headtackle

What do you think would be the best course of action for Cumbrian clubs Stay as is ? Mergers ? New franchise? How do you think a Cumbrian team can survive and thrive in SL PS Well done and thanks for everything you have done at Saints. Good luck at Widnes

Must admit was not aware of the rule that saw Matautia off. saying that hats off to Saints. They never looked like losing and probably could have gone down to 10 and still won

Friday night fixtures, work and the m62 don’t help

Interesting statement from Bath Gladiators who have resigned from the RFL https://bathgladiators.com/standwithbathgladiators/ No idea what going on down there but looks like a bold step Anyone know more ?

Just seen Leigh trending on Twitter and thought that was a fantastic effort for the championship Closer inspection was Leigh Ann from Little Mix but regardless well done Leigh

As Saints are in it most years would have to be Totally Wicked, Anfield or in time Everton’s new waterfront stadium

Yes It was in 1997/8 There was a meeting at the Willows with fans travelling to protest Some carried a coffin and were outside asking Mo and others to put the “final nail” in The 3 clubs concerned survived as by then they had agreed Voluntary Arrangements with creditors so could argue that they were no longer insolvent

The way some of the Yorkshire teams have been playing a Yorkshire league could soon be a possibility it will retain its current name as The Championship

Hull KR would not be in SL if Mo had had his way Clubs in administration were planned to be kicked out to form 3 divisions. They escaped by getting Cvas approved so could argue everything had been done with the approval of creditors. big meeting at Salford kept them in along with Keighly and Workington Re WCC good idea but not sure clubs took it that seriously. Always remember Saints players all bleaching their hair before playing Auckland

I can assure you that it isn’t. There is enough rubbish in there without RU simply following the strategy of buying out the competition to neutralise any threat

If money was no option: - buy all of the English Premiership RU clubs and the 4 welsh regional to get instant geographic coverage - convert clubs to RL clubs - re-educate the RU on their new team and the advantages of our code Admittedly this could take as while but if they had no other rugby to watch this could be overcome - By my reckoning with current SL teams that would give approximately 30 clubs around the country + France - Set up 2 leagues. Would probably avoid the stereotype split. Perhaps SL East and SL West - play home and away games in own division leading to end of year cross division play offs and grand final - Marketing push to recapture the name “Rugby” - North v South origin series Not sure what to do with Twickenham. Would probably just leave it any remaining minor RU teams to use. A money no object aggressive attack like this would probably lead to the likes of Edinburgh Glasgow Munster and Leinster applying for membership. Bingo. A European Super League

I wonder whether a Calder,Paris or a combined Hull would have won a GF by now ?

IMG will look at it from an analytical business point of view. I would bet that they suggest franchises, an end to P&R, new clubs in strategic areas ie London and a few other major cities, rebranding of some clubs ie Salford to Manchester, on the road games The only way to stop the dominance of Saints Wigan etc would be to start again with all players going into a pot and holding an IPL style auction. Can’t imagine that going down too well Dont want to be pessimistic but if IMG recommend anything new or revolutionary it will quickly be vetoed in some of the Yorkshire boardrooms

A great crowd which shoes the potential down there Hopefully they can get off the mark soon. Look forward to seeing the crowds once the holiday season starts

Must admit Lowestoft is pushing it a bit

Exactly right. Any southern conference border line could be flexible it is in football with changes made using a bit of common sense to keep it balanced

If you read what I said I said “below the championship “ If we are talking semi professional teams not existing amateur teams I am not sure where your “twenty odd” northern teams comes from I agree that 5 southern clubs would be a problem and said that as well

Below the Championship a Northern and Southern conference makes the most sense Minimise travel costs and allow new clubs time to develop and strengthen before travelling north to play the more established northern clubs. play league season against teams in your conference with top 2 in each playing off to determine promotion. Depending on who goes up and comes down may occasionally need for a team on the border to switch conferences but they do that in non league football without problems Would obviously need a few more clubs to provide enough games but if achieved would provide a structure similar to that of football at the top of the non league game

Players who actually have a link with their home town clubs giving 100% and giving/taking a battering week after week and all for less than a weeks wage for a footballer Also the fact that even the top stars are approachable, will chat with fans and are often seen around town doing the same things as the rest of us

That’s it in a nutshell. I like the play offs but it does encourage weakened teams to be fielded at times. Saints are just a bit smarter at it than others

One observation on the new Liverpool Lizards which is probably common with other development clubs is that their social media output is very hit and miss Since they started there has been very little about results, league standings etc and fixtures have also sometimes been missing. This has surprised me given the team are based around ex Uni students who you would think would be more tech savvy Sociam media is one key area that SL and the RFL should be able to help with and support.

Saints v Wigan without a doubt perm any of Saints, Wigan, Wire and back in the day Widnes and would get some tasty games

Should probably bring back that Lancashire Yorkshire league double counting. Would give Yorkshire clubs a chance of winning something!

If clubs want a bucket load of use out of a stadium they should all take the Widnes route and play on 4G Astro to my knowledge as well as RL it is/has also been home to Liverpool & Everton ladies football, Widnes FC, Halton American Football and probably a few others Personally I don’t like the artificial pitches or watching games in stadiums with banks of empty seats draining the atmosphere Smaller grounds are not ideal but after 2 years of pandemic and the effect on finances I would rather clubs cut their cloth accordingly and survive than enter liquidation due to owing huge amounts of rent

Seems a shame that a grand finalist team a few years back have to drop to a 5000 ish capacity stadium and we’re not able to kick on due to covid Moor Lane seems like a backward step but no point going bust renting seats you don’t need A more compact ground with a bit of atmosphere will be better for fans and tv audiences than rattling around in an empty stadium 5000 capacity probably enough for a lot of games ie Catalans, Toulouse, most Yorkshire clubs. They will miss the bigger travelling support of Saints Wigan and Wire though just wondering if Moor Lane has a cabaret room like the willows did Back in the day always seemed to be showoddywoddy or the drifters keeping the punters happy