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Everything posted by Dave T
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Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
Yes, of course that is part one of that plan! But if clubs can sign somebody and replace the player with a modest cost loanee then there could be some decent savings. As you say, the first part does have to happen though! -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
Loaning Salford players to see out the season is a solution instead of cash. -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
I think everybody wants Salford to survive at least this year. Otherwise they wouldn't have advanced funds and tried to resolve it. They just may not agree with you on how to do it. -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
I get that, and I do sympathise with the argument that if they lived broadly within their means and found their level, then it may actually be top half Championship. I don't think anyone is putting this down to rounding errors, what we are talking though in reality is a few hundred grand here and there, which on other club's accounts have come from reduced central funding and increased utility costs for example. -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
Maybe, although we never know player salaries, but my overall point remains, that the players that Salford have been signing are hardly hugely lucrative signings. There is a very fair argument that Salford are not capable of being an SL club if they can't survive even when they pay one of the lowest playing budgets in the comp - but we don't need to overstate how frivolous they have been with building their squad. They spend bottom end on wages, they sign cast offs and old players in the main, they are trying to invest in youth development with an academy - these aren't the actions of a reckless management team who are going for sh** or bust. Alongside this stuff they are also trying to recruit sponsors, grow crowds, attract investment, negotiate attractive tenancy agreement etc. Ultimately, they haven't been able to increase the income levels to where they need to be, and I'm sure where they hoped to be. This is a story of a club who is struggling to generate income, not one of a club arrogantly signing star players ignoring everything else. Now, the outcome may be the same, but I have more sympathy for one. It's easy for people to say only spend money you have, but that isn't how it works - you budget based on projections, if they don't come in, there is a hole. That hole appears to be too big for them. But I just can't accept an argument that claims signing the likes of Joe Bullock on a lucrative wage is a reason why they are here. -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
Whilst the overall point may be fair around challenging Salford to cut costs, I don't really think that is a list of players that are on lucrative contracts. With perhaps the exception of Chris Hill (although I expect he will be ok value at this stage), they do seem to be the more bargain basement end of the transfer market that we regularly see Salford signing. -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
It's just lazy soundbites that RL deals in. People won't accept that their idea isn't the only one or maybe not the best one - so it has to be that the clubs are self-serving etc. -
Where is the re-imagining of Rugby League?
Dave T replied to Total Rugby League's topic in Total Rugby League News
It makes sense that us lot on forums like this repeat ourselves a fair bit and go round in circles, but it's a bit weird that this publication just keeps saying exactly the same thing but with a slightly different headline. The one point that I agree with in this is on the ask for a transparent strategy and comms around it. Our communication is horrendous and needs to improve. There is an RFL strategy online for 2022-2030, and they have some clear targets - it would be nice if people started to focus on holding the RFL to account on this instead of just keep repeating IMG criticism to push an agenda. For example - we have some very clear targets - 150k RL participants, 500k OurLeague members, Sellouts at England, Cup and Events etc. Let's start challenging the RFL and RL Com on the key deliverables. Ultimately, as a fan, it doesn't really matter who is doing the negotiating (whether they are employed by the RFL, RL Com or IMG) - I want to see improved outcomes - TV deals, sponsorship, participation, etc. There is more than enough to challenge them over. -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
I do think it a tough one. If we buy into a Salary Cap, then I'm not sure allowing say Wigan, who are at full cap apparently to benefit from a freebie in their squad because Salford are in trouble feels appropriate. I'm not sure i have the solution, but I'm not sure I believe this is the best option around. -
Eddie Hearn talking SL again......
Dave T replied to hunsletgreenandgold's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
https://tbrrugbyleague.com/news/eddie-hearn-explains-the-drastic-actions-super-league-and-british-pyramid-require-to-save-dying-sport/ https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/eddie-hearn-sends-clear-message-9859322 https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/rugby-league-is-dying-claims-leading-sports-promoter-eddie-hearn-100641/ https://www.totalrl.com/eddie-hearn-gives-brutal-assessment-of-dying-rugby-league-in-the-uk/ https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/eddie-hearn-delivers-brutal-dying-assessment-of-british-rugby-league#:~:text=And Hearn%2C speaking to the,Bad.” In the week the UK season commences with the Challenge Cup, why are so many in the world of RL media pushing this narrative? When will we see articles about how the RFL believe Snooker ain't what it used to be. -
Eddie Hearn talking SL again......
Dave T replied to hunsletgreenandgold's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
I do find it a bit sad that the RL media are writing articles about another sport getting a new TV deal and somebody not involved in RL telling us the sport is dying. Are any other sports as insecure and self-harming? -
Eddie Hearn talking SL again......
Dave T replied to hunsletgreenandgold's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
Ah, so that's the 90s. -
Eddie Hearn talking SL again......
Dave T replied to hunsletgreenandgold's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
I can't really find any trace of Hearn involved in darts in the 80s, not disputing it, just the history is very sketchy. -
Eddie Hearn talking SL again......
Dave T replied to hunsletgreenandgold's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
But we do have that platform. We get coverage on the BBC and England games have had 2m before which is broadly comparable (a bit higher actually) than the Darts final the year before Littler smashed onto the scene. Solo sports do lend themselves very well to creating a superstar. I haven't watched a full boxing match for years and years, yet know of the biggest boxers. Same with stuff like Tennis, we are probably having a bit of a lull in terms of household names storming onto the scene, I expect most people couldn't name players outside of Djokovic etc, but these will always pop up and become big names. Same in golf. There are sports that lend themselves well to social media and putting an individual in front of people. Darts and boxing are perfect examples of these. -
To be honest, I kept my focus on SL based on your first line, I think there are considerable challenges outside of that. I do however think that context is really important. The world hasn't stayed the same, we are one of a number of sports who are out there battling for every fan, every sponsor, every £ of media spend, every eyeball. Staying on the club game, I'm not sure there is a world where there is a huge 'next step'. You could argue that we should be averaging higher than the 8-9k per game we do now, and some of the crowds at major events are disappointing, but broadly speaking we are a sport that does well in its communities, is staged in front of decent crowds in very nice facilities and does pretty well on TV. There will always be things that we want to be better (and I agree absolutely should be), but ultimately we are all sports living in the shadow of football and no team sport is really kicking on to move into a whole new level. There is plenty to be critical of, so I understand your post, but I think we need to be careful not to be blinkered to the positives, because in many cases at the top some clubs are playing in front of historic high crowds.
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Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
And let's be brutally honest here. One of the biggest issues is that there isn't sizeable interest in Salford. -
Eddie Hearn talking SL again......
Dave T replied to hunsletgreenandgold's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
I dont think Hearn was involved when the household names were Eric Bristow and co in the 80s. George Williams could score a hattrick and win the Ashes for England on the BBC in front of 50k people and a couple of million viewers, he wouldn't be up there with Littler. And that won't be because Hearn is a better salesman. -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
I would however agree on the fan share issue thing. I do think there is a case for serious questions around this. -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
Salford aren't a special case. Other clubs who haven't paid have gone bust. If Salford are that bad then so will they (and they may do). If they manage ti survive by negotiating and doing whatever they can then I'm mot gonna be too critical of that. Their council can make their own decisions and will be judged on them. -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
Knock yourself out, I expect they will make the difficult decision for you. But as we know, it isn't unusual for councils to provide funding to sports clubs. Probably every club in the league has benefited from it. -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
None of our clubs are big enough to materially change Sky subscriber numbers. The important thing is to drive an attractive competition that people want to watch. I do believe there is a limit on overseas % to keep it relevant to a UK audience, but I'd be stunned if changing Salford for Toulouse had any negative impact in the slightest. -
Eddie Hearn talking SL again......
Dave T replied to hunsletgreenandgold's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
The 'creating stars' thing is interesting. Hearn is always a bit vague about this and how you do it - how exactly did he make Littler a superstar - the reality is he didn't - Littler exploded onto the scene with his talent and benefited from the vehicle, and then dragged it forward. But he wasn't 'created' by appearing on League of their Own or suchlike. Similarly, when we look at the Matchroom sports stable, why don't we have superstars in all of them? Even something like snooker to an extent still has O'Sullivan as the main star. Solo sports are the ones that tend to create breakout stars, I always think that the point of household names is overstated in sports like RL. Sure, we should be getting our players out there wherever we can, make our sport relevant, but I think the main point is around banging the drum for the actual sport and raising awareness of it. -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
It absolutely is. -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
I get that, but I really just see that as a bit of politics with their landlord, which isn't unusual. My point on the comparison with TWP was really around behaviours - I don't think Salford are necessarily in the camp of actively screwing people over, more their aspirations never actually come off. The commercials around the stadium seem to have been a bit of a never-ending round of negotiation. But, ultimately, something probably has to give here. If they just don't work as an SL club, then maybe a difficult decision has to be made. -
Salford financial issues(again…)
Dave T replied to LeytherRob's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
This is partly my point. And not just in RL. Three clubs have left the Union top level comp in recent years. I don't have too much of an issue with clubs having to beg, steal and borrow to survive, I've seen my club do it before and could easily do so again. Most of us have seen it at our clubs, so I don't get too angry with anyone doing it. It's not as if Salford are behaving like maybe TWP did in not paying suppliers but going buying SBW. They have one of, if not the cheapest squads in the league and the whole stadium negotiation piece has been about improving the situation. Now none of that means Salford should be safe in SL. Ultimately if it ain't working and can't be made to work, maybe difficult decisions are needed, but I genuinely don't see better options in the Champ really. Toulouse were a rubbish SL team and only 12m ago were rumoured to be going bust for example.