Gone quiet on the New York, Boston, Hamilton front

[Dave T]

10 minutes ago, scotchy1 said:

AB: When will you decide? They will need some time to prepare, one way or the other.
NW: I think there’s a bit of work to be done in the first quarter of 2018. Subject to that, there’s then some due-diligence and investigating to be done. Everyone’s fascinated by New York though, so we’ll look at it then, report to the RFL Board in March, and then we’ll decide whether it’s credible enough to present to the clubs after that

http://www.totalrl.com/exclusive-qa-rfl-chief-executive-nigel-wood/

thanks, but there is nothing to suggest that isn't being done. 

Of course the biggest risk is that the bid isn't credible.

But on the 8th April, we can't say they have been missed. (unless I have missed something stating it wasn't presented to the RFL board).

[Dave T]

3 minutes ago, scotchy1 said:

Thats a very generous reading of it Dave. There is nothing to suggest it has been presented to the board, nothing to suggest a decision was made whether or not to present the bid to the clubs, nothing to suggest it has been presented to the clubs and the NY bid themselves have explained they havent heard of a decision.

nah, really, we don't always hear what goes on at the RFL boards. Not sure if minutes are published anywhere. Not saying there hasnt been a delay, but again, the RFL kept Wood on to see this piece of work going.

If the board meeting was on the 28th March where it was presented, for example, God knows why we would expect to have heard by early April.

[Oxford]

34 minutes ago, scotchy1 said:

Also, im not sure why we wouldnt expect the RFL to say for instance "After feedback from research and due diligence performed by Nigel Wood regarding the NY bid, The RFL board will/will not present their findings to the clubs on X date" or "After feedback from the feedback from research and due diligence performed by Nigel Wood regarding the NY bid, additional information has been requested from the bidder and we will update in due course"

Is there a dimension somewhere were the RFL acts like either of these?

If so sign me up!

[Dave T]

3 hours ago, scotchy1 said:

And yet if that were the case, it would be strange that on the 19th of March NY felt the process was dragging on too long, no?

Also, im not sure why we wouldnt expect the RFL to say for instance "After feedback from research and due diligence performed by Nigel Wood regarding the NY bid, The RFL board will/will not present their findings to the clubs on X date" or "After feedback from the feedback from research and due diligence performed by Nigel Wood regarding the NY bid, additional information has been requested from the bidder and we will update in due course"

 

Maybe, but other key events havent had that kind of comms approach either have they so again, nothing in that.

Plenty of major announcements just come as press releases a little out of the blue.

[Dave T]

Just now, scotchy1 said:

Im not sure that is true. We knew for years prior about the intention to move to franchising, they spent about 6 months travelling around and selling the super 8s to us, we knew for quite a long time about Toronto.

Regardless of what they choose to communicate to us however, it is a problem that they havent communicated time-frames/decision dates etc to New York.

I could easily have missed them but the votes for things like restructures, tv deal etc were taken before we heard about the result. I dont recall seeing advance notice of a vote on these things.

Things like the recent RFL move to man city were just anounced.

[Harry Stottle]

On 07/04/2018 at 3:31 PM, Scubby said:

Like a £500,000 parachute payment?

Exactly so, couldn't agree more, even though that was a voluntary payment by the SL clubs out of their own resources, it will be interesting if it will be repeated again this season should a SL club be relegated.

[ojx]

4 hours ago, TheLegendOfTexEvans said:

Why on earth didnt we let salford play catalan in new york.

Thats basically your dry run for a possible NYC team or a world cup venue.

I believe that Gary Hetherington said (on Backchat) that it is likely Salford will play Leeds in NY later in the season. Talks are well under way.

[DoubleD]

5 hours ago, Dave T said:

I'm not getting them confused, I just don't necessarily agree that decisions will only be made when they are both in place. Wood used to be CEO for both organisations, now it will be different. I understand how it works.

The same rationale could have been made for playing the England game in Denver, but that was pushed ahead without permanent CEO's in place.

With regards to the decision to allow NA clubs into the pyramid, this can still be made - because ultimately wouldn't it be the council (or whatever the name of it is - the clubs ultimately) that will vote yes or no. Happy to be corrected on that, but it is my understanding that the RFL don't just decide who is in and draw up a fixture list.

The other decision about the SL structure is just an open decision, the clubs ousted Wood as CEO and want to appoint their own, but they have failed to agree what the structure will be, and I won't be surprised if they fail to agree anything this year at all. Elstone will naturally have a say, but that is all within the latest timelines of 'maybe by the summer'.

The first decision can't be wholly dependent on the second, because ultimately there may be a decision not to change anything, or there may be a decision to defer for another year, or there may be radical change - so the proposals as far as I understand are around admitting them to the RFL 3rd tier, like TWP.

But, irrespective, all that will work itself out, it is a fact that the RFL are still working through the bid(s).

 Not at all, Denver was agreed before Wood left and key drivers of Sinfield, Bennett and NZRL have continued working towards it. 

The RFL would need to ratify any change, in fact they need to technically propose it so clearly it’s not going to happen without the respective CEOs. Any change in structure also needs to pass by Sky, and there needs to be a SL/RFL representative to do that

[Bob8]

1 hour ago, ojx said:

I believe that Gary Hetherington said (on Backchat) that it is likely Salford will play Leeds in NY later in the season. Talks are well under way.

Which episode was this?

Edit; Episode 5

[mrfranco]

1 hour ago, scotchy1 said:

Im not sure that is true. We knew for years prior about the intention to move to franchising, they spent about 6 months travelling around and selling the super 8s to us, we knew for quite a long time about Toronto.

Regardless of what they choose to communicate to us however, it is a problem that they havent communicated time-frames/decision dates etc to New York.

The press conference about the creation of TWP was at the end of April in the year before they joined the league. There was plenty of rumours & speculation, but nothing concrete before that. So NYC could still be on exactly the same time frame as them, or a similar one. There wasn't weeks of notice of the press conference, either

[The Dude]

Didnt they want the New York team to start in the Championship and not League 1? Since they haven't even announced the league format,  im not surprised they didnt announce the team yet.

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, scotchy1 said:

Things like the RFL move are internal RFL decisions, i wouldnt expect them to announce 'we are negotiating a new tv deal', similarly with sponsorship deals.

The intention to move to franchising was announced 3 years before they voted to confirm the move to franchising. Prior to the move to the super 8s they announced 3 different structures were under consideration, then when they had decided on the super8s as their preference they spent 6 months going around talking about it as Blake Solly ran the worlds most boring roadshow. Then it was initially rejected (which we were told about) before being pushed through at another vote (which we were also told about).

I really don't know what is wrong with the expecting the RFL to keep the game informed about what is going on. Its not asking for the minutia of the processes, we dont need minutes from the meeting or every informal discussion between chairmen. But this is the process we will follow, these are the dates to hit, here is where we are and here is when you should expect a decision. Conversely i actually don't know what the RFL are gaining by keeping it a secret. They look like they have lost control of the situation.

You seem to be having a different debate to me. 

I agree, it would be great if we had more comms (although we need to be careful that we don't spend all our time updating on nowt), my comments about comms are that they are usually pretty quiet until something happens, so lack of comms isn't necessarily a sign that something is either wrong, or that deadlines are being missed (on the NA point). But they have spoken about NA bids, so it fits in with the other examples.

There was noise about TWP, and then it was announced when the decision had been made.

There is noise about other NA bids, and I expect it will be announced when a decision has been made.

There is no difference.

Edit: none of that is to say that there aren't issues with either the bid or the RFL's work here.

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, DoubleD said:

 Not at all, Denver was agreed before Wood left and key drivers of Sinfield, Bennett and NZRL have continued working towards it. 

The RFL would need to ratify any change, in fact they need to technically propose it so clearly it’s not going to happen without the respective CEOs. Any change in structure also needs to pass by Sky, and there needs to be a SL/RFL representative to do that

There are SL and RFL reps still there. 

Ralph Rimmer is interim CEO, there is an SLE Chairman, there is a GM.

On the NA point, the timelines highlighted by Wood were at a time when he knew he would be leaving. The work was to continue.

[DoubleD]

15 minutes ago, Dave T said:

There are SL and RFL reps still there. 

Ralph Rimmer is interim CEO, there is an SLE Chairman, there is a GM.

On the NA point, the timelines highlighted by Wood were at a time when he knew he would be leaving. The work was to continue.

Not reps that will be carrying out key decisions. Rimmer is there by default. I'm not even convinced he'll be there in 12 months time.

Elstone is the choice for SL CEO, partly due to his media connections. They will be relying on him putting together an attractive proposition for a structure and negotiating with Sky. Until he is in place, none of that will happen. And the RFL will want their own CEO in place by then too

[TheLegendOfTexEvans]

1 hour ago, ojx said:

I believe that Gary Hetherington said (on Backchat) that it is likely Salford will play Leeds in NY later in the season. Talks are well under way.

Thanks I missed that.  Is that the one on free sport?

 

[TheLegendOfTexEvans]

39 minutes ago, rzesiej13 said:

Didnt they want the New York team to start in the Championship and not League 1? Since they haven't even announced the league format,  im not surprised they didnt announce the team yet.

One of my biggest concerns was player safety when I watched TWP in League One.

when the spending rules got changed for TWP I believe it created a real risk for player welfare, that got ignored.

You have too many youngs lad in League One who have stepped up from amateur into what was supposed to be essentially be a development league.

Putting them up against seasoned full-time pros is not comfortable to watch.

That mismatch in physicality could result in a serious injury risk for a young player.

I would prefer if NYC are coming in with full time pro's they start at least in the championship.

 

 

[Tommygilf]

http://nycrugbyleague.co.uk

Website just gone live

[Scubby]

13 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

http://nycrugbyleague.co.uk

Website just gone live

That Heather McManus looks a bit of a shady figure 

[Manxmanc]

21 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

http://nycrugbyleague.co.uk

Website just gone live

  Well spotted. 

 As there seems to be a lot of grouchiness on the forum at the moment, perhaps because of the uncertainty about the game's direction, I'm sure it will help if anyone interested follows the invitation to "Sign up to be among the first to hear about our bid".

[Dave T]

56 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

Not reps that will be carrying out key decisions. Rimmer is there by default. I'm not even convinced he'll be there in 12 months time.

Elstone is the choice for SL CEO, partly due to his media connections. They will be relying on him putting together an attractive proposition for a structure and negotiating with Sky. Until he is in place, none of that will happen. And the RFL will want their own CEO in place by then too

On the structure Im probably now in a similar place to you. And as i said earlier i wouldnt be surprised if no decision this year.

But there will have to be a decision on the NA bids and as that is what the RFL have more control over that is what they have continued on.

It is no coincidence in my eyes that Draper left the rfl at the time no agreement could be found as he was leading it from thr rfl.

[DoubleD]

3 minutes ago, Dave T said:

On the structure Im probably now in a similar place to you. And as i said earlier i wouldnt be surprised if no decision this year.

But there will have to be a decision on the NA bids and as that is what the RFL have more control over that is what they have continued on.

It is no coincidence in my eyes that Draper left the rfl at the time no agreement could be found as he was leading it from thr rfl.

Draper is an interesting one, and I’m sure there’s more to it than meets the eye with his departure. One I’m very curious about

[Manxmanc]

I note that the first tweet from the NYC twitter account for 6 months (the opening tweet) was made 46 minutes ago; is something happening?

[Big Picture]

35 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

http://nycrugbyleague.co.uk

Website just gone live

Hmmmmm.  No nickname yet and it's a .co.uk site rather than something like newyorktitans.com (for example).  They don't seem to understand the importance of the little things.

[Tommygilf]

Just now, Big Picture said:

Hmmmmm.  No nickname yet and it's a .co.uk site rather than something newyorktitans.com (for example).  They don't seem to understand the importance of the little things.

I think the .com thing is a bit ocd mate. But I agree not having a name yet is a bit worrying. 

I do hope if the Boston bid comes in they use the current USARL teams name the Boston 13s, great name with a great badge.

[Bob8]

1 minute ago, Big Picture said:

Hmmmmm.  No nickname yet and it's a .co.uk site rather than something like newyorktitans.com (for example).  They don't seem to understand the importance of the little things.

I am presuming that this is the bid site, as it does seem very much like a free template.

I would hope the club website would be more like this:
https://www.torontowolfpack.com/