tiffers

This is where my head was at until I heard on the grapevine just last week that there is in fact money being found at the council... How and what this looks like yet I havent had any details on. But from the situation being dead... it now may have a glimmer.

Really great to here you enjoyed the trip so much. Cornwall RL have done a fantastic job in such a short period of time. Yesterday there was a number of local businesses and Cornish corporate people around. Just as important as the very vocal crowd of 1200. There is so much potential in Cornwall for RL. Especially with so little other competition on the live sporting front. We have taken a few drubbings, but that is absolutely true of any new team with very little time to prep, not forgetting the lack of pre-season. Relationships are being built with local communities and other RU clubs too. At half-time, seeing Penryn RU juniors playing a game of tag rugby league was really great to see. From a fan perspective, Penryn RU have been fantastic this year. The world-cup trophy tour in just topped off a really successful debut year off. Never did I think I would ever see RLWC trophies in a very busy farmers market in Truro city centre. Moreover, it was actively engaging with by a steady stream of really interested people actively seeking out more information. Initiatives like this are engaging people and will only help to grow the awareness of RL and sell tickets at Cornwall RL. BBC Cornwall covering the games, with nothing other than amateur cricket to compete with has been superb too. The beginnings of something really special are starting to take shape. It's rightly being done slowly and carefully, trying to balance risk vs. reward. Yes, other things will need to develop and building the pyramid to support the professional game in Cornwall is essential in the med-longer term. But for the moment, let's take a moment to just say a bloody good job for year one!

North Wales Crusaders v Rochdale Hornets - Cru by 14 West Wales Raiders v Midlands Hurricanes - Midlands by 30 Cornwall v Oldham - Cornwall by 8 with a last 10 minute take of the lead Doncaster v Keighley Cougars - Keighley by 4 Swinton Lions v Hunslet - Swinton comfortably. Great to see the world cup trophies in Cornwall this weekend. Let's hope the promotion work that has gone into this by the club pays off in attendance. I'll go for a 1250 at the Mem Ground on Sunday.

I know the local RU clubs run a beach tournament every year at Perranporth. Helpful when you have a pub right on the beach with you that is used to hosting good sized crowds of multiple thousands for regular music festivals and concerts. The perfect Cornish beach RL venue???

Thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon again at Penryn. Top points to the Crusaders fans on all fronts. They brought a good number, were probably the most vocal we have heard all year and the Hawaiian shirts were brilliant! Cornwall gave a spirited show, albeit just naive in places and you could see the quality difference on the pitch. Having said that, Cornwall had spells where they were far more composed and reassured than they ever would have been in April or May this year. Real noticeable progress that showed they had come on leaps and bounds both in defence and attack. Aaronson signing for another year is a great marker for next year and hopefully we can see some more fire power in the forwards to just get the momentum going and win some rucks. At the moment, that seems to be killing us. Oldham in 2 weeks at home is definitely winnable on our day. I'm hoping for a big crowd and a close game.

Hunslet by 12 Cornwall to edge it - they have been improving since previously playing the Skolars, and it was a close loss then. Doncaster to romp it. North Wales Crusaders by 20 Swinton to edge it.

This is definitely true for a section of the supporter base. There is a lot of people from all over the UK that have moved to Cornwall and are RL people delighted to be able to watch it locally. There are also folk like me, from the heartlands that have moved to Cornwall and are now bringing with them other people that have no association to RL at all and are really enjoying live RL for the first time. Coming back week after week, despite the score line, because they can appreciate the skills and commitment from both sides. I've no doubt that if Cornwall can kick on again, there is growth potential in that 1k marker. BBC Radio Cornwall and other local media are really helping with the brand awareness too. On Saturday, there was no other professional sport happening anywhere near and therefore meant the Choughs got the lions share of the sports coverage locally. All baby steps, but positive baby steps.

Cracking game today at the Mem. Cornwall clearly up on confidence and matched Hunslet for approx 65-70mins of the game. Fair play to Hunslet, the score was a pretty fair reflection of the game. Cornwall continue to improve and will definitely roll another couple of wins this year if they keep going as they are.

There is more than enough physical space at the Mem to build a larger than 6k stadium, I was just referring to the comparison with the S4C. If you had a limitless budget you could easily build something permanent and significantly bigger in Penryn. Even if you did it on the cheap you could put in temporary stands that would be well in excess of 6k. See below the physical dimensions you are looking at: https://www.google.com/maps/@50.1658984,-5.1175387,327m/data=!3m1!1e3 There is ample space.

No doubt the IMG plan is key to understanding what the longer term plans and ambitions will look like for Cornwall. Providing they are considered for the new structure and included, I would argue that getting further into bed with Penryn RU is the solution. The Mem is a 4k official capacity already, so fine for Championship RL. But it wouldn't take masses more effort (or investment) to get in some temporary seating and extend that to 6k or whatever the SL criteria would be. The power dynamics mean they would surely be in a better position than trying to negotiate a 3-way share with Durkin who holds all the cards.

Out of interest, where did you see the 6k, temporary stands proposal? That would be very interesting in terms of being acceptable to play in SL. I'm still of the opinion that staying at Penryn and looking for the appropriate capital investment in expanding the Mem Ground is the best option for Cornwall longer term. I appreciate I say this with zero understanding of the terms in which Cornwall are on at Penryn. However, the power dynamics are very different vs. trying to tie-in with Truro FC/Pirates. Perhaps that might change if Cornwall RL were ever to get into the SL, given the exposure that would bring. Although, the largest part of the funds would come from Durkin and as such, he would call the shots on who gets what.

I think the crux of it is that there are very few stadiums in Cornwall that are up to scratch with a few thousand capacity. Almost exclusively all of them have old, decaying facilities and all of them are owned by RU clubs or football clubs. So I dont think it is outrageous to be talking about Cornwall's options, if things did grow and develop in the coming few years. Bearing in mind they have been getting around 1k at the mo, it doesn't leave you with too many options, especially considering how friendly (or not) the RU clubs are. The S4C presented a stadium that would be fit for top flight rugby of either code. Albeit Cornwall are no where near that level yet, it would present an easier, less capital expensive option in the future. As it now stands, Cornwall would have to find the capital to pay for an existing stadium (those owned by RU/football clubs as per Penryn) to be enhanced in order to meet SL criteria. That would have an impact on the business plan/investment requirements in the future. Yes, that decision is a long way off at the moment. A hell of a long way off at the moment. But the S4C decision is a big one with respects to the impact on Cornwall's ambitions and growth down the line. They would be left just like the Cornish Pirates/Truro FC at the moment and looking at being forced out of county or having to find the investment. As it stands, Penryn is fine for L1. I'd argue it probably would need looking at if they were ever to reach the Championship.

Where is it that RL are starting to use RU criteria? Where are we getting ahead of ourselves re. Cornwall?

Not good news at all for the sporting people of the county as a whole. Although, Penryn does everything needed of it at the moment. Much further down the line, it has more than enough land to be developed if Cornwall RL and Penryn RU were to come to some kind of arrangement. No doubt would be a great negotiating tool in terms of who owns what, and importantly, who takes the income from it too. Obviously that depends on capital investment etc. Not to mention just how early doors this is with Cornwall RL(!). None of that would be possible at the S4C. You'd imagine Cornwall RL would be just another one of our clubs being a tenant, renting a stadium with little negotiating power for any other income sources.

I saw a Rhinos shirt last weekend whilst I was running the Plymouth Half Marathon. I mustered up the energy to shout "Up the Rhinos". Anything more than that would have resulted in cardiac arrest!