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I completely agree with giving Skolars credit for the event - and indeed for almost all their events (some of which I've been to). That's a different thing to be overjoyed (or not) about whether the local MP goes. If it looked like I was knocking the event then that was very far from my intention!
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I've an heel injury and its turning into a year long battle to get it sorted .
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Most replies on here seem to be concentrating on the success/failure of professional expansion. Would keeping the existing teams and maybe even losing a couple if necessary and focusing on increasing amateur/junior playing numbers in the heartlands and surrounding areas and also in places such as London and the NE be a good way of expanding the game?
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I was on the corner of Iffley Road and Magdalen Road - we probably met. I probably owe you a pint...
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No offence, I'm sure you're a clued up bloke but I'd back the collective wisdom of those three who comprised the Oxford board over your blueprint for success (whatever it was).
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Its a great idea. Even at amateur level its extending its links in to local businesses and the local community, bringing money and turnover in. People buy experiences. Thats what the game is.
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As a coda to the above, I still think expansion basically = "start with sacks of cash." That was never Oxford's approach, but then the L1 (or C1 as it was then) that they thought they were joining wasn't a "you need sacks of cash" set up. When it became one, because suddenly what seemed like half the M62 was also at your level and competing for the same players on their own doorsteps, the business model for development clubs in a largely development league went totally out of the window.
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Wakey for 2 years from 2018. They're currently waiting for his visa to get sorted out. This has been our worst year ever, IMO. After all the grief we endured dumping players so we could afford to keep Benji and Farah we finally woke up and decided to ditch them instead but when we finally got some money to spend on the players we wanted, those players had already signed elsewhere. It isn't quite as bad as the Farah bill suggests. Yes we still have to pay him - I believe the number is closer to $450K than the oft-quoted $750K - but some of that is delayed payments from previous years and some is Long Serving Player Allowance, so we couldn't simply transfer that $$$ back into the overall wage bill.
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Playing on Iffley Road was fantastic. That venue was a huge asset in itself and gives great credibility. I actually agree with everything you write (I used to live just off Iffley Road on Charles Street). The move to Abingdon looked like the death of the club. Competing became difficult.
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Q. A 9k rugby ground has two stands, one is about two-thirds full, the other is one-quarter full. How do you get 7.5k attending? A: With a pork pie
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he has a majority of over 35,000, so lots of locals think he is OK. Although i dont shre his political views, what counts for mee is how good a job he does for his constituents, and I suspect he does a good one. I know that some on here like to disrespect anything that is popular, but i'd like give Skolars credit for this event.
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Without going into the whys and wherefores (for several reasons, not least because I'm not involved or privy to hard fact, I just live down here, and know the rumours), I do think you're wide of the mark. One of the biggest factors that set the rot in was the dropping down of multiple championship clubs in 2014 (IMO). That cocked up the budgeting for the southern sides if they wanted to look like they were making progress. To keep up this led to Hemel moving north, as we know, and Oxford having to move to Abingdon. In both cases AIUI it was in an attempt to use their finances to recruit players that wouldn't get them tonked every week, at the expense of their roots in Hemel's case, and their ground in Oxford's. Oxford's first season was great, they were competitive and they had one of the best places to watch rugby in the world. More to the point it was within walking distance of the city centre. Fundamentally the problem as I see it is that they thought they were joining a development league with a couple of northern sides to add spice and authenticity. Within a season the goalposts had changed and the business model had to change too. Supporters drifted away, unwilling to watch weekly hammerings (and, as it was a new club, without anything like the roots or connections that might have encouraged them to tough it out), and the move to Abingdon was basically the first step on the slope as people on here, me included, said at the time. We do need to be careful here though in writing Oxford's obituary - for all what it looks like, they might not actually be on their deathbed. I go back to my original point, if the structure was still as it was in 2013, and which Oxford had signed up to, then we might be looking at 5 years of incremental improvement and a vibrant, tightly contested league. As it is we're looking at the broken bodies of clubs.
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Funnily enough, I was looking into the craft beer thing for a local amateur club in an expansion area. The beer festival would come first and the rugby came feature within it. The basis being that we were looking for young professionals interested in new things. What Wakefield are doing is slightly different, in that it reflects that terrible food and drink does not cut it anymore.
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Read a couple of posts back. Do you have the memory of a golfish!
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Amazing how some RL folk can turn a good story into something less so on here.
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Nah. Nigel should tell Harry Windsor to eff off. We don't need his sort round here.
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We won at Warrington in our 1983 Lancashire Cup winning run Phil.
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Its hard to objectively define a gimmick. As i've said, what i may see as a gimmick, others may find engaging. But i get what you are saying, sometimes RL sees good intentions dismissed as gimmicks because of a lack of real commitment to an actual top class matchday experience, sometimes framing chubby amateur dancers and an x factor failure as match-day entertainment doesnt really create the experience they are going for. But the things ive suggested re:media neednt be expensive, some are free, some would even be a revenue stream rather than cost. For match-day experience Toronto have hit gold with presenting each game as a mini craft-beer festival, i know Wakefield are dipping their toes in that water and that should be copied universally in the game. Next step is scrapping the crappy burger vans and getting real proper gourmet street food vans in. The local music scenes in the north are in relatively good health, surely there are some decent local bands who would kill for the chance to play in front of 10k people. All of a sudden im not paying x amount to go stand on a cold terrace and watch 80mins of rugby, im going to spend maybe 3-4 hours at a craft beer festival, with live music and street-food and a game of rugby. If the game is good, brilliant, but even if we get thrashed, all ill remember the next morning is I had a fantastic time at the rugby.
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What does that mean? The Oxford board had the RL experience, the marketing experience, the City contacts and even the political muscle. You literally couldn't give them a better headstart.
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Which bit do you disagree with? It was a well reasoned post not sure why the need for the insult and heavy sarcasm?
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Yep, but it's nothing to do with Sky as they don't have the rights.
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The difference between a gimmick and something deeper is what you put at the core of it. It you decide who you want to come and concentrate on giving them a great time, you will do well. If you think they should enjoy the rugby league, but try to dress it up with a little razmatazz, that is a gimmick.
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Which was how to meet Oxford's demand for a part time rugby league side. It turns out that is not sustainable. The other options are: - Give up - Try a completely different market in Oxford.
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My understanding from the LE article was that they got the money from the club Wembley tickets as the tickets had been sold irrespective of how many turned up i.e they got the money from 15000 tickets even if only 5000 of then turned up. I may have read it incorrectly of course and I don't have it to hand to check
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The Oxford RL directors were responsible for the Oxford RL business strategy.
