Newcastle Thunder

[dkw]

23 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

This new IMG era is going well isn’t it? 3 clubs gone in a season, ###### TV deal and a 1/2 empty Grand Final. 
 

 

Get over yourself, using the death of a club to push your own pathetic agenda is sickening. Fans have lost their club, and here you are celebrating the fact so you can claim IMG is a failure. Youre a disgrace.

[The Masked Poster]

1 minute ago, dkw said:

Get over yourself, using the death of a club to push your own pathetic agenda is sickening. Fans have lost their club, and here you are celebrating the fact so you can claim IMG is a failure. Youre a disgrace.

It does seem like dancing on someone's grave. 

[JM2010]

27 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

This new IMG era is going well isn’t it? 3 clubs gone in a season, ###### TV deal and a 1/2 empty Grand Final. 
 

 

Half empty? Has it already been played? Gutted, I was looking forward to going 

[Vyvyan]

Really sad news.  Seems that RL clubs are just as vulnerable to economic pressures as RU clubs.  Both codes have seen clubs fold this year.  

[dkw]

Absolutely gutted for the fans, theyve been brilliant over the years whenever theyve visited Workington or weve been their gaff, a genuinely great bunch of RL lads.

I was still holding a tiny amount of hope that the people involved in the club could somehow split from the current owner and carry on independently but I doubt thats going to happen now reading the statement.

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

This new IMG era is going well isn’t it? 3 clubs gone in a season, ###### TV deal and a 1/2 empty Grand Final. 
 

 

You have a habit of blaming IMG for things out of their control.

[Roughyed Rats]

Third team inside 12 months to fold. The game is in crisis.

[Griff]

40 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

This new IMG era is going well isn’t it? 3 clubs gone in a season, ###### TV deal and a 1/2 empty Grand Final. 
 

 

You reckon that's down to IMG?

[OnStrike]

League 1 really is unsustainable now. I hope there is a plan in place and we're not just going to try and muddle on with 8 teams in it. 

Kick in the stomach for Rugby League fans up there, very sad.

[NETIGER]

Sad sad news as the club has been part of our familly life over the past 10 years and given us great opportunities for which we are forever grateful. However it would be remiss of me not to mention that they have let of young local talent through their hands sacrificed on the back of SL dual reg. These players who had their places taken were good enough for international honours but basically scrapped on the back of what looked like some average talent ( a 9 that could neither pass nor tackle from a big SL club comes to mind )

[NETIGER]

8 hours ago, ThunderLeague said:

Samoa game at at James’

The stat that really stands out for me – 55% of those inside St James’ Park were from the north-east. I think if we just reflect on that for a moment, that is really quite staggering. I think that is the impact of major events; attracting a new audience.

On Saturday night, after the England game, we had our highest sales since we opened the ballot two years ago. 

The top buying postcode on Saturday night was for London. We are now seeing a trend where people are plotting an England path.

 

what raised many eyebrows with thunder fans was the lack of advertising of thunder especially with worldcup on door, ppl in the area not even knowing we had a league side. Falcons get thousands in. Something not right that we couldn’t pull in the big numbers. Kurdi has probably thought long and hard at the money he’s losing each year in league and the img restructure. Money coming in now with the nufc women’s game being played at Kingston park and supported by Amanda staverly.  We struggled to get quality players up here because of training on evenings and players living on the m62 with family’s. Could only attract younger academy super league cast offs and put them in accommodation in town whist our local players were kicked out of the side by dual reg players who would just come up to play and not train and play. Went full time which ended in disaster. Took too long to sack Betts and ocarrrol off, bigger sides would of fired them 6 games in. Players told moving back to part time of which they had full time contracts still and hence cheesed them off. Few moved on and ones that couldn’t find a club got stuck with a nice wage weren’t up to the task of keeping us up. Not been a good two years 

Don't understimate the negative affect of dual reg players arriving on a Tuesday and playing on a Sunday in front of some our local players. I mean for the paltry salaries and the expectation to work 4 days a week ( 2 x training 1 x reserve fixture 1 x named 18th man ). It all seemed like a pointless exercise and they left

[ThunderLeague]

31 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

Do any of the club's fans know if the owner offered to step back and hand the club over to a new board/fans group before pulling the plug.

The way the fans restarted Gateshead after 2000 was great and I really hope they can rally and do something similar now.

Not a word. We didn’t know until game caller said 

[gingerjon]

55 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

This new IMG era is going well isn’t it? 3 clubs gone in a season, ###### TV deal and a 1/2 empty Grand Final. 
 

 

Anyone want to blame Rodney Walker for old time's sake?

Makes as much sense as this post.

[Toby Chopra]

30 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

Half empty? Has it already been played? Gutted, I was looking forward to going 

I'm literally on a train to Manchester. Should I get off?

[Gomersall]

Just now, Toby Chopra said:

I'm literally on a train to Manchester. Should I get off?

Not while it’s moving

[Barley Mow]

3 minutes ago, ThunderLeague said:

Not a word. We didn’t know until game caller said 

The statement says "This was not the decision we wanted to make, and we remain hopeful that we can find a new home for the team".

That made me hope something might be in the pipeline, but they may just mean finding new clubs for the existing players to move to.

[gingerjon]

8 hours ago, nadera78 said:

Despite the handwringing on here the truth is most RL fans couldn't give a monkey's about clubs outside the heartlands. In fact, many of them actively dislike these clubs. 

In the end, you get what you want.

As I've said before, forty plus years of rugby league in London and we're still only tolerated as being guests at someone else's party.

Newcastle has been around for 25 years and the north east was one of the strong areas of RL Conference development.

But still, only ever disposable add-ons.

[sheddingswasus]

7 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

The statement says "This was not the decision we wanted to make, and we remain hopeful that we can find a new home for the team".

That made me hope something might be in the pipeline, but they may just mean finding new clubs for the existing players to move to.

It’s says they wont compete in 2024

[Dovster]

3 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Anyone want to blame Rodney Walker for old time's sake?

Makes as much sense as this post.

Not sure about blaming IMG, but decisions regarding funding for L1 Clubs are made by the RFL.

I assume the funding is nowhere near enough to actually pay for the running of a club at this level.

If the shortfall can't be accomodated locally then we have this scenerio. Whether this is planned, i'll leave to the conspiracy theorists.

You would think that the RFL must have had some inclination that this was on the cards and were unable to find a suitable solution (another backer / fans takeover)

Very sad day for RL and the Thunder fans

 

[Chris22]

Very bad day for the sport. At times, it looked like the roots of a solid club were forming.

The third League 1 withdrawal in the last 2 years. The league is hanging on by its fingertips now.

[Barley Mow]

6 minutes ago, sheddingswasus said:

It’s says they wont compete in 2024

I assumed that was euphemistic and they are finished.

Can a club take a year off and then start competing again?

[phiggins]

12 hours ago, Barley Mow said:

I heard a rumour last week that Newcastle were going to give up their academy (and Leigh were set to take it over). I'm hoping that is what the statement is and Newcastle will be in L1 next year.

The work that's been done in the NE over recent years has been great and hopefully doesn't end here.

If the current owner does walk away, would there be scope for the club continuing/reforming like it did (as Gateshead) in 2000? Are there fans who would be willing to give it another shot?

I think that rumour was based on an interview with Beaumont a few weeks ago. He didn't say Leigh would be taking over Newcastle's academy, but that there was only a finite number of academy licenses that the RFL were willing to give out (for reasons I can't fathom), and that there was a chance Newcastle would not be applying to renew their license. Both Leigh and Salford will be applying for any spare elite academy license.

Will be sad if no way can be found of keeping those players currently in the academy in the sport, and creating a pathway into the professional game from the NE though. Not sure how it would be possible though.

[sheddingswasus]

9 hours ago, ThunderLeague said:

Oldham spending big, what if they are not a cat B, could it all be a waste of money 

They are heavily invested into and in partnership with the football club. Much discussion has taken place with the RFL so hopefully okay. But this is about Thunder and the broader implications for the future of the game. 

[sheddingswasus]

2 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

I assumed that was euphemistic and they are finished.

Can a club take a year off and then start competing again?

It depends if they retain their RFL membership 

[The 4 of Us]

Interesting statement. Does say they’re going bust, simply not participating in what I assume they think is a less than optimum competition next year, in fact they say they will meet contracts and hope they can find a new home for the team. 
 

The RFL are a shell.