glossop saint

I saw the hotpots last weekend in Chester. Great fun. I think it will go down well as a live warm up act, probably better than a 'real' band.

For me then the only 'warm up' game has to be against PNG.

As long as Saints make the playoffs and win their last game of the season I'll be happy.

Isn't that what some people to want? Every game to matter. Everyone having something to play for right until the end.

I always enjoy maths! But sorry about the sarky comment, it was uncalled for. Thanks for explaining that in more detail and you are correct that the averaging out over three years does make a difference. However that would represent a fall in their performance score meaning that there would have to be an improvement elsewhere (not in the population as that won't change). That still means a significant strengthening of the club would be needed and thus suggesting they are the right club to have in SL.

So if Toulouse get relegated from Champ to League 1 then their population won't be enough for them to overcome the on pitch performance score therefore meaning it is incredibly unlikely to happen and that the poster saying that they might get relegated and still put in SL is talking nonsense. Thank you for the maths.

Yet more top quality balanced debate.

Incredibly hypocritical from someone who has a dislike of IMG to the point of having a rant that people used to dress better decades ago.

That won't happen due to the on field performance score. You are being completely disingenuous, as so many who argue against the IMG system are. And if it did then even more reason to have them in there as they would have overcome that performance disadvantage and shown themselves a top club. Note club not team. Just to add there are also plenty who disagree with it and do put good, consistent points forward. They don't seem to be on this thread today.

It's not hard, that's why I'm wondering why you're struggling with it. Wakefield are on the precipice of the 12, with a season in the championship so reduced tv scores, crowd scores, finances etc that come with it. A very precarious position. They have a new owner. Who has invested in the club. This increases their chances of therefore being in SL. More money in the game, possibly/probably directly as a result of wanting to score higher in the IMG grading. You're using a really daft argument here Harry when you are saying people won't invest due to the new system. As has also been said, see Wigan and Oldham, though in different circumstances.

When you talk about guaranteed SL status you are aware that Wakefield are currently in the Championship. Yes they may be guaranteed SL status in the future but is the not thanks to the investment that is going on there and therefore increasing the IMG score. I'm not completely convinced by the IMG route but you have just pointed out the exact situation where the system works.

Then he'd publicly shame them for opening the wrappers wrong!

Has any feedback been given as to how IMG and the RFL felt like the trial went? As far as I know, no adjustments have been made.

I liked it too as I was always about 20 goals behind at that point.

I had a teacher at school who always did a quiz at the end of term. No matter what happened in the quiz it was always whoever got the last question right who won. It is virtually impossible to have a league where every minute matters. Do players/fans not just want to win a game because it is good to win a game? Is that not successful and enjoyable itself?

I meant in terms of quality. There is the odd gem of a game but do we not want to be trying to show off the game at it's best? I wonder if the same argument would be there that people want to showcase Doncaster v Swinton, or Dewsbury v Keighley if we want interdivisional, as opposed to Fev v Toulouse etc.

And it isn't necessarily due to the 8s. Lots of factors make up a TV deal.

Maybe. And if that is the case then I'm wrong. But I feel that that again just reinforces the point that the focus was on the wrong part (for me) of the sport. Put it this way, do we really want to see more of Hull v London v Cas this year. Is this what we should be using to sell the sport?

I enjoyed it. There were some very entertaining games. It was the fact it was the focus of the sport for a quarter of the season. And took the funding that it did in order to make it competitive. And I think probably had a damaging effect on those championship teams who weren't top 4.

The 3x8s ended up focusing on the middle 8s. The top 8 and bottom 8 ended up just petering out. Standard RL. Focus on mediocrity. Not the top teams who can help produce the best to increase our chances on the international scene or show off the quality in a bid to entice new fans and coverage and money. Nor the bottom teams who are trying to expand the sport into new territory to again help with the development of the sport albeit in a different bottom up sort of way. No, we focus on spending valuable resources on the middle ground again.

In what other sport do teams not in the top tier get more central funding than those that are?

I'm usually a big fan of the BBC coverage however this season has in the main been very disappointing. No trailing on TV that I've seen. No mention of the coverage despite mentioning the game on BBC breakfast this morning. Very little build up. No studio presence. Very last minute link on website. This is poor. Free to air TV coverage is great, if you actually get people to watch it.

After kick off

I would guess that it is maybe because their marquee players aren't paid as much as Wigan's. Probably because they don't deserve as much. I agree that they should be aiming to do so though, by signing or developing players who deserve those marquee wages.

If you impressed the RFL enough to get a place in League 1 (or bought a place off a failed team), then formerly either won promotion to SL or now managed to get the IMG score to get into SL, then yes.