tuutaisrambo

I've always been a Fev fan first followed by a Leeds Rhinos casual (and Leeds United.....Leeds has always been my city through work etc.) I've seriously looked into getting a Rhinos membership for next year (£200 by the way so a fair bit cheaper than Fev) IMO this is the IMG/SL plan.......championship fans giving up and moving teams........eventually you end up with a dozen or so semi pro feeder clubs (to develop SL players) and everything below that is amateur. The problem is the SL doesn't generate anywhere near enough money to run this model........Leeds Rhinos aside how many clubs are demonstrably bigger than Castleford (who currently don't score high enough for SL) how far would Huddersfield Giants be ahead of Fev if Ken Davy and Mark Cambell both took their money out? Apart from Leeds, Wigan and a few others the whole game is made up of smaller clubs. Also there are very few people like me who would even consider watching a different team so what you actually get is fans leaving the game and watching a different sport instead.

The standard in the championship isn't great..........a modest squad well coached can go a very long way........look a London this year And Fev under Ryan Carr.............I'm not sure our current coach is good enough though

Fev have not got promoted because were weren't good enough......simple as that. The only year we won the play off final under Powell there was no P&R..........every other year we haven't been good enough so I fully accept that. I just hate the idea of licensing.......It puts me off everything to do with the sport.........someone sat there deciding this team is worthy and that team is not based on whatever rule they feel like making up to suit their agenda.....it sucks.........and the way it is applied in Rugby League make the sport look weak (which it is) Licensing should be about raising standards.......curbing spending........keeping everyone in line.......and maintaining parity so clubs don't cheat (like Melbourne Storm) In SL it's about protecting the big boys club and holding onto the ever decreasing slice of the sky money pie. We'll always have this problem while the gap between the bottom of SL and the top of the Championship is so small (often not much more than the central funding you get for being a SL club) If the game had a hard split between full time and part time........and the FT comp was more like the NRL with the bottom side still miles ahead of any of the PT clubs it would be easier to accept. But that just isn't realistic...UK rugby league has one Massive club (Leeds), a handful of large/medium ones and a load of smaller ones. The big clubs can keep changing things around to try and get the game how they want it but they never will. They want a league of x12 Leeds and Wigans.........but we've only got 2. I support Leeds United....there's no way they would ever get booted out of the Premier League based on GRADING but they lost games and went down.....That is the sporting culture of this country. I'll still go watch the odd Fev game but there's just nothing to buy into other than a one off afternoons entertainment. IMO RL can't afford to keep upsetting the few fans that it has and unless IMG prove to be marketing geniuses I don't think grading will work. Channel 4 have already pulled out after 2 seasons and a dozen or so games. The new sky deal is less money. And this is with everything stacked in the SL clubs favour. The sport is only as successful as its biggest brightest star clubs.....and they are doing a bang average job and blaming the state of the game on smaller clubs working miracles on peanuts

Unless you buy a season ticket there's little reason to go to the regular season games......... even before IMG made things less interesting. Apart from a local rivalry the games don't count for anything. Whoever you support....whatever league you are in.......you can't go up or down based on results anymore.......... it's all just friendlies........ set against our soccer pyramid it's just rubbish. Even in SL now the regular season means absolutely nothing other than a qualifying exercise with loop fixtures............and they wonder why crowds are poor. You could say it's the same in the NRL but the clubs are more evenly balanced the standards are far higher and the NRL is massively scrutinised my the media and fans. If you play poorly you get absolutely hammered for it....or sacked.......It's a closed shop but a super competitive evenly balanced one. SL just goes through the motions every year then either Wigan, Saints or Leeds win it.

We're announcing a player tonight apparently. Our Squad has been far too big the last 2 seasons....signing players and never playing them.....wasting money Concentrate on youth and get a tight well drilled team and we'll be fine...........can't go up now.......won't go down Build slowly and end the season like London did. Can't say I'm that sad about any of the senior players leaving the squad.........doesn't look like too many have got offers a step up from Fev........JD has been awesome for us but he's past his best now. Last season was a massive bust despite winning nearly every game........time for a rebuild.

Jokers.........what is the point in separating clubs into A B and C then giving everyone a score to the accuracy of 2 decimal places If B's were all the same and then judged on performance on the field then fair enough but this is just rubbish. Bradfords worst 2 scores are Stadium (falling to bits) and Performance (Rubbish rugby team in recent years) the 2 most important parts IMO yet they are only 0.42 behind Leigh who won the challenge cup and finished in the Super League Play Offs and play in a brand new stadium. ULTIMATELY if you can get a good score with a poor team and terrible stadium then I'd question the merits of the whole thing. I suppose this is the problem when the sport is effectively run by 5/6 clubs that operate in a different world to everyone else in the game. I wonder what their plan is for the shrinking player pool once everyone outside SL can't afford decent wages..........Most SL clubs can't afford a large squad now.

I've hardly been the last couple of years..........winning easy week in week out is boring. I think if we fall back into the pack a little the games will be much better to watch.

If true then you're surprisingly high score is even more baffling.

TBF I think if Union set up 2 well funded stand alone Premiership clubs in Yorkshire......Good sides with International Players in decent stadiums....I think they'd be close to killing off Rugby League. Leeds Tykes were rubbish.....a poor little brother to the Rhinos......Yorkshire is crying out for a top level union team........the amateur game is massive but all we have above that is semi pro Doncaster Knights. I think Leeds Tykes are 3rd or 4th division now (4 divisions...imagine that)

Yeah the 'Greatest Game' RL is good when teams are evenly matched and the result means a lot.......how often does that happen now? It's often one sided and predictable and the result means little anyway.

I think I read that IMG only make a return if the sports grows commercially..........so they aren't going to make anything Suppose it comes down to how long they want to put their time and money in........the results aren't great so far. I'd have expected more work on the sports 'Brand Image' by now........Rugby League has a major image problem that could be improved with better design and marketing but so far none of that has changed. I'd have thought it would be the first thing they did. Who know's maybe they have and were behind Leigh Leopards

Not if we waste money like we did this year.............and definitely not while grading is in place. IMO Toulouse, Wakefield and Bradford* are the only teams with a chance of getting in SL during the Grading era. *Bradford appear to get extra points because the RFL own their stadium and want SL crowds in it.

The game is contracting........not growing........it's got zero chance when the sport is effectively run by a few self interested SL chairmen of the 'bigger' clubs. Super League has one genuinely big sporting organisation and that is Leeds........the rest not so much........and they are the pinnacle the rest of the game are meant to aspire to? Are St Helens an elite club? their stadium is about as good as Doncasters and never full. The sport needs genuine independent leadership looking out for the game as a whole.........the RFL and IMG clearly aren't that. The score Bradford received tells you all you need to know about how fair and transparent the grading was. A grade B should be just that.....Bs should go up and gown depending on on field success.......giving a ranking score within each grade makes what happens on the pitch pointless. We need to build slowly and celebrate incremental gains.......not tell people they'll never make the grade. IMG will want a setup similar the the NRL....effectively growing the Pro Game (SL) and reducing the rest to semi pro 'Park Footy' as they say down under. The problem is the UK only has one big pro club (Leeds) and a handful of medium ones..........the difference between bottom end SL clubs and top semi pro clubs is minimal. NRL is the most popular sport in 2 major states in Australia..........SL isn't the most popular sport in any town in England. Sydney Roosters are the Man Utd of Australia...........Wigan Warriors are the Wigan Athletic of England. IMG have zero chance of realising their plan without attracting massive investment.....their new TV deal is less than before. Sky use the sport to fill gaps in their schedule..........like the BBC do with Bargain Hunt. Major brands and sponsors aren't interested in Rugby League in England.......why would they be when we have Premier League Soccer swallowing up every minute of the sports media. The game is structured so that 90% of the season means nothing.....a qualifying exercise....and now they are dropping P&R which is the only point of interest in the regular season outside the play offs. IMO all this 'Grading' will do is erode interest in the lower levels of the sport......Fev have cut their spend in half and so will others.... can't see it boosting interest in the top level either........there's only so many ways you can sell Wigan Vs Warrington to anyone not from Wigan or Warrington. The game is skint so why alienate a large section of the sport by telling them they will effectively never be big enough or good enough. Really IMG need 12 clubs like Leeds (high profile cities)......but the uk is a country obsessed with soccer....... there just isn't enough money or interest in the game here.....there's no gaps in the market or places to expand into....they all have Soccer or Rugby Union teams already. Sorry for the rant and back to your point I agree.....they'll be gone before their deal is up....... and probably wanting their investment back.

the club is a bit of a mess but they know how to make good kits

Quick translation: Made a right mess of the season with off field antics and a shambles of a coaching set up. No point spending big money on the squad anymore so we'll put out a mid table championship side and hopefully maintain our match day revenues as long as possible. Please buy the new kit

You do realise that without something to strive for crowds will drop.......the standard of players will drop....... investment will drop...... may as well go watch the amateur game. Fev will never get into SL unless they do it on the pitch.......fair play we've not been good enough yet........I accept that Licensing/Grading imo removes all excitement from the game. There's a place for licensing........NFL, NBA, NRL........huge countries where every club is wealthy and wants to spend more than they are allowed to and there's a salary cap to hold everyone back. Rugby League in the UK is the opposite.......everyone is skint.......fighting over an ever decreasing pie. They use Licensing to protect the rich and to cherry pick clubs that they think could potentially be big and just sit and hope. Everyone is excited that London Or Toulouse are going back up.........small clubs without permanent grounds and fan bases a fraction the size of Fev.........it's all built on sand. I'm happy for Fev to always be in the 2nd division if that is all we're good enough to play in as long as we have competitive games and something to aim towards.........Grading will remove both.

I don't think Fev clicked into gear properly all season........we won games based on having better fitter players. As soon as we got to the important winner takes all games we got stuffed by a side we beat easily twice in the regular season. Just shows how pointless the regular season is..........and they wonder why people don't go watch games any more. Next season is even more pointless as Grading takes over...........swapping Wakefield for London or Toulouse is a dream for IMG..........I think that's Super League sorted now until they put grading in the bin when IMG realise they're flogging a dead horse.

I've barely been to a game in 3 years........ we're in limbo....too good for the championship (apart from the Play Offs) and not good enough for SL. We'd get hammered every week in SL but so will TO or London. The game moans about lack of supporters and interest then offers a season where the only games that matter happen over a couple of weeks in October. Fans bang on about us having the greatest game.......It's predictable.......and if teams aren't evenly matched it's boring. Pathetic display last night after hammering London Twice this season......... maybe the players are as apathetic as I am. If they ever do the 2 leagues of 10 that would suit us........they never will though....SL is too greedy to share out the money to 20 teams. If I was a top SL club with any ambition I'd see if I could join Union

Came across well and he should be applauded for his investment in the town and team.....Good luck to him. I don't care how many shirts they sell or if they win the challenge cup and SL........That kit is the ugliest kit I've ever seen

Yep.......A few years of grading and we'll be back to P&R and making every minute matter

Once 'Grading' comes in none of the current Championship have a chance other than expansion clubs (London, Toulouse and Newcastle) and maybe Bradford if they ever get their house in order. I'd say if Toulouse win these play offs and replace Cas/Wake then that is the die cast for the forseable future.

@georgeyboy "Mutual agreement usually means both parties reach an agreement on the terms of the sacking. Sean is all good, just gutted not to be there to finish the season and get the job done. Let’s all unify now for a huge finish"

"Reached and agreement to part company"............he hasn't got sacked.........doubt he's been paid up in full either. Long will have something lined up..........maybe some deal done in the background with Wire? Campbell can be a hot head but he isn't daft. Regardless.......has anyone been really impressed with our team this year? We aren't dominating teams like we should be with the squad available and for me it just looked like we were destined for another play off failure. Long has been here enough time to put his ideas across and we should be a well oiled machine by now. Some new ideas at this stage may be a blessing in disguise. Whether Ford is the right guy........we'll soon see........If he isn't MC will move onto someone else. If we don't go up this year it'll be a long time before we have another chance.

"Reached and agreement to part company"............he hasn't got sacked. He'll have something lined up..........maybe some deal done in the background with Wire? Campbell can be a hot head but he isn't daft. Regardless.......has anyone been really impressed with our team this year? We aren't dominating teams like we should be with the squad available and for me it just looked like we were destined for another play off failure. SL has been here long enough to put his ideas across and we should be a well oiled machine by now. Some new ideas at this stage may be a blessing in disguise. Whether Ford is the right guy........we'll soon see........If he isn't MC will move onto someone else. If we don't go up this year it'll be a long time before we have another chance.

Depends how they weight the grading.........you would hope they take into consideration the limited ability to grow certain aspects of a club outside SL........I've heard that isn't the case.