Funding cuts could mean the end for Coventry Bears

[Spidey]

One thing about the NCL travel grant is that its a recent thing (maybe last 10 years or so) it never used to be a thing and the clubs got on with it.  They were all aware it was going and hopefully they have planned accordingly, they all probably had more notice than this cut to League 1 mind...

[Quinskolar]

About time that Coventry and Skolars broke away and formed the Southern Rugby League. I can't remember who did it before  in 1895 but it was  a big success! Get some TV people interested, play in the summer invite other teams and the RFL might just be embarrassed, what other alternative is there for these clubs and fans of these two teams? 

[EssexRL]

20 minutes ago, Quinskolar said:

About time that Coventry and Skolars broke away and formed the Southern Rugby League. I can't remember who did it before  in 1895 but it was  a big success! Get some TV people interested, play in the summer invite other teams and the RFL might just be embarrassed, what other alternative is there for these clubs and fans of these two teams? 

I know you're being tongue in cheek but I keep thinking maybe something different and better will emerge from the mess that seems to be unfolding. The idea of throwing away the great work both clubs are doing trying to expand the game (for nearly a quarter of a century in Skolars case) and the potential they represent is crazy but all too likely. The sport essentially did it with Oxford and All Golds.

[JM2010]

48 minutes ago, Quinskolar said:

About time that Coventry and Skolars broke away and formed the Southern Rugby League. I can't remember who did it before  in 1895 but it was  a big success! Get some TV people interested, play in the summer invite other teams and the RFL might just be embarrassed, what other alternative is there for these clubs and fans of these two teams? 

I'd like to see League 1 continue with enough funding for the clubs, however, I don't think that's going to happen.

Underneath that I think any southern expansion should be focused on the Southern Conference for any ambitious clubs to ply their trade until they are ready to step up to League 1. Unfortunately that would require investment which isn't likely to happen.

 

[OriginalMrC]

 

[Toby Chopra]

2 hours ago, OriginalMrC said:

 

Intruiging. A place in the 2x10s perhaps? 

[OriginalMrC]

10 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

Intruiging. A place in the 2x10s perhaps? 

Early days but I expect there'll be big plans to grow RL in the midlands. 

[Eddie]

4 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

Early days but I expect there'll be big plans to grow RL in the midlands. 

That’s whetted my appetite. Any idea when something might be announced? 

[OriginalMrC]

16 minutes ago, Eddie said:

That’s whetted my appetite. Any idea when something might be announced? 

To be fair I don't know much so we'll have to wait and see. All I know is Alan has had long term plans to take the next step for the Bears. The plus side of the funding issue is it may have speeded things up. Hopefully some positive news in the coming weeks and months 

[del capo]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

That’s whetted my appetite. Any idea when something might be announced? 

Huddersfield take over  / feeder club /  reserves  / ' partnership ' ( with funding ) ?

If so wont be the last and could be a way of saving League 1.

[Toby Chopra]

12 hours ago, del capo said:

Huddersfield take over  / feeder club /  reserves  / ' partnership ' ( with funding ) ?

If so wont be the last and could be a way of saving League 1.

I think you've hit on something here. 

Critics have said "what's 50k to a Supergreed club to keeping L1 afloat"?

Well, rather than just giving the L1 clubs the money with nothing guaranteed in return, clubs like Coventry with proven ability to develop players from scratch may well find that a bigger club will contribute in return for a player development relationship. 

Very common in other sports around the world. 

[Spidey]

Direct link ups between SL clubs and League One clubs could be a way to go. SL club “invests” £50k into the league One club. They then have first dibs on players and can use them for DR etc

[dealwithit]

On 16/09/2021 at 22:26, zylya said:

It's over-simplistic just to look at players that have taken up the game - what about fans who are watching the Bears each week? Fans who are buying RLWC tickets for the Coventry game? But yes, the opportunity cost is definitely the thing to look at.

But of course we're hypothesising, it's a discussion forum. Are you really saying that we can't make any argument unless we have 100% of the stats available to us? How would I even get the figures on who plays RL in the Midlands? Do these figures even exist in a meaningful format? If there was some transparency coming through from the governing body, we might be able to make these calculations more accurately. Based on my opinion of what I see in the game, I see Coventry doing more good work with £50,000 than the 12 Super League clubs, mostly because £50,000 for Cov is a much higher percentage of their budget than £50,000 for the SL clubs.

I mean, if you have all these numbers available, and you can demonstrate quite clearly that I'm wrong then I'd happily change my mind. I just don't see how removing £50,000 from Cov (and all the other League 1 clubs for that matter) is going to help the whole game.

I wasn’t trying to make a point either way with my post. Just offering a way to look at making investment decisions. 
 

But if I was to offer my opinion… IMO £50k with Coventry would bring a far bigger return than that same £50k being split by 12 SL clubs. 
 

It sounds like player numbers in the Midlands, similarly to London, are largely impacted by opportunity and access ie Midlands Academy, Conference League South, Broncos Academy, Amateur leagues etc. 

I’m not convinced YET that having a pro team at the top of the pyramid in your immediate locality leads to a huge take up of players at the junior age groups/academy level. I would have thought it would be very important to have a carrot at the top of the pyramid, but I remember those involved in junior RL in London that the Broncos weren’t on their radar. Largely the matches clashed on the same day and very few junior players went to watch the broncos or follow them closely. That also could be down to the owner/management of the broncos. Or it could be that juniors are wanting to watch the best quality pro teams on TV and not inferior quality in person. 

[rlno1]

2 hours ago, Toby Chopra said:

I think you've hit on something here. 

Critics have said "what's 50k to a Supergreed club to keeping L1 afloat"?

Well, rather than just giving the L1 clubs the money with nothing guaranteed in return, clubs like Coventry with proven ability to develop players from scratch may well find that a bigger club will contribute in return for a player development relationship. 

Very common in other sports around the world. 

That sounds likely, and as the game evolves into a copy of the NRL seems very likely as that is what they do in Australia.

I can see the NRL buying into the English game, just a matter of time. Phil Gould was talking about this a year or so ago.

[Bearman]

17 hours ago, OriginalMrC said:

To be fair I don't know much so we'll have to wait and see. All I know is Alan has had long term plans to take the next step for the Bears. The plus side of the funding issue is it may have speeded things up. Hopefully some positive news in the coming weeks and months 

I am hearing that the poor old fat lady has got tonsilitis and she cannot get an appointment with her GP for a face to face to get some antibiotics.

So once again the NHS comes up trumps

 

[dead man inc]

On 17/09/2021 at 19:37, OriginalMrC said:

 

Has anything come out from the bears from what this actually is/what is likely to change/come out of it?

Im a big fan of the bears progress, but just like the silence and ambiguity about next year from RFL l, i find it frustrating to not hear about the individual clubs plans themselves.

[OriginalMrC]

5 minutes ago, dead man inc said:

Has anything come out from the bears from what this actually is/what is likely to change/come out of it?

Im a big fan of the bears progress, but just like the silence and ambiguity about next year from RFL l, i find it frustrating to not hear about the individual clubs plans themselves.

Pretty sure you would hear clubs plans if they knew what was happening next year, and the year after, but they don't. This is good news for midlands rugby league but until everyone knows what's going on I expect clubs won't release plans 

[newbe]

Good to hear complimentary remarks about Coventry n the chairman during the Toulouse game from the commentators, saying expansion is good for the game.

[Angelic Cynic]

The Hunslet chairman went public last week,expecting a reduction of around 75% in central funding.

4th paragraph - https://hunsletrlfc.com/general/chairmans-end-of-season-message/

He either believes rumours,or he has been officially/unofficially informed. 

[Jeff Stein]

2 hours ago, newbe said:

Good to hear complimentary remarks about Coventry n the chairman during the Toulouse game from the commentators, saying expansion is good for the game.

And yet according to Forty20 magazine the vice President of the RFL put forward proposals at a recent meeting that Coventry, Skolars and WWR should be thrown out of the professional game (apparently they could play in the Rugby League Conference despite that League not being in existence for the best part of a decade)

[tim2]

16 minutes ago, Jeff Stein said:

And yet according to Forty20 magazine the vice President of the RFL put forward proposals at a recent meeting that Coventry, Skolars and WWR should be thrown out of the professional game (apparently they could play in the Rugby League Conference despite that League not being in existence for the best part of a decade)

I wouldn't be surprised.

When Rugby Union professionalised, they swept away all the old ways and introduced a full, transparent pyramid. After 125 years of professionalism, rugby league still has no idea how to structure itself.

[gingerjon]

38 minutes ago, Jeff Stein said:

And yet according to Forty20 magazine the vice President of the RFL put forward proposals at a recent meeting that Coventry, Skolars and WWR should be thrown out of the professional game (apparently they could play in the Rugby League Conference despite that League not being in existence for the best part of a decade)

If you're from outside the heartlands, you're expected to be grateful you're allowed to play.

[OriginalMrC]

1 hour ago, Jeff Stein said:

And yet according to Forty20 magazine the vice President of the RFL put forward proposals at a recent meeting that Coventry, Skolars and WWR should be thrown out of the professional game (apparently they could play in the Rugby League Conference despite that League not being in existence for the best part of a decade)

Unbelievably this proposal was put forward by fellow league 1 club Keighley. I've always had a lot of time for the Cougars so very disappointing that they were eager to get rid of their fellow clubs so readily. Very short memories at Cougar Park considering they went out of business 3 years ago and are lucky to be still in league 1 at all. Thankfully not all clubs in league 1 feel the same. 

[RigbyLuger]

1 hour ago, OriginalMrC said:

Unbelievably this proposal was put forward by fellow league 1 club Keighley. I've always had a lot of time for the Cougars so very disappointing that they were eager to get rid of their fellow clubs so readily. Very short memories at Cougar Park considering they went out of business 3 years ago and are lucky to be still in league 1 at all. Thankfully not all clubs in league 1 feel the same. 

They're 100s of years older than you Southerners so are more important, obviously, despite those recent financial issues we're supposed to forget. Poor form.

Pigs just want more in the trough for themselves.

[sentoffagain2]

   If Coventry fold it will be a backward step for Rugby League.I don't know why they didn't strive years ago to keep a team in  Liverpool.They were often near the bottom of the league but had a Great Britain player Ray Ashby at full back.