps, more wealth will stop this problem.

Alright, I hear you asking well how the hell could you possibly bring both codes together?

You have to start off small and maybe follow crickets lead and make both games smaller and sharper. A seven-a-side comp at the end of the season between both codes is a great idea. Play maybe three games league, as well as three union, and people would queue up to see Giteau vs Lockyer, Lote verses Folau and others. It would be a slow gradual process, possibly developing and growing a third game all together in the off season.

Yeah but what about the rules?

Well, there is two obvious watered down options, a simplified union maybe less the line-out, with limited phases and different offside rules. Or, a beefed up league with line-outs, proper scrums and maybe even mauls that count one tackle. The big sticking point is of-course the play the ball vs ruck, and to the purists, the messing with the ruck is sacrilege. After thinking long and hard, I thought how could you make everyone happy? One idea was instead of getting up and playing the ball in league, when a player is tackled he places it back. Once placed back like in union, it is uncontestable, like in league except for maybe a 3 second wait before being contested. This would free up the play and make it incredibly quicker while not destroying either rucks or play the balls. Also, bring in shoulder-charges (YES!), also have 10 metre offside rules except for the markers who can contest the play after 3 seconds.

A few tests and tinkering could create a great game. 

By focusing on the good in both games, like rugby's unpredictability, strategy and skill and leagues athleticism, toughness and simplicity, a great game could be made. Hopefully, due to the increasing switching codes of players we will have such multi-skilled players that this may happen naturally.