RP London

If we want to build it into something serious we have to have them winning too a period of dominance by one team/hemisphere is ok as people want to break it but it has to be able to be broken and dominance is short. You can look at all sorts of sports to see this is true. If it becomes balanced then that is the perfect situation for both leagues and something that can be really good to sell to people/sponsors etc.

are you saying the aussies will make up excuses for losing no matter what we do... colour me shocked

I was saying very similar to my RL group of mates on the weekend.... Just play the game, a one off world championship and make it the biggest game it can be.

Before we start adding to it I think we need to make sure it has a place in the calendar that is untouchable.. I'd also say we need to decide what it really is, as a game too. For me we should be looking to build it as the "super bowl".. 2 conferences of the same league playing each other to determine the true "world champions".. I think you can build something big out of that.. Perhaps it is as it is and billed still as the world championship.. but the key is we have to decide what it is we want from the game IMHO before we start to look at what we can tack onto the side of it (which is very RL)... maybe just maybe a one off stand alone game, billed properly and developed can be all we need (rather than an expanded comp).

Sports tend not to have issues becuase they are strict with clubs, they have deadlines that clubs have to make or they will get kicked out, and are kicked out. They dont continually bend the rules which is a vicous circles and the point I am making. You only need to make a tough stance once and then people fall into line. However, as you show other sports do chuck teams out when they have to, the sport is bigger than a few clubs is the main mantra but that is especially true when they are a few clubs that cant actually sustain themselves. We all know, or should know from any business we work in or even service industry, fixed deadlines get worked to, people find a way, if you know that that deadline is not going to be adhered to then you tend not to worry too much about it "it'll get done" is the attitude.. and that is the attitude around RL at the moment and why these things keep happening. Be tough on teams and they will start to fall into line.

Luckily I dont need to be validated by you... Where did I say Featherstone Rovers fans are to blame? The club and owners are to blame 100% you're now just trying to imply I am saying things that I am not because you dont like how I think the situation should be dealt with (and is in almost every other sport). I have no respect for you or people who do this and therefore will put you on ignore.

it is "a mess" to think otherwise is non-sensical (and your last sentence says more about you than me, childish at the least... its not about having my "own way" and its not whining its about having a discussion on a forum) They had every chance to compete and failed.. to have a strong line in the sand would not lead to the demise of the game and is not insulting to any fans its about having rules that everyone has to abide by no matter who they are and not making it a subjective decision open to being skewed by personal interest. The sport would be stronger if it had this type of strong stance, clubs would have to fall into line to the governing body not the other way around... this "soft" approach we have now is getting us what we have which is a game that changes at the whim of one club here or another there, a game that is accused of treating clubs differently from one another etc etc that is a weak game in demise not a strong one that deserves investment. it really is a simple starting point.

but only after they had released the fixtures and caused this mess.. but you know this, you're just being difficult because its a negative on the RFL and this fixture set up which you see to want to defend as though its a personal project of yours... its odd. They should tell everyone they should be in the position to fulfill next years fixtures by the time they are announced or they will not be included.. that would have stopped this mess..

I know and if they cannot then make a delayed deadline then draw the line.. move on..

Shhhhh! ffs hes like Beetlejuice, say his name 3 times and he'll appear and none of us want/need that!

in the end that's down to the agreement in place... they can still grow to a point where they need to leave but that would be the same with anything they did unless they bought a ground, which is easier said than done as we know from so many clubs.

sorry to cut the quote but just on this las paragraph I think you are very much preaching to the choir. While people are criticising the coach here and glad he is gone I dont think anyone disagrees there are some real fundamental flaws. Again a big issue I have with the RFL is they dont want to look at the big picture of anything they like tinkering with small high profile things... issues with super league? just change the number of teams or the way the table works or P&R.. dont worry about the fundamental issues of the junior set ups or the quality of the actual "match day experience"... clubs, issues with turnover "we want more homegames" rather than making the homegame bigger and better, making them more profitable etc etc etc underperforming teams always sack managers its the same in any sport.. hoping the new one papers over the cracks, maybe giving them time to actually fix those cracks while the new manager works miracles.

yes and no... its not a 1 game takes everything match lose and you are the coach who got England eliminated in the group stage.. win and you have the chance to take the team forward and win the world cup... thats not a low bar

You may not buy it but there is no way the RFL didnt know what was happening at Fev and if they could delay the fixture list for 1 week for salford why not delay it for Fev... personally i would have told both to take a year off.. both were in such a state that whether they could fulfill the fixtures they were given were always under question, Salford given a ranking too high becuase no one knew what was going on as well as Fev now not being able to get to the deadline (and why is that deadline after the fixtures produced as well.. thats daft but so very RFL). My point wasnt expansion vs heartland in terms of right or wrong (as i stated quite clearly with "rightly or wrongly") it was merely a statement of fact that they are treated differently and the justification for it when it is expansion is becuase other clubs have to be able to plan and move forward or dont save one to the detriment of others yet they are happy to bend that for the heartland clubs and not worry about the detriment to others and yet we see it play out over and over like this and it damages the game, it damages other clubs etc etc.. The RFL just need to grow a pair and if they did clubs and new owners would work faster and better to make sure clubs get over the line. (Frankly show you can guarantee fixtures before the leagues and fixtures are announced would be a good start FFS!) In the end the lowest standard of behaviour you are willing to accept is the standard that standard behaviour will eventually become. It is being born out in front of our very eyes year on year.

most companies have a 5-10 year plan no longer.. to look to far down the line you miss the ability to pivot with what gets thrown at you, and we have all seen how the RFL dont like to keep things the same for more than about a month! I went to Bourneville to watch Sheffield Tigers RUFC play a friendly at the beginning of this season (and my 17 year old son make his debut).. its a really nice club house and the pitch is good but its very much just stand around the pitch so I was initially a bit deflated... however, they already have plans for a 350 seater structure, with a 20 year lease they can start to build things there, sustainably. That means they could have quite a nice ground there in 5-10 years time which they can then build form for the next 10 years, from there they are not tied in and IF they have progressed they could look at a bigger ground.. 20 years does not shout "small time no plan" it actually, when you start to put it together, can be a great length of time to build and then move (or build more with an extension to the lease).