sweaty craiq

My penny says Croft joins the revolution at LSV

What is factual is that Sky have us by the danglies and have given us a two year stay of execution to improve the product/perception imo it starts with camera work, atmosphere mic’s and commentators on Sky it moves onto referees players and coaches to encourage the spectacle and stop the professional stuff it moves onto clubs to sell out games and bring in the £ needed from sponsors etc 2022 is the transition year and Leigh/Fev/TO will get less funding than others and below SL will get scraps 2023 we must have our best 10 clubs filling grounds and creating a great spectacle for Sky 2023 we must have a Ft second tier creating pressure on the elite by being a viable replacement through P&R get rid of the cap as it stops wealthy individuals getting involved, individuals who will throw in millions for success, a mindset most RL fans do not understand

I am sure you will be aware Tommy that LSV didn’t cost the council a penny. Leases and land were traded for development of a college, a clubhouse and pitches, a stadium LSV and a state of the art facility for Leigh harriers - which helped to produce Keely Hodgkinson who won silver in the 800m earlier this week in Japan. The developer got to build a hotel a supermarket and a pub, plus new houses

A Leigh sponsor is sorting him a job and he has taken a role on the towns U15/16 academy

For those missing out the return of the reserves may result in some of the 19 yo's deemed not good enough to get a second chance elsewhere

Very much so when Cas will be getting a 20 point deduction and £200k of Sky money withheld

Fact based - that is open to discussion. When asking the question '' what do we need to do in order to become the best we can be?'' the same answers will come up. 1. Generate more income into the game 2. Increase player pool 3. Create a regular international programme (again) 4. Support and develop the game in schools/Universities Without 1 the rest dont happen!! We need high quality and competitive Elite fixtures played in front of full houses with significant away support - why? Atmosphere and away support go hand in hand - they become part of the match day experience we must make better to get more fans through turnstyles and make the TV audience feel part of a great exciting event - the ooh's and aah's make a huge difference on TV. We need to create a pathway for ambitious clubs to grow into and from, SL2 will be a highly competitive league that fans would look forward to and clubs can consolidate and grow from - from playing at Headingley in front of 15000 to playing at Swinton in front of 300 is a huge gap We must build France as a real international force - I would have Cats, TO plus more in the 20. A 5/6 Nations with a strong France every Autumn would be a great event. Playing numbers start at schools and even in the heartlands the game isnt played these days - we start with the low hanging fruit and work out. A realistic goal could be 100 development officers tasked with growing school number by 1m. Elite clubs should be supporting Universities with coaches, dieticians etc working with the development officers to raise RL's profile in this vital sector - they will be holding tomorrows advertising/sponsorship budgets Roll on 2 x 10 at long last

Refs control the spectacle and all too often the outcome these days, mistakes will always be made and no one should say one mistake killed the spectacle because it won’t. Allowing head holds in the grapple, slowing down the PTB unevenly, policing the 10 unevenly, trying to be profile players best mates instead of only allowing the captain to talk etc are the ownership they must take. It’s little wonder we lost Fitzpatrick and the Wigan brothers prematurely replacing them with the Smiths, Mikalauskis etc of the world

The number, whatever it is, should be based upon ability to fund a squad capable of competing and enhancing the product to the broadcaster

Why are so many RL fans so blind? RL has been told by its broadcaster it’s no longer the product it once was, it’s boring. They have been told referee standards are diabolical and are impacting on the spectacle. Fans are disengaging with the sport and once electric atmospheres are now dead. Clubs will be told to fill grounds for TV, get as much away support in as possible to ignite atmosphere and to maximise ST sales Referees will be told they are not the reason fans pay to watch a game, reminded about consistency and if need be we will ship a new bunch in from Australia. Compare our current rosta of refs with 15 years ago, the Mikalauskis of the world shouldn’t be helping to deliver multi million pound contracts to the sport, you can see players don’t respect them and they in turn can’t control games evenly We have a salary cap that allows teams to spend £5m and others £1.2 We have a lot of work to do close season but it essential we stop levelling out at the lowest point

That post sums it up. A few have signed elsewhere the rest haven’t been offered contracts, and don’t seem interested in winning one. We have little pace and all 3 we’re missing plus Reynolds at 6 who can at least defend unlike Ellis. It seems we are building for next year with Stone to arrive soon, Logan here today and McDonald? already here. as fans when you know you won’t win the quality match up, you expect graft and that wasn’t there at all

Sky backed the middle 8 concept, it was the T8 that failed, and the Million pound game became a BIG event - they backed it with an improved deal. Maybe Sky like the look of a better quality Elite and a season long scrap to avoid relegation or win promotion - maybe they have told the RFL that they will back it commercially? Around 2011/2 the central funding outside SL was about £60k. Make that £100k from 2022 and you have £23m to fund 14 clubs at £1.7m, 2023 and Tier 3 gets £100k T1 retains the £1.7m and T2 get about £800k to run a competitive FT club - there must be a min salary spend of say £1.5m otherwise the concept fails, this forces clubs to sell themselves commercially and through the gate. The gap between the bottom of T1 and the top of T2 will become very easy to breach - thats why 2 x10 has been the right way for 20 years

It’s not watering down is Darwin’s approach to survival, IF this is implemented ASAP the clubs with cash will stack their squads with the best they can find and build from there, with luck this could see the salary cap raised massively in SL1 forcing clubs to secure income to compete and taking the game forward

To the tune of the Addams family They’re Ugly and They’re Smelly They come from Scholes and Whelley They’ll rob their neighbours telly The Wigan family da da da dah etc

SKS never lets you down

Toronto had already gone bust and a spot was vacant, so they filled the spot that was vacant as Toronto as an entity had gone

Well it’s taken them too long to see sense, and Sky will love the 2 tens for the next tv deal. SL will have 2 games per week From each comp and we get an increased tv deal and a new knock out comp for extra income with the season kicking off with the CC. I would have preferred an extra french club or two in the mix though

Told the Wifey I cant believe somebody used a false number

I blame Covid - poor girls can't make a living these days

Ralphs on a 6 week 'business for beginners' course

I would support that and no away games to be screened in France, then when they have a TV deal an agreement can be struck. Great idea Yipyee

looks about 9k

Wigan to provide a shock tonight

History says James Hargreaves invented the spinning Jenny, a few know otherwise. RL has a similar story