Pulga

The problem is you're no spring chicken and fans that get older and move on and are unable to get to games etc aren't being replaced by newer, younger fans.

I think the most likely outcome of all of this is that the smaller traditional clubs will make such a noise that IMG will have to water down the grading criteria and it will all be a waste of time.

The "smallish, unfashionable towns" are not going to get there, I agree.

If they could bring 12 clubs up to the same standard as the top 2 then they'll make their money.

They don't have to relocate. Just make way for clubs in decent catchment areas. Look at Leigh the other week. Great crowd for them but still under 10k attendance. That's not worthy of the top flight. It's great for a 2nd or 3rd division and that's what their aim should be. Contrast that with the Dolphins getting 50k. Super League needs to actually enforce these standards. IMG are going to struggle though as I think administrators are as backwards as a lot of fans.

That's how it should be.

It's certainly no Dolphins v Broncos.

Both the US and Jamaica have tried to put their strongest teams together for qualifiers previously.

Unlikely with it being a WC qualifier.

What's the average sky match viewership at the moment?

If you look a the dollar value per viewer of the English deal Super League is being completely ripped off.

I'm not sure I believe that. The TV figures I see for both Sky and C4 have been quite favourable. It seems that on a per viewer basis rugby league in England is happy to take a tiny, tiny fraction of the money the NRL does.

The English really seem to be left in the past when it comes to sport. Sport is a business. Your local team has no real right to be in the top flight. The "if you're good enough on the field you should be allowed into SL" is a 19th century fetish. Do the teams outside of L1 cry about being in a completely meaningless competition? If you have no catchment you shouldn't be in. If you have no money you shouldn't be in. If you have no strategy, marketing, business sense etc, etc you shouldn't be in. It's great to see someone actually trying to hold the game in England to some kind of standard where previously it was to do just enough to not get relegated without spending too much. If your team is locked out it's for the good of the game. Improve.

Nothing wrong with trying to win the Championship. You'd stop attending if your team wasn't given the chance to lose every game the following year?

I wonder why that the case in England but the opposite in Australia. They're the same sports.

As an Aussie looking in from outside I think Keighley is making Fev fans look super progressive.

Seems pretty fair really.

Goddard laying out Andrew Johns. A thing of beauty.

Interesting that that would be close to the least distance any NRL club travels in a season. In 2018 the Roosters traveled just 6517 miles. The least of every NRL team for the season.

How good is it that less than 24 hours later the Kiwi Ferns v Tonga game broke the record for a women's test match with 18,369 spectators.

You've missed the point. The women's game is good enough and potentially strong enough to be its own competition. What you're suggesting is they aim to be curtain raisers for the men's comp.

The world's best of both codes are being enticed and most are already playing in the NRLW. Nth Qld and Canberra are both great. New Zealand should have been back before anyone else was admitted. Melbourne would be great too. There is no need to stick to existing NRL teams. Hell, any more than 10 teams for the foreseeable future might not be a great idea.

It already is the most elite women's rugby comp in the world. Have to say I am beyond disappointed that two more Sydney teams have been allowed in. This was a real chance to create a comp without all the horrible baggage of tradition. Now we're just going to have NRL Lite. Absolutely no vision.

12 weeks apparently.