Martyn Sadler

You do realise that by making such insinuations you are in danger of being thrown off this forum and banished to Hastings forever. On a more serious note, the NRL have had a long time to think about this and I'm not sure they have come up with the ideal solution.

Interesting to see another young player born in Africa. I would like to see the revival of a World Nines with a team representing Africa taking part. I'm sure it would contain some great athletes and would encourage the spread of the game throughout the continent.

Some great news about to come out of London for the Broncos, putting down a marker as a major presence in the capital in a new HQ.

Several things are important but the most important thing for any organisation, I would suggest, is financial liquidity and viability.

Nigel's disagreement was of the 49:51 variety. Almost neutral. All business is based on trade-offs.

Annoyingly the clubs didn't invite me to the meeting at which they made the decision, so I can't tell you with certainty. What I think happened is that they went round the room, it was obvious they were going to carry the vote, the meeting was chaired by Nigel and he therefore recommended that they voted the way they did. That's a fairly standard business practice.

You should be careful what you wish for. Dave Smith was appointed the CEO of the NRL in February 2013 but quit in November 2015. His previous career had been in banking. On his appointment, ARLC Chairman John Grant said: "This is a person who knows business, who knows how to lead, who loves sport, who is culturally suited to our game and who has a very strong sense of community." I had a long chat with him at the 2013 and he was a very nice guy but a fish out of water, which he clearly recognised. To be fair, his successor was Todd Greenberg, who had been the CEO of the Bulldogs, and his main achievement was to almost spend the NRL into oblivion. He appeared to abandon all financial controls. So there is no guarantee of success from whichever source a leader comes. At the RFL, Richard Lewis was appointed Executive Chairman in 2002 and he at least did have a sporting background, albeit in a vastly different sport. His main achievement, along with his finance director, was to stabilise the RFL financially after the organisation came close to being wound up following the 2000 World Cup. He was largely responsible for bringing the Catalans into Super League, which is a massive positive in my book. On the other hand, he also abolished Great Britain, replacing it with England, he introduced licensing, which was implemented very badly and he gave sponsorship rights for Super League away to Stobart, which was his last major decision, by which time he was part-time, having taken the Chairmanship of Sport England. The Stobart deal made it very difficult for the RFL to negotiate lucrative sponsorship deals for a long time afterwards. Some people think Lewis's leadership of the RFL was without blemish but I would strongly disagree. Brian Barwick was another appointment from outside Rugby League, having been the Chairman for six years from 2013, having had extensive experience with the FA, both as CEO and Chairman. I can't honestly think of a positive thing he did for the game. From my point of view there is one candidate who stands head and shoulders above anyone else, if he would like to take the job, and that is Paul Lakin of Hull KR. Paul is already a director of RL Commercial, so has clear insights into that part of the business, and clearly has done wonders with Hull KR. To look outside the game hoping to find a magic bullet, while the best candidate is clearly staring us in the face, would be extremely unwise.

Because the RFL has to implement the decision. When the decision is made everyone gets on board.

He only "recommended" it when he knew how the vote was going to go.

That was not an RFL decision.

Having a similar view I tackled Lord Caine about this. He pointed out that York's bid was characterised by a club structure and finances that were demonstrably in place, while London were not at such an advanced stage. He implied that the process came too soon for London. Who are you backing to replace Abi?

I think we're on slightly safer ground this time.

I think Hull KR deserve congratulations from everyone in the game, not just for selling out the WCC but for the smart way they promoted and organised the sale of tickets. We will have an interview with the club CEO Paul Lakin in tomorrow's League Express.

Brilliant! I didn't think you would have the intelligence to work it out.

And it's entirely up to you to decide how much weight to give to what I tell you. If you think I'm making it all up, then don't believe me. If you think I'm being serious, then you might decide that my opinion carries some credibility.