EastLondonMike

I cant get my head around this. Do other SL clubs pay for the opposition to travel to them? Genuinely. I assume they don't.

1st choice half backs for me would be Lewis and Williams. I think that would give us a great running threat on both sides of the pitch (assuming they play that way). Both have good kicking games and Lewis is still somewhat of an unknown for many on that side of the world. He'll surprise plenty with his strength, speed and abilities with ball in hand.

Assume he'll be removing himself from Origin selection also to focus on the Knights GF attempts. Press release no doubt coming tomorrow.

Didn’t Perez have a link with Skolars some years back? As a potential investor?

I cant honestly see anything other than the club going to the wall TBH. Theres no real desire from within the game for a London team. It will only carry on existing if an external 3rd party Eric Perez or Marwan Koukash type character pops up - but so much investment is needed to make the club a success i find it incredibly unlikely. The Broncos had plenty of opportunities to put things in place to give themselves a better chance of growth and long term sustainability but a complete lack of knowledge and ability to do so stopped that from happening - and it has to be said a complete lack of leadership from within the RFL to allow them to drift along for so long. I kind of felt the clubs biggest problems were always greater off the field. On the field the club achieved much more than many more established clubs. The level of money needed to make the club successful and function properly is what will likely stop that investment.

Put plenty into the London Broncos - and without him they would have died long ago - but as many have said, and no doubt will say, he was also part of the problem in the clubs inability to grow beyond the basics. Not sure why anyone interested in investing in a London RL team would do anything with the Broncos. You'd only be paying for a name and a place in the championship. Maybe thats enough of a lure, who knows.

The over designer strikes again.

Clearly no love for Tina Turner or Queen any more. Disappointing.

That shirt always reminds me of Jack Reed. For some reason more than anyone else.

I don't ever recall seeing the 2nd kit here. Did we ever wear it? Pity ISC decided to drop out of RL here in the UK, they were by far the best kit supplier we've had.

One other thing i forgot to add was about the presence and location of the ABK Beer branding. They obviously don't plan on adding any additional sleeve sponsors, as there really isn't that much room to accommodate - which seems odd to me. Also the presence of the stripe detail on the sleeve cuffs takes up space that could be used potentially for additional sponsor partners (we always seem to pick up one or two a week before a test series/world cup). The sleeve stripes also seem inconsistent in depth with the collar/neck stripes. Just saying.

Yeah, using blue isn't a problem as such - its how its used and to what percentage. For me - again, just my opinion for what its worth, White should make up 90% of the kit colour, with the remaining 10% used as complimentary colour pops. I'd go mostly with red, but adding in some blue is no big thing.

I wasn't going to dig in to the new England kit, but I cant resist. I don't dislike the link to the old England football jersey of the 80s - it is a classic jersey - but feel things like this should always be highlighted - its a story to tell and helps buy in from the fan base - even if it is a different sport. If that was the inspiration. I'm not the biggest fan of this particular aesthetic on he RL jersey, but as we all know such things are subjective, so can get o board with it. The issues with the kit for me are more to do with everything else. Blue shorts - which are probably the most appealing part of the whole kit, on a basic level - are simply not 'England RL'. Not in my eyes anyway. Even though theres a clear desire to push this additional blue element into the colour scheme. Chevron detail on the side inserts is completely unnecessary IMO, and adds nothing to the jersey. It doesn't tie in to anything. Chevrons may well be a historical RL element, but in this instance doesn't link to anything else. And with the 80's football jersey story the primary focus, this just confuses things. The slight horizontal chevron pinstripes on the main body of the jersey are completely at odds with the Betfred logo. One angled, one straight edged - which when worn, to me, just looks messy, and although it likely isn't, makes the Betfred logo look poorly printed. It may also just be me, but the Betfred logo looks way too low on the body, something the last jersey suffered from also. The other thing is around the general shape and structure of the kit. Its the same old Oxen jersey - nothing new. Such kits for me are an opportunity for a sports brand to showcase their quality, latest and greatest fabric developments, new shape and structure and any other new technical developments in the sportswear field. This sadly has none of that. And i get Oxen aren't quite there yet in terms of being able to work with the latest and greatest in tech sportswear apparel, but they can certainly create something a bit more progressive and appealing than what they have in this case. certainly in shape. Though there obviously has to be a desire to do that. Which may not be there currently. Its also worth keeping in mind theres rarely bad design without a bad brief. Who knows what was requested by the RFL/RL Commercial. All the critique thats being thrown at the kit may have been a direct request from the RFL/RL commercial. I'm sure many will buy it, and many seem to like it, so thats good for Oxen and the RFL. But from a creative quality point of view I think it misses the mark.

They've tried to cram too much into it. Needlessly IMO. Its classic Oxen tbh - there has to be a visible and significant difference to generate sales from the same people who bought the last one (and the one before that). Its not a nice kit, which is a real shame.

Not a fan. It looks over designed to me. And some of the design elements just don’t work collectively. Seems like they are determined to shoe horn in the blue. All just My opinion of course.

14mins and Mago gets POTM?..

This is quite a common theme within RL with the small brands that operate within the sport. Its easy to look at the past kits for future kits. Fans buy into it, so commercially it makes sense, but there should be some desire to produce contemporary kit designs. Not just visually, but by being progressive with the actual structural design of the kits - which is where the big brands add their interest. It wont add much commercial value to RL kits sadly - so unlikely Oxen or any of the others will really look to do such things. Oxen have come some way in the last few years - and are a better option now than they were previously.

Exactly. What the NRL have done well is invest in the right people. Something the RFL has consistently failed to do. Put the right people in the right roles with resource and a clear strategy and progress will be made.

Ridiculous.

Bit late chipping in on this one. I think managing the game in the UK is a very different beast to what the NRL has had to deal with in Australia. The UK has a number of things to deal with that the NRL never really has had to fight against. That being said I would suggest they are infinitely better prepared to deal with those challenges than the current and previous administrations within the RFL. They certainly have better and more resource available than the game in the UK currently has. And while I'm not convinced on the reasons why they would get involved in RL in the UK - I do think the game in the UK would have a better chance of succeeding with them running things, than we have with the current administration. Success for the Rugby League in the UK doesn't involve a magic wand - It requires good solid administration, a long focused strategy (one that grows YOY), financial resource, expertise in certain categories and a sh* load of hard work. Not knocking the hard work that many have put into the game and their obvious efforts, but IMHO I think we have a better chance to achieve that with NRL involved. Assuming the NRL plan on such involvement, and not just a financial investment, with the game in the UK left to administer itself with the NRL taking a back seat approach. I'd hope its the former and not the latter.

Improve quality, consistency and standards within its current content output. Add new and interesting regular content to engage further with fans - existing and potentially new fans strengthen the games visual ID, including tidying up the rules of the game and removing as many grey areas as possible, and also working with the clubs to make sure certain standards are achieved/maintained in how they are presented (kits, stadia, branding - everything) to the consumer. identify key events in the calendar and build a strategy around growing each event year on year. identify new markets and build a strategy for greater and consistent exposure in those markets. I think that would be a good start.

Really sad news. RIP Bill.

Reality is the only difference will be the players put on a different shirt. The RFL won’t do anything different, as they can’t. It’s ridiculous.

I would love to see the data they have to support this. Such confidence will surely result in much more resource and attention being given to GB by the RFL. Or maybe not.

France must have a better option than Miloudi..