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Stepping down - Ralph Rimmer reflects on his five years in charge of the RFL


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No doubt there'll be a queue formed to criticise Ralph but that is pointless and unproductive. The problem with holding a position like he did is that you're a target for the  discontents and the malcontents. And that means we'll hear from some disproportionally.

Like all the TGG people in charge throughout the years Ralph was a curate's egg who will leave the people who want more wanting more.

He would never and could never have done enough for the eternally dissatisfied.

 

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2 warning points:kolobok_dirol:  Non-Political

 

 

 

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21 minutes ago, Oxford said:

No doubt there'll be a queue formed to criticise Ralph but that is pointless and unproductive. The problem with holding a position like he did is that you're a target for the  discontents and the malcontents. And that means we'll hear from some disproportionally.

Like all the TGG people in charge throughout the years Ralph was a curate's egg who will leave the people who want more wanting more.

He would never and could never have done enough for the eternally dissatisfied.

 

Out of interest, do you think he did a good job? 

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Like all of us, Ralph Rimmer had, and has, his limitations. Maybe I'd have had a different background of person in the role 5 years ago. But that said you can't fault his dedication to the game, and can't deny he brought some significant achievements.

The relationship-building with government that both enabled the World Cup, and then likely saved the sport during the pandemic, is not to be underplayed and deserves respect. He was also bright enough to recognise both his, and his organisations, limitations and bring a strategic partner in to bridge those gaps. That takes both insight and humble leadership. Perhaps the sort of leader I'd have had in his role wouldn't have delivered all or any of those things, even if they'd been better at different stuff. So credit where credit is due I say, I'm grateful for anyone who works hard for our sport, and good luck to the next crew of the ship.  

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Apparently this site says I "won the day" here on 23rd Jan, 19th Jan, 9th Jan also 13th December, whatever any of that means. Anyway, 4 times in a few weeks? The forum must be going to the dogs - you people need to seriously up your game. Where's Dutoni when you need him?

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I think Ralph came in at a very difficult time. During his tenure he's had Superleague agitating for a split and then they subsequently appointed an incompetent CEO before returning to the fold. There's also been Covid and a Sky TV squeeze. All issues largely outside his control. He certainly could have done some things better but it's got to be one of the hardest gigs there is. Bringing in a 3rd party (IMG) will hopefully be what's needed to shake things up but we shall see. 

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42 minutes ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

Like all of us, Ralph Rimmer had, and has, his limitations. Maybe I'd have had a different background of person in the role 5 years ago. But that said you can't fault his dedication to the game, and can't deny he brought some significant achievements.

The relationship-building with government that both enabled the World Cup, and then likely saved the sport during the pandemic, is not to be underplayed and deserves respect. He was also bright enough to recognise both his, and his organisations, limitations and bring a strategic partner in to bridge those gaps. That takes both insight and humble leadership. Perhaps the sort of leader I'd have had in his role wouldn't have delivered all or any of those things, even if they'd been better at different stuff. So credit where credit is due I say, I'm grateful for anyone who works hard for our sport, and good luck to the next crew of the ship.  

Running the RFL is a simple job - until you arrive for your first day in the office.

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2 minutes ago, Martyn Sadler said:

Running the RFL is a simple job - until you arrive for your first day in the office.

This is true, and I stand by my original balanced post. But don't you think it might be an idea to sometimes choose our leadership from a wider pool?

Wood followed Lewis with very little selection assessment, Rimmer followed Wood likewise, and now the new MD of RF Commercial is yet another inside man. It's hardly the recruitment model of an open-minded, high-performance organisation, striving for industry best practice, or seeking new ideas and a wider perspective. 

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Apparently this site says I "won the day" here on 23rd Jan, 19th Jan, 9th Jan also 13th December, whatever any of that means. Anyway, 4 times in a few weeks? The forum must be going to the dogs - you people need to seriously up your game. Where's Dutoni when you need him?

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1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Out of interest, do you think he did a good job? 

I don't believe any of our top people have done as good a job as I would want them to. But not everything Ralph did was awful and some things were good.

As I pointed out all curate's eggs.

And

28 minutes ago, Martyn Sadler said:

Running the RFL is a simple job - until you arrive for your first day in the office.

And I wouldn't want it.

2 warning points:kolobok_dirol:  Non-Political

 

 

 

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43 minutes ago, MattSantos said:

A few questions if i may:

1. Who appointed him?

2. What were his objectives? Are these published?

3. How did he perform against these objectives.

Everything else is moot

Not really Matt, that's just the Spirit of Criticism Past.

 

2 warning points:kolobok_dirol:  Non-Political

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

Like all of us, Ralph Rimmer had, and has, his limitations. Maybe I'd have had a different background of person in the role 5 years ago. But that said you can't fault his dedication to the game, and can't deny he brought some significant achievements.

The relationship-building with government that both enabled the World Cup, and then likely saved the sport during the pandemic, is not to be underplayed and deserves respect. He was also bright enough to recognise both his, and his organisations, limitations and bring a strategic partner in to bridge those gaps. That takes both insight and humble leadership. Perhaps the sort of leader I'd have had in his role wouldn't have delivered all or any of those things, even if they'd been better at different stuff. So credit where credit is due I say, I'm grateful for anyone who works hard for our sport, and good luck to the next crew of the ship.  

I think that's fair. 

I'm not sure under RR we would ever go on to fulfil our potential, but I think as an outsider he would appear to be a solid businessman who does appear to have done quite well with things like government contacts etc.

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So, there is a thread on here about a Senior Marketing Manager position at the RFL being advertised for up to £37.5k and a broad consensus that this wasn't enough to attract the type of candidate we would like to see.

Well, Rimmer was on £167k a year.  What type of salary would be need to be looking at to attract a top class candidate if we did want to cast the net wider (bearing in mind that the RFL is a circa £25M turnover operation)?

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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1 minute ago, Dunbar said:

So, there is a thread on here about a Senior Marketing Manager position at the RFL being advertised for up to £37.5k and a broad consensus that this wasn't enough to attract the type of candidate we would like to see.

Well, Rimmer was on £167k a year.  What type of salary would be need to be looking at to attract a top class candidate if we did want to cast the net wider (bearing in mind that the RFL is a circa £25M turnover operation)?

Didn't we previously pay much more for the lead role at the RFL/SLE? 

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2 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

So, there is a thread on here about a Senior Marketing Manager position at the RFL being advertised for up to £37.5k and a broad consensus that this wasn't enough to attract the type of candidate we would like to see.

Well, Rimmer was on £167k a year.  What type of salary would be need to be looking at to attract a top class candidate if we did want to cast the net wider (bearing in mind that the RFL is a circa £25M turnover operation)?

That's enough. Too much for an internal candidate, where we should expect a settle-for-good-enough "give them a chance" discount.

With that budget you will definitely be able to hire a best-of-breed "stepping up" person from another sport, or similar organisation. Perhaps a commercial director or marketing director from a larger sport, looking for their first CEO role, and seeing the RFL as a "have impact and create change" gig to do for 3-5 years before then leaving us for a bigger job elsewhere. If I was recruiting for the RFL, that would be the profile of candidate I'd be looking for.  

Apparently this site says I "won the day" here on 23rd Jan, 19th Jan, 9th Jan also 13th December, whatever any of that means. Anyway, 4 times in a few weeks? The forum must be going to the dogs - you people need to seriously up your game. Where's Dutoni when you need him?

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5 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Didn't we previously pay much more for the lead role at the RFL/SLE? 

A quick Google search shows Nigel Wood was on £314,000.

I can't see the Richard Lewis one but I am sure someone has it.

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"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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50 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

A quick Google search shows Nigel Wood was on £314,000.

I can't see the Richard Lewis one but I am sure someone has it.

That's just nuts. Well outside the range for that role, in an organisation this size. 

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Apparently this site says I "won the day" here on 23rd Jan, 19th Jan, 9th Jan also 13th December, whatever any of that means. Anyway, 4 times in a few weeks? The forum must be going to the dogs - you people need to seriously up your game. Where's Dutoni when you need him?

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49 minutes ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

That's just nuts. Well outside the range for that role, in an organisation this size. 

I would suggest somewhere between the £167k and £314k would be about right.  Remember this role wouldn't enjoy any of the additional share/equity benefits that a private sector CEO would receive as extra incentives. 

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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2 hours ago, Dunbar said:

So, there is a thread on here about a Senior Marketing Manager position at the RFL being advertised for up to £37.5k and a broad consensus that this wasn't enough to attract the type of candidate we would like to see.

Well, Rimmer was on £167k a year.  What type of salary would be need to be looking at to attract a top class candidate if we did want to cast the net wider (bearing in mind that the RFL is a circa £25M turnover operation)?

Rob Elstone was reportedly on £400,000 a year. And that's not including salaries of his support staff too. 

Paying more certainly gives you a chance of getting a top class candidate but sometimes even then it's not enough. The important thing is getting the right person for the job (not an easy task I know!) 

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5 hours ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

This is true, and I stand by my original balanced post. But don't you think it might be an idea to sometimes choose our leadership from a wider pool?

It all depends what you want from a CEO.

Do we want a leader with a strong public profile to talk up the game (for example, Maurice Lindsay), or are we looking for something quite different.

It's very difficult for any organisation to appoint someone to a leadership post who has zero prior knowledge of the sport he or she is going to lead.

The NRL tried that with Dave Smith, who had a banking background, but he didn't last very long.

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12 minutes ago, Martyn Sadler said:

It all depends what you want from a CEO.

Do we want a leader with a strong public profile to talk up the game (for example, Maurice Lindsay), or are we looking for something quite different.

It's very difficult for any organisation to appoint someone to a leadership post who has zero prior knowledge of the sport he or she is going to lead.

The NRL tried that with Dave Smith, who had a banking background, but he didn't last very long.

In my experience, finding a leader who can be convincing and engaging in public settings - larger meetings and tv/media - while also being operationally focused is not an easy find (which is why a trusted 'number 2' in Finance or Operations is valuable).

And if we stay within the game, we are not fishing in a massive pool.

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"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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52 minutes ago, Martyn Sadler said:

It all depends what you want from a CEO.

Do we want a leader with a strong public profile to talk up the game (for example, Maurice Lindsay), or are we looking for something quite different.

It's very difficult for any organisation to appoint someone to a leadership post who has zero prior knowledge of the sport he or she is going to lead.

The NRL tried that with Dave Smith, who had a banking background, but he didn't last very long.

Ideally a CEO will have a vision, creativity, be growth-orientated and have the leadership and communication skills to inspire internal and external stakeholders to help make it happen.

If you’re looking for anything else, then you’re likely talking about someone focused on operational excellence and execution, which should be the job on an Ops Director, COO or sometimes the CFO. Such people rarely make a successful transition from #2 into #1 roles, as we saw with Ralph and Nigel. The success factors for one rarely coincide with the success factors for the other. Horses for courses. 

Dave Smith is a strawman argument. I’d never advocate an outsider from such an unrelated field (he wasn’t even in that significant a role in banking anyway so an odd hire really). But I was living Down Under myself at the time so would say to be fair to him whilst his reign ended prematurely that was at the behest of News Ltd. who felt threatened by his overt challenging of their unhealthy inside/outside poacher and gamekeeper position at the time so manipulated the clubs against him quite cleverly. 

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Apparently this site says I "won the day" here on 23rd Jan, 19th Jan, 9th Jan also 13th December, whatever any of that means. Anyway, 4 times in a few weeks? The forum must be going to the dogs - you people need to seriously up your game. Where's Dutoni when you need him?

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17 hours ago, Oxford said:

No doubt there'll be a queue formed to criticise Ralph but that is pointless and unproductive. The problem with holding a position like he did is that you're a target for the  discontents and the malcontents. And that means we'll hear from some disproportionally.

Like all the TGG people in charge throughout the years Ralph was a curate's egg who will leave the people who want more wanting more.

He would never and could never have done enough for the eternally dissatisfied.

 

Is this the same Ralph Rimmer who charged the Challenge cup holders 500,000 to enter the challenge cup the next season?

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While he gives off a slightly wallyish vibe of a person promoted above his natural ability, there’s no doubt Rimmer worked hard and is RL through and through.

Covid happened on his watch (handled well - weren’t we the first sport to get financial help?) as did the IMG deal. My feeling is the history books will be kinder to Rimmer than in the here and now.

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11 hours ago, OriginalMrC said:

Rob Elstone was reportedly on £400,000 a year. And that's not including salaries of his support staff too. 

Paying more certainly gives you a chance of getting a top class candidate but sometimes even then it's not enough. The important thing is getting the right person for the job (not an easy task I know!) 

Rob Elstone didn't even cover his wages in his tenure let alone his staff wages, but he did get us a good Pizza deal 🤣

He also thought that it was a good expansion idea to replace Toronto with a team from a Wigan Suburb

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10 hours ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

Ideally a CEO will have a vision, creativity, be growth-orientated and have the leadership and communication skills to inspire internal and external stakeholders to help make it happen.

Or sometimes an organisation just wants to employ someone who can steady the ship.

Don't be too surprised to see Ralph re-surface at the Welsh Rugby Union to sort out their current crisis.

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