54 replies to this topic

[DemonUK]

I remember there being a thread about a job advert for a marketing manager at £30-40k per year and people saying that we should be paying good wages to get good people.

In the lower leagues, seriously, how many clubs are worse off or are peed off even? Sure there are fans saying that people are walking away from the game, but this isn;t backed up by facts. Sure Fev and Widnes may now have lower crowds, but they are no longer top division teams. Haven't lower division teams always had low crowds?

Well I think in the last couple of years we have had 4 teams into administration, there are two others who have not hiddent the fact they are struggling and close to Admin. How many others haven't said anything yet.

I think that goes someway to backing up the facts

[RP London]

RP- Franchising was brought in to stop clubs going in to trouble moneywise, build for the future and to bring through youngsters more. I see very little evidence of any of that working across the board. We have better stadiums in the Championship than SL. We have Quins and Crusaders have money problems. You could probably add Wakey, Hull KR etc to that. Huddersfield are only around due to Mr Davy. When he dies or leaves then what? A couple of clubs have a very good youth system-but many do not. And ALL clubs would rather spend money on Aussies than investing it on Youth. I do not see much improvement with Clubs both on and off the field in the past 3 years or so. I think SL should have standards and as long as a Championship meets the basic standards they deserve a chance in getting promoted and seeing what they can do.

franchising has only been around for less than 3 years now.. so i thikn that is a harsh call.. what we can see happning is the teams in super league having their focus changed to the stadiums (this would not have happened without it) and on youth set ups.. Championship clubs setting up youth teams that they did not have before. yes there are better stadiums but as is alwasy said it isnt a stadium contest there is more to it.. Huddersfield... what happens if many benefactors die.. its not a valid argument around franchisisng. Thy may rather spend it on aussies but this is where the quotas come in as well they spend money on better aussies.. youth get more of a chnce (some of hte youth academies are still in their infancy so you cant expect them to churn these players out in the same way but the move towards it is there)
At the moment there is movement in these areas that was not and would not hae been there before.. ad that is all you can expect in such a short space of time.

The Bonus Point is a crazy system where Championship club have it, but the academy and SL not. Its been around for a few years now. For me the game should have one system covering all Leagues. Last year Sheffield finished up in 4th I think but won less games than Featherstone and Widnes. I do not agree with it and most of my friends do not. A number of people I talk to from various Championship clubs are not happy with the Bonus System.

i know a lot of people that like it..
whos the better side the one that wins loads of matches but gets humped in just as many or the team that wins a few less but is in contention in all the matches they play?? debatable surely..
not only that but you play to the system you have featherstone could have done the same if htey hadn got humped in a couple of games.. you ply to the system..
but the system has generated ome fantastic games in the past couple of years that would have trailed off with 10 to go without it..
IMO it works but in your it doesnt.. no problem but the job of hte governing board is if the split is 50-50 ish, to chose the best option, he has to make the decision rightly or wrongly and then deal with the issues of fans being annoyed.. i am sure you would notwant to make that decision knowing you are going p*ss off half the fans and have to deal with the ramificatons of moanng clubs day and night (he will be called at night by plenty of people and on the weekends etc).. and that is partly where the wage is based.

The RFL gave Crusaders a massive advantage over the rest of the Championship clubs. OK have an extra Aussie or two but not the whole team. And they had former Origin players in so never stuck to the Salary Cap all the rest had. The RFL allowed the signing of these players and must have had an idea that some were not on the right Visa. Many Championship fans hate the way Crusaders were given so much help to get in to SL by the RFL.

the RFL may think "the visa might not be right" but as long as the paperwork is sent to them is ok then surely innocent till proven guilty?
i am sure people do hate the way crusaders were treated.. but it doesnt mean that for the good of the gae in the long term it wasnt perhaps the right thing to do to get a team in wales and develop the game there..
they gave them a massive advantage in a way.. but htey were also at a huge disadvantage becuase they ahve to attract players to bridgened from their home towns, they have no real local kids to pick (that arent contracted some how to the biggest game in their area RU) and they dont have the resources that ost heartland clubs have.. the lee way is given while these things get put in place.. otherwise expansion clubs are at a huge disadvantage meaning the growth in that area is less.. look at melbourne (yes they broke the rules horrifically) but the game in the area is now growing hugely becuase of that success.. success normally breads interest (though i am not saying they should all do a melbourne but that a bit of leeway is not neceesarily a bad thing for hte game as a whole)

Internationals are put on at the same time as a WC game featuring England. Now I think that is dumb. I think this decision may have cost the game a few thousand pound. The game needs to make as much money as possible at all levels.

yes that was an ###### up of hte highest proportions IMO

I would like his wage to be based on performance in a number of areas rather than just be given a wage. I was not too impressed how he did things at Halifax. Not all the blame can be put on him, but still he did not do a great job there. I also think he is not the right man to be leading the game in to the future.

and that is a fair comment, i think he is doing a good jo, whether he is the right man i dont know, who else is there that is prepared to do it.. maybe he is the right man from the options available.

[guess who]

Try looking beyond Super League or talk to fans in the lower leagues and you might change your mind.

Nothing below SL matters.

[RP London]

Well I think in the last couple of years we have had 4 teams into administration, there are two others who have not hiddent the fact they are struggling and close to Admin. How many others haven't said anything yet.

I think that goes someway to backing up the facts

how much of this is down to things that happened pre nigel wood though... how many are due to chasing P and avoiding R?

[Dave T]

Well I think in the last couple of years we have had 4 teams into administration, there are two others who have not hiddent the fact they are struggling and close to Admin. How many others haven't said anything yet.

I think that goes someway to backing up the facts

I'm not disputing that clubs are in trouble, but then again, there always has been. Always. At least there are rules in place now to try and help protect clubs from themselves, but then there are other factors like the worst recession in living memory.

I remember reading something in RLW from a prominent person at a struggling club (maybe Rochdale or Doncaster or Keighley) where they said that despite what many think, the RFL really helped the clubs out and do what they can to support them.

Surely the way an organisation responds to difficult times is a measure of their success.

[Johnoco]

Nothing below SL matters.

So why did the RFL buy your ground and save your bacon?

Dog In A Manger.

[sam]

I'm not disputing that clubs are in trouble, but then again, there always has been. Always. At least there are rules in place now to try and help protect clubs from themselves, but then there are other factors like the worst recession in living memory.

I remember reading something in RLW from a prominent person at a struggling club (maybe Rochdale or Doncaster or Keighley) where they said that despite what many think, the RFL really helped the clubs out and do what they can to support them.

Surely the way an organisation responds to difficult times is a measure of their success.

there was a guy from rochdale on radio manchester praising the rfl for all the help they gave them. it was a while back.

[Johnoco]

there was a guy from rochdale on radio manchester praising the rfl for all the help they gave them. it was a while back.

Can't have done mate, several guys on here with huge chips tell us that the RFL are out to get them.

[RP London]

Can't have done mate, several guys on here with huge chips tell us that the RFL are out to get them.

nigel wood will be after them

[Johnoco]

nigel wood will be after them

On his wages, he can afford his own!!

[my missus]

its nothing to do with how good or bad he has been, why has he had a £30000 increase when every other f****r is taking cuts, i'll bet if the rl said we are cutting your wages by £100,000 he would still do the job.

[Dave T]

its nothing to do with how good or bad he has been, why has he had a £30000 increase when every other f****r is taking cuts, i'll bet if the rl said we are cutting your wages by £100,000 he would still do the job.

Perhaps he had clauses in his contract, based on previous performance etc?

I'm not sure what Wood does, but if he was only on £100k at the RFL then I expect he would probably get a job elsewhere paying more.

[Terry Chimes]

Wow! What a salary!


That's over 55000 medium BigMac meals and 13609 KFC Dipping Platters.


A big dog's gotta eat!

[ParisSurtout]

Is this the same Nigel Wood who screwed up Halifax?

Yes, it's the very same one!

[ParisSurtout]

Compare the state of the RFL now with how it was before his appointment.

I'd say Mr Wood and his boss were doing a fantastic job.

Before his appointment as what?

Nigel Wood has done nothing in the past two years since he was appointed CEO other than arrange for important international matches to be held in obscure, hard to get to stadia. We have been rewarded with small crowds. Nigel Wood is the master lowballer of international rugby league.

The only good things that have happened to rugby league in Britain and France --- like franchises, admitting Catalans and Crusaders, Four Nations, regular World Cups etc. --- have been the brainchildren of Richard Lewis.

All that Nigel Wood has done for rugby league has been to keep the M62's pie, fish and chip, and pizza shops financially afloat during the recession.

Edited by ParisSurtout, 23 July 2010 - 03:41 PM.

[my missus]

Perhaps he had clauses in his contract, based on previous performance etc?

I'm not sure what Wood does, but if he was only on £100k at the RFL then I expect he would probably get a job elsewhere paying more.

i'd like to bet that he has no qualifications whatsoever, and deffo nothing that qualifys him to ruin the rl, he is like all the site agents at barratts where i work all are failed joiners, brickies labourers with the gab, even the contracts managers are the same.

[Tipster Ste]

Correct salary for role,

correct person for role????????

Guess the commercial revenue received under his leadership will indicate the success, I mean the increase in blue chip companies, media coverage and the ever increasing SKY TV contract will tell us how out of his depth he may or may not be??

[Manx RL]

Wow! What a salary!


That's over 55000 medium BigMac meals and 13609 KFC Dipping Platters.


A big dog's gotta eat!

Enough to fill a minibus

[giwildgo]

Perhaps he had clauses in his contract, based on previous performance etc?

I'm not sure what Wood does, but if he was only on £100k at the RFL then I expect he would probably get a job elsewhere paying more.

And in that case he could go - the bloke has done nothing to impress at the RFL (MM decision delays, appointing McNamara, poor international game promotion, etc) and has a poor track record elsewhere. Wood was a typical right place / right time administrator riding on the coat-tails of Lewis's short term success, but has shown complete ineptness in his two years and an inability to address the big issues in the game, i.e, a SC review to consider whether its focus remains appropriate to original aims, franchising progress of clubs, stronger stance against imports (rather than loopholes), whether MM has run its course, innovation to revitalise the general apathy towards internationals, etc.

The salary for the role is appropriate to get the right caliber of person...but there is no body of evidence on his CV to suggest that Nigel Wood is the right person for that role or salary.

[Dave T]

And in that case he could go - the bloke has done nothing to impress at the RFL (MM decision delays, appointing McNamara, poor international game promotion, etc) and has a poor track record elsewhere. Wood was a typical right place / right time administrator riding on the coat-tails of Lewis's short term success, but has shown complete ineptness in his two years and an inability to address the big issues in the game, i.e, a SC review to consider whether its focus remains appropriate to original aims, franchising progress of clubs, stronger stance against imports (rather than loopholes), whether MM has run its course, innovation to revitalise the general apathy towards internationals, etc.

The salary for the role is appropriate to get the right caliber of person...but there is no body of evidence on his CV to suggest that Nigel Wood is the right person for that role or salary.

TBH none of us really know the actually work that he has done. Much of a Chief Exec's work will be behind the scenes and leading the organisation into the future. The RFL certainly seem to be weathering the recession well despite not being the most attractive sport for investors.

On your individual points:

SC review - I was under the impression that this was reviewed and for the last couple of years the clubs have agreed to maintain the cap at it's current level. The Championship clubs went with a lower cap. Just because there haven't been major changes to the SL cap doesn't mean he hasn't instigated a review of it. You may disagree with many parts of it, but clearly the clubs support it, and that is the crucial thing here, not what fans think on this one.

Franchising Progress of Clubs - not really sure what your point is here. What should he have done by now? We are in the 2nd year of franchising.

Stronger stance against Imports - this has been done to death, and it is going to be a gradual process. I agree with you in principal, but I don't believe any CEO of any calibre would come in and make massive changes in this area.

MM - they are doing exactly what you are asking for and reviewing it. That's a tick.

Internationals - He has been in charge for two years I believe. In that time there has been a WC and a 4N over here. I would love to see more creativity here and agree with you on this one, but realistically this wasn't going to happen as he was a big part of the Lewis regime which went into the safety first option of Wigan/Hudds/Hull/Doncaster etc.

These are the points that youraise as crucial, and in the main, they have been adressed, just maybe not exactly as you would like them to have been. During his time at the RFL they have been recognised as one of the top sports administrators in the country, the list of sponsors is growing during a recession, and I think he is continuing the good work that he and Lewis started all those years ago.

Sure I think there are things the RFL could do better, but I have certainly seen nothing that says he is doing a poor job.