Sports Prophet

I think Roosters are somehow stalling it, but I don’t think they can stall it for long.

Matty Johns podcast talks good game with Cooper Cronk, who I think is the best pundit the game has.

I wouldn’t say it’s holding the NRL back, but it’s certainly a big soulless eye sore. Sooner Souths get back to SFS the better. Just checked maps now, it takes 1 - 1.5 hours to get there from Canterbury with public transport. It’s poorly accessible.

If only Norths focused their energy on a Central Coast NRL bid, rather than ridiculous notions like this to remain relevant, they may forge a meaningful future.

Tricky runners there for the Sea Eagles

Yeo laments poor crowd for their win over Souths last night. "They said there was 8,000 there tonight but there was probably half that.” https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-02/nrl-live-south-sydney-rabbitohs-penrith-panthers-round-nine/103798212

I shared a thought some time ago around NRL memberships in addition to club memberships. For those calling on CC tickets to be included in season tickets, what about a different perspective. What if the RFL had a season ticket membership. For the sake of discussion, let’s just say this season ticket is £50. That ticket will then entitle the holder to: - £5 GA tickets and heavily discounted reserved seating tickets for all Challenge Cup fixtures from the last 32. - In partnership with all SL clubs, £5 GA tickets at all SL fixtures. First come first served. - Discounted England merch. - £10 limited GA tickets to SL semi finals. - £10 limited GA tickets to representative fixtures. I think this idea will: - create a new revenue stream for the RFL. - make the CC more enticing and accessible to more people more often. - attract larger away crowds at SL fixtures. - attract neutral RL fans to more CC and SL fixtures.

The Challenge Cup is simply too important an competition to just let whither and die. I don’t know how much the BBC pay for the rights, but this is a competition which gives RL its greatest exposure to the wider public and not just the final. To shrug shoulders and say the Challenge Cup is in a state of “managed decline” is an atrocious perspective for anyone at the RFL to be heralding, especially to a journalist. I hope it wasn’t a senior RFL official, but I anticipate it could well have been. As far as I am concerned, that type of mindset, if widely held at the RFL, simply demonstrates how awful an administrative body the RFL are. The CC must stay and it must find a way to be relevant to modern day RL supporters and casual observers alike.

It’s all conjecture. It is fun to fanaticise what might have been, because reality happens because reality does. I don’t necessarily think Rugby would be much different internationally than what it is today. Soccer is a basic sport which can be played socially by any class, in mixed genders, without a referee, with minimal equipment. Rugby took until the 1960s to develop its own simple version of the game in touch rugby, but by then soccer was well and truly established as a global game. I wonder if touch rugby had been widely available in the 19th and 20th centuries, perhaps we would see Rugby with a wider international footprint. Personally, I still see touch rugby as RL’s best vehicle to grow the footprint of the game into new international markets.

My take on it is that the sport gets the results it deserves. We have seen a poorly managed SL stagnate for a long time now and if the sport isn’t growing, it is declining. I can only dream of what an improved position the professional game would be in if the game was being delivered to its 15th year of uncompromising and improving minimum standards of licensing. I anticipate we could well have a 14 team SL with a strong core of ambitious Championship clubs working towards a licence upgrade and a promotion to the top division. Halifax are unfortunately not dissimilar to clubs like Widnes, Sheffield, York, Fev and more who without a significant benefactor have a very poor platform in the Championship to enhance their product offering.

IMG - “Your income reflects ticket sales of approximately 7,208 in round 4, yet your club claims an attendance figure of 9,467. Can you explain this?” Said Club - “oh absolutely, in round 4 we had our schools family programme where we gave away 5,000 GA tickets”. IMG - “Aaaahhhh, ok, thanks for the confirmation. I assume this was the same for Rounds 7, 9, 13, 14, 15, 18 and 22?” Said Club - “Yes, that’s right” IMG - “Excellent work. Well the good news is, those higher attendances, which you announced in a batch after other clubs announced theirs weekly, means you have been graded X and are included in SL for 2025. Congratulations.”

Considering attendances have an impact on grading, does anyone know how are the declared attendance figures actually verified?

That’s some pretty damning footage. Not sure how much he was badgered into a reaction or not, but it is hard to see how a man who disagrees with others in such a loud and obnoxious manner doesn’t end up in this situation more often. Pleased he will be off the screen again. Might watch NRL360 again.

How old is he?

Ahhh, good intel. I thought it was the most disappointing turnout of the round and maybe the season. Makes sense there was a good reason for it.