DI Keith Fowler

London Red Bulldogs has a nice ring to it. They could maybe launch a caffeinated IPA to coincide with the launch, causing their regular punters to become increasing agitated with each pint and thus derailing their games of cards against humanity.

I would add to this the safety net for keeping players in the game. If you're a academy player looking at your future career prospects would you feel secure knowing if you don't make it as SL level immediately your only option is dropping into the community game? Would a semi-pro league to fall back on not be encouraging when you're deciding whether to fully commit to rugby as a career? Tyler Dupree gets released from Leeds academy and is questioning whether to continue. He takes up a semi-pro contract at Oldham for a season, is then signed by Widnes, within half a season Salford have picked him up, two years later Wigan have paid a transfer fee for him and he's an England international. What does the alternative look like where there's no decent standard semi-pro structure for him to drop into while he develops into an SL standard player? Matty Smith has a half season loan to Widnes before becoming an SL standard player, goes off to win a few trophies, and then returns to Widnes for a couple of years to wind down his career and assess his future options. If you'd asked the 20 year old Matty Smith if he would prefer that when his body starts to give out (at a point in time that he cannot predict) he would be happy retiring there and then because no SL will want him, or if he'd prefer to go back to Widnes for a few years, get paid some kind of salary and work out what it is he wants to do with the rest of his working life, which is he picking?

What if we bundled up all of Salford's loans into tranches and sell that as investment grade securities.

Heard this before about a move to centre. Unless he has reason to believe his legs are going to go in a couple of years it seems madness to move him further infield where his weaknesses will be most exposed, probably the most of any position on the pitch.

What a great thread. Well done to all involved.

They are literally incapable of paying them on time.

Was that in the, "putting [rugby] balls in kids hands" era?

I love it. It's classy, its sensitive to French culture, it reminds me of fruit salad sweets. What's not to like?

I mean the current shirt has elements of it, the navy pinstripes under the arms and allusions to a vee without actually having one. It's essentially a merger of this and that Admiral England football shirt.

Exactly, unless we suddenly wake up tomorrow discover all the clubs exist on the M25 corridor instead of the M62 there's no easily transferable plan. *Bangs drum again* we're not poor because we have bad leaders, we have bad leaders because we are poor.

I don't disagree.

I'm just relieved it's happening at this point.

What?

Apparently John recieves two emails a week accusing him of being a "flaming drongo". What I want to know is, who's sending the other one?

Looking forward to this in his next Chicken Wing blog post.