Heritage XIII

This is great stuff!

Ikram Butt seems to do a lot of rugby union development work esp in India & Pakistan going by the number of pics he takes with girl & junior teams

RobertAM, just out of interest what was Montreal like to live in?

There has been a domestic game prior to the Wolfpack match, so does that suggest a thawing in relations between Perez & the CRL?

I think the Toronto Wolfpack (have to compete with several lge sporting franchises in their home city) is a good indication of what can be achieved with the right backing & marketing etc. I don't think French RL has missed the boat because union cannot dominate all these 'big' cities at once. The new RL regime need to gradually reintroduce some big cities to RL, they have to be proactive in selling the sport. Also some changing factors may work in RL's favour as high lighted by L'Equipe's televising of the Championship final. This would have been unheard of a few years back but with rugby union's growth it is bound to step on toes as it jostles for bigger $$$ especially once loyal media partners having to jostle with newcomers like Bein Sports and no longer relying on rugby union's loyalty. What a better way than to rope in a recalcitrant child than to show interest in the opposition. Perhaps once having a taste of RL one's eyes are open to potential. Also the FFR13 need to make the Cup & Championship finals 'events'. These need to be marketed to all clubs & incentives given to those who can bring a bus load or two of supporters to the finals regardless of what clubs are present. Watching the Limoux v Lezignan final on YouTube, it was disappointing to see a small stadium with so many empty seats but there was a good atmosphere coming out of the broadcast.

Another great article by a new fan. Also saw a photo of him & his 2 sons with Wolfpack jerseys on. Would love to find out how their merchandise sales are going? http://fredi.ca/wolfpack-imprinting-on-toronto/

Sorry not complete but just floating some ideas .Eventually I'd like to see a conference system East (Hull KR, Hull FC, Leeds, Cas, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Doncaster, York, ) West- (Salford, Warrington, Widnes, Wigan, St Helens, Leigh, North Wales + 1) South (Broncos, Skolars, Hemel, South Wales + French, Wolfpack + 1), Central (Coventry, Sheffield, etc), North (incorporate Cumbria, Scotland). Each conference would have 8 clubs (home & away, derbies), top 3 from each conference go into a play off with each other advancing to Super League title at Old Trafford Each conference would have local leagues (conferences) under them for relegation/promotion to the Super League conferences. A playoff system exists for this promo/relegation. More concise quality games would open up a Euro type club comp similar to soccer (top clubs playing top clubs in various Euro comps, bottom clubs v bottom clubs in Euro leagues) Increase prestige of Challenge Cup not drowned out by a long club season Anyway, just some thoughts..

I wouldn't be so quick to say that. Have you seen the debt levels of most of those union clubs in the Aviva? Only the good grace of sugar daddies keeps most alive. Union definately does not have all the answers

I like how they threw Singapore in there just to make it look like it was a long & complicated process. If they had bothered to even contact the Singaporean govt, they would have been offered good dollars as the local govt there is after big sporting events. However that would mean getting off their backsides to organise getting there. Can't see Woods doing that

Read it trended no 4 in the UK on twitter. Don't know if it went higher toward the end of the game?

They should just merge with Rangers set up -Red Devil Rangers sounds good!

Matthew, can the FIRL website be improved? It would be nice to have a concise fixture & result page with tables. Cheers

While villages dominate Elite 1 there will be little change in my opinion.

Melbourne over the next 7 days expected to be fine except one day, you guessed it, the Storm play their GF rematch & strong wind & rain expected. Should check to see what AFL is on that day, probably in the stad with a roof!