DoubleD

I feel for the good Dr. He's put a lot of money into that team and they turn up with that - it was pathetic and embarrassing at times. It looked like they hardly knew each other and a number looked overweight and unfit - what have they done all pre-season? I think Harris is serious trouble................very few players can come out of that performance with any credit but it really did look like a team of individuals and not a team. Yes it takes time to gel but a lot of those players have been there for at least 6 months and it didn't look like they had a clue. I hope the Koukash perserveres with it because i'd hate it if Super League lost him, he's been a breath of fresh air. I was so looking forward to seeing Salford play tonight as well

I think people are misunderstanding. Him being Chairman is a statesmanship role but he doesn't have any powers. The Board need to agree decisions and if the NZ and OZ candidates won't play ball then there is little he can do. They hardly have any money - the money for a CEO, which would be in excess of £100k a year, would be taken out of developing nations pot. And what's the point of paying a CEO in excess of 6 figures a year when they would ultimately have no power. Richardson would have been the ideal man though to try and wrest power from the NRL and he knows how to work the politics. An opportunity missed.

Mascord is becoming increasingly tedious and inaccurate in his journalism though. He finishes by saying the northern hemisphere had their chance to lead and blew it? Isn't this the whole issue? This shouldn't be about different hemispheres, the RLIF should be the unification of the world game, leading from the front, not one hemisphere wanting to do things their own way. As it is, the RLIF is a meaningless body in its present state

I see there's quite a lot of comparison between Warrington's development over the past 15 years and Castleford's potential to do the same. I'd like to point out a few very significant differences between these 2.

1. Prosperity - Warrington and surrounding areas is far bigger and more prosperous than Castleford. I work in Cas and our HQ is in Warrington (Birchwood) so am not speaking from ignorance. Cas is a desperate place, whilst there are some prosperous areas around it, it is not going to generate the same following or revenues as Warrington, regardless of the new stadium. The catchment area for Cas is both smaller and less afluent.

2. Sponsors/Commercial backing - same applies here. Cas attract local trades or manufacturing based companies for sponsors. Yes some are very successful in their own way but they don't have the potential or range of sponsors that Warrington's demographic can attract. Warrington has the potential to attract a broader base of companies including blue chip which leads to higher corporate and commerical revenue

People are focusing too much on stadium size and attendances and not focusing on commercial revenues and corporate support. Catalans don't have the highest attendances but i'm sure i saw that their revenue was the 2nd highest in the league behind Leeds. That's what clubs need to develop to creating a sustainable base. Which is why small towns will always struggle in the increasingly global world and as our sport develops unless they have a very rich sugar daddy to support them

Spill the beans then. What did you ask for,?

I hope it wasn't for a white Christmas......

I was there yesterday and was disappointed with the amount of empty seats. Far more at the Cas end than the Leeds end, which whilst might be to be expected due to the relative size of support, i'd have thought Cas end would have been equally as packed given the paucity of success/opportunities to get to finals.

The Club Wembley sector is a joke, i understand that this runs until 2017. I would have loved to buy tickets in this area, as i had for the World Cup, but couldn't. That said, I don't think opening up Club Wembley will make any difference to the overall attendance, but it will make it look better on tv

calling quality players like green and finch "cogs" is a stupid statment 

Not really, I think they are important/key cogs/pivots in the team. They are not world beaters though and can certainly be replaced. Good Super League/fairly good NRL players but hardly world class. Trent Barrett on the other, now he was a different class

 the players have been a success at cas and there are more of the same calibre of oliver holmes and darryll clarke coming through the ranks 

Trust me, there aren't. You don't know what you're talking about. The cupboard is looking fairly bare in the youth ranks for Cas at the moment, with only Will Maher (who was signed from Cumbria Regional Academy) looking like he might break through.

Daryl Powell has done an outstanding job developing players and moulding them from average players to work very well in a structured unit. I have every faith he can do the same with Moors, who for what it's worth is certainly better than average

Thanks Mt Smart, very interesting and informative and makes sense. Don't NZ have more lenient tax laws compared to Oz though, i'm sure that was one of the reasons Tomkins chose NZ over any Australian NRL clubs? If so, i'd have thought that would be a pull for some Oz NRL players? Although not perhaps for the right reasons!

Home sickness was part of it I'm sure.
 
They were both housed together in posh little pad in an afluent area , a stroll from one of Aucklands most picturesque beaches.
 
Swanky suburb reknowned for hot posh girls ( tis where my wife comes from haha ) and from all accounts they were impressed by how they were being looked after by the club. 
 
I think the Warriors miss judged the physical miss match , Baldwinsons tall ( he looks like a real prospect for the 2nd row if you ask me ) but both were tiny compared with their team mates , some of these Juniors are bigger than the average players running around in the NRL.

 

When I was in Hamilton watching them get five token minutes versus Wigan , I thought Baldwinson looked devastated with how they only got a token opportunity there...especially since that Warriors side included C grade Juniors who were meeting for the first time in their lives ( no joke the Winger and a couple of others had been phoned that week to come into camp and make up the numbers....kids flown up from Wellington ).

 

These lads were meant to hold down spots in a team that had Albert Vete ( a prop who wore the 17 jumper in the trial, Wigan Fans were impressed by....he was a handful for the Wigan side )......Sam Lisone ( another Prop that sits on an average of over 200 meters a game ) and Bunty Afoa......a shool boy Prop they unvieled this year that has been flatening players in Mens grade in the Auckland Club comp since he was 16. 

 

The depth in that squad is ridiculous.....consider six of those Juniors were removed at the start of the season to play the next level up ( NSW cup + two are NRL fringe players ).....and the Leeds lads were still a bit out of their depth.

 

Only a day or so before the Rhino's boys went home, we had to let go one of our promising Props from that team, James Taylor has been snapped up by Wayne Bennetts Kinghts the Warriors are bursting at the seams with these playes Jordan Balwinson called " all Freaks " 

 

ESL fans shouldn't read anything into the boys not being good enough, Baldwinson was making it, turning the corner, that's a big achievement in of itself, they were thrown in the deep end , unfortunate timing that they were there when the Junior program is looking like a Jamaican Junior track team.

Mt Smart, perhaps you can inform me why the Warriors took these players on with them having such an abundance of talent? Or was this actually a Leeds Rhinos plan to send the players out of their comfort zone for a year to understand what it takes to make it in the big time, with the plan always being for them to come back 12 months later, more mature and driven?

Wouldn't rush to have him back. The fact he played Union is irrelevant. He is it's hard to explain not big enough for the forwards or agile enough for the backs. He's a slightly above SL player that's all he is. He's like a slightly better version than Ian Thornley. I think a lot of Joel Tomkins hype came from his try at Wembley and the fact his brother is the best British SL player we have produced this century.

I'd have him back obviously, but a huge bid not a chance. If we want a huge bid can we try get back Sam Burgess, Chris Ashton or Bryan Habana on the wing maybe. A huge bid for Joel? Not worth it.

Chris Ashton? I do hope that was a joke, because he is a joke of a player, yet the ignorant kick and clap press seem to think he's a star lol.

I'd be happy to see Joel Tomkins come back, he'd be a solid Super League player, unless he's lost some of his skills in union but i certainly wouldn't be making a big play for him. I'd rather see Eastmond back because he could've been a star

I know first utility very well, I supplied them with staff from almost their formation.

To say a organisation that makes Rimmer and wood look professional is an understatement.

Please give me your feedback in a year. I'll be surprised if you're not screaming blue murder.

Perhaps you should supply them with better staff and they might not have these problems?

Like most of you, i had never heard of First Utility before they became the Super League sponsor. That said with the significant press these days about energy prices and how the big players are arguably making excessive profits, i decided to review my deal with Eon which has just finished.

I have never had any issues with Eon and like their website and ease of use. That said, i decided to do a comparison with First Utility, as i wanted to give them a chance, seeing as they have made the effort to invest in our sport. Well by changing, i will save £155 per year by going with First Utility. This is a like for like comparison on a 1 yr fixed deal.

I urge you other fans to give First Utility a chance, not only will you be supporting a company who has invested in our game (when so few will), you could also save yourself a decent whack of money!

Agreed Oxford, i find the racism shown by some supposed England fans to be disgusting. Chase has come over and dedicated his life to our country and willing and proudly pulled on our nation's jersey for our cause and the response from certain parties is revolting. It tarnishes and belittles our sport. As a cricket fan as well, i don't see any other cricket fans have a go at Trott or Pieterson for being South African. Small minded people

rugby league will always feel more at home in its natural working class environment than anywere else and if we look at the players who have come through in the London area they are of course just about all working class which is hardly suprising 

What a load of rubbish. Whilst rugby league's roots were from the working class background, that is long since outdated. In fact the whole class system is no longer relevant as the past 20-30 years has seen social and economic mobility change so much. I'm all the more surprised that a Leeds fan has suggested this as we have probably the most diverse and cosmopolitan following of all super league clubs.

As others have said, rugby league's history might be from a working class environment but it is far from a natural environment and we certainly shouldn't advocate guiding our future this way, particularly when it's outdated and no longer relevant.

For London to be successful, they need to build locally in Barnet and the surrouding area, with community programmes, working with schools and local clubs and market and promote to the local audience. It is completely pointless them targeting the whole London audience as it is too big and costly. There's over 350,000 people in the borough of Barnet and they should focus their efforts on this and not let their message get spread too thin. Holding internationals at Wembley should help with the latent support.

You cant see the wood for the trees mate.....
Just think what could be achieved if all three clubs put there efforts in one basket?
Cas had the site, fev had the stands, wakey had the err roof....
All three clubs could continue as feeder clubs. .....
Or theres the status quo of three struggling stubborn clubs...

Just like the Welsh regions in rugby union which have been a resounding success eh? Whilst logically it might make sense, unfortunately fans are often illogical and stubborn in supporting 'their' teams and certainly wouldn't want anything to do with anything associated with a rival. In theory, great. In practice, not realistic as fans wouldn't support it, so there wouldn't be the revenue streams and it would ultimately fail