Why are the RFL Clueless

[silverfox]

The RFL haven't a clue in promoting the game , Challenge Cup Semi Finals, August 5th at Bolton Football Stadium .Should be a BRILLIANT day out . But guess what ,there's League fixtures that day . As a Workington Town supporter  we play Keighley at home . Yet this week  there was no match due to Challenge Cup weekend . If you want to promote the game , surely a packed house looks better than an half empty Stadium ,because I'm sure supporters from other clubs would have liked to go and watch a Super League Teams double header in the Challenge Cup . Saints v Catalan  and  Leeds v Warrington . Also they need to look at the fixtures ,twice this season Workington Town and Whitehaven are at home on the same day. The next one being Whitehaven v Bradford  and Town v Doncaster . with only 6 miles between them .are they trying to kill the two clubs in West Cumbria .I'm  sure other clubs have had the same problem . The RFL need to look at what they are doing to clubs in the lower divisions ,and stop being blinkered towards the Super League . If there is no Grass roots in the game,  Super league  itself will die in the end .

[Man of Kent]

RFL you say? What’s that?

[dkw]

I was wanting to go to the double header, but now won't be. Unbelievable. 

[Cowardly Fan]

Two 'clashes' in a season doesn't sound too bad to me, it would seem they've made an effort you keep their home games apart alongside many other things they will consider in fixtures. I don't know what the number of fans who would watch both teams is, but they shouldn't be dependent on it, it's just a bonus like away fans. 

The semi final I'd agree to an extent, it seems it was planned after the fixture list was out. Again it's a free weekend for SL, so fair to question how many neutrals they are missing out on here. I'd expect if they do it next year it could be a free weekend for others. 

I'm not against criticising the RFL, but don't think either choice could be described as clueless. 

[JonT]

Yet the weekend just gone, most of us in the lower leagues didn't have a game.

I want to support the game at large but the RFL just seem to struggle to coordinate their calendar to allow folks to do that. Big games constantly clash with other events.....or we go for weeks without a game. 

Frustrating to say the least . 

[gogledd]

Agree.No home game for North Wales Crusaders last weekend and we are hosting York City Knights on the weekend of the Challenge Cup semi-final. I would have gone along to support my SL team Catalans Dragons.

[paulwalker71]

I'm guessing that these games have been re-arranged having been cancelled earlier in the year when we had the snow.

I'm not sure (and I can't be bothered checking) whether there would be another 'free' weekend between now and the end of the season? And the (only?) alternative - making semi-pro clubs play a re-arranged game in midweek - seems like it might be a worse option?

Not sure what the clubs or the RFL - who are always the easy target here - could do the alleviate the situation?

[DavidM]

No they’re set league games 

[Gluedo]

The RFL gets it's mandate from the stakeholders in the game, the clubs, the players and you. The clubs ignore them, the players do what their employer tells them and you think it's all the RFL's fault. 

In answer to the question, they are not clueless  - they are powerless. 

[Kris]

So...

lets talk about the challenge cup

It should be an open competition, no seeding, you get who you get from the off. If the SL teams want to play juniors in the earlier rounds so be it

semis should be a double header and was pleased when it was announced - no matches on the same day, preferably the whole weekend

Final is a stand alone fixture, youth cups as usual the women’s final then men’s - get it right the ladies deserve their day in the sun - anyone looked at facebook this week? - sublime skills

Magic should be a 9’s comp with up to 16 teams playing over the weekend - all teams guaranteed a game - knock out to the final on Sunday - marquee players must be included as part of at least 7 first team players and a the competition is played for cold hard cash - reward the best teams 1 to 16 proportionately - 16 teams get there through all teams in a 9’s pot at the start of the season SL not guaranteed a berth

That way we engage the whole game and not just SL teams - we need that back - full rainbow of team colours not just the SL opposing sides - that was always our strength and is lacking of late

And promote the bloody things locally -  the magic had bigger all promotion in Northumberland and the Newcastle area year after year - rubbish - lets hope Bolton gets something - the RU sevens are an event, so lets have a real go at EVENTS - and no the hearns are not the answer but the publicity machine they have may be - and he would work with anyone but the BBC and SKY - cross channel promotion anyone? - create new content not included in a broadcast deal, and flog the hell out of it to promote the rest of the game

The CC isn’t dead, but it will be if we don’t open it up again.

And who knows maybe that.  Would rebalance the powers that be ion. The.  Game as well. When everyone is. Valued and not. Just the SL.  Teams

[silverfox]

Got to agree about the Challenge Cup ,and what a great competition to promote the game .if the Super League sides came in at the start ,just think the excitement it would generate in some area's , that kids never get to see clubs with household names in the game .  and the revenue the smaller clubs would get from drawing a big name club . KIDS are the future so get them interested .  

[r1ch1e]

There are so many free weekends that exist, if they had league fixtures on the QF weekend but not the SF weekend, we'd have the same complaints from different posters I'm sure.

[bobbruce]

Some of the ideas on this thread reassure me that the RFL are doing a good job. 

[John Rhino]

The Cup is an RFL competition. The league games are run by Super League.

Go figure 

[Wellsy4HullFC]

The Cup is dictated by broadcasters unfortunately, and it appears that is the only date it could be played on. I'm pretty sure they'd have preferred Saturday (as would many others).

It's unfortunate that it's clashed. I doubt a double header was on the cards originally this season so they will have scheduled with the usual semi final plan in mind.

Would moving the club games to the Saturday be an option? I know that's 6 games, but if fans are vociferous enough about going to both (or even just watching), clubs will surely want to look to accommodate.

[silverfox]

Some clubs might not be able to play on Saturdays , I know Workington Town  cant due to Speedway

[JohnM]

43 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

Some of the ideas on this thread reassure me that the RFL are doing a good job. 

Quite so.

In answer to the question posed by the op, "Why are the RFL Clueless", maybe the game has the governing body it deserves.

[gillmeister]

It’s currently a state sport run by middle management in dire need of fresh blood in so many key areas 

[gillmeister]

2 minutes ago, Saint 1 said:

 

I've played in the Challenge Cup. I really enjoyed it, and despite losing comfortably it was something I'm glad that I had the opportunity to do. While I like the idea of playing against St. Helens, it would not be safe for teams with such a gap between them to play against each other. This is a collision sport after all. I'd quite happily play a League 1 club. Playing a Super League club would be a stupid idea. 

You’re right but it doesn’t need to be seeded at every single round as it currently is after round three all clubs should be in open draw 

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

13 hours ago, gogledd said:

Agree.No home game for North Wales Crusaders last weekend and we are hosting York City Knights on the weekend of the Challenge Cup semi-final. I would have gone along to support my SL team Catalans Dragons.

Wrong way round - we're away to York that weekend, home game's a week Sunday.

[John Drake]

14 hours ago, silverfox said:

The RFL haven't a clue in promoting the game , Challenge Cup Semi Finals, August 5th at Bolton Football Stadium .Should be a BRILLIANT day out . But guess what ,there's League fixtures that day . As a Workington Town supporter  we play Keighley at home . Yet this week  there was no match due to Challenge Cup weekend . If you want to promote the game , surely a packed house looks better than an half empty Stadium ,because I'm sure supporters from other clubs would have liked to go and watch a Super League Teams double header in the Challenge Cup . Saints v Catalan  and  Leeds v Warrington . Also they need to look at the fixtures ,twice this season Workington Town and Whitehaven are at home on the same day. The next one being Whitehaven v Bradford  and Town v Doncaster . with only 6 miles between them .are they trying to kill the two clubs in West Cumbria .I'm  sure other clubs have had the same problem . The RFL need to look at what they are doing to clubs in the lower divisions ,and stop being blinkered towards the Super League . If there is no Grass roots in the game,  Super league  itself will die in the end .

The CCSF double header is presumably a reaction to stand alone semi finals in previous seasons not drawing decent crowds, so I don't think it's fair to criticise the RFL for trying something different this time, even if it involves clashes with a few league games.

There's not much evidence that the semi finals - or any other CC game outside Wembley - attracts significant numbers of neutral fans, otherwise they'd be much better attended than they have been.

If the double header is a success this year - and there will be more than enough SL fans with no game that weekend to swell the gate even if League 1 fans are otherwise occupied - then it gives the RFL something to work on making it even bigger next season by avoiding league game clashes when the fixtures are drawn up at the start of the season.

I'm a fan of a League 1 club myself and will be watching Bradford v Whitehaven at Odsal when the CCSF double header is on, but I'll record the CC games on TV and watch them when I get home.

I would imagine that when compiling any set of fixtures, the number of competing interests is massive, and that no one could ever draw up a fixture list that would please everyone.

[Davo5]

11 hours ago, Saint 1 said:

 

I've played in the Challenge Cup. I really enjoyed it, and despite losing comfortably it was something I'm glad that I had the opportunity to do. While I like the idea of playing against St. Helens, it would not be safe for teams with such a gap between them to play against each other. This is a collision sport after all. I'd quite happily play a League 1 club. Playing a Super League club would be a stupid idea. 

It wasn’t stupid for my amateur club back in 2000 when we gave the previous seasons runners up a hell of a scare before losing 44-18 in London or the day we took the lead against Huddersfield with  a great 40 metre try or the away trip to a Tolouse side that reached the semis that year taking Superleague scalps on the way.

These games along with some notable scalps are part of the folklore of our club.

[Davo5]

4 minutes ago, Saint 1 said:

Fair point, though I would argue Wath Brow are considerably stronger than the average amateur club that enters the Challenge Cup. But even in the example you give, Super League clubs didn't enter till round 4. I think that would be fine, but that is very different to having no seeding at all and Super League clubs entering Round 1. 

Yeah,I’d still have a couple of rounds of all amateur teams leading into a 3rd round with everyone else,yes there will be a few hidings handed out,but it might bring a bit of magic back to the cup.

[RP London]

I played in a couple of first round matches and one 2nd round match.... as much as I would love to have played a super league club i think i would still be recovering now (and I stopped playing about 6 years ago and last played in the cup 10 years ago!)... The magic of the cup was simply playing a fixture against a team you wouldnt normally have a chance to (as an expansion area team we wouldnt play the likes of Cas Lock Lane or West Bowling or Thornhill Trojans the 3 I played against) and we could test ourselves as a Southern Team against the the northern "powers" had and we always gave a good showing (I believe at least 1 said they would love to play us again when it was our season rather than in our off season to really test us out).. supporters were impressed by what us "southerners" could do. 

It was real magic to then watch the final that year thinking "i played in round 1 or 2"... its not all about playing Super League opposition its about playing in the cup an being part of the cup run... tracing which finalist you could have been was always fun too especially if your team had got knocked out as it gave you someone to support as a neutral. 

[gogledd]

On 6/5/2018 at 9:40 AM, Chronicler of Chiswick said:

Wrong way round - we're away to York that weekend, home game's a week Sunday.

Ooops - wrong way round in my diary then - thanks for the heads up. Still doesn't help with going to see the CC semi-finals unfortunately.