South Wakefield Sharks

I'd be surprised if the new format makes much difference for most clubs. The better run clubs will be able to grow on the back of more competitive games, and the rest will continue to puddle along. The new format gives any club a realistic opportunity to become one of the big boys, but most clubs are so badly run that they will continue to fritter away the opportunities. Clubs like Wakey & Cas will be satisfied with not being the worst, and clubs like Fev will try and get to the top too quickly. The biggest change the game needs, is more sensible club administrators.

If you subscribe to the notion that the game needs a system where clubs can move between divisions based on performances on the pitch, then the 2x12 & 3x8 isn't a bad model. Any club could get a backer with lots of money and could jump from bottom to top. Salford COULD do this with Dr K's money, if it is spent wisely. In the grand scheme of things it isn't too much money to do so. If a club doesn't have that option, and so has to build up it's business, then the proposed new structure lends to that more readily than the current one. Take Wakey for example. There is no hope of them catching Leeds as a business by steadily growing. They can't afford a squad that can compete on the pitch, and so the whole mood at Wakey will be of survival and it won't be a business that people will want to associate with. Wakey are small fish in the big pool. The new structure provides for 22 league games, followed by 7 play-off matches. Wakey's play-off matches would be against clubs with a similar size budget, so there is an opportunity for Wakey to be successful at that level. Their ambition would be to be top of the middle eight and gradually good enough to make the top eight. The same would apply to clubs like Fev/Sheffield who would set their sights on getting on top of Wakey, and clubs like Dewsbury/Barrow would set their sights on getting ahead of Fev/Sheffield. At the moment the gap between the levels (certainly SL & championship) is too large for a club to do this in a sustainable way, without a large benefactor. The downsides to the proposed new structure, are the same for any system that allows movement between leagues based on a year's on field performance. But if we're going with that in RL at this stage, then that is probably the best way to do it. Worth also bearing in mind that Lengahan et al, are nor objecting to the 2x12 & 3x8 structure, they are simply using that as leverage to gain more control over central funding from the RFL.

Just ordered my tickets for the Italy match. Taking my eldest (student), youngest & her latest boyfriend, who has never been to a rugby match before (both 15), so the whole job lot for 4 people, two matches is £22.

Very funny. I love the FARCE word. Amazing how many threads on here, or letters in RL Express use that word.

I think that they have an advertising hoarding at Oxford's ground. I know one of the champagne lot do have. Wonder if there is a connection there? Be good to think that there is, that they became aware of what the RLWC2013 could deliver for them through Oxford's use of Iffley Road.

Guess I'll be supping that tonight after I've had my pie & chips for tea.

Be good to see him make a real impact. He's been about a while now. Maybe going to Widnes will help him get his career back on track.

Well it's not too shabby that team is it? Still we knew they would have a good squad. To be the best, you've got to best the best and our squad's not too shabby either.

Not a surprise, but he should be remembered as the guy who kept the Bulls alive and carried the torch for a year or so in very difficult times.

We then end up with a SL comp with very few teams in it! It's easy to say "kick them out", but what other option do you have? The 14 clubs in SL are probably the top 14 clubs in the northern hemisphere. There may well be a bunch of them that are little more than glorified community clubs (only worse run) but I don't see a long queue of clubs of the calibre of Wigan, Leeds etc chomping at the bit to take their place. What we need to do is gradually increase the number of quality clubs. Salford dropping on DR K should help lift them out of the mire. Wire have become a serious club in recent years, and there is a danger that the Giants might become the real deal. We're getting there, but it's a long haul.

Think RL Meltdown is going to be busy with this topic!! Seems to me we need to consider whether the changes will replace poor home trained players with better quality non federation trained players. For instance is Wakey's 8th home trained player simply in a job because Wakey have to have 8 home trained players? Could Wakey get a better non-federation trained player for the same money? If so, that would drive up the standard of the comp as a whole, would have no impact on the national squad, and would send a very clear message to young home trained players about the level they needed to attain to turn pro. I don't know the answer to the questions, but it might be worth considering them before we all launch into the usual "sack the RFL nonsense"!

Ok article, but it leaves lots of questions unanswered. However I'm sure the League Express team will be on to it to ensure we get some 'depth' to the story and the rationale behind the proposed move. If it was developed by people with expertise in developing elite rugby league players then I'd be much more relaxed about it, than I would be if it was hatched by the club chairmen! What we do know though is that many of the current academies are simply not fit for purpose (see latest RFL review). A serious question to ask for example is whether in the Wakefield district, if you pooled the money that goes into the Wakey, Cas & Fev academies, would you be more or less likely to get more top quality players out the other end? The academies should be about elite player development, not making up the numbers. The community game provides an outlet for players at junior and youth ages, and provides a structure for late developers to mature. Again in Hull. Is that city likely in the short to medium term to produce twice as many elite players as Leeds? If not, why have two academies in Hull and only one in Leeds? We have limited resources and we need to be sensible how we use them.

Maybe he isn't cut out to be a SL player. It's not for every player to commit to the full-time environment & the associated sacrifices.

Forgotten the VAT? Sounds like he's got all the attributes for the Chief Finance Officer role at most pro RL clubs then!

And very good it is too. Excellent full page article by Hector McNeil on the importance of London. Couple of suggestions in the paper too that maybe RL people should look to the positives a little more often!

Thought the article in RLW was pretty good. Ok sensational headline, but it got people talking. If the players get a stronger voice in the game that will be a big benefit to all of us who want to see the game grow. It won't suit some of those who want to keep the game where it is, and that includes those who like to be a big fish in a small pond. We don't want to turn into soccer, but players need to be represented as key parts of the game, rather than just bits of meat you chuck away when they're no longer at their best. The fact that 75% of players would consider going to the NRL or union for more cash should send a message to the club owners that they can't simply bumble along as they are, and that they need to create enough viable, top level clubs to keep the best players in this country. The issue of marketing the game is also pretty clear. To me it sends the message out that playes have seen the profile that Sam Tomkins & the Burgess boys are getting in league, and are saying they'd quite like to be recognised or known as a personality outside their own particular town too. Even things like the Rhino ball that was introduced last year. A ball deal got signed and the players had to get on with it. Everyone seems to have said the ball is rubbish (except Rhino, obviously), now through 1eague3 the players are involved in trialling next year's ball. It should have been a basic, but because the game is not used to considering the views of players, they just get ignored, and some ill-informed decision get made. Not saying they players have all the answers, but they clearly have a view and it is poor management by the club owners and the RFL to not actively seek out the views of such key stakeholders.

Links in with the wider problem that a number of SL clubs put far too much of their money into the first team squad, and not enough into the rest of the business. Happy to pay an average player £50k a year, but baulk at paying above minimum wage for the guy who's going to look after the finances!

Are most of them not already on the books of a SL club? You'd think Wigan had the ones from South Wales already & The ther Lamcs clubs those form north Wales.

Not sure all of them deserve to be in the England squad, but they certainly add a by of competition to the squad and we should certainly have a great pack for the World Cup, if we avoid any serious injuries between now and then.

Interesting that he chose the Bulls over Salford where he currently plays and who offered him a contract too. Does that suggest Gaskell isn't as convinced about the Salford future as the club are? Does he think the Bulls are a better bet than Salford? Maybe Salford aren't splashing the cash about as much as everyone assumes. Or maybe he's finally accepted that Yorkshire is the only place to be.

I doubt either Just Browny's German newbie or certainly my in-laws had ever heard of him before the match.

Again comments my in-laws made about how good he is. We see him all the time and as Martyn asks, maybe we expect too much.

The Tomkins comment must have hurt!

The difference between the top clubs and the cellar dwellers. Wigan probably spend more on their coaching team than Wakey do on their squad. One of the reasons they are successful and we're not!

It's part of the culture of the game to knock it. We're always "on show" for some reason. Why? It's a great game, with a great atmosphere and a good community of people involved. Give others a chance to enjoy it, if they do, great. If they don't hey-ho! It is very, very rare that a RL match doesn't have a "magic moment". Even in Saturday's game, there was the Tomkins try & Jamie Shaul run and Charnley tackle. Moments that people will remember for years. Despite all the attacking errors by Hull, it was still tense and right up to the end, if Hull had started to hold onto the ball, they could have got back into it. Not a classic by any means, but certainly not boring. RL fans need to stop feeling the need to justify the sport. Enjoy it for what it is & be grateful that you've had the opportunity to be a part of it.