Putting money in the women's game (was: Wigan Warriors: Bankrupt)

[Spidey]

7 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

So disappointed , I thought it might be true  

This however backs up my opinion that ATM the women's game should remain community based , and not be fully affiliated with the Pro clubs 

Or only SL clubs have pro clubs and the community teams feed into them

[Gerrumonside ref]

2 hours ago, EagleEyePie said:

The reaction from Wigan fans to this on social media has been overwhelmingly negative, so hopefully the club take that on board. I know it's not just Wigan who do this. Most clubs still operate roles in the women's game on a voluntary basis and don't pay players a wage, but this seems like a lot of work for someone to be doing for nowt.

Have Wigan officially responded yet to the criticism?

[GUBRATS]

11 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Or only SL clubs have pro clubs and the community teams feed into them

Are all the players full time professional? 

[gingerjon]

10 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Have Wigan officially responded yet to the criticism?

If they have, it's not on Twitter

[Jughead]

Are most womens clubs not amateur?

[Spidey]

18 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Are all the players full time professional? 

Not yet - but that’s clearly the aim

[gingerjon]

9 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Are most womens clubs not amateur?

Do Wigan have a lot of volunteers fulfilling full time roles?

[Damien]

Womens RL is essentially an amateur game and I would expect this role to be more akin to a similar role at an amateur club. For the women's game the benefits of being affiliated to a professional club come from being able to leverage the benefits of being part of a professional club, training facilities, coaching expertise, kit etc. This alone does allow the game to be played at a higher standard than it being based around amateur clubs.

Moving that to the next stage, semi-professional, is all a chicken and the egg scenario at the moment. When the game has no money and professional club's sole income is from the men's game it's pretty hard to see clubs spending huge money on it, particularly those that can't even spend up to the men's salary cap. I think pretty much the only way this is going to be possible is by a central grants system whereby all players get paid centrally, similar to county grants in GAA that are designed to cover expenses, of £2k (or whatever figure). Obviously that would have to come initially from the men's SL TV deal, as Championship and League 1 funding does now.

[Jughead]

Just now, gingerjon said:

Do Wigan have a lot of volunteers fulfilling full time roles?

No idea. Do most clubs pay their women’s players and coaches?

[GUBRATS]

3 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Not yet - but that’s clearly the aim

So let's not run before we can walk 

 

[Tommygilf]

2 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

So let's not run before we can walk 

 

Lets crawl because some can't walk though???

[Tommygilf]

Lets be honest this is stark contrast from the recent announcement at the Rhinos.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes out of St Helens and York next (as the other two leading Women's teams). 

The direction of travel is clear, the impetus is there, clubs either step up to the plate or we'll keep falling behind, both in the Women's game and as a sport.

[GUBRATS]

11 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Lets crawl because some can't walk though???

Or let's make all the same mistakes as we've made in the past 

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, GUBRATS said:

Or let's make all the same mistakes as we've made in the past 

Tbf we have let teams who have no evidence of being able to last in a proper pro division into the top flight to get beaten nearly every week for no real purpose, so I see what you mean.

That said I don't see what mistakes you could mean regarding this in reference to women's RL? 

[GUBRATS]

6 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Tbf we have let teams who have no evidence of being able to last in a proper pro division into the top flight to get beaten nearly every week for no real purpose, so I see what you mean.

That said I don't see what mistakes you could mean regarding this in reference to women's RL? 

Then you need to use that education I helped to pay for and engage the cells between your ears to figure it out 

[Tommygilf]

6 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Then you need to use that education I helped to pay for and engage the cells between your ears to figure it out 

You never helped pay for it at all (odd thing to claim), but if it makes you feel better you do now pay my wages.

Women's RL in this country is going places, just like the mens game, some will be better suited at a lower level than others. 

[Spidey]

2 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

So let's not run before we can walk 

 

Get where you’re coming from. But they simply won’t get the exposure if not linked to the SL clubs. They’ll need that to get money coming in

[RBKnight]

3 hours ago, Eddie said:

Do the women’s team bring any money into the club though? If not I can understand why they’re not making this a full time role (though I’d like to think they’ll be remunerated in some way at least). 

The question is then, why aren't Wigan's team bringing in any money? By comparison last year, York Valkyrie, linked to a Championship club, had all their squad with shirt sponsorship at £750 a pop, and this year will have their own sponsorship  deal, so that their shirt sponsor this year is not the same as the men's team.

It really boils down to whether the sponsoring clubs want to take women's RL seriously, or just offer a pat on the back and a free post-match pizza .......

[EggFace]

7 hours ago, moorside roughyed said:

I hope that Leeds Rhino's decision to pay their players will start something where the women's game enters the payed ranks. At first it'll probably be semi pro but hopefully the crowds to these games will increase to generate the revenue needed.

We need to help the mens game out before we start with the women game.

[moorside roughyed]

Just now, EggFace said:

We need to help the mens game out before we start with the women game.

Get the women to help the men.

[EggFace]

1 minute ago, moorside roughyed said:

Get the women to help the men.

Sorry I meant more bums on seats at games and more money coming for a sound product and business.

1 minute ago, moorside roughyed said:

Get the women to help the men.

 

[moorside roughyed]

Just now, EggFace said:

Sorry I meant more bums on seats at games and more money coming for a sound product and business.

 

If the women's teams played just before the men it would bring exposure. Then in time the women's teams could branch out separately when people see a good product. Leeds have announced they will be paying their players next season, hopefully this may encourage others to follow. 

[JohnM]

4 hours ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Have Wigan officially responded yet to the criticism?

I guess no one has asked them yet. It's easier to whine and gnash teeth on here than do anything constuctive.

[Spidey]

4 minutes ago, JohnM said:

I guess no one has asked them yet. It's easier to whine and gnash teeth on here than do anything constuctive.

See you’re not on ignore, but yet again not contributing to discussion. Some would say trolling but hey ho

[GUBRATS]

My opinion on the women's game 

They should remain as a community club competition for the foreseeable future , assisted by local ( or not ) Pro clubs both in coaching ( players and women's coaches ) and potentially in staging games at pro club venues as curtain raisers and the like , so let's say Leeds instead of just having their women's team playing at Headingley could have various local community clubs playing , 

The often quoted ' issue ' that the men's game has is lack of participation numbers , if we are not careful we will end up with the same problem with the women's game , also as we seem to be now seeing , we could easily end up with 2/3 teams of semi professional nature collecting all the best players and just dominating the top league , again another problem we all admit we have with the men's pro game 

In a few years of concentrated work and investment ( in the whole women's game , not just at 3/4 clubs ) we might have the numbers and spread of talent to put together a semi pro league based at the existing Pro clubs , including perhaps a fully pro French team playing as Catalans do 

The next bit is really going to upset 

For me we need to also ask a question of what we want the women's game to look like ? , Do we want a highly physical size based game like the men's ? , Or a more skill based game ? 

I'd even go as far as suggesting a reduced number of players and pitch size as an early option for a decade to help more community clubs put together teams