gingerjon

Little Common play at The Oval in Eastbourne now. Amusingly, Sidley United now play at Little Common.

Ah okay. I think, and this may shock you, they've drawn something slightly out of context there. He was clear throughout the interview that testing was right and player safety was the most important aspect. It was only when referring to the competitive and commercial advantage to be gained by avoiding testing that he said the above - hence the second line about the incentives.

I think what he said was that it was right that they tested (the tests were paid for by Spurs) and right that the match was called off but drew attention to the fact that they might now be punished for doing the right thing whereas other clubs had declined tests and so therefore couldn't have any positives ... ... which does show the issue of having two completely different testing regimes and requirements in place in a single competition.

On the subject of being innovative and all things like that, it's worth, if you can, digging out the interview with the Leyton Orient chairman that was on Five Live last night. He was on in response to his team's match being called off thanks to positive covid tests. As the match was going to be on the TV that's £150,000 his club now isn't going to have and so he was talking about what they are doing to generate income. He listed a lot of the things that are mentioned regularly on here. Paid-for streaming, partnerships, community activities, other commercial streams away from matchday ticket income. All very positive which means they will only lose £1.5m if they play a full season with no fans in the stands. Shouting "be innovative" will fix nothing. At best, it will reduce the losses a small amount. Without fans in the stands the 2021 season shouldn't even start.

As far as I can see, if you're grassroots by definition (so Isthmian/NPL/Southern and under) then you stand a chance. Over that but below the Premier League then it's going to be carnage.

Potential for a lot more Macclesfields

This was one of the things they were trying to explain on the radio this morning but as I was swearing a white van ahead of me I didn't quite catch it. The national rules are from Thursday (probably) but others will come as soon as necessary if they are localised.

Rimmer and the RFL have to move the definition for at least League 1 in my opinion so that it comes under grassroots and could have small, socially distanced crowds. Otherwise I don't see how those clubs have a future.

If not October then when? This is my worry now. Because we have to assume that if we move to greater restrictions now - at the start of the Autumn - that we're looking at having disruption well past Christmas. And if that's the case then any new test events for elite sport wouldn't begin until well after the festive period. I'd say fans in attendance for the start of 2021's season is very much under threat.

Great seashell impersonation. I apologise if I missed your point.

They’re not investing to make a return therefore it is irrelevant if they do. Therefore asking if they’re going to is the working definition of pointless.

Given they are the soft power projection of a foreign state, I think they have different priorities.

Buongiorno?

I think a lot of people didn't realise that the Premier League only really introduced a 'light' version of VAR last season. They tried to not have to put in the full version - the one that those of us who saw it introduced at the Women's World Cup in 2019 looked at in horror. However, they have been leaned on (I think by UEFA) to standardise with the full on version. The referees have no room for manoeuvre here. They have to implement the rules to the letter.

We've already lost one club from Super League.

It would be. That's why Notre Dame scheduled it and South Florida will have taken the payment to play it. Whoever scheduled it for Sky did so because either they don't have access to any other rights (they're on BT), there was nothing else available in the time slot (not true, I don't think), or because they simply didn't know and thought Notre Dame would be a good game to show (quite possible).

Political.

We need to spread the word somehow

Anyone on social media, don't forget to tag comments with #bbcrl so they know we're watching

You're good at this. Convincing anyone. But, anyway, London was fifteen years ago and, I write this as a London supporter, utterly ridiculous. I was glad from an entirely selfish point of view it worked out how it did but, ultimately, it set in train the rushed failure that was Quins RL and the many subsequent problems. The rules were sorted out subsequently. Widnes and others have been docked competition points. Twelve seems to be the starting point. If Toronto start next season in Super League then, by recent example, they should start at -12. As for paying players. I am still struggling to understand supposed rugby league fans who think this should be an optional extra. Widnes, in the example above, found ways to ensure players were paid. Still, I'm sure all good business make it clear that their drones will only be paid if the owner is feeling happy and there should be no expectation otherwise.

Deducted 12 points? That Widnes? How many times were players not paid in that process?

Nah. This isn't business. This is sport. And even if it were business, Toronto are selling nothing to the RFL that doesn't rely on trust. The sport argument says pay your players. The trust argument says pay your players. Only the licking the boot argument says the players who play the game you profess to care about should be happy to be unpaid collateral damage.

Interesting (ish) to see Sky showing college football this evening. BT also putting on a couple of games.

Just checked - Live at the Apollo is SRO Audiences, who also do The Last Leg and others. You pre-register for a ballot. You then get told if you've got in. You do not get told in advance who the guests will be.

There is a BBC ticket mailing list. Anyone can get on it. Most of the live comedy TV shows are massively oversubscribed and go to a ballot.