Tex Evans Thigh

The evidence suggests otherwise with investment being withdrawn already exactly because of this system. The Keighley owners pulled out and Campbell has reduced investment at Fev. If I was an investor I’d be much more comfortable knowing my team could be promoted by winning on the field, it’s black and white. This process is pretty murky.

Someone with vast wealth who were stupid enough to put money into a club even though there was no defined and sure way to get the club into the top division. In other words it wont happen.

Martyn, I would be happy to consider this although perhaps by framing my somewhat emotional 'rant' into an actual set of questions. Feel free to DM me, thanks.

Its horrible and I knew it would be, but seeing it documented is even worse. Even the spreadsheet diehards are struggling to defend this as it's plain as day that this approach is catastrophic and won't bring anything like the improvements some people are hoping it will. How do you explain this abomination to a potential new fan of the sport in the UK? It's inexplicable and I'm sorry to say is going to turn existing fans away. The reality really hit when everyone saw where London were didn't it. Two of the most exciting aspects of this season were the relegation battle in SL and the promotion play-offs in the Championship. Ripping that up for this is yet another hammer blow to the sport in the UK. IMG aren't taking this seriously either, the planning and execution are pathetic. As we sit here today we still have no idea on structures in the lower leagues for next year, you have IMG saying SL might expand very soon and London planning a pointless expedition into SL for a year despite delivering something of a fairytale story last season. The sport in the UK is a shambles.

Fantastic from London, can’t argue with those three away wins. They were the best when it mattered. Such a shame that this kind of drama and entertainment is now gone and we’re back to spreadsheet promotions.

Spot on this. In hindsight I do think we could have recruited more players that we would take up with us if we did get promoted but ultimately we had easily the best squad in the division but the bed in a one off game against a team who were outstanding at just the right time.

You said we’d go unbeaten

How is it ridiculous to think a team that was 12 points clear at the top could win a play off for promotion? There are 4 maybe 5 big clubs in England plus Catalan and even a couple of those have been poor and down the leagues in fairly recent times. There’s then a bunch of clubs who could be anywhere from challenging in SL to being average championship teams. I don’t know what you’re suggesting but it’s sport, it’s cyclical. Under the right circumstances Fev could have been Salford, Halifax could have been huddersfield etc etc. our 15 year cycle just ended with the best chance we had to actually kick on being blown up. You’ve had 25 years in SL thanks to the bounce of a ball in 98 and despite some spectacular mismanagement, luck and favorable structural decisions. It’s pretty galling to hear we were wasting our time along along from a wakey fan in particular and also pretty demoralizing that people actually think this way. I bet the premier league are so glad they don’t let rif raff like Brighton in and just keep big clubs like Leeds. Less eyeballs and stories otherwise.

That’s a ridiculous comment when there was literally a path forward tonight and that’s why we’re having this conversation. How would Fev have faired in SL? Who knows, but now we’ll never know, at least until the next shuffling of the deck chairs on the titanic and P&R comes back. By then we’ll have lost any gains we’ve made in the last 15 years and will be back to square one. There are always big clubs in every sport. Should the rest just give up? Come on.

I’m the raw emotion straight after a game? Really? I’m sure he’ll put out a statement when the dust had settled and that will be that he’s withdrawing as there’s no realistic path forward now for Fev and many other clubs. A significant investor will be leaving the sport and you can celebrate it as a win for some reason.

You really think hubris was demonstrated? I’ve found most Fev fans on here realistic and grounded, especially now. It’s more likely your own biases, wherever they may have originated

It’s a little weird how much you revel in a club like Featherstone failing. Why is it? Is this Sir Kevin Sinfield’s burner account?

Unfortunately we’re done as a club now until IMG realize they’re flogging a dead horse and P&R comes back in 5-10 years. I suspect Campbell will pull funding and rightfully so. We’ll be a run of the mill championship team now. It seems popular to want Fev to fail but it’s a real shame we never got our shot despite being around the top of the championship for well over a decade. London were very good and deserved to win. Hope Toulouse win the final though as I think they can contribute more and have something they can grow. The same London delusions are getting thrown around again now but it’s been proven a dead end time and again. good luck to both teams in the final.

100%! Cunningham was good obviously, but Roby surpassed him a while ago. Performed at international level for a start. Just a better all round player. What a career.

Exactly this. There is too much opportunity to bend the rules in our sport, if refs reffed like that all the time everyone would be moaning about the excessive wrestling and slowness of games. Lay down the law in regular games so we can get games like that in showpieces.

sin bin for a hard tackle. ridiculous.

12 places, SL teams wont give up their share of the ever dwindling pie. Aim to improve the international game i.e. get England/GB to a level where they can compete with Australia Reduce top level English clubs with funding to support junior development and fanbases to 9. The lowest of all time Introduce another French club that produces average players and doesnt bring a TV deal How very unimaginative.

That might be a record for most cliches in one post, if not, very close to it, well done!

Reasonable amount of actual knowledge extrapolated out.

SL head coach: 80-250k extremes (120-200 more typical) SL assistant: 30-80k (40-60) SL staff/specialist: 20-40k champ head coach: 20-60k champ other: 5-25k champ and lower having part time staff mainly would keep the average quite low.

Well it’s worse than that, it’s like not picking anyone from any Queensland teams if we’re using your analogy. The whole thing needs ripping up and starting again but it won’t happen.

Exactly, I think both teams have basically put out what they have. There's no resting of players and we could see similar teams if they both make the final, which is why I expect both teams to go at it and try and make a statement.

They don't have much choice and there are a couple of injured players in the 19 who won't figure.

Not sure who is claiming this but it is absolutely not true! There are some good Union players playing League in the US and some basic ones as well. I'm not well versed enough to be able to compare the different levels in each country but we see some good players.

Theyre certainly making an effort and making it worthwhile, hence why we and a bunch of other teams are making the effort at short notice. Pretty promising outlook I would say. The big question is how do they convert this to competitive fixtures next season and further down the track.