Tommygilf

Its not that they are holding the game back, but they certainly are setting the (particularly financial) rules up in their favour.

That translates into sponsors as well. There's only so many that are inclined to sponsor a team and then competition for that creates natural limitations unless teams and competitions transcend their immediate supporter base.

The school system is definitely helpful for RU. They have a huge number of Private schools that play regular weekly fixtures (though even that isn't as strong as it was a decade ago) and cups. From that they can fit state schools into a pre existing system which is much easier than setting up a new system altogether.

Hope he recovers soon

It does seem rather shocking that playing for a team that doesn't want the league to restart and therefore relegation to be instigated (Dynamo Dresden, Brighton, Bournemouth, Hull City) does seem to be connected to an increased risk of contracting Coronavirus... Hopefully this is just a brief correlation and doesn't end up shutting down the restart.

Headingley has 4 sets of changing rooms in the rugby side alone, plus the cricket facilities. Not sure about Saints and Wire either mate. I'd imagine they are being chosen because they are high standard RL controlled facilities. Wigan, Huddersfield and Hull all share with (and dare I say play second fiddle to) football teams meaning an extra layer of complexity is being added to scheduling. The NRL has, and Premier League is looking at, a limited number of approved host venues which is probably where we're headed also.

See now you'll just upset the Lancs!

I agree Harry I think its difficult enough for full time clubs to get going, nevermind part time. One report I read said that Super League were looking at using Headingley, St Helens and Warrington as venues for the restarted comp behind closed doors. Perhaps LSV could be a part of that.

There's a few teams in that hybrid level though Harry to varying extents, Fev and Leigh at the top. From my experience many "hybrid" teams are effectively full time with players operating as club employees in their other jobs. Derek still doesn't provide an Avenue for those clubs even though H.

Why? They've contributed the same number of winning captains to GB as England which makes them over-represented.

I've seen my team win grand finals, lose grand finals, win challenge cups, lose challenge cups, win world club challenges, lose world club challenges and win League leaders shields at the death. Yet my biggest 2 heartbreaks are Watkins being ankle tapped in 2017 and Johnson scoring at the death in 2013 at Wembley. I'd take an England world cup win every time

GB ones should be separate, especially as the 2 blokes who've captained 2 British World cup winning sides have been Scottish and Welsh! Not as bad as Russia claiming the USSRs medals from the Olympics when teams, such as football, were 80%+Ukrainian

England win the world cup

Exactly

The answers 1. Probably don't know which is why they're waiting till the Premier League has been going over a month. 2. Again, waiting to see if things have changed by August such that costs would be reduced. 3. He has come out proudly saying he hasn't applied for any and doesn't intend to so why does it matter to him?

They weren't relegated for cheating, they were relegated for accounting problems leading to their insolvency which have recently emerged were dubious at best and way off the mark at worst. This article shows how particularly HMRC caused problems with them initially pushing for nearly £100million and subsequently dropping that to 20 now. Cheating or not through the EBT scheme, such a monumental ballsup on behalf of HMRC is not in any way fair. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-scotland-50727197 I'm saying this as a Celtic fan. What does the administration of 1 club 8 years ago have to do with the current situation now?

The cap is finished for this year and maybe next imo with deferrals, furlough etc. Perhaps we could make November 30th our mid season "transfer deadline day". There's no way, unless the finishing point for contracts is "the end of the season" rather than the November date, that players could be forced to stay at clubs, especially in the case of Thompson to the NRL for example.

I've heard similar, though ironically being in Edinburgh they probably do have the money and don't want to bother with Glasgow lol

That's missing the point though isn't it (though I think the time to merge would have been at the dawn of the Premier League). With a game in hand, plus 2 games against their bitterest and closest rivals Celtic, I don't blame them for feeling aggrieved.

Not even a twinkle in my 6 year old father's eye I'm afraid! I do however have a great uncle who played for Hibs and Celtic in the 1920s so I can certainly vouch for an historic affinity between the teams; alongside a shared animosity for Hearts and Rangers. The Facebook comments sections certainly have their views on this and the sectarian aspect is only heightened by the claims by Rangers of impropriety by the Scottish Premiership, accusations of bullying and bribery of Scottish clubs, the fact that Celtic's current 9 in a row has been completed without opposition effectively for the most part, the injustice felt by Rangers fans because of everything surrounding it and that Hearts are the team that has gone down.

Yeah like I said I'd be livid if I were a Hearts fan. The prospect of lawsuits, bullying and bribing accusations is something we really need to avoid in England. The recent statement from the Football League provides a lot of hope for Leeds I think. Its a tight one but I can see the League getting the 51% of clubs voting to end the season now sending Leeds and WBA up automatically and the current 4 teams in the playoffs with Barnsley, Luton and Charlton down. That said Leeds have repeatedly before and since the statement had a commitment to playing on to finish the season and I wouldn't feel comfortable with sending Charlton down in 22nd place when 1 win could rocket them to 19th, 3 places from safety.

The only hope Leigh have is that the full time clubs can get something sorted in terms of playing games. The nature of part time clubs and importance of gate money makes resuming almost totally prohibitive. So what, Leigh, London, Toulouse play a tri series?

Huddersfield's academy do really well. They're the model to follow for the clubs that aren't Leeds, Saints and Wigan or have super lavish budgets. They are definitely in the top echelon of clubs, the crowd point is a misnomer.

The Value of a modern player in any sport isn't just attributed by their activities on the pitch, though that is of course the root of any success. Cristiano Ronaldo was signed for €100 million Euros aged 34 (which is old for a striker). Shirt sales of his shirt alone made up for that and then some. Likewise SBW with Toronto or David Beckham with LA Galaxy. A big name signing is worth more than their ability on the pitch.

Sometimes yes. But a big signing now is some good pr.