iffleyox

Exactly, and consequently they are the most clear eyed in all this as a result. They’re happy where they are, they want to stay there, they have the opportunity and the means to make it theirs. Meanwhile in the Giants corner, they don’t want to be there, they want to be somewhere else with a preference but no certainty, in the meantime they’d like to be at ground 3… it’s all a bit woolly. To be fair, they are probably right, but theirs is the path that’s difficult to walk.

How, and on what timescale? over a decade of sustained growth and repositioning, sure. But you (and he) shouldn’t underestimate how niche and constrained RL is in England. I’ve said before that I’ve been in a position to try and get household name brands to buy into RL sponsorship and failed every single time. The nadir was a UK-wide brand aimed squarely at the average/core RL demographic saying words to the effect of ‘we know they’re our people, but we’re selling them aspiration.’

I suspect a more accurate reading would be IMG with their head in their hands while the RFL decide to use it.

Sure. What are they going to do differently this time? More importantly, are they ready to do it?

So let’s add Broncos instead and go straight to your second sentence? +1 for efficiency I guess..

True, but equally it depends what you’re trying to do. If 250 people don’t drift away that’s a nucleus you can grow from even if everyone else does. I’m absolutely not saying it’s easy, but it’s not impossible either. Worcester have just got *very* lucky - parachuted back in at level 2 after 2 seasons off and gates in the thousands. Everyone else has done/is doing it the hard way, and it is worth it.

Good. What’s a year [or two] really?

We (Mose) bought ourselves out of admin with a consortium of former players facing down a creditors meeting and getting them to accept pennies in the pound, as well as selling the ground to developers. We then had a few seasons playing on a pitch at Birmingham University before the abject nature of our plight had the city council give us a long term lease on a patch of land that we’ve now developed. Again, it might be bloody awful but none of that is insurmountable if people want it.

Loathe as I am to use examples from the other code - and I only do so as a Johnny-come-lately to league, from the south, and they’re the examples that came to mind… London Scottish, Richmond - fans of both clubs (at level 1) saw the loss of their players and worked back up nine divisions from park pitches to the second tier. Moseley, Coventry, Leeds - didn’t actually implode, and experienced incredibly depressing seasons concentrating on fulfilling their fixtures as they got tonked every week until finding a level (3 or 4) where they could rebuild. point is, clubs can be saved if people are prepared to work very hard. It’s actually even fun once you turn the corner again - even if you are by then miles from the top. IME as a Moseley fan it’s more fun getting there than being there tbh.

Er, isn’t the line that the RFL watered down IMG’s proposed criteria before introducing them? i.e IMG: you should do some ranking measured like this RFL: good idea but we’re going to measure them like this

Are you assuming the plan is to stick at 8 teams….? they’re starting with 8 teams and the budget to sign whoever the hell they want on the planet. The idea is that then they’ll add as many more teams as they can grow to, on the same spending terms.

I’m intensely relaxed about being wrong. That would be great, and I’ll be the first person to draw attention to myself on here so we can all have a good laugh. Really. it’s if I’m right that worries me.

Yes. I’d love this to be me being over the top, and waking up tomorrow with a headache and a rueful grin. In fact, no one would (or indeed will) be more pleased than me to own my wrongness. Except I’ve not been drinking and I am that worried.

Totally agree. Assuming it does go bump.

It’s far more dangerous than that. It’s completely cannibalistic. Best case scenario is it creams some ageing stars and dies. Best case. Cross your fingers. but it’s too well funded. In the topsy-turvy world where someone bankrolls the LivGolfing of a team sport, the logic is they’ve got to hose money at it (more so than in an individual sport) to make it stick and make sure it’s a shining light to all the players not in it. If they don’t they’re wasting their time. No one has done this with a team sport before (see a couple of pages back for why when it came down to it cricket could come to an accommodation with Packer - and more recently the IPL). what really worries/saddens me is that the current advocates haven’t actually thought through the consequences either. I’ve spent nearly 20 years in brand and marketing and the only way this’ll work is a play for top dog.