Oldbear

I see that, but what actually is the future for Valencia? Is it do try to do a TWP and race for SL, hoping that they can generate good crowds and local interest, if so that means $$$, and no doubt Josh McCrone and Darcy Lussick are waiting for the phone call. Is the plan to grow steadily and develop local juniors, in which case great, but would they be competitive in L1 (and yes I know they will bring over players as there is pretty much no locals to speak of as yet), can they afford to plan and steadily progress like Coventry, do they even see that as part of their plan? Problem is no one really knows. Plus one final point, can the existing L1 clubs afford to fly out to Valencia for games? It’s always struck me as being pretty hand to mouth down there, is there potential for an airline sponsor, if so it’s a pretty bad time to be looking for one, given the pandemics effect on travel.

Not totally disagreeing with your logic, but trips to Barrow, Whitehaven, Workington and West Wales will hardly be fun either, and in the case of the first 3 all they will probably have to show for it is a good hiding, hardly conducive to launching a new club. I know road trips in France are not fun, but I suspect that in a post pandemic world flying is probably going to be not so straightforward plus my feelings were that the French comp might be a more suitable standard for them, unless they plan on doing a Toronto and filling their team with higher priced journeymen imports and Championship players (in which case where’s the money coming from).

I would have thought the French comp, logistically less hassle than flights, cheaper ( unless they have an airline as sponsor), and definitely a more appropriate standard than getting battered in Cumbria).

I worry that the whole Valencia project is solely founded on attracting visiting UK fans, plus trying to appeal to British expats in the area, and it actually has no Spanish element to it at all. Surely they have to put down some roots first, and ideally play in an appropriate competition before even thinking about joining the RFL system. Otherwise it will end up being yet another false dawn, based on social media and one mans dream.

It’s bizarre weather here. The past 2 days saw a massive quick thaw, then last night a ferocious ice storm which woke me at 5am. Took the dog out for her morning walk, not sure who did the best Bambi on ice impression, her or me!

It has to be a money pit as well, and Wheldon Rd has to be for Cas too, so I’m sure the club would love an end to the saga, after all look how the cost of maintaining Odsal helped to screw up Bradford.

Not permanent shares though? If somehow Wakey and Cas did share then it would be permanent and I suspect that won’t end well.

Except if they still are then financially they are probably one step from meltdown, there’s no way they can keep the crumbling ruin safe without spending big time on upkeep, which will seriously impact the viability of the club. They may have skirted around things 20 years ago, now they know they have to do something to safeguard their future and are not messing around.

Me neither.

I can relate to so much of your recent posts, and I’m an optimist so if you are the prophet of doom than I may be your side kick. The world is continually evolving, the sports that survive and thrive in the future will be those that evolve too. I also miss Lions Tours, and also Kangaroo tours to the Northern Hemisphere. They were occasions, and gave a little something to players who put their bodies on the line each week, the reward of tests against the best, or a tour down under could not be measured in monetary terms but provided a nice bonus to a career which is all too short. I agree that we appear to be in decline, however can we manage the decline to keep the sport alive in the long term, or will we lose control, sadly as Whippet says, I have no confidence in the leadership to provide the tools to help the sport get through the coming years. Like you I don’t advocate kicking anyone out, I am and always will be, a believer that league structures should be decided on the field, however I suspect that broadcast partners don’t think that way any more, they know what they want to cover and want it to look good to attract viewers. Our problem is we are totally dependent on TV revenue, so they get to hold the cards and call the shots.

I suspect similar, except that the broadcast partners will hold the upper hand so will force change. Of course there are now a decent number of good looking stadia to choose from as well, so less need to compromise than there would have been say 10-15 years ago, therefore anyone wanting to remain in the top flight will want to be sure they don’t fall down in this area. In addition sponsors are becoming more choosy in what they want for their financial support, and entertaining clients in good quality facilities, looking out onto a decent stadium, is more likely to persuade them to part with the cash, and that’s something that our clubs need as much of as they can get their hands on.

And my mate directed that movie! Actually though it’s a good comparison, the route taken those years ago has hamstrung Wakefield ever since, another reason why I would love to see some stadium progress there, if only to see what potential still exists.

You see this is what I don’t understand about the comments made by some of the games so called fans. If we are being realistic here what would Wakefield have to gain by even wanting to remain in a sub standard stadium given that 1. It will cost a fortune to keep meeting minimum safety standards 2. The current facilities make it difficult to grow the fan base 3. The current facilities may hurt sponsorship opportunities as corporate clients seek to entertain in better stadia 4. The current facilities make it hard to attract new players. Given all that I’m pretty sure the club themselves really want a better ground, but again with no Tesco or other supermarket riding to the rescue and no cheap council land with unblocked planning permission then I’m not sure what other alternatives were open to them apart from what they are trying. Building new facilities without some major outside help is nearly impossible, it does make what Fev has done an even more impressive achievement but that was on the back of some great volunteers, not every club is so lucky.

This is a key point, the cost of maintaining sub standard facilities only hamstrings the club further, so why would Wakey want this situation to continue, after all if you want to look at how playing for many years can affect a clubs finances I offer up Odsal for evidence. From my point of view the situation is 1. Wakey know Belle Vue has not been fit for purpose for some time, and have had a number of attempts at developing or relocating 2. They were not blessed with supermarket cash allowing a relocation a la Saints or even Warrington 3. The council has been at best unhelpful, at worst incompetent 4. The club is run as a tight ship so little spare cash is ever available 5. If they get this redevelopment done great, let’s celebrate an improvement in facilities instead of continually sticking the boot in. If not I suspect the ongoing cost of maintaining the current dump will hamstring the club further, which will be very sad.

I know it’s become sort of fashionable to bag the Belle Vue slum but the reality is that it’s not the fault of Wakeys fans, who themselves know things have to improve, and the board have seemed to try their best to address the issue, unfortunately not everyone has supportive councils and friendly developers with a major supermarket chain ready to wave the magic wand. I really, really hope that this time you can get things done, you fans deserve it!

New Years Eve morning here and yes, more snow! At least it won’t disrupt people’s nights out, since we have just got a new provincial health order closing bars, restaurants and liquor stores from 8pm tonight. Just hope it doesn’t drive a bunch of parties underground.

The last 10 days in West Kelowna have followed this pattern 1. Wake up, dig out the previous nights snowfall 2. Walk dog in knee deep snowdrifts 3. Manage to get car out for trip to hospital for treatment 4. Road grifters finally show up around 3pm 5. Four hours later snow starts again! Repeat! Nothing on the news, everyone’s too busy shoveling snow!

Best wishes to both of you from the snowy Okanagan. Just got back from taking the dog for a walk (almost skate as there’s minimal road salting done in my part of West Kelowna) and jumped in the hot tub. It’s -10 outside and the hot tub was incredible! Can’t believe that I managed all these years without one!

Now that would be nice, however with the cards you guys were dealt in terms of less TV money plus a shorter timeframe to recruit I would settle for mid table respectability, I will be rooting for you guys, in fact anyone who is not one of the usual suspects. We need a new name on that trophy!

Merry Christmas from Western Canada, it was -7 outside in Kelowna at 1pm today and we have a foot of snow. Very festive! Hope 2021 is much better than 2020 for everyone on the board. Whoever you support you deserve credit for being a supporter of the game. My hopes for next year are 1. that there will actually be a proper season at all levels 2. that when fans are allowed back, they come back in numbers 3. that Newcastle Thunder solidify a mid table spot in the Championship 4. that we get a new name on the GF trophy - I have a soft spot for Huddersfield but wouldn’t be upset if it really was Warringtons year!

It’s Groundhog Day! Seriously though Wakey have an awesome core of fans who deserve better than the current slum, so I hope this time everything goes through and the bureaucrats and their cronies are not able to interfere.

We have a chain of bookstores in Canada called Chapters Indigo. All of the have a wall of names located near the escalators listing famous Canadians, many of whom are naturally assumed to be American because their careers were so successful in the US, people like John Candy, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Donald Sutherland, Jim Carrey and Ryan Reynolds. Sadly Justin Bieber is also on the list!

Except rounders players don’t eat during the game, take fewer steroids and look more athletic!

When I moved out here in 2009 I really tried to get into baseball, after all it’s the major summer sport here. Eleven years later and I have given up trying. Too many games, too many stats, not enough action plus the players eat while they are playing! Sorry baseball, you and me will never be lovers.

Just found this thread, I sell whisky in Vancouver. That allows me to sample some pretty rare malts including a lot of single cask bottling, sadly I don’t get to take them home and only make occasional purchases as whisky is really expensive in BC. I recently sampled the whole Tomatin range, from Legacy through 12year (great value), 14year, 15year, 18year and 36year (incredible whisky and beautiful package, but at a price that only a few of my customers can afford), and Wolfburn. Check them out if you can.