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

[Agbrigg]

2 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Sponsorship?

Why shouldn’t players earn some extra bunce? They shouldn’t be treated like slaves to their clubs like some sort of indentured mill workers. 

You live in fantasy land pal. When Big club is paying big bucks for big name player, it will be an exclusive contract . Do you honestly expect them to release him to risk injury in some tin pot nines comp. Do you also honestly expect such a player to decline a nice big juicy contract so he can earn a bit of 'extra bunce' playing nines.

[Derwent Parker]

2 hours ago, Death to the Rah Rah's said:

If the overall view of the professional game is reflected in this thread, then IMG have one hell of a job to try and rebuild the credibility of sport within its own supporter base before they even try to target new supporters!

I personally have never felt as disillusioned with the game as I do at present.

I have zero confidence in the people running the game, and I include the community game reps in that statement as the amateur game is also on its backside, with little chance of anything improving in the near future.

The RL World Cup hasn't caught my imagination and I think they will continue to struggle to sell tickets for the tournament. Let's be honest, the marketing has been nothing short of pitiful and yet another example of the RFL taking supporters for granted and just expecting them to 'turn up' on mass for big games.

As a sport we have become used to buying 'cheap' tickets for big matches and as a result they are now struggling to sell tickets at what is probably their true market value as the RFL have 'cheapened' the sport with their previous marketing strategy of selling it 'on the cheap'.

The best recommendation IMG could make is to get rid of the RFL hierarchy and replace them with some fresh experienced sports administrators that know what they are doing.

The likes of Rimmer & Co need to go - and need to go now!

If we want an even competition then we have to even out the distribution of central funding.

Funding should be given to clubs for infrastructure, not final league positions.

There should be an annual club 'health check' and assessment with points given for each area ie: commercial, reserve, structures etc. and central funding paid on that basis.

Reserve rugby should be manditory for professional clubs and a contribution to travelling expenses for coach travel should come from central funds on a mileage basis - the likes of the Cumbrian, Welsh and Cornwall clubs should be given help with travelling as they do more miles annually than their Lancs and Yorkshire counterparts which eats into their budgets and makes them all less competitive 

Well said DTTRRs - We dont agree on a lot ,

But you say:-

we have to even out the distribution of central funding.

Reserve rugby should be Mandatory

a contribution to travelling expenses

I agree with all that especially the  distribution of central funding

[Man of Kent]

2 minutes ago, Agbrigg said:

Do you also honestly expect such a player to decline a nice big juicy contract so he can earn a bit of 'extra bunce' playing nines.

Yes. No different than internationals and the World Cup, really.

Players aren’t slaves. 

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Yes. No different than internationals and the World Cup, really.

Players aren’t slaves. 

They aren't slaves because they freely sign a contract and are well remunerated for doing so. No one is forced to.

[GUBRATS]

Collective madness 

[Archie Gordon]

Presumably State of Origin players manage to have big NRL contracts whilst being able to play mid-season games for someone other than their club. It shouldn't be too hard to set up something similar here contract/insurance-wise.

[Derwent Parker]

1 hour ago, Man of Kent said:

Maybe. 

Of course, a London 9s team wouldn’t necessarily have to have London-based players. In theory, you could have, say, Jai Field play for them as they spread the talent around. 

No hes playing for cumbria

[Derwent Parker]

56 minutes ago, JF1 said:

I wish we did get £2million less £1.8million DP.

Whoops

[Dave T]

32 minutes ago, Agbrigg said:

Yes right good luck with that, Can you see clubs releasing their star players for this. Best you will get is fringe players and juniors and mainly lower leagues

Money talks. We've seen all sorts of decisions supported that people claim we'd never see. 

[GUBRATS]

3 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Money talks. We've seen all sorts of decisions supported that people claim we'd never see. 

Who's money ?

[DI Keith Fowler]

1 minute ago, GUBRATS said:

Who's money ?

Yours, you're funding it. 

[GUBRATS]

Just now, DI Keith Fowler said:

Yours, you're funding it. 

Am I ? , How ? 

[Agbrigg]

19 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Yes. No different than internationals and the World Cup, really.

Players aren’t slaves. 

no they are not, they have contracts of employment have you heard of such things. They work both ways for both parties benefits. 

[Damien]

13 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

Presumably State of Origin players manage to have big NRL contracts whilst being able to play mid-season games for someone other than their club. It shouldn't be too hard to set up something similar here contract/insurance-wise.

The NRL also has a State of Origin contract worth a small fortune, which makes it in clubs best interest, and up until Covid paid players 50k a games. It's about as different as you can get.

[Man of Kent]

13 minutes ago, Derwent Parker said:

No hes playing for cumbria

Hands off, he’s London’s

[Derwent Parker]

1 minute ago, Man of Kent said:

Hands off, he’s London’s

There's more fields in Cumbria than London?

[Man of Kent]

Just now, Derwent Parker said:

There's more fields in Cumbria than London?

Haven’t you heard of London Fields? Think of the headlines!

[Archie Gordon]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

The NRL also has a State of Origin contract worth a small fortune, which makes it in clubs best interest, and up until Covid paid players 50k a games. It's about as different as you can get.

Budget-wise, sure. Contract and insurance-wise - my point - it's exactly the same.

Someone needs to pay for this but it's completely feasible. And someone might pay for it.

[Man of Kent]

Just now, Archie Gordon said:

Someone needs to pay for this but it's completely feasible. And someone might pay for it.

Aye. Let’s say Fred Done and other sponsors stumped up the costs (including player payments) for a ‘Betfred Super League 9s’. I’d struggle to oppose it. 

[Derwent Parker]

1 minute ago, Man of Kent said:

Haven’t you heard of London Fields? Think of the headlines!

Nope - but drive thru Cumbria - its all fields

[Damien]

Just now, Archie Gordon said:

Budget-wise, sure. Contract and insurance-wise - my point - it's exactly the same.

Someone needs to pay for this but it's completely feasible. And someone might pay for it.

Clubs in England release players for representative games such as SOO. 9s isn't that.

[Derwent Parker]

7 minutes ago, Damien said:

Clubs in England release players for representative games such as SOO. 9s isn't that.

Think Cumbria won or were R/U in last 9s comp?

[Archie Gordon]

15 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Aye. Let’s say Fred Done and other sponsors stumped up the costs (including player payments) for a ‘Betfred Super League 9s’. I’d struggle to oppose it. 

Broadly agree but IMO would be nice if neither Betfred nor Super were in the title.

[Big Picture]

51 minutes ago, Agbrigg said:

You live in fantasy land pal. When Big club is paying big bucks for big name player, it will be an exclusive contract . Do you honestly expect them to release him to risk injury in some tin pot nines comp. Do you also honestly expect such a player to decline a nice big juicy contract so he can earn a bit of 'extra bunce' playing nines.

SL clubs aren't paying big bucks though, that's why St Helens couldn't afford to keep Regan Grace.  They pay poorly compared to other sports' top tiers.

[Route66]

1 hour ago, Agbrigg said:

Yes right good luck with that, Can you see clubs releasing their star players for this. Best you will get is fringe players and juniors and mainly lower leagues

Ultimately clubs will have to do what they are told if they want the sky money which ultimately pays their players, a separate 9s or whatever needs to be franchise only