Bradford chairman claims Catalans is costing UK game millions of £

[Oliver Clothesoff]

It’s been a couple of months since Chalmers went off on an incoherent, bizarre rant. It was about time, I suppose. 

[Mister Ting]

4 hours ago, sentoffagain2 said:

  Where would you rather live South of France or Bradford.

Can you get a decent curry or fush and chups in Perpignan?

[headtackle]

Think Bradford have probably cost the game a bit as a result of their regular brushes with insolvency law.

 

[Leyther_Matt]

19 minutes ago, Mister Ting said:

Can you get a decent curry or fush and chups in Perpignan?

Apparently there is a decent curry house in Perpignan. Unfortunately we walked for two miles in bucketing rain to find that they were closed for staff holidays!

[dixiedean]

W.r.t., Bradford having to go to Canada, while Widnes and Sheffield don't. I happen to think he has a point. It is blatantly unfair. Fortunately Toronto won both games so it didn't ultimately matter.

There was a way around that, however, but folk were up in arms.

The rest is utter bullocks.

[Odsal Outlaw]

I read his two arguments as:

1. Happy to travel to a Toronto, but it should be the same for every other club. He has a point here.

2. Catalans don’t actually bring any new income to British clubs, no TV deal, no sponsorship that impacts other clubs. They are of course an amazingly well run club, but they don’t actually contribute anything to the pot ... in fact they take money from sky monies. New clubs should have criteria where they either contribute or at least dont take out.

For the record I’m a big fan of TWP and Cats.

[Clogiron]

Trying to stir my admittedly foggy memory I seem to recall that last season, and this I believe, the Bulls and TWP played pre-season games at Odsal amid talk of some sort of 'partnership' between the two clubs, seems a fine way to talk about your 'partners' almost as another aluded Caisleyesque

[Oxford]

Bradford chairman claims ......

I don't know which is the most telling bit of this, chairman or claims? 

It is hard not to despair when coming across something like this, It is the worst of what we do to ourselves and I've no doubt the claims based on this will become stronger and more ludicrous.

Salford bring nothing, the Dragons are a black hole where all the money goes.

When did we become this bitter and twisted a sport where the whole idea is to get rid of teams and their fans and maybe even whole countries because we're miffed about something or other?

 

 

 

 

[DimmestStar]

Chalmers is the chairman equivalent of Schofield.

A good listen and not to be taken too seriously.

[MrPosh]

8 hours ago, Chris22 said:

The Bradford chairman is the RL equivalent of Katie Hopkins.

Says deliberately provocative or plain incorrect things simply to get attention. Except he probably doesn't get paid to do it.

The best thing to do is ignore his inane ramblings. 

I am constantly grateful for the period of stability he has brought the club. It's like manna from heaven after the last few years.

However, I do wish he'd shut the up, sometimes.

[Bullseye]

I agree.  His columns can be embarrassing. 

[TboneFromTO]

29 minutes ago, Oxford said:

 

When did we become this bitter and twisted a sport where the whole idea is to get rid of teams and their fans and maybe even whole countries because we're miffed about something or other?

 

 

 

 

Did Brexit have something to do with it 

....

Only kidding folks

[meast]

11 minutes ago, NorthWest RL Academy said:

Toronto & Catalan bring a hell of a lot more than clubs like Salford, Huddersfield, Wakefield, London Broncos and then every other club outside of super league. 

I am struggling to name the Toronto academy products running around super League, remind me again 

[Bullistic]

Should Toronto get into Super League I can't imagine any club complaining that they have to travel to Canada to play their away match whilst others will play theirs a few miles down the road at a neutral venue. It will all be hunkydory. 

[Bullistic]

7 minutes ago, NorthWest RL Academy said:

I refer you to Melbourne Storm Rugby League club established in 1998. They are just starting to see players come through from the area. To remind you, they are from a RL hotbed and not creating new players in a new sport in a new country Things like this take 10-20 years and instead of thinking short term, look at what can be achieved. 

Trying to use an argument that Toronto do not have any local players so bring nothing to the sport is backward thinking. 

Hopefully they'll be able to pick them up from the academy at Ottawa, or maybe New York. 

[Lamport Life]

I do agree with him that it's unfair that some teams have to travel to Toronto for their away fixtures while some of them were able to play those fixtures in the UK. The obvious solution would have been to schedule all of Toronto's away fixtures from the end of April (after the dome comes off Lamport's field) onwards. Then every team makes the same trip and the Wolfpack fans get all 13 regular season home fixtures instead of only 10. It's win-win.

He just needs to convince those listening to the whinging about the unfairness of block scheduling to ignore the whinging.

[yipyee]

Wigan have played home games in London, Australia and the international stadium in Leigh....

Huddersfield played home games in Halifax for a 4 game spell 

Don't see an issue really.. London didn't seem to have an issue playing in Toronto at the end of last season! 

[MidlandsJohn]

This just strikes me as a load of Bradford Bulls**t

[yipyee]

14 minutes ago, Lamport Life said:

I do agree with him that it's unfair that some teams have to travel to Toronto for their away fixtures while some of them were able to play those fixtures in the UK. The obvious solution would have been to schedule all of Toronto's away fixtures from the end of April (after the dome comes off Lamport's field) onwards. Then every team makes the same trip and the Wolfpack fans get all 13 regular season home fixtures instead of only 10. It's win-win.

He just needs to convince those listening to the whinging about the unfairness of block scheduling to ignore the whinging.

I would think it's unfair if work was sending me to Canada only to tell me that they have sorted something out in hull to save me travelling!!

[yipyee]

8 minutes ago, NorthWest RL Academy said:

People need to work with the wolfpack as they are raising the profile. Would I go to Toronto and stand behind the posts drinking and laughing whilst listening to music and watching RL or to Bradford in a worn out stadium with limited support eating Yorkshire puddings and drinking bitter? 

I think you will find people need to run with the pack

[absentee thoughtlord]

The incongruity of TWP playing early 'home' games in the UK (not Toronto's fault, but that of RFL inflexibility) is an understandable concern. The rest, less so. In fact, it's barking.

If, say, you play Catalans twice a year on a home and away basis, that means you only have to travel once. What a dreadful inconvenience. If, it follows, your concern is a lack of away support, you need to take a long hard look at yourself for relying on such as part of your business model.

If any club relies upon travelling fans to fill its stadium it is basically the living dead.

[Odsal Outlaw]

1 hour ago, NorthWest RL Academy said:

Toronto & Catalan bring a hell of a lot more than clubs like Salford, Huddersfield, Wakefield, London Broncos and then every other club outside of super league. 

Salford bring Sky subscribers which puts money into Sky’s coffers which Catalans then take out. 

As I said, I’m a fan of Cats and TWP.  But on the point of ‘they bring nothing’ we need to understand to what he’s referring.  If it’s cash, he’s right. Catalans crowds in England aren’t usually high, then they take Sky money out and put none back in.

And it is unfair if some clubs don’t have to travel to TWP.

There are solutions to both the above which could see them nullify the arguments.

[yipyee]

3 minutes ago, Odsal Outlaw said:

Salford bring Sky subscribers which puts money into Sky’s coffers which Catalans then take out. 

As I said, I’m a fan of Cats and TWP.  But on the point of ‘they bring nothing’ we need to understand to what he’s referring.  If it’s cash, he’s right. Catalans crowds in England aren’t usually high, then they take Sky money out and put none back in.

And it is unfair if some clubs don’t have to travel to TWP.

There are solutions to both the above which could see them nullify the arguments.

TWP don't take any centrally funded money and their away crowds are large. Their games are televised by Sky also.

Catalan do put money into the game along with sky being able to show 13 extra fixtures. They also self fund a FT squad and produce players in a new area. 

Producing players is key to the future of the game and if this is happening in France and the players are playing in Britain this saves the RFL from paying development officers and therefore saves cash. Or another way it's adding to the good work of the development officers.

Raising the games profile in France has led to Spanish interest and if people like Bradford stop being short sited and see that the way to grow RL revenue is to sell TV rights to other countries. 

Taking Sky money again sky must value Catalan to show them as much as they do. SKY choose not to televise Bradfords games! 

[bobbruce]

2 hours ago, Odsal Outlaw said:

I read his two arguments as:

1. Happy to travel to a Toronto, but it should be the same for every other club. He has a point here.

2. Catalans don’t actually bring any new income to British clubs, no TV deal, no sponsorship that impacts other clubs. They are of course an amazingly well run club, but they don’t actually contribute anything to the pot ... in fact they take money from sky monies. New clubs should have criteria where they either contribute or at least dont take out.

For the record I’m a big fan of TWP and Cats.

You are aware that we sell all Catalans home games to Sky (filmed by the host broadcaster so at zero cost) as part of the Sky deal. 

[bobbruce]

1 hour ago, Bullistic said:

Should Toronto get into Super League I can't imagine any club complaining that they have to travel to Canada to play their away match whilst others will play theirs a few miles down the road at a neutral venue. It will all be hunkydory. 

If SL clubs are stupid enough to insist on some impossible home away game utopia. That by the way doesn’t exist for any other club. Then they would get all they deserve.