Dave T

Aye, but Leeds signed up to that model.

Its easy to blame Oxen, but Leeds' approach is very different to Hull KR's Oxen effort.

I thought so, but dont know.enohgh about the NFL. I absolutely hated the Marvel kits that we did for Magic too. We really are clueless on branding.

What do the NFL clubs do when they play in the UK?

Couldn't agree more. I dont mind a subtle nod to the US if they really feel the need, the Wigan and Wire kits were just about passable, but Leeds' kit here just isnt a Leeds kit without the amber.

The comments associated with Grant telling Sport England, and his points about the RFL board further support the claims that he is playing politics around the ownership of the sport here.

The problem is that we can't really give any benefit of the doubt when PV is on the IRL board.

Sorry, I read your post as RFL financials stated this.

Can you quote the RFl part of this?

It would be a conspiracy theory if Grant hadn't suggested that the RFL step aside and allow others to take over. No conspiracy there.

Win win!

From what I can see, it isnt really 60 seconds, as that only starts once the VR has confirmed the try, which will add more time. Id like to think that work has taken place to look at average kick times and times for the try to.be given etc. Last year there were some players who were absolutely taking the mick on this.

Classic boomer in denial. Seen it before.

OK boomer.

Not really a fan, and not sure why. The logos all seem a bit small and wishy washy.

I mean wasnt the open goal Salford for the last 10 years?

That's an unfair representation. But the reality is that if a tournament misses its financial targets then that isnt just a simple case of 'ah well pay it out of some matches in a few years'. I dont think anyone is being blasé about this, a lot of people are angry about Dutton and co's performance with the tournament, but this isnt a case of the RFL pocketed a load of profit and left the IRL high and dry. I do think we are in a place where we have to learn from this on future arrangements, but Im not seeing any benefits of the IRL publicly trashing the RFL here. Obviously none of us now the legalities here, but I would say it looks like neither of the parties are exactly definitive in their position. The RFL are saying something along the lines of they dont believe they owe anything, and the IRL are going down a moral route - it does suggest that there is maybe something messy here that means this is grey. And finally, the IRL really could have just quietly gone about their business and ultimately applied sanctions if they were legally correct on the liability. The nature of Grant's rant is the most questionable thing about this whole episode.

I do seem to recall the Summer of League branding last year, I may be misremembering though. Quite a nice way of presenting the season story, even if its a bit fussy. Be nice of the Summer of Leafue thing meant something and had some coordinated focus I.e. fanzones etc

So its interesting to see that Sky are showing every game live again, but there are still discussions ongoing. That can really only mean they are discussing who is paying. Otherwise, there is nowt to discuss.

I agree with you on this point - however when Troy Grant states something as controversial as "If they didn’t make money out of (the Kangaroo tour) then they need to get out and stop running the game and let someone do it who knows what they’re doing." at a time when the NRL are in discussion to take over the RFL, it is a very strange comment. You don't have to really spend too much time reading between the lines.

The conflict here is the fact that he is involved in a takeover (using simple terms) of the RFL just as the IRL goes on an unprecedented public offensive against the RFL. We know there are conflicts and overlap - but when we see it absolutely playing out and becoming an issue, it should be challenged and called out.

The simplest explanation is that the RLWC under-performed, meaning it cannot fulfil the whole payment to the IRL. The profit from the RLWC should be going to the IRL, not the profit from the Ashes. That isn't how it works. What if the tournament would have been a disaster like 2000 and they'd have had a shortfall of £4m - would the IRL have sent the RFL under to chase the debt? It doesn't feel like an appropriate thing for the international governing body to do. But the big issue here is the conflict of interests at play - something with PV and his cronies are very against when it suits.

Actually, RLWC2021 have changed their story.

On this specific, I think the position was that there would be an agreement at some stage once all final payments had been settled. I expect that the final position of a £400k bill without compromise may have meant that more entrenched positions have been taken. I do think there is a really important point here though that when we run a World Cup, they really should be ringfenced activity. The actual story here should be that disappointing crowds led to a shortfall for the IRL, and thats what should be investigated, not forcing a skint governing body to cover the bill for this. Providing there is no fraud or dodgy dealings at play here, it is an honest debt really and it is what it is to an extent.

Yes, i agree with this. I expect the earlier narrative was probably relatively relaxed in terms of having the belief that the debt would either be much smaller or written off and would be dealt with later, particularly based on the fact that there were still payments to be made by various parties.