The game of Rugby League came to the fore tonight when Kevin Sinfield came runner up to Andy Murray in the SPOTY. At last some recognition for a great sport. First time since the programme began in the 1950's that Rugby League of any description has received a nomination. A job well done.

My only question is who the hell is voting for Andy Murray?!

His mam ! One hell of a phone bill but the bbc will pick up the tab

His mam ! One hell of a phone bill but the bbc will pick up the tab

And how did they manage to string a few minutes together about Rugby Unions successful year
That aside well done to the rugby league family for getting KS into second place

Scottish vote

Although I did vote Sinfield, is it just me who thinks the campaign was very cringey and makes us look desperate as a small time sport? It certainly was over the top.

A cringeworthy campaign or not, he pulled in nearly 200,000 more votes than Jessica Ennis.

More votes than Ennis, Fury, Hamilton, Farrah and Froome put together

As an honourary/part-time member of the tin hat brigade I do wonder how Murray got so many votes. Was there a specific campaign ala #buykevapint or is he really that much more popular than the others?

I expect he is, yes; Tennis has a massive, broad appeal and Murray is consistently in contention with Federer and Djokovic for the top spot in tournaments around the world. He won Olympic gold and more recently, won the Davis Cup virtually on his own. He's a superb athlete and fully deserves the recognition.

All that said, getting Sinfield on stage at all was quite an achievement - so coming 2nd to an internationally renowned athlete from a much more popular sport is nothing short of a coup; the best thing for the RL community to do now is be positive about that, rather than denigrate Murray.

Well put