Dave T

It just feels like bad governance, which is an ongoing issue with RL that is never resolved. Why on earth would you have two boards with the same chair? The RFL was judged to be not fit for purpose around commercial activities, so why are we now ultimately putting RLCom back under RFL.control by stealth? Why not just have an RFL commercial department if you are going this way? Its the same old nonsense. We run a few years, decide we are performing poorly, blame the RFL (defo not the clubs!), stage a breakaway, then decide its a bit hard and there's no silver bullet so give up and let the RFL take over again. And then repeat again in a few years. The owners are clueless and out of control. But, they have money so we should bow to their knowledge.

Yeah, I'd seen them there,but in any level that seems bad business so many years ago!

That's not their role.

I think its difficult to believe some of those fees tbh.

Yup. It was absolutely a controlled grounding.

I just think that's a try.

I've been clear that Wood doesn't particularly bother me. I dont think he was as bad as many make out (i known that ain't a ringing endorsement). But this whole thing just stinks.

Didn't we get told by DB that Wood wasn't being paid for his involvement in the review? Does he get paid for this job he's been successful in interviewing himself for?

Obviously none of these folk drink in the same pub as Harry.

He is the RFL CEO isn't he? Rhdori Jones is RLCom CEO. Or MD, or something else.

I can't lie. I'm still not that sure exactly what's happening and who is after what, apart from a few obvious bits. People often refer to 4D Chess, but I'm not sure what game is even being played here.

So IMG proposed, and has voted in a system that would expand the league to 14 when clubs improved themselves to a higher standard and funding had increased to a level to support it. And now the clubs are heading towards overriding that and include clubs deemed not good enough and without money to fund it. But still, IMG are the issue here.

I'm not sure about yout last paragraph. You could argue that London Broncos is a brand that doesn't exude success and confidence. They are a club that have meandered along without a real identity for 15 to 20 years now. An all-encompassing rebrand like Leigh's could absolutely act as a relaunch like it did for your team, and in effect draw a line under the past. I can see why this is on the list for London. But if it is just a kit and logo, it will mean nowt really.

Aren't transfer fees for British clubs a little more common now, based on the fact that there is a wage difference and the fees are modest in the grand scheme of things? The costs are probably still relatively modest tbh. I expect a transfer fee wouldn't be extortionate for an NRL club.

Didn't they basically back out of it and just go with GMB?

I actually don't think we need to overthink what the actual name is, unless it is something like Blue Sox obviously. The important thing is that it is fully embraced. Even at Leigh where at the start it was clunky and less than professional, they fully bought into it and it wasn't just a new kit with a logo. Whether you like it or not, The Hundred have gone in different direction to animal names, but again, they've gone bold and fully embraced it. London need to go big, or not bother. A big problem, is it costs a lot and is a lot of effort. Something London haven't been great at.

I was under the impression that Wire paid a transfer fee for Williams? Edit: no, just read he was a free agent after being released by Canberra. His version of events (from Wiki): Williams said "I asked for a release weeks ago for the end of the season... Not once did I ask for a immediate release but instead of supporting me the club kicked me out the door".[18] On 22 June 2021, Williams fired one final parting shot at Canberra head coach Ricky Stuart saying “I'm just sad that relationship is pretty sour, I’ve not spoken to him since the release. He was brilliant and I’ll never forget that, but when things went bad he turned his back on me".[19]

It's this part that I worry about. To an extent, I don't worry too much that the standard drops off. It does in many comps, even the NRL once you have a lot of teams. You can't have everyone competitive, and we have rubbish teams in the Premier League etc. But, the size of the clubs in RL and the demand for watching clubs is modest at best, and when you factor in losing teams, the demand drops more and as you say you end up with a decent amount of clubs below that 5k mark which is a worry. The likes of Wire and Catalans are doing it tough right now, but you are still not going below that 8-9k mark really, and if they do well that soon boosts into good numbers. Adding clubs that are at 5/6k doing well, but in reality at 3-4k hovering around the bottom really will have an impact on the perception of SL.

Reading the comments on there it does feel like there are maybe a couple of isues. It feels like maybe the comms isn't great from RLCares, or maybe the players don't want to go and sit in a room with Adrian Morley. But secondly, I wonder whether they are expecting a Union-type service, and RLCares is not that. Options about employment etc is not really for RLCares.

Ive always been of the opinion that you target the population centres. Its a numbers game. London has always been a prime opportunity that we've only ever played with really. I do think the government central funding should be used better for stuff like this.

I think a move to 14 is admirable and eventually the right thing. The bit that worries me is that just moving Toulouse, Bradford and York up and replacing Salford doesn't feel like an amazing strengthening of SL. I think something like this should only happen if we drive an increase in tv funding that means it can be done properly, none of this manipulation of central funds to deliver it. All teams in SL should share the risk and share the rewards, forget this environment of creating competition - leave that to on the field.

Yep, Netflix as Futtocks says, and can second the recommendation for Justwatch app! DeptQ is very sweaty and with some violence, but we'll worth a watch if you like character led detective stuff. 9 or 10 parts too so a decent length.

You brought this up as an issue in a discussion about funding.

Do you think Sky are bothered whether Warrington's superstar halfback comes from Orford or Dewsbury?

I think one of the issues is that we have unrealistic expectations. How many sports people does a town like Warrington create across the range of sports, yet we bemoan the fact that the Wolves aren't full of world class athletes from Burtonwood and Orford. It isn't realistic - that is what I'd suggest is the first point that we need to start accepting before we come up with solutions. The likes of Wigan are exceptions, they aren't a realistic template to copy. I do fear that keep trying to get a huge number of world class athletes from Batley, Warrington, Oldham etc. and then wonder why we struggle to compete with Australia who fish in much bigger markets. I find it odd that we would challenge Wire signing a lad from just 51 miles away for their Academy. In the past we have had a player pathway from Union which has all but disappeared. When it comes to central funding from SL funds, we do need to look at what that is for. It goes to helping deliver a tv product for Sky, and that is why the huge proportion of funding goes to SL clubs. Player Pathways is of course important, but that isn't the only thing that clubs do.