Methven Hornet
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Posts posted by Methven Hornet
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Well hasn't this forum turned into a doom and gloom fest! It would appear after all that the cosy franchise system which the majority on here support due to having a club safely tucked inside it is to be no more. Reading some of the comments on here though the franchise system was working and apparently the RFL are changing just to please a few disgruntled supporters like me, that's a kind of paranoia I have been accused of in the past. Even when SL clubs themselves vote to end the ridiculous system some forum members still deny that it has been a complete failure.
It is amazing how the RFL so loyaly backed by many members on here are all of a sudden lunatics running an asylum. How many times have I been called a doom merchant and accused of only caring about my own club. Well just take a look at this forum it really is very sad how many hypercritical comments have been posted.
I have really enjoyed Mr Sadler scurrying around peddling his propaganda garbage in his paper which only makes me even more happier that I decided to boycott his rag a long time ago. We also had had the Widnes chairman Mr O'Connor putting his weight behind franchising, no surprise really he milked the system for all it was putting a team out in the Championship that was not worthy of such a great club, just because he got the nod from the RFL that SL was his. My favourite is probably Tony Smith's comments a few week back, here we have a good coach that was aided with the lack of P&R when he was learning his trade at Huddersfield. His reasons though are priceless, apparently it will stop young British players players getting there chance in the first team because clubs will be under pressure to survive P&R, remind me how old there Warrington's Aussie full back is?
I am personally really pleased with the recent developments and I feel like the RFL are finally going down the road of thinking about all member clubs again. I really hope that the split into 3 leagues is voted through. Either way I almost feel part of the game again and I am even starting to take an interest in the world cup.
Cheer up everyone, what goes around comes around
We haven't had a system of franchising in British/European rugby league. Who knows, we might have fared better if we'd introduced such a system.
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There has been little actual criticism of the governing body: certainly not the decades if squealing and abuse they received from the backwoods men up until now
It's their job to do as they see fit
I would like to know how the issue that is bound to return of clubs being continuously promoted one year and relegated the next and the debilitating effect it had on the sport, the effect it would have on expansion... A very important issue for me and the return to a game played in a ghetto
The rfl have always thought if all member clubs and been supporting of them especially yours and for instance keighley cougars who wouldn't have a ground if it wasnt for the governing body
As a traditionalist I think this move goes against tradition and is a retrograde reactionary step, for reasons I and others have given
There have been times in the past where the game has tried to expand its horizons but has lost nerve when things got challenging. Scrambling to get back to the comfort zone when faced with the difficulties of making rugby league a mainstream sport is traditional.
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Politicians, especially government ministers, do want to be associated with sporting success, as we saw with the Olympics last year and, recently, with the tennis. That is just part of the game they are in, and they would certainly suffer criticism if they stayed away from major events. Sports with any kind of intelligent leadership court those politicians as the relationship can be mutually beneficial. Again, just a recognition of how the world works.
Rugby league, despite its traditional associations with the northern English working class, is not some social, political or moral crusade where we only deal with people we find acceptable and on our terms. The RL authorities must work with the overall good of the game in mind in every thing they do. If that means working with, and enlisting the support of, people like David Cameron, Tony Blair, et al, the so be it.
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Mergers won't work? Well, no one actually knows. You could do some modelling, though. A mind experiment. Choose the most contentious...Wallie, Cass and Fev. Go back over the last 25 years. Look at trophies won in total, aggregate attendances, aggregate income, aggregate costs, losses, amounts owing to creditors from administrations, etc. then imagine one club formed from all three. Of say a total of 12500 aggregate average crows..would drop yo how many, for how long, but would grow as new fans come along...won't happen but it's worth doing some sums.
Wallie? As in Wallie Lewis Is Coming? That takes me back a bit!!!
Good argument, all the same.
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There's a race to be the first venue to sell out a pool game.
Workington and Rochdale are fighting a pretty fierce battle, I'm told.
To sell out a sporting event in Rochdale will certainly be historic. I'm struggling to think when it was last done.
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With a foreword by Schoey, it'll be a flat cap manifesto lol
The foreword doesn't attract me, I'm afraid.
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The twelve clubs to compete in the inaugural Scottish Lowland League in 2013/14 were announced today.
The twelve, all from the East of Scotland and South of Scotland leagues, are:-Spartans FC,Threave Rovers FC,Preston Athletic FC,Gretna (2008) FC,Whitehill Welfare FC,Dalbeattie Star FC,East Kilbride FC,Selkirk FC,Gala Fairydean Rovers FC,Edinburgh City FC,University of Stirling FC,Vale of Leithen FC.Four more places will be available for season 2014/15, when the champions will play off against the winners of the Highland League. The winners of that earn the right to take on the bottom club of the Scottish Professional Football League.
http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_fa_news.cfm?page=1961&newsCategoryID=3&newsID=12052 -
Fantastic news!
Does anyone in the know care to explain what this means?
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http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/resources/images/2462111/
Bradford city centre last night. I may not be the biggest football fan in the world but the last time there was this many people in the centre must have been in the 70's.
Brilliant stuff and at a time when otherwise we might have had various factions of dicks on the street about the Woolwich incident.
It is indeed brilliant stuff. I always enjoyed going to City as a Rochdale fan; used to go in the main stand with the home supporters and enjoyed the chat/banter.
As a club they shouldn't be in League 2, and I'm glad they got the opportunity to overturn the disappointment of the League Cup final.
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That is disappointing. I would at least have expected to see a team from each of the four home nations. Can you imagine what impact a combined PSNI/Garda Síochána na hÉireann could have made?
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Yeah, if what I have been told is correct then the 14 teams in the initial 3rd tier will be joined by 2 new clubs (probably Coventry and ANOther). These 16 clubs will be placed into 2 conferences of 8 clubs. The winners of the conferences will then play a Grand Final for 1 promotion place each season. Or something like that.
Regional conferences, as in north and south?
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I heard on the radio this morning that there may be snow tomorrow...
Some of us had snow yesterday!
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I think the two divisions spliting to three mid season could be brilliant. The key to it working is if the caps are close enough to give meaningful competition in the middle division. As stated by others it would produce so many more games with something riding on them plus the top players would play more intense games each year. If this becomes reality it would need to be executed very well though. More details of funding etc need to be made public to make a proper judgement though.
And then the problem could be that the standard of the elite competition falls significantly, possibly affecting future TV contracts.
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With an increased cap and increased payment, a few (Fev, Fax) may go mainly full time. So therefore some the complete change of squad wouldnt be needed.
Have these been announced as part of the proposals?
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... i.e. purely hypothetical say the bottom four in Super League are London 9, Hull KR 8, Castleford 8, Salford 6. And the top of Championship are Halifax 20, Featherstone 16, Sheffield 16, Leigh 15. The full-time clubs then have ground to make up instead of simply running away on an even keel, but also would add spice to try harder in the first 11 games...
That is quite an intriguing proposal, and could possibly go some way to solving the problem of having full-time clubs from the top 12 playing the part-time clubs from the bottom 12. You'd probably have to tweak the points carried forward in some way to make it more of a realistic handicap, but it would probably make for a more exciting competition.
The only problem, again, would be that if the part-time finished in the top 4 they would still only have weeks to put a full-time squad together. And they would be more likely to finish in the 'middle play-off' the next season.
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Things going marvellously at Oakwell, Barnsley.
2nd bottom 2 2nd top 0.
Got mixed feelings about Barnsley. After what he did for Rochdale, I'm really pleased that Dave Flitcroft is making a fight of it in his first job in charge. On the other hand, relegation might get him the sack and could lead to the dream-team partnership with Keith Hill being re-established at Rochdale. As Keith seems to have made a good start on his own anyway, on balance I'll go for Barnsley staying up and 'Flicker' getting his first bit of 'success'.
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[media=]
[/media]Just had an uncontrollable urge to play some New Seekers songs. I'm sure it's nothing to do with the two female singers!
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TAAB2 - all afternoon.
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More vinyl digitised over the long weekend:
Crowded House - Woodface
Faith no more - Introduce yourself
Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
Joan Armatrading & Pam Nestor - Whatever's for us
Kansas - Two for the Show
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
Melissa Etheridge - Melissa Etheridge
Phil Manzanera - 801
Robert Cray - Don't be afraid of the Dark
Robert Gordon & Link Wray - Fresh Fish Special
Roky Erickson - All that may do my Rhyme
The Blues Brothers - Briefcase full of Blues
The Fifth Dimension - Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes
The H-Factor - The H-Factor
The Steve Morse Band - Stand up
The Steve Morse Band - The Introduction
Willie Nelson - Classic Willie Nelson
Played that in the car yesterday for the first time in years. As good as it ever was
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Snow on the hills and mountains just north of here.
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Whilst not on the cards, could the Super League sides not enter U20's at Championship level, under the proviso they can rise no higher than The Championship obviously.
Would bring Sunday rugby back to towns that now only tend to play on a Friday evening, could give a shot in the arm to the attendances of clubs, I would imaging Swinton v Wigan in Championship 1 would pull in well above Swintons average gate for this season as an example.
Plus would give some of our younger players a chance to shine in the spotlight given the additional Sky coverage that the Championship divisions now attract.
Interesting idea, but why not combine it with an idea we discussed a while ago on here?
Allow Super League clubs to enter their U20s but on the proviso that they play at a venue outside of their home town, eg at a neighbouring town's RU club or non-league soccer club, and give them a name reflecting that local identity. It would be a quick way of plugging some of the gaps in the heartlands, perhaps act as a focus for RL development in virgin territory and add numbers to the Championship leagues.
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The maximum capacity for the GF is always difficult to measure, as the ground keeps increasing in size and the Big screen takes out a random number of seat. You can only go off the RFL if they say it's a sell out as only they will know if they have run out of tickets.
I would imagine the ends will fill pretty quickly. Whether both sides will be full is always tricky, especially that 3rd tier.
This will be the first GF I will have missed for a few years now, but I'm sure the extras as I like to call them will make up the numbers.
I know people call them all glory hunters but every club needs it's occasional big game watchers, as it shows that the fan base has room to expand. If each club could only rustle up the same support for a final as a regular league match we would truely know that RL had expanded to capacity and had no further growth possible.
Also not all the extra fans are glory hunters, some will be fans that turn up as and when they can because of work commitments. So even though Saints have an average of 10k, I very much doubt the same 10k turn up each week. Some fans may come to 5 or 6 games whilst others can only make it to a different 5 or 6.
And there will be those who have been regulars in the past but, for whatever reason, no longer attend. They will have helped the club to be where they are today, they will retain an affection for the club, so why shouldn't they be there?
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My Granddad died last week, and without sounding heartless, Newton's death yesterday knocked me for 6 more than my relative.
For somebody so young to take their life like this is heartbreaking. Reading the newspaper on my lunch with a full page in the news section dedicated to him was surreal.
My Granddad was 80, and whilst he had suffered, he had lived a full life. Newton is younger than me.
Not heartless at all. My mother died last year and my dad in 1999, at ages 78 and 76 respectively. Although obviously upsetting, I found it relatively straight forward to come to terms with their passing. They were not old in today's terms, but neither did they die 'before their time' - in sporting terms I think of them both achieving hard-fought draws!
There is no such comfort in premature death and the loss of the young, whether that loss is through a road traffic accident, depression (as seems to be the case here) or some other illness. I cried uncontrollably at the death of my young nephew years ago, was deeply disturbed when my teenage son's mate died at the wheel of his car just a few weeks ago, and, similarly, can see nothing but tragedy in Terry's sad demise.
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I wish people wouldn't just post peoples names with no sub heading. Particularly at this time. I fear the worst.......
I can appreciate where you're coming from - it did make me sit up and take notice...
As for the appointment I hope it helps towards turning the Lions around.
The never-ending League Restructure debate (Many merged threads)
in The General Rugby League Forum
Posted
I think they're different aspects of the same tradition. The periodic realisation that we are not like other sports in that we're largely restricted to a few (very few) northern towns and a limited demographic; radical attempts to try and rectify the situation, usually ad-hoc, badly planned and underfunded; panic when things don't go to plan; the retreat back to what we had (the state of which was the reason to change in the first place).