Wood pays tribute to Northern Rail winners

[League Express]

RFL Chief Executive Nigel Wood has pointed to the victories by Leigh Centurions and North Wales Crusaders on Northern Rail Finals Day as further evidence of an exciting year for Rugby League.

Click here to view the article

[Wellsy4HullFC]

Someone wins the cups and that's evidence of an exciting year? Would someone not have win the cups otherwise?

[Lobbygobbler]

With talk of geographical footprint, why the hell was it at Halifax? Surely a central England venue is the way to go? Even Donny would have made travelling easier from London. The comp needs a sponsor which doesnt have "northern" in it too

[welshmagpie]

Someone wins the cups and that's evidence of an exciting year? Would someone not have win the cups otherwise?

Read some of the quotes again! Wood points to the fact that, amongst other things...

Leigh were underdogs, Crusaders are in their infancy in a non traditional RL area with a great following, there were representatives from London and finally and most importantly it was a blooming good day for Rugby League.

[nec]

With a much reduced crowd in Halifax for a competition that most of the eligible sides view as an irrelevance. Congratulations to crusaders and Skolars for getting there but to trumpet this as a sign of health is entirely incorrect

[thundergaz]

With a much reduced crowd in Halifax for a competition that most of the eligible sides view as an irrelevance. Congratulations to crusaders and Skolars for getting there but to trumpet this as a sign of health is entirely incorrect

Yeah agree its like the old regal trophy. If you get to the final then great if you don't then you don't. Its one of those kind of comps like the johnstones paint trophy in footy.Its more of an un welcome distraction from the actual big one the GF.

Edited July 21, 2013 by thundergaz

[Lobbygobbler]

Yeah agree its like the old regal trophy. If you get to the final then great if you don't then you don't. Its one of those kind of comps like the johnstones paint trophy in footy.Its more of an un welcome distraction from the actual big one the GF.

The NRC is comparable to the Sherpa Van Trophy. The Regal Trophy was however a proper decent trophy so disagree with the comparison

[JohnM]

Everything is rubbish...especially...well..everything. Talk about turning a sunny day rainy!!  

 

Note to mods: please  remove all emoticons that show happy smiling faces.

[TheDuke]

With talk of geographical footprint, why the hell was it at Halifax? Surely a central England venue is the way to go? Even Donny would have made travelling easier from London. The comp needs a sponsor which doesnt have "northern" in it too

So SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy) sponsoring lower level RU that extends into Yorkshire is a big no no is it?

 

Absurd comment, i suppose Tetley's sponsoring the challenge cup is all wrong is it

[Lobbygobbler]

So SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy) sponsoring lower level RU that extends into Yorkshire is a big no no is it?

Absurd comment, i suppose Tetley's sponsoring the challenge cup is all wrong is it

Does Tetleys mention "Northern" in the title?

[Marauder]

So SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy) sponsoring lower level RU that extends into Yorkshire is a big no no is it?

 

Absurd comment, i suppose Tetley's sponsoring the challenge cup is all wrong is it

Tetleys is not brewed in the North anymore is it?

[Gav Wilson]

The comp needs a sponsor which doesnt have "northern" in it too

 

I wasn't aware we could afford to be so picky...

[longboard]

Yup. Nigel Wood should have said the event, the teams were ###### and the sponsor's name was unsuitable. There could then be posts saying what a great inspiration he is  for RL .

[JohnM]

Yup. Nigel Wood should have said the event, the teams were ###### and the sponsor's name was unsuitable. There could then be posts saying what a great inspiration he is for RL .

Understand where you are coming from. The unrelenting miserable negativity is really now detracting from the quality, value and interest of this part of the forum. Whatever it is, whoever it is, wherever it is, whenever it is, you Can rely on someone saying it's rubbish. Some of the posters on here make Andy Wilson seem like Me Happy. Reasoned debate backed up with evidence is one thing, but the automatic gainsaying of everything in RL is getting tedious and is likely to generate an increasing number of challenges to the mods wisdom and patience.

[Keith T]

Nigel Wood is merely doing what he does best - blowing his own trumpet!!!

[JohnM]

See what I mean?

[BBR]

Can we have a criticism free week? It is no wonder rl cant grow with all the negativity

[Larry the Leit]

I think it's a decent comp, and the teams taking part certainly gave it everything.  Cheer up you miserable sods.

Edited July 21, 2013 by Larry the Leit

[longboard]

Understand where you are coming from. The unrelenting miserable negativity is really now detracting from the quality, value and interest of this part of the forum. Whatever it is, whoever it is, wherever it is, whenever it is, you Can rely on someone saying it's rubbish. Some of the posters on here make Andy Wilson seem like Me Happy. Reasoned debate backed up with evidence is one thing, but the automatic gainsaying of everything in RL is getting tedious and is likely to generate an increasing number of challenges to the mods wisdom and patience.

 

Mmm.

 

Perhaps the RFL, or indeed Superleague, ought to approach Eili Lilly for sponsorship as a good cultural and supporter profile fit. We might then be able have the Fluoxetine League, the Prozac Cup and the SSRI play off finals.

 

Or is that too optimistic? 

[Just to be clear]

Nigel Wood is merely doing what he does best - blowing his own trumpet!!!

Just to be clear, this is why we can't have nice thing.

Nigel Woods job is to promote rugby league, so if he being positive is what he does best then he is the right man for the job.

People complain that we don't have sponsors then they complain when the RFL puts positive spin on things to try to attract them. We then get bloody Chris Irvine whinging that the press release does not point out how the attendance was a great failure. For a journalist lecturer he seems to know ###### all about how media relations work.

There is Lord Trumpington sitting on his big pile of money that he wants to invest in a sport, reads Nigel Wood doing what he does best, and thinks that all sounds jolly goo. Or you have Lord Trumpington reading the account or Irvine, Wilson, or god forbid coming across this site, and sees how rugby league is regarded as a toxic brand by those who profess to love it. Which is more likely to make him want to give his big pile of money to have his name attached?

The likes of Andy Wilson saying in the Guardian not to bother watching Warrington vs Huddersfield because it means nothing is far more likely to deter sponsors than anything Nigel Wood can do. Sponsors don't care about internal politics and competition structures, all they care about is the sport's public image and a sizeable fanbase. Yet for every effort of Wood to try and present that image there are many more doing everything the can to destroy it.

The Stobart sponsorship was in such a way that had it been a success they could have converted into a paying supporter of the game. Instead they walked away. Given the column inches, tweets, forum posts, that constantly vilified them it is of little surprise they wanted nothing more to do with us.

And now we have a problem that people do sponsor us? First it was Toyota being attacked for boasting about a commercial deal with the RFL, now Northern Rail's name is an affront. If Wood signs a deal with Northern Rail he is holding the game back, if he turns down their sponsorship he is killing the game. If he conducts a deal so development officers can travel the country he is doing a bad job, if he scraps development officers he is doing a bad job. He is not perfect, but to satisfy the two-faced whinging fan base that seems to set on destroying the sport just so they can say "told you so" he would have to be evolve into a quantum state.

The man charged with running the game issues a press release to promote it and people queue up to bash him for it. We deserve everything that is wrong with the game, and then some more. I wish those who claim the game will die off in the next few years are right, because the sooner it can be rid of the pervasive rot that includes a vocal minority of fans and majority of journalists the sooner those of use who love it can see it reborn as something to be enjoyed and supported to grow.

I have met many wonderful and friendly rugby league fans, spoke online with many wonderful and friendly rugby league fans, yet when they want to be Rugby league fans really are the worst.

[Just to be clear]

Just to be clear, and now you cannot even use the verb form of buggeration?

[Gav Wilson]

Just to be clear, this is why we can't have nice thing.

Nigel Woods job is to promote rugby league, so if he being positive is what he does best then he is the right man for the job.

People complain that we don't have sponsors then they complain when the RFL puts positive spin on things to try to attract them. We then get bloody Chris Irvine whinging that the press release does not point out how the attendance was a great failure. For a journalist lecturer he seems to know ###### all about how media relations work.

There is Lord Trumpington sitting on his big pile of money that he wants to invest in a sport, reads Nigel Wood doing what he does best, and thinks that all sounds jolly goo. Or you have Lord Trumpington reading the account or Irvine, Wilson, or god forbid coming across this site, and sees how rugby league is regarded as a toxic brand by those who profess to love it. Which is more likely to make him want to give his big pile of money to have his name attached?

The likes of Andy Wilson saying in the Guardian not to bother watching Warrington vs Huddersfield because it means nothing is far more likely to deter sponsors than anything Nigel Wood can do. Sponsors don't care about internal politics and competition structures, all they care about is the sport's public image and a sizeable fanbase. Yet for every effort of Wood to try and present that image there are many more doing everything the can to destroy it.

The Stobart sponsorship was in such a way that had it been a success they could have converted into a paying supporter of the game. Instead they walked away. Given the column inches, tweets, forum posts, that constantly vilified them it is of little surprise they wanted nothing more to do with us.

And now we have a problem that people do sponsor us? First it was Toyota being attacked for boasting about a commercial deal with the RFL, now Northern Rail's name is an affront. If Wood signs a deal with Northern Rail he is holding the game back, if he turns down their sponsorship he is killing the game. If he conducts a deal so development officers can travel the country he is doing a bad job, if he scraps development officers he is doing a bad job. He is not perfect, but to satisfy the two-faced whinging fan base that seems to set on destroying the sport just so they can say "told you so" he would have to be evolve into a quantum state.

The man charged with running the game issues a press release to promote it and people queue up to bash him for it. We deserve everything that is wrong with the game, and then some more. I wish those who claim the game will die off in the next few years are right, because the sooner it can be rid of the pervasive rot that includes a vocal minority of fans and majority of journalists the sooner those of use who love it can see it reborn as something to be enjoyed and supported to grow.

I have met many wonderful and friendly rugby league fans, spoke online with many wonderful and friendly rugby league fans, yet when they want to be Rugby league fans really are the worst.

 

So much love for this post. Just to be clear, I want to hug you.

[jpmc]

Just to be clear, this is why we can't have nice thing.

Nigel Woods job is to promote rugby league, so if he being positive is what he does best then he is the right man for the job.

People complain that we don't have sponsors then they complain when the RFL puts positive spin on things to try to attract them. We then get bloody Chris Irvine whinging that the press release does not point out how the attendance was a great failure. For a journalist lecturer he seems to know ###### all about how media relations work.

There is Lord Trumpington sitting on his big pile of money that he wants to invest in a sport, reads Nigel Wood doing what he does best, and thinks that all sounds jolly goo. Or you have Lord Trumpington reading the account or Irvine, Wilson, or god forbid coming across this site, and sees how rugby league is regarded as a toxic brand by those who profess to love it. Which is more likely to make him want to give his big pile of money to have his name attached?

The likes of Andy Wilson saying in the Guardian not to bother watching Warrington vs Huddersfield because it means nothing is far more likely to deter sponsors than anything Nigel Wood can do. Sponsors don't care about internal politics and competition structures, all they care about is the sport's public image and a sizeable fanbase. Yet for every effort of Wood to try and present that image there are many more doing everything the can to destroy it.

The Stobart sponsorship was in such a way that had it been a success they could have converted into a paying supporter of the game. Instead they walked away. Given the column inches, tweets, forum posts, that constantly vilified them it is of little surprise they wanted nothing more to do with us.

And now we have a problem that people do sponsor us? First it was Toyota being attacked for boasting about a commercial deal with the RFL, now Northern Rail's name is an affront. If Wood signs a deal with Northern Rail he is holding the game back, if he turns down their sponsorship he is killing the game. If he conducts a deal so development officers can travel the country he is doing a bad job, if he scraps development officers he is doing a bad job. He is not perfect, but to satisfy the two-faced whinging fan base that seems to set on destroying the sport just so they can say "told you so" he would have to be evolve into a quantum state.

The man charged with running the game issues a press release to promote it and people queue up to bash him for it. We deserve everything that is wrong with the game, and then some more. I wish those who claim the game will die off in the next few years are right, because the sooner it can be rid of the pervasive rot that includes a vocal minority of fans and majority of journalists the sooner those of use who love it can see it reborn as something to be enjoyed and supported to grow.

I have met many wonderful and friendly rugby league fans, spoke online with many wonderful and friendly rugby league fans, yet when they want to be Rugby league fans really are the worst.

Very good read.

A fully franchised league of 12 owned and run by SKY with no more than 6 clubs from Lancsashire and Yorkshire will ever change that.

[PhilCarrington]

RFL Chief Executive Nigel Wood has pointed to the victories by Leigh Centurions and North Wales Crusaders on Northern Rail Finals Day as further evidence of an exciting year for Rugby League.

Click here to view the article

In the press release, Nigel Woods says

“Just 10 years ago it would have been unthinkable that teams from Wales and London would contest a major final and the success of the Crusaders and Skolars offer compelling evidence of the burgeoning appeal of Rugby League.

 

I seem to recall a team from London actually reached a major final just over 10 years ago. They made the Super League play-offs 10 years ago. Has Nigel Wood forgotten about Broncos when he wrote this ?

[keighley]

In the press release, Nigel Woods says

“Just 10 years ago it would have been unthinkable that teams from Wales and London would contest a major final and the success of the Crusaders and Skolars offer compelling evidence of the burgeoning appeal of Rugby League.

 

I seem to recall a team from London actually reached a major final just over 10 years ago. They made the Super League play-offs 10 years ago. Has Nigel Wood forgotten about Broncos when he wrote this ?

 

He wishes he could.