JohnM

Thank heavens that's over.

True. But we have to remeber that IMG have instructed SL that Leigh must get in the playoffs.

I agree. Leigh ust not letting them settle.

This £450 k of which you write. I hope you can help fill out the details for us, please. What is it? What is it for? Who approved such a large payment? When was it paid? Is it an annual payment? Is it on record in the RFL accounts? Thanks.

"I have no agenda" The point is that whatever you say, It does not seem that way from your posts. It's almost as if there is a causal link, a familian link, even. Maybe that's not true but the constant anti- IMG rhetoric does point in a certain direction. Its clear from your posts also that you are well-connected in the RL world in certain respects and spend a lot of time and money being involved in and following the game. It maybe therefore your public criticism of IMG (or the whole Re-imagining Rugby League project?) is just the tip of the iceberg. Who knows what you are about, behind the scenes.

Well, I didn't see THIS coming

As already mentioned, there be no way that I'd ever go to a Magic Week held in Leeds. That's my personal choice. However, if it is successful according to whatever the success criteria are, then hold it again in Leeds. No issue.

More excitement to come when it's revealed that Hughes had bought Hull FC and moved the club to Wimbledon, along with their SuperLeague status. leaving a place in SL for Toulouse. Not trolling, by the way. It's a constructive proposal to solve a tricky situation

Thats the "social media" effect. Someone says something and before you know it, true or not, it doesn't just gather pace, it accelerates out of all proportion and an opinion becomes a fact. Too many people don't stop to think for themselves. Pity ther's not a SNOPES or FULLFACT for our sport. I didn't see the incident in question, so this comment is a general one about injuries. It seems reaonable to me that a player who is hurt (level of pain is in my view and in my experience subjective) may want or need a few seconds before , for example, putting weigh on a potentially damaged ankle. I've fallen off my various bicycles enough times over the years to know that. (Eg, a suspected sprained wrist turned out to be a broken scaphoid that took titanium and 6 months to fix) As regards commentators and pundits, its not a question of not believing experienced internationals past or present, but given that the ones on Sky cant always agree on forward passes and knock-ons, infallibilty is not guaranteed.

I guess that I'm talking content here, with the marketing being the key that unlocks to door to Magic Weekend, with sales pushing the punters through the now-open door. Fans zone open from 5 pm Friday till 7 pm Sunday: each SL club to have an exhibition booth with merch, competitions, etc Other clubs also, but optional. RFL booth etc. incl "know the game" competition , how to become a player, ref etc. Quite a few clubs are sponsored by Universities, so they could have recruiting teams there, especially if Magic was a tad earlier than mid-August just before A level results. Friday night games, Sat and Sun games 7s, 9s, schools etc. Decent entertainment in and around the stadium, too. Music, stand-up, Anyway, my brain is itching with all this thinking so that's it for now.

Selfish view from me. Leeds - no London - no Manchester - maybe, now we live nearer. 1. Magic Weekend 2025, far away enough for me to make it worth a long weekend away - Edinburgh, Newcastle, Cardiff. Not sure of Dublin....needs to be somewhere where it's easy and cheap for loyal club fans . 2. Make it a Festival of Rugby, not just 6 SL games. Pack it with festivities from Friday night right through to Sunday night. 3. Work hard to get as many hardened existing fans there as possible. 4. As covered on the topic about social media, get the marketing mix right and deliver it across all media, not just the day before. 5 er....that's it.

AsI understand it, IMG are contracted to the RFL not to the forum members. IMG are the trusted advisor not the executor. If the RFL want to respond to detailed questioning from LE then of course that is up to them. If they do, I'd advise them not to get caught up in a discussion of the minutiae but stick to the philosophy: the grading system is based on identifying the success factors and best practice that clubs need to adopt to operate sustainably in SL. Once they get into a discussion about points values, catchment areas, the thing will go on for ever and ever and ever until it vanished down a wormhole somewhere in ....well, you can speculate on where....

Worzel, " are probably typical of your demographic, which (I'm guessing here) is likely 55+?" THose who know me will confirm I just squeeze into the 55+ class. ok, I'm a tad more social media aware than I may have implied, and also a tad older. Having been in sales and marketing, too, I'm fully in line with whatmichaelsays has posted too, though more in the high value computer systems market, and not quite up-to-date. I think, though, that clubs themselves don't know the message, though they are learning - as we all are- about the media . However, I still hate X and not because of Musk

Interesting post, thanks. At a personal level, I don't use X, (though recently it was the only way to interact effectively, sensibly and sucessfully with Octopus Energy) . I really only use Facebook (friends, various special interest groups ( no! Honestly! ) and watch a fair bit of YouTube. I don't follow Wigan on social media, though no do have them, and Rugby League on the BBC Sport app. I don't have notifications from Our League either. In fact, I rely on this forum and rugbyleagueontv for most of my info. So, my questions are: 1. Am I typical of hard-line fans? 2. How should/will the sport and the individual clubs use social media to attract new and lapsed fans?

Your podcasts are well worth watching and I recommend them as an hour well spent. That sort of discussion is more considered and informative than a 100 word social media post.

Specifically on play acting, I can see the risks in that (in bold above) and yes, the players - in general as well as in specific cases during a game could self- police play -acting. But the ref has the power (or should have, in my view,) and the ability to do something about it on the spot such as calling on the VR. But thats starting to get too complicated and disruptive. Perhaps in the pre-match briefing the ref holds with both sets of players, the ref should appeal to their better nature and tell them not to do it.

1. Martyn is certainly not running a campaign, in my view, though I do think he has a healthy skepticism and preference, which he is of course free to have and to express. 2. IMG know what they are doing by not being sucked into a defensive battle over the minutiae of the grading scheme. Why should they engage with the few vocal opponents in certain clubs to give them opportunity to carry on their grievences campaign in full public view? 3. It is my view that these grievances have already been aired in private with the RFL, SuperLeague and IMG. Do these critics amongst the clubs not subscribe to collective responsibility? Or do they just run crying to us when decisions in cabinet, as it were, don't go their way. 4. However, because the prime movers amongst the clubs have not got their way, they are making their grievences public in the hope of stirring up opposition, providing bullets for their poor bloody infantry to fire in public.

Reads as If a player on the bench is red-carded, they have to take a player from the field of play. Is that it?

Yes, I saw that. It was indeed handled properly by the ref, in my view. Initially, Cleary was slow in getting up after the tackle , then it rapidly became clear there was more to this. Initially, it could well have looked to some fans that he was just slowing things down but the ref, being on the spot, could see it was more serious. For me, the lesson for us is that the ref is the one that decides if there's any "milking" and the one with the power to act.

As I understand it, the ref is in charge of timekeeping. If he suspects a player or a team is time wasting, then doesn't he have the power to stop the clock? Equally, if he thinks a player is staying down in order to cheat a penalty, does he not have the power to refuse or reverse the penalty?

Enjoyed that. Good game...good game....

In which case, if it were true, the VR would see that and decide if they were "cheating" or not.