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Oh look, excellent stuff, yet more data pointing to the fact the current IMG plan is working, and we can go into the next round of TV rights negotiations in 2026 with a really strong pitch to broadcasters, which is our only meaningful way of raising sport-wide commercial revenues in the short-term. Great news, well done everyone, thank God we stuck to our medium-term plan and concentrated on execution! "...oh, sorry, you said what? A group of club owners have already decided to change everything? Really? They're bringing back the old guard that spent 2 decades getting into the bad position in the first place? Nah, don't be daft, even they wouldn't do that. Sorry? "Away fans and selling more pies" you say? Right. Makes sense. Oh well..." Well done boys. Well done.

acoording to chatgpt you might have a point "Probably not as their main reason. People usually go onto TotalRL.com for the same reason they visit most fans’ forums: to talk with other supporters, to get (and give) opinions, to share rumours, to catch news they might have missed, and to vent about results or refereeing decisions. If something is written by AI and feels too polished or generic, many forum regulars would spot it straight away and either ignore it or call it out — because the appeal of a fans’ forum is that it’s authentic chat between real supporters. That said, if an AI post sparked debate, offered good stats, or gave a fresh angle, people might still engage with it — but they wouldn’t be going there specifically looking for AI content. Would you like me to take a look at recent TotalRL forum threads to see if AI-style writing is creeping in there?"

This just isn't true. Other clubs haven't seen crowds decline c40%, and using Wigan as a comparison is just silly. It may be frustrating for you, but there is a clear reason that Hudds get stick for crowds.

Why is it when people do "releases" they say things like "not a single conversation with myself from the club about any of it" .. its wrong its "with me" to say "myself" would show some form of self reflection and a conversation with yourself... people do it on tv far too much too I find it unbelievably irritating! I know language evolves but FFS

So, we've made the play-offs, and the reward is a second visit in five days to Odsal. To say we're up against it on Friday is an understatement. Missing all three half backs, plus a couple more that failed HIAs at the weekend, and the guys who played big minutes on a heavy pitch on Sunday will have to back up and play big minutes again with us down to bare bones, whereas Bradford will presumably be able to bring in half a dozen who they rested on Sunday. I think all we ask is that the team have a dig again as they did on Sunday, where even Bulls fans said we were the better team for the first 70 minutes. It was such a different game to the one at our place earlier in the season. The head says that the quick turnaround for a team without half backs that can barely muster 17 players will be too much...the heart says this is a team that have battled for each other really well in recent months and will give it another good shot. I hope we have one more big effort in us but if we do bow out here, roll on next season.

Nah I don't agree with that at all. How do you organise a vote on the official website, there's no way for users to comment on there, and my guess is there are a lot more Fev fans look at the club FB page regularly than the website anyway. There are already loads of votes on the club Facebook page (well over 200 already and it's only been up about 3 hours), they are going to get a pretty good sample of Rovers fans, personally I think it's a great idea as it will give them a good idea of which option is likely to sell best. As an aside, the green shirt was as far as I'm aware paid for by our sponsors Bartercard (whose brand colour is green), it was a fundraising thing that cost the club nothing and any shirts sold raised money for the club, so probably a no-brainer for the club to accept the offer. If it helps get them on board again next year and bring some much-needed funds into the club, they can bring out a pink one as far as I'm concerned.

Irrespective of the reasons why, based on the Ashes sales, increasing crowds and viewing figures, it would appear that the demise of the sport here has been overstated. And its no wonder why - we are being negged by Aussies who want to take control and negged by owners who wanted control of the RFL.

I've never got that hung up on Hudds attendances as others have. It's not like everyone else is getting 10k+ There's a few clubs who many want in SL, that still have to go a long way to get on a par with the Giants attendances. I just feel a bit meh with Huddersfield though. Like, where can we go with it? They've had a money man who's put in astonishing amounts over a long period. He's now in his eighties. They've been in SL 20+ years. They're trying to move out of a decent stadium to go some where smaller (I do think that will benefit them and make gamedays better and entice more people to come) but the only appropriate site they've got isn't available unless the council change their minds. They just seem to be stuck. I look at the likes of Oldham, Widnes, Halifax and think, if they get a money man (As Oldham have) I can see something good happening there. I just don't have that with Huddersfield sadly as they've got all things many clubs would cry out for. So where's the improvement coming from?

I mean it literally does - in the context of how they're now considered. Same as Leigh and to an extent Hull KR. Huddersfield's trajectory is stagnantly low at best, but more realistically declining. It doesn't really matter what's gone before, we're in the here and now and the Giants aren't in a great spot. That said, i'd still have them over Bradford for a plethora of reasons beyond crowd size.

I've seen (and written) some one-eyed stuff on here down the years, but arguing Wakefield havent improved their ground or received stick for their attendances is Hall of Fame stuff.

People have said Wakey/Cas haven't been fit for Super League because of their grounds from the first games they both played in the division!

Im not sure if you can do it on the free version of ChatGPT but I have a subscription and as long as the video has subtitles then it can pick it apart like that which is brilliant if you want to get the main points on something without spending an hour watching/listening to it. As others have said, AI is a fantastic tool but I find you do need to have a decent knowledge of what you are wanting to get the most out of it. It's pretty cool that it will give links to articles where it got the data from which is pretty handy as well. I wouldn't just take everything it says as gospel as it can be easily lead. Letter to the Editor: Total RL From: M. Gledhill Dear Sir, At last, justice is served. The news that Nigel Wood has returned as RFL chairman is not just good for the game — it is the best thing to happen to rugby league since Bradford Bulls invented entertainment in the 1990s. Let’s be honest: without Bradford, there is no rugby league. Super League was built on the back of packed nights at Odsal, the flames shooting up into the sky, and Robbie Paul weaving through defences while the rest of the sport looked on in awe. And who was quietly masterminding so much of that era? Nigel Wood. That’s right. Not just a chairman, but the architect of glory. The critics don’t get it. They never have. They’ll whinge about “leases” and “payoffs” because they’re jealous. Jealous of Bradford’s history, jealous of Odsal’s world-famous craters, jealous of the fact that when rugby league needed a leader, once again a man with Bradford blood stepped forward. “Nigel isn’t just back in charge of the RFL,” I told a friend at the Provident. “He’s back in charge of destiny.” With Wood steering the ship, I fully expect the Bulls to be in Super League within a season, the World Club Challenge back at Odsal, and England lifting the World Cup with a team full of Bradford lads. If anything, this appointment doesn’t just fix the RFL — it fixes rugby league itself. Mark my words: the Wood era will be remembered as rugby league’s renaissance. And it all started in Bradford, as it always does. Yours faithfully, M. Gledhill Proud Bradfordian & Witness to Greatness

But it will include him. That's the point.

I'll say one thing that I don't think many will disagree with: our in-season signings this year (Hampshire, Wilde and Glover) have been a lot better than last season (Eden, Patton, Kibula etc).

Yes , I would have said Wakefield in 2022 and 2023 . Why ? Because they had the lowest average attendance . However , and in their defence , in 2023 their ground capacity was around 4.7k as they were building their new stand . Wakey still got more than Huddersfield last year and Wakey were in the Championship !! I can't believe I am having to defend Wakey

They do. Salford in particular.

Just my take on the stats around Nawaqanitawase's errors. I believe he was pretty susceptible under the high ball in defence in the first half of the season but improved significantly as the season progressed As for overall errors, he makes errors in attack because he is given a free rein to be inventive so his overall errors are a bit of a red herring. If I were picking a Kangaroo 13 today, he would be nailed on for a wing spot.

No. They were the lowest B in SL and yes their points score can reduce this time around

The clubs certainly seem to have decided that following the IMG plan for a few months has set themselves up for life and now they know better than anyone. Hence their amazing takeover.

Yeah I get that but they've been heavily reliant on loans for much of the year and they struggled to hang on to many players from their 1st team squad last season. My guess is that most of their squad have jobs outside RL whereas I doubt whether, say, Chris Hill and Zane Musgrove are working shifts at the Top House to supplement their income at their new club.

Great figures and growth from the NRLW: The average crowd this season was 5,500 while the average TV viewership was 152,000 per match. In addition, the speed, skill and intensity of games are up as the quality of games and players – many of whom have now been able to play the game since U6s – has improved significantly. “I am very excited for the future,” Abdo said. "We have seen a massive increase in live attendance, up 74%, our broadcast audience is up by 24% so more and more fans are getting to see some really unbelievable football. https://www.nrl.com/news/2025/09/16/roosters-receive-nellie-doherty-shield-as-record-nrlw-growth-celebrated-ahead-of-finals/

And for Fevrover.

So....London were booted out before a all was kicked in 2024, even though they had an owner throwing £2 million a year at them, but Salford were granted a License. Then the new owners asked for "cash up front" which didn't touch the sides and now they are basically pulling the plug because they couldn't do a real estate deal......whilst London seem to have found another cashed up owner willing to bankroll the club. I feel for Salford fans........You really have been dumped on repeatedly by false promises from the Dr onwards and I fear for your future moving onwards.....The RFL and IMG are simply not fit for purpose!

If they get really stuck, they can merge with near-neighbours Sheffield.

I would be amazed if London have spent even half of what Oldham have, or indeed what York have.

There's a lot of truth in that. People with personal goals and (not so) hidden agendas. It frustrates the hell out of me. Selling sport successfully relies a lot on "social proof". People will try new things that they think other people like, it's like taking a reference when you're assessing a new employee, or reading a hotel review on TripAdvisor when booking a holiday. It is fundamentally against the sport's best interests for key stakeholders to be emphasising the negative, or even worse making up the negative when the real context is generally positive. It's unprofessional, damaging, and we should expect better from such people.

They can do... Eagles had to fight to get the Challenge Cup win back off Huddersfield when that fiasco happened IIRC

Of course its not all down to IMG, IMG cant implement anything it was always down to the clubs, however what IMG has done is focus the clubs to implement things that they otherwise might not have bothered with. Things like led advertising boards and big screens etc, they may seem inconsequential but in the modern world of sport they aren’t.

Its blatantly him making an excuse so he can leave the club guilt free, look at how badly I was treat, i have no option other than to leave......he`ll be announced as a signing by another club by the weekend.

Just Richardson repeating himself, and Solly playing his same old role as his single ally. There's absolutely zero evidence that anybody else in the NRL, including the bigwigs at League Central, have any interest in doing this. What will then happen is Mascord will recycle it, and the story becomes one of those self-referential truths again, with actual UK stakeholders forced to comment on it and articles farmed from their response even though - yet again - there is nothing of substance behind it. Shane is just an old man shouting at clouds at this point. Maybe he's lonely? Maybe his wife doesn't listen to him anymore? Who knows. Whatever it is, it's irrelevant for us over here.

Not remotely true

If we’re going to do things properly, we need young lads in all positions coming through our system on a regular basis. Makes sense to sign them from a good club like St. Helens until we can get York lads coming through.

Imagine if it's reference was Mick Gledhill

Absolutely superb. The quality on the pitch improves year on year. I've said before, without hyperbole, that I'd rank it among the best women's sports leagues in the world.

Odsal doesn't embarrass me in the slightest. If Bradford Bulls can manage to pull a crowd and corporates in in that ground, good luck to them. If they can't, they'll fall by the wayside. You could argue that has already happened.

Well in my case and lot of other people case Odsal is an embarrassment to Rugby League and with that dump of a ground Bradford Bulls shouldn't be anywhere near Super League

It's the feel good factor from Nigel being involved again.

Signed another 2 years

I think if you've a 6 team play-off in a 12 team league then no matter how much you might want to argue "6th has to really earn it with 2 away wins against higher sides", the low win % massively undermines it. Personally I prefer a Top 5 system for a league of this size, with qualification final (2v3) and elmination final (4v5) in week one, major and minor semi finals in week two, and a preliminary final week three. Gives a clear advantage to the league winner vs the 2nd placed side (bye from the first week, plus a 2nd chance if you then lose), and it's really, really hard to win it from 5th. That's also why I fervently believe that if we go to 14 sides, we should keep a 6 team play off at most. Making it the Top 8 from 14 teams would make an already weak concept much worse.