10 replies to this topic

[BatleyFanAndy]

http://www.therfl.co...s/article/20862
Thoughts?

[London Dick]

Maybe paranoid but cannot help thinking we are gonna get screwed over again.

[BatleyFanAndy]

Maybe paranoid but cannot help thinking we are gonna get screwed over again.

These were my thoughts. I reckon a majority of Batley players will have that as their first thought.

[vitocorleone]

No doubt about it here. We won`t be in the Championship for much longer. They`ve more or less said there going to freeze out the smaller clubs, I`m very concerned and possibly paranoid over this, because ever since the ruthless Rimmer became dictator things have seem to be getting a lot worse for us.

Provoking for some i think the last paragraph should say.

[Blind side johnny]

If you read the article without blinkers then I don't see too much for Batley and your fans to be worried about just yet, nor too much into the future. It looks to me that a 14 team Championship from 2012 will mean no relegation this season, unless someone goes really belly up again. It also introduces the idea of NRC games being played within the regular season, something that many fans have been asking for.

The main key, if I am right in interpreting the coded message, is that badly performing management (i.e. clubs going into admin etc) will be punished severely. Clubs that can put strong community development and player development programmes into place will benefit more than those that don't; I can't see anything to criticise there.

My main concern is that there is a stated assumption that, following feedback, this plan wll be ratified by the clubs. It would be interesting to know which individuals were involved in drafting the original.

[DOGFATHER]

If you read the article without blinkers then I don't see too much for Batley and your fans to be worried about just yet, nor too much into the future. It looks to me that a 14 team Championship from 2012 will mean no relegation this season, unless someone goes really belly up again. It also introduces the idea of NRC games being played within the regular season, something that many fans have been asking for.

The main key, if I am right in interpreting the coded message, is that badly performing management (i.e. clubs going into admin etc) will be punished severely. Clubs that can put strong community development and player development programmes into place will benefit more than those that don't; I can't see anything to criticise there.

My main concern is that there is a stated assumption that, following feedback, this plan wll be ratified by the clubs. It would be interesting to know which individuals were involved in drafting the original.

Short term I do agree BSJ we would probably be okay, however I would be very concerned as a supporter of a team in CH1. It looks as though that CH1 will become an all amateur affair when they decide that is what they are going to do.

"The size of the Championship will determine how many clubs participate in Championship One but the RFL will actively seek expressions of interest from clubs currently playing outside Championship level to join the third tier competition".

So probably Keighley, Whitehaven and South Wales will be promoted to the CH and the rest like Swinton, Rochdale, Oldham and Doncaster etc. would be cast in to the abyss, to a competition with absolutely no chance of competing in the Championship ever again, probably only surviving on an amateur basis, if at all. The gates in this latest brain child would not be able to sustain a semi professional team.

Typical RFL mentality, let's expand the game by reducing the number of team competing in it.

What they seem to forget sporting success is cyclical to a certain extent. Whilst I can never see a time where we would compete with Wigan or Leeds, it is not that long since Halifax and Featherstone in the bottom division and struggling for survival. They are now 2 of the biggest clubs outside SL. Who would believe 5 years since that on our gates we would be competing with Widnes and beating them in a Final?

What if they had taken this decision when Fev and Fax were at an all time low in the abyss??? One thing is for sure they would not be where they are now if that had been the case. They would not exist.

Just supposing Halifax find themselves in the ###### again. They finish bottom of the new proposed 14 club Championship, every year for 3 years, then what? Do the RFL get rid of them as well as they are not being competitive?

The gates are poor in CH1, but better to have 300 people watching the bottom league than not watching live rugby at all IMO. Most will not watch anyone else I fear.

How long is it before the Championship is seen as CH1 is now? "The gates are dwindling in CH and those teams are never going to compete in SL the gap is too wide now, so we will get rid of them too".

What they do not realise is, the strength of the game is in the hands of the worst performing teams. They are the very foundation of the game. Sound's odd but bear with me. The stronger you make the weakest teams, then by definition the teams above them have to be stonger too. There will be more competition and the best have to be better than the those below them. The RFL are convinced by making the strongest, stronger at the expense of the smaller weaker clubs (decreasing the competition from below) it will somehow magically make the game stronger.

!!!NEWS FLASH RFL!!! It won't, the only way to grow and sustain the game is to make the weakest teams stronger and increase the competiton on the big clubs.

This is just the thin end of the wedge my friends, until they realise they need to solidify the foundations of the game the SL castle they are building will crumble and fall.

[grumpyoldram]

Short term I do agree BSJ we would probably be okay, however I would be very concerned as a supporter of a team in CH1. It looks as though that CH1 will become an all amateur affair when they decide that is what they are going to do.

"The size of the Championship will determine how many clubs participate in Championship One but the RFL will actively seek expressions of interest from clubs currently playing outside Championship level to join the third tier competition".

So probably Keighley, Whitehaven and South Wales will be promoted to the CH and the rest like Swinton, Rochdale, Oldham and Doncaster etc. would be cast in to the abyss, to a competition with absolutely no chance of competing in the Championship ever again, probably only surviving on an amateur basis, if at all. The gates in this latest brain child would not be able to sustain a semi professional team.

Typical RFL mentality, let's expand the game by reducing the number of team competing in it.

What they seem to forget sporting success is cyclical to a certain extent. Whilst I can never see a time where we would compete with Wigan or Leeds, it is not that long since Halifax and Featherstone in the bottom division and struggling for survival. They are now 2 of the biggest clubs outside SL. Who would believe 5 years since that on our gates we would be competing with Widnes and beating them in a Final?

What if they had taken this decision when Fev and Fax were at an all time low in the abyss??? One thing is for sure they would not be where they are now if that had been the case. They would not exist.

Just supposing Halifax find themselves in the ###### again. They finish bottom of the new proposed 14 club Championship, every year for 3 years, then what? Do the RFL get rid of them as well as they are not being competitive?

The gates are poor in CH1, but better to have 300 people watching the bottom league than not watching live rugby at all IMO. Most will not watch anyone else I fear.

How long is it before the Championship is seen as CH1 is now? "The gates are dwindling in CH and those teams are never going to compete in SL the gap is too wide now, so we will get rid of them too".

What they do not realise is, the strength of the game is in the hands of the worst performing teams. They are the very foundation of the game. Sound's odd but bear with me. The stronger you make the weakest teams, then by definition the teams above them have to be stonger too. There will be more competition and the best have to be better than the those below them. The RFL are convinced by making the strongest, stronger at the expense of the smaller weaker clubs (decreasing the competition from below) it will somehow magically make the game stronger.

!!!NEWS FLASH RFL!!! It won't, the only way to grow and sustain the game is to make the weakest teams stronger and increase the competiton on the big clubs.

This is just the thin end of the wedge my friends, until they realise they need to solidify the foundations of the game the SL castle they are building will crumble and fall.

Interesting that you make the point, that a club like Oldham could disappear. Oldham is still a hotbed of talent, and supplies a steady stream of players to superleague (although sadly very few to their local side). I know its a fact of life that whereas young lads in the not too distant past would dream of playing for their hometown team, their ambitions now seem entirely focused on the top echelon. Nonetheless, a strong local team helps, fosters and ensures the survival of the game in an area at grass roots level, in all kinds of ways such as coaching, promotional work in schools, and stageing local amateur finals etc. So while some SL teams wouldn't give a hoot if teams like Oldham fold, in the end they might find that they have killed the golden goose.

[Piggy's mate]

Developing young players has to be the aim of our clubs and this includes mentoring them with the older experianced players (batly is a good example of this). Super League is here to stay and the gulf will increase. The loan players from the big clubs is a good idea and the likes of Mcgilvery demonstrate this. The RFL have to maintain the heartland clubs to find and develop this young talent, brining in loads of aussies and south sea islanders is not the future of our game (Sheffield) and supporting teams in development areas by allowing this to happen will be a hiding to nothing

[Blind side johnny]

Interesting that you make the point, that a club like Oldham could disappear. Oldham is still a hotbed of talent, and supplies a steady stream of players to superleague (although sadly very few to their local side). I know its a fact of life that whereas young lads in the not too distant past would dream of playing for their hometown team, their ambitions now seem entirely focused on the top echelon. Nonetheless, a strong local team helps, fosters and ensures the survival of the game in an area at grass roots level, in all kinds of ways such as coaching, promotional work in schools, and stageing local amateur finals etc. So while some SL teams wouldn't give a hoot if teams like Oldham fold, in the end they might find that they have killed the golden goose.

If you can interpret the hidden meaning within the release I believe that it is laying great emphasis upon community development and young player development, both of which should reflect well upon clubs such as Oldham, Sheffield etc. The threshold criteria for grounds will be quite low I believe, reflecting the distinction between ambition and reality. Whether fans like it or not the performance of the team on the pitch will probably be one of the less important criteria applied.

[London Dick]

I think the club are starting to move in the right direction with this as there seems a great cohesion with Batley Boys at the club now that they are using the grounds facilities. Hopefully we will have a few more players make it through to the first team as the last one to really make it was Toohey and others on the periphery like Aidan Lister.

I for one would love to see a lot more local lads on the field as they in turn brings fans through the gate. I wonder how many of Dane Manning or Pat Foulstone's friends/family will come through the gate this season to boost gate numbers.

The difficulty is trying to compete with the Super League clubs for Local talent.

[redditchbulldog]

Developing young players has to be the aim of our clubs and this includes mentoring them with the older experianced players (batly is a good example of this). Super League is here to stay and the gulf will increase. The loan players from the big clubs is a good idea and the likes of Mcgilvery demonstrate this. The RFL have to maintain the heartland clubs to find and develop this young talent, brining in loads of aussies and south sea islanders is not the future of our game (Sheffield) and supporting teams in development areas by allowing this to happen will be a hiding to nothing

I agree with what you saying about maintaining the heartlands clubs and developing young local talent. bringing in a boat load of aussies and south sea islanders is not the right way for the game to forward in this country.I do believe in supporting teams in development areas as long as the club builds up from the bottom with the right support from the RFL and not fast tracked intol championship or SL as the foundations won't be there.

The Midlands have it just right with whats been happening.. Open age had a 3 tier system with RLC Premier,RLC Regional and Midlands Merit league for the newer clubs,clubs that have enough players for two team ala Nottingham outlaws,Birmingham Bulldogs,Leicester Storm and Coventry Bears.. An excellent junior league setup where the midlands ran leagues for u-12,u-14 and u-16 with most Midland clubs having at least 1 junior side in this set up .The good thing for the juniors is that they have a chance to play representative rugby be it in the origin games east v west midlands or for the Midlands side.There is also a centre of excellence set up at university of Warwick where the talented juniors are invited to attend which is run by the Midlands rugby league and RFL..and from seeing some of the talent watch this space within the next 2 years where i expect to see some of these players making their debuts for championship or SL teams.