del capo

You would be in the wrong place. Headquarters moved to the Etihad Campus last month....

The Community Game have 7 votes in any vote at Full Council. None of them are privy to IMG proposals. I doubt that re-organisation will be done and dusted tomorrow . RL politics is always intriguing........ A ladder of 16 clubs in SL anyone? Given SL needs 4 votes from the Championship to get it over the line ( unless there is a total breakaway) top 4 in the Championship promoted together in 2024 followed by NRL style expansion thereafter would get enough support.......especially with new IMG media deals due by then.............

Play offs are 10th September and !7th september for all divisions. Div 1 play off for promotion to Premier will be 17th september as well and will be on Our League. Grand Final again to be at Featherstone also on Our League. fixtured for sat 8th October. Last League games tomorrow 3rd Sept needed to finalise all clubs involved

Sorry Damien but I cant do linky stuff. 20th century IT only. Circulated to all Council members at least and shared elsewhere.. Somebody on here will have it and the skills to share. Gubrats ? Martyn will I am sure have it but may be saving it for his Trade press. That reference to RFL and Worcester RU could well relate to Covid loans as well as Noreen Dorris' department....Martyn has raised this on another thread

Chair summary of RFL Board meeting on 31/8 certainly interesting . Around 20000 fans for instance responded to IMG requests for input. And the terms of the Governments monies put into admin threatened Worcester RU being raised / queried by RFL on behalf of our own pro clubs......

IMG conclusions and recommendations to be presented to clubs on 28th September at a special Council meeting according to RFL Chair.

I'll leave you to argue with the Marras on that. RL is the go to sport in Cumbria. No other game competes. RL rules there. Wigan for instance has more than 10 clubs with clubhouses within 5 miles of each other. a smaller area than you talk about - but they still recruit - it can be done but financial intervention from the RFL with day to day expenses across the board would make it so much easier.

Cockermouth . Glasson and Aspatria all reported as struggling. RLWC monies put into Cockermouth for their clubhouse but it's on the ground day to day stuff where its really needed - as elsewhere. I sometime think we need a scheme that actually hijacks kids out of school or off the streets.....

No time to rejoice . RU have deep pockets and friends in high places. They will come out of it. Maybe the Newcastle owner is simply taking stock as the oval ball game finances in general are at present shaky...non relegation for starters in RU is helpful to him. At TTG we have for too long failed to meaningfully invest at Community level. IMG were amazed that our major Tier 4 feeder leagues ( League 1 equivalent in most cases ) travelled the country financially unsupported. Gateshead withdrew from the NCL because of travel finance ( cost 10k- losing such an outpost for just that really ? ) and NCL would probably instead have accepted a NE rep side to replace them and thereby secure a player pathway for the Thunder. Didn't happen. All is not well either in the Heartlands. Cumbria for instance lost 3 clubs this week alone. Top pro producers in their day. It's only a matter of time before RFL Heartland clubs could be dipping in the same empty pond for ' semi pro ' as the likes of London , NW Crus et al. When the penny eventually drops that proper investment needs to be made where the players acquire their love for TTG........ only then will the RFL pro and semi pro clubs have a chance of surviving ..... Too pessimistic a view ? Maybe but as an RL Admin for over 50 years we are I would say at a fairly pivotal point in our history.

Cost is clearly a factor but the schedule has much to admire. All countries play each other on day one - and get 2 hours rugby each over the day. That will sort out a pecking order for mid week followed by the following weekend's semi's and finals - again actually more than 90 min rugby for the participants spread over a full day. Should be a great time for all- direct country to country social mix for the lads and networking opportunities for various managements surely invaluable..........

Looks like a form of on field seeding system before progressively extending the length of play to 40 min and then full 80. Maybe aimed at trying to avoid blow out scores early doors. Good idea at this stage of youth European development.....

Stuart Fielden in the day saved Wigan from relegation. Field and French in today's side have been transformational.......

I believe the present insurance arrangements under the membership scheme means that the RFL pick up the tab.

Totally agree. They are on a fact /opinion finding exercise. They have also already spoken to the Community Board to assess views across the piste. Remember they were brought in to advise on how to make RL richer and more appealing which in turn means finding ways to overcome the impasse created by conservatives/ traditionalists whose views are currently accused of having been holding TGG back. Expect nothing until the World Cup is over but their own self imposed time line for recommendations is January 2023.......

There was a magic weekend campsite at Newcastle Racecourse in 2015.......................

The new RFL facility with 900 seater stand will appear in the top right hand corner of this photo near the blue national soccer facility ( currently closed ). Manchester Rangers used to play at the Regional Arena. Anyone interested in that new RFL set up can get a good read by googling ' Manchester City planning applications' and search ' Kylemore Way' . In the documents list the Design and Access statement at the bottom gives you everything you need to know. Pretty exciting stuff and forward looking for a change.......

2 match ban issued by Review Panel for that assault on Farrell..................

The Grand Final needs to be played in a stadium catering for the day trip - couple of gallons of petrol decent priced ticket cheaper beer and back home in time for supper. Only then will we get a fair crowd. We need more internationals or even on the road SL games for our key board dreamers on here..........

Manchester United have no alternative ground options if a full rebuild is decided, so that is unlikely to happen. IF they decide to redevelop then it will be at a leisurely pace and unlikely to diminish significantly the ground capacity in the meantime. If the ground continues to fit an average Man United crowd then it can certainly fit a GF one. But personally I would nevertheless prefer the Etihad - much better stadium and with a campus about to feature the RFL's next generation Headquarters.

IMG have their own massively successful Academy in various sports , largely at present based on the needs of the American markets. They have had significant success in a number of ' Drafts '.......

You call those pies ? Total misuse of the term. Where's the meat and potato ?

Wigan up against it already. No pies on that menu.........

I too would love to have sight of the 'well documented ' financial support provided by the RFL as alleged by Bath to the All Golds. Can anyone in the know please post it on here? I expect the complaint is just a load of cobblers. The real problem lies perhaps in the rules of all RFL ' owned ' competitions in that technically players are 'open 'and can be rewarded. ( like in the RFU ) even at these levels of ability. By contrast the NCL prohibits match payments for a number of reasons - not least being player pool retention , competition integrity and member club's own financial protection as well as avoiding HMRC complications........ I also expect that neither Bath nor the All Golds . paid or otherwise , would get anywhere near the right side of a result if pitched against any of the NCL's 48 clubs......

I wonder if Martyn was privvy to or has inside info on last weeks Board meetings that signed off this IMG deal? IMG seem to be bringing the full force of their various companies ( 3000+ employees ) to the table. Direct involvement is at Vice President level with impressive individual track records recently ( Euro Basketball League , World Table Tennis etc ). I believe they will stand the costs for two years or until an additional net profit has been secured - and will thereafter take a slice. Win win situation. First port of call is competition restructure with as much consensus as possible . Minority views and vested interests will however not hinder them . It is to be across the game as a whole and starting at the top. A blue print I would expect to be available within months ( if not already ). Both SLE and RFL have effectively recognised the challenges of getting into the really big world of major sport by creating RFL Commercial to drive through change and involving true experts in that field . My glass is certainly more half full than half empty..........