dboy

Or you could summarise it for us all, to save time.

Would be quite a discussion if you could get them all in the same bar today!

Well spotted! I'm recovering from Flu, so it's not my fault.

It's like an episode of Dallas.

I know what you meant Tom - I'd just thought you'd be more aware of the deals supposedly in the offing. It was reported that the NRL reducing their equity demand, kept the door open for a secondary deal with an American consortium. We'll see soon enough. Fingers tightly crossed. But even without that, it's a fact that there is more money "in the game" than there was in 1996 (we don't even need to acknowledge that the game existed on peanuts for over a century before that).

Well across the game then Tom?

It equates to £36m now according to the Bank of England, but you're missing the point. You are ONLY looking at the TV money. There's more fan money in the game, more owner money in the game, more sponsorship in the game etc. Matt Ellis has reportedly put £10m into the game in 3 years. The game has never had more money "in it". That's before the 2 equity deals begin, which will hopefully move the whole game onto new levels and take away the reliance on rich owners. When all that money came in in 1996, the clubs spaffed it away!

Sorry Tom, you seem to have hit "submit reply", before making your point. Go on... (though naughtily used the singular figure from the Sky "takeover" year - cheeky boy).

But not owned by Wigan RL, nor do they have primacy of tenure. That's one reason why you didn't top the IMG rankings this year. Hardly something to give a second thought to though. Every club should be more like Wigan - the IMG score has not defined Wigan as anything different than the club to aspire to be.

I think you have a rosy view of what the game's finances were like "in the past". There's definitely more money in the game now - lots of improvement needed, we know.

Lol. Say what you mean Deano. Better still, stop living in the past. The game's in the best shape it's been in for decades - it needs to capitalise on the fairly rapid improvements that have been made... and I hope the usual suspects don't leave the lower echelons behind (again). The whole game needs to be benefit from whatever happens next.

Hmmmm...I very much doubt that. It's not a mere click counter - the data is treated (I won't pretend to know how the hell that works).

458 pages of everyone pointing why IMG grading is guff, and 1 page from Wigan fans moaning that they should be top.

Oh here they come, Cherry and White whingers. Who set the crowd boundary at 7.5k? Wakey? Who set the overseas quota? Wakey? Get your own ground, stop cuckooing at a soccer club and you'll be back at the top in no time. In all seriousness - why do you care? There is no value to finishing top of IMG. Who bloody cares!?

Hey Deano, why not repeat the myth that Wakey said they'd move out of BV until a new ground was built. Knock yourself out.

Erm... Well I guess it's forced them into a more suitable stadium, but let's not re-do the arguments as to whether that's "progress". TBF, Cas sprinkling glitter and inflating their crowds isn't progress either. My final point was probably most apt - as bad as Hudds and Cas were, Championship clubs could never catch them in this system. Wakey, York and TO have all progressed positively - but was that down to IMG or something else?

It was certainly never perfect. I argued long and hard against the idiotic catchment pilar. However, I'm comfortable with the opinion that without IMG gradings being in place the last few years, the game (and certain constituent clubs), would not have made the change, progress and vision that has taken place. Ellis would have done whatever it took, but I've no doubt that, as an example, Hudds and Cas would still be exactly where they were 3-5 years ago. It allowed York and TO to rise, and in turn they pressured such clubs, which pressure the clubs above them. What IMG never really did was allow all Championship clubs to ever make the scores needed. For example, the attendance gradings for the Championship should have been weighted.

Theresa.

Of course, we see their primary purpose as being to decide the make-up of SL, but we could recognise that they (should), reflect/measure the progress of individual clubs.

Listen, I'll be ready for bed soon, but I genuinely hope for a great game. May the best team win, hopefully Wakey, but I am honestly just so happy for both teams to be there. If we were playing a Wigan/Leeds/Saints tomorrow, I think I'd feel the usual tribal instincts, but if Wire win - congratulations regardless!*/** *Obvs I type this before whatever controversy may present itself. **Posts on Sunday 4th may not be so agreeable. Up The Trin!

I originally typed Italian Lira, but really wanted to use the word...Vietnamese.

Actually, the figure quoted is in Vietnamese Dong.

Erm...ok.

It's been refurbed into a super facility. It hosts proper corporate boxes, bars and the players restaurant and lounge. I think they were quote as spending 100k per floor doing it out. It really is first class. They said they would have loved to remove it and put a big stand in, but the £ it earns is exceptional.