EastLondonMike

So Phil Gould tells another NRL club they are essentially open to selling Thompson to this club, under the right circumstances, and to contact his UK manager to see if Thompson has the appetite for such a move. But everyone has misunderstood that. Canterbury are not shopping Thompson around, but will be happy to sell him. Reading that article it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to suggest Thompson will be playing elsewhere after his Canterbury contract expires.

Any local Wigan fans now have a chance to voice their opinions. Just lifted this from a post on the Wigan Insta account. "FANS’ FORUM | Chairman Ian Lenagan and executive director Kris Radlinski will host a Fans’ Forum at Robin Park Arena next Tuesday. . It is a chance for supporters to have an open and honest conversation about the Club’s direction and aspiration. . 120 Wigan fans are invited to attend with free tickets available to collect from 10am tomorrow morning at the Club’s store at Robin Park Arena."

Though it does also beg the question why have a 1 season life cycle for anything other than Replica team wear (kits)? Giving yourself 1 season to sell a whole inventory this big is pretty tough, especially if you are an 'Oxen'. I truly would love to see their sales figures for this season. I'm sure they'd make for interesting reading. The sustainability issue around such large collections is also one I'd hope they look to address in the future.

It's a bit crazy. Initially i thought they must be doing high product count/low quantities, which is easily achievable if you are working with mostly sublimated product, but as you say they have numerous zip hoodies, and even though they are all essentially the same hoody in terms of style, there would be dyeing charges for fabric and trims (zip pullers, zip tape and teeth for example, drawcords also), all of which would cost, and even a few of their tshirts/polo's feature different fabric patterns, all of which would involve additional costs for workmanship. And not to mention the inevitable cannibalisation of product when you have such a large offering of essentially the same product. It is madness. Exemplified by the fact it's all on sale in under a year! It's truly mystifying.

Who knows. I can't find any reason for their approach.

Oxen trying to clear the decks. https://www.eliteprosports.co.uk/shop/leeds-rhinos/leeds-rhinos-sale The amount of product on sale, and the discount %, is quite staggering for product still in it's first year of sale. From a sustainability point of view it's also quite obscene.

Absolutely. Will be surprised if it's anything other than invitational though. If it does indeed happen.

It's been mentioned many times by many people, myself included, on this forum, but game day experience is also something that can't be overlooked when looking at declining crowds and a lack of interest among younger potential fans. Covid wont have helped either, as new habits would have been formed by some fans, which for a year or so didn't include going to games. Habits are easy to form and hard to break. Not being a local I have no idea what a game day looks like for Wigan, but would be interested to find out from any fans on here who attend regularly.

I still get shivers when i see that badge.

I don’t see Wigan as a club in decline per se. I see a club who have made some bad decisions over a number of years. Both on the field, in terms of retention and recruitment, and also off the field where there seems to be some senior decision makers with an inability to recognise their short comings. IMO Wigan as a team have been ordinary for some time, but have been good enough compared to the other teams around them to still feature at the top end of the table. I can’t foresee any major improvements with a new coach, but whoever it is will hopefully be able to persuade those in senior management that some serious changes need to happen for Wigan to be able to call themselves ‘contenders’ once again. Shaun Wane will certainly add some steel, but think they need a bit more than just that.

Only caught the 2nd half, but Wigan looked terrible. And not for the first time. Absolutely nothing in attack. If you were an incoming coach at Wigan, how many of these players would you keep? Outside a few of the young players I think I could count on one hand the amount that I would want.

Keighley must have a fear of money.

I've never had the pleasure mate, only seen whats been on the TV. I guess it would have to be a 'project' for a cashed up fan.

Not being a Bradford fan or following their recent path outside SL, I don't really know too much about the woes around the ground, aside from it costing them previously to play there. So could someone enlighten me on why it would be such a money pit? what are the issues around upkeep? I recall they had two good (ish) stands facing the pitch, with terracing at one end of the pitch, and the weird tiered stand at the other, but if they were to just use those two good stands which i my memory always used to hold the vast majority of support what do Bradford fans see being the real challenges with the stadium? Something along the lines of a 4-5mil investment into the stadium doesn't seem like a huge amount to me, if they had that mythical rich investor turn up on his white horse.

100% they can be a force again. And should be. If you were looking to purchase a RL club who had been poorly administered and in need of some investment, but had a rich history and latent but strong supporter base. Bradford would be ideal.

Maybe I didn’t fully understand the original post. But thought it was about having players with an increased profile, who by proxy raise the profile of the sport. My point about Hamilton is that his profile, which has gained him many fans, hasn’t always translated to an increase in F1 fans. Even though it was F1 that initially gave him that profile. In The case of RL, I think the sport needs to have the profile before the players can enjoy that kind of increased attention. The likes of Lomu, Wilkinson etc all benefited off the back of an existing media interest in their sport. Regular exposure kept those interest levels up.

Were your friends F1 fans first? Or Hamilton fans first?

I don’t think we can currently have those ‘star’ players with an increased media profile. Those players will gravitate to that status when the profile of the game grows. Someone mentioned Lewis Hamilton in a previous post. The vast majority of Hamilton fans (fans being people who follow him on social media and follow him as a person of interest etc) are not Formula One fans. And don’t watch F1. They maybe take an interest based on their liking of Hamilton, but that’s where it ends. Having a ‘star’ player with a large media profile doesn’t necessarily translate to greater interest in the sport. If RL can ever get it’s back side in gear and build profile we will see a greater interest taken in the talented and interesting players we have. I go back to the word I seem to use in every post these days. Strategy.

And that.

Too easy that.

I see Billy Kikau is now being linked with a union switch, with French RU being the suitors.

I was thinking the same re: our younger players. This whole affair, bizarrely, has also actually made me want to buy tickets even more!

I’d suggest, at the least, two tests vs France, in France. I also kind of half expect some SL clubs to pipe up about players playing in these games, though they would be very brave to do so with the current levels of emotion from UK fans. I’d also hope any England games include their NRL players, though imagine that would be a battle the RFL might not want to look at in the current climate. IMO any games played would have to be in France though. Would double up with Women’s and wheel chair games also, if possible.

I’m not sure what the motivation is here for an 8-a-side comp. There’s also zero commercial value as it’s reserve grade. Why 8?!.. and not 9? as has been mentioned many times already. The cynic in me would suggest it’s about saving money and not having to pay a full squad of players.

The RFL and the game in this country needs to build up its stock of regular credible opposition. Despite the presence of NRL players the likes of Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and (less reliance on NRL players) PNG should still remain as possible regular opponents. tests/short tours by any of the above could easily be profitable. If approached and executed correctly. France is our most obvious opponent to build up competition with. It’s ridiculous it’s taken something like this to force the discussion around more and regular games. We won’t build up that competition by playing games midweek as a rushed addition to an already structured calendar. IMO Games against the home nations will not bear any fruit until the game invests in those nations properly. Short term - look to structure regular games against PI nations and France. long term - invest in the development of the home nations while playing regular club and International games in those countries. Development here can be linked to SL development. After this whole episode I wouldn’t be currently looking to play Australia or NZ outside a tournament. Any respect and trust for both governing bodies has gone. I do however feel this is all about certain individuals within the game in Australia. People come and go. Hopefully those people go sooner rather than later.