IMG - Thought's, suggestions and comments to move the game forward

[Damien]

9 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

A summer 9s comp could be quite good and would surely be on terrestrial TV.

It would be a fascinating talking point as rivals take the field together, ie Saints & Wigan, the Hull clubs. 

Headingley, Warrington, Hull KR to host?

I'm not sure why it would surely be on terrestrial TV. I can't see that at all.

Teams would also play their youngsters. As has happened before in any initiatives like this. Fans aren't interested and neither are clubs.

It's such a non starter it's funny that it's even on the agenda.

Edited August 24, 2022 by Damien

[Man of Kent]

2 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I think the problem comes when it becomes clear that people don't really care that much about 9's. 

I must admit,  if we are going to try and package a new product,  like The Hundred,  I think there may be something in an adapted game, lasting maybe 30 minutes,  mens and womens,  combined scores or something. It may sound silly,  but then so do most cricket adapted versions if yiu actually read the rules. 

Of course,  I'm not convinced following cricket is the way to go,  but there may be something there. 

Well, loads of cricket traditionalists thought The Hundred is an abomination that would be a disaster but they were wrong…

[Man of Kent]

4 minutes ago, Damien said:

I'm not sure why it would surely be on terrestrial TV. I can't see that at all.

Teams would also play their youngsters. As has happened before in any initiatives like this. Fans aren't interested and neither are clubs.

It's such a non starter it's funny that it's even on the agenda.

How do we know that teams would play their youngsters? Wouldn’t there be an onus to make it a commercial success? 

Edited August 24, 2022 by Man of Kent

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

I think the problem comes when it becomes clear that people don't really care that much about 9's. 

Tbf Dave, that is exactly what people said about "pyjama cricket".

9s might just be the vessel needed to reach new audiences and provide some of the wavering current element something new to buy into. It also might not be, and it may be that we can do it through 13 a side versions of the sport. 

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, Man of Kent said:

Well, loads of cricket traditionalists thought The Hundred is an abomination that would be a disaster but they were wrong…

Yes, and I'm not against,  something,  but in my opinion,  9s is a bit damaged.  We've seen a 9s comp before where clubs send kids to play,  we've never done it like the Aussies did (and even they scrapped it). 

The Hundred is a spin (pardon the pun) on T20 which is a very successful cricket version. 

I'd rather we go for something new if we were going to try something,  that doesn't have the baggage of 9s.

[gingerjon]

Just now, Tommygilf said:

Tbf Dave, that is exactly what people said about "pyjama cricket".

 

It's really not.

I mean: really, really not.

[Tommygilf]

4 minutes ago, Damien said:

I'm not sure why it would surely be on terrestrial TV. I can't see that at all.

Teams would also play their youngsters. As has happened before in any initiatives like this. Fans aren't interested and neither are clubs.

It's such a non starter it's funny that it's even on the agenda.

The Hundred took that criticism and took the players and teams out of the hands of those clubs and coaches. 

[Dave T]

Just now, Tommygilf said:

Tbf Dave, that is exactly what people said about "pyjama cricket".

9s might just be the vessel needed to reach new audiences and provide some of the wavering current element something new to buy into. It also might not be, and it may be that we can do it through 13 a side versions of the sport. 

See my response to MoK on my thoughts.  I'm not against an adapted version,  but 9s has been tried and failed. 

Shorter versions of 13, with time limits and exciting rules is closer to what cricket has done. 

[Dave T]

Just now, Tommygilf said:

The Hundred took that criticism and took the players and teams out of the hands of those clubs and coaches. 

I think there is an interesting thread to be had on this tbh. 

[Tommygilf]

Just now, gingerjon said:

It's really not.

I mean: really, really not.

Must be odd for you to be on the side of stringent conservatism GJ.

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Well, loads of cricket traditionalists thought The Hundred is an abomination that would be a disaster but they were wrong…

It's lost £40m, crowds are down, has not increased participation or attendance at other matches, and halved its TV audience in a season.

Other than that - chief - you're spot on.

[Cougarmaniac]

1 hour ago, gogledd said:

First, Congratulations to Cougars winning League 1 in fine style this season. Looking forward to our visit on Sunday.

Now your in Championship and hopefully your success continues and you remain there in 2023, but if you continually improve wouldn't you want a shot at Super League?

 

Thanks - looking forward to Sunday. Projections of 3,000 at Cougar Park does hint at the possibility of Cougars becoming a force of some sort in the Championship - though not, obviously, at the level of Leigh or Toulouse. Herein lies the dilemma - do I want us to 'do a Leigh' - or to a lesser extent a 'Featherstone', and adopt a frankly unsustainable business model in the hope of reaching SL? Notwithstanding the 100% backing of the owners, I just don't see it being sustainable long-term, or even frankly attractive enough to take the risk. I'd much rather the SL was an entirely different entity, perhaps with franchise and certainly bigger city clubs, and the 'corridor' teams were left to fight it out in a much more realistic and competitive environment. Because lots of people on here and talking about expansion and revenues etc, and I just don't think the majority of supporters give a toss about stuff like that. My kids have loved going to Cougars this season because - despite what the league table suggests - their wins have been hard-fought and exciting, and the atmosphere's been brilliant. I have no desire to spend season after season sitting in bigger versions of a three-quarters empty Keepmoat Stadium (with all due respect to Doncaster, whose fans and staff were brilliant on Sunday) time after time. Trips to Batley and Bradford are what excite me for next season. The soul of this sport is the most valuable commodity it has.

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

See my response to MoK on my thoughts.  I'm not against an adapted version,  but 9s has been tried and failed. 

Shorter versions of 13, with time limits and exciting rules is closer to what cricket has done. 

I don't disagree, but also don't think it should be dismissed out of hand either.

I see what cricket has done with the Hundred less as a new format or anything like that, but a new approach to the sport to break out of structural shackles which they have felt have limited the game in England/Wales by spreading the money too thinly (sound familiar?)

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, gingerjon said:

It's lost £40m, crowds are down, has not increased participation or attendance at other matches, and halved its TV audience in a season.

Other than that - chief - you're spot on.

I think when people talk about launching a new form of RL,  we should use T20 as the comparison point rather than the Hundred. The Hundred isn't particularly new,  but there are some interesting learnings. 

[gingerjon]

Just now, Tommygilf said:

Must be odd for you to be on the side of stringent conservatism GJ.

Just on the side of facts because I remember distinctly the launch of the Twenty20 Cup (as was), as well as coloured clothing being introduced into the Sunday League (as was).

I also remember how responses to both at the time were completely misrepresented by supporters of the eye-watering loss-making venture that is The Hundred.

(If I were IMG, I'd be well up for a Hundred-esque tournament in RL. Different solutions to different problems in many ways, but, following The Hundred would do for RL what it was designed to do in cricket: take control away from the clubs for good.)

[whatmichaelsays]

Am I the only one who thinks that people are putting far too much importance on this survey? It will form a fraction of IMG's research. 

My view was that the survey, whilst not great, does at least act as a bellwether for how some ideas will be received by one segment of the audience IMG has in mind. Whilst we know that ideas like 9s split the room here, it's important to remember that we may not be the intended target audience for it 

[Dave T]

Just now, gingerjon said:

Just on the side of facts because I remember distinctly the launch of the Twenty20 Cup (as was), as well as coloured clothing being introduced into the Sunday League (as was).

I also remember how responses to both at the time were completely misrepresented by supporters of the eye-watering loss-making venture that is The Hundred.

(If I were IMG, I'd be well up for a Hundred-esque tournament in RL. Different solutions to different problems in many ways, but, following The Hundred would do for RL what it was designed to do in cricket: take control away from the clubs for good.)

I think using a framework of what The Hundred did with the formation of new (horrible)  clubs,  we could quickly address some of the geographical limitations RL has. 

[Tommygilf]

3 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I think there is an interesting thread to be had on this tbh. 

As I put earlier, the idea I think they were getting at was how willing are you to support a new team created for a new short competition based in x city, for example.

[gingerjon]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

I think when people talk about launching a new form of RL,  we should use T20 as the comparison point rather than the Hundred. The Hundred isn't particularly new,  but there are some interesting learnings. 

One of the most interesting bits about The Hundred that people seem to miss - because they want to make other points instead - is how its positive rule changes (punishing slow over (set) rates, incoming batter is on strike) have been hoovered up by the other formats around the world because they really do work.

[gingerjon]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

I think using a framework of what The Hundred did with the formation of new (horrible)  clubs,  we could quickly address some of the geographical limitations RL has. 

Bingo.

[Agbrigg]

13 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Not sure you’ve thought it through, chief. These would be very short matches so you’d need more than four teams to make it an event. 

Twas only sarcasm old boy

[Dave T]

Just now, Tommygilf said:

As I put earlier, the idea I think they were getting at was how willing are you to support a new team created for a new short competition based in x city, for example.

I think we could find it going the opposite way to cricket and going county based.  Although they've gone with a  weird hybrid. Sometimes now I forget who I'm meant to support and find myself interested in the Northern team. 

[Tommygilf]

2 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Just on the side of facts because I remember distinctly the launch of the Twenty20 Cup (as was), as well as coloured clothing being introduced into the Sunday League (as was).

I also remember how responses to both at the time were completely misrepresented by supporters of the eye-watering loss-making venture that is The Hundred.

(If I were IMG, I'd be well up for a Hundred-esque tournament in RL. Different solutions to different problems in many ways, but, following The Hundred would do for RL what it was designed to do in cricket: take control away from the clubs for good.)

Has cricket Steve Oates hacked your account? 

A lot of the same problems are at play in both sports imo. The hundred is part of Cricket's solution.

[Dave T]

Just now, gingerjon said:

Bingo.

It's THE benefit for me. It allows you to dip your toe into territories and do it without destroying your core product. 

[Dave T]

Just now, Tommygilf said:

Has cricket Steve Oates hacked your account? 

Absolutely savage