Tommygilf

I don't know if its lack of confidence in the product vs lack of confidence to get a vote passed through.

Got to hope for some action today! Its just a bit too much rain on a track that could use something to spice it up.

No, they asked for Sky money and said what are the terms. Though I believe the new deal has had a bit more clout - all games televised standard, more main event slots etc. But complaining about a TV company showing a comp like the Championship independent of the top level (domestic or international) and putting them in a non weekend slot seems a bit much.

The reason we don't have the money is because RL hasn't expanded, by any demographic or metric, to get a broader supporter base that is more resilient to changes. We currently appeal to a very niche market that fundamentally isn't very wealthy - either in terms of the individuals at very top or the mass of people at the bottom in combination. In a repeating circle of unpopularity the game leads to the collapse of Widnes or Bradford, because there are no benefactors with serious money involved to rescue them. And we're talking about serious money, not just well off people with good jobs. So we don't have the financial level of RU or the mass popularity of football... You ask why the 10s or 100s or millions of pounds have been wasted in London, Toronto or even Sheffield when it should be obvious? The money is there in those places to invest that sort of amount, and that is the sort of money you need to invest to compete there. They wouldn't have to spend anything like that much in Featherstone, Batley or Leigh, and truth be told, they wouldn't want to. Its also true in Football, see Bury and Manchester City for extreme examples. Money attracts money.

Do the broadcaster have an available slot elsewhere? With the URC (SA/Wales/Scottish/Irish/italian RU) and everything else they'll probably have a full weekend calendar already if they choose. Championship RL doesn't have the clout to demand a prime slot, or at least it hasn't proven it has. As for consulting the players, ultimately this is the problem with part time leagues acting like full time comps. Either you act like full timers and get on with it, or you are part timers and accept the ceiling on that.

That makes absolutely no sense? They wouldn't have to pay for part timers flights though there's an immediate lump sum of cash to reinvest!

To compete against Salford and Wakefield (even Hull KR) they don't need to increase by 60%

Tbh we only had a rare number of attacking chances. Was it maybe 4 sets we started in their half or even past our 40m? Ultimately that was two teams willing to front up against eachother and grind eachother down. It was percentages rugby, but neither side is particularly high on confidence or attacking flair so that was a sensible move.

What exactly has forced their hand? The council now willing to sell the ground? Why has that happened? It is a shame Salford RL are in this position where their destiny is reliant on the benevolence of other parties.

The lack of corporate at Moor Lane is a concern I would have thought, indeed its probably why Salford City are looking at moving out. Corporate generates so much more revenue per head than your standard punter its not even close. Is that money Salford can afford not to have? If there is to be a Salford backed expansion at Moor Lane I would expect corporate to be the primary driving force behind that. Ultimately Salford are now passengers in this deal.

Yeah but they are melons

Wigan force you to play a certain way, its attritional and physical, moreso than any other team. On top of being play off rugby too its unsurprising the game was like that.

I think that's a bit of rose tinted glasses tbh mate

If only they could choose to play us!

Its only Wigan tbf