Newcastle Thunder

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Angelic Cynic said:

From this - https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/news/12196/12125231/newcastle-thunder-aiming-to-cause-a-storm-with-super-league-ambitions

An Elite Academy Licence for numerous years...

Just what IMG apparently desire as they try to sell Super League 

To extinction...

Empty words.No surprise players butterfly around flitting from club to club.

What a sport.

I think IMG will come to regret their time in rugby league. They are now getting blamed for the decisions of a club made prior to them signing an agreement with the RFL. Even today social media is littered with fans taking pot shots at them. If the sport is the same now in 12 years or in an even worse state then it won't be down to IMG but rather the entrenched voices within rugby league who oppose any form of change.

Edited October 13, 2023 by NW10LDN

[Damien]

30 minutes ago, NW10LDN said:

I think IMG will come to regret their time in rugby league. They are now getting blamed for the decisions of a club made prior to them signing an agreement with the RFL. Even today social media is littered with fans taking pot shots at them. If the sport is the same now in 12 years or in an even worse state then it won't be down to IMG but rather the entrenched voices within rugby league who oppose any form of change.

Indeed. IMG have changed nothing so far that would effect any club and what we are seeing now are the consequences of failures going back a number of years.

Ultimately this is happening because of the huge reduction in the TV deal since the 5 year £40 million a year deal that finished in 2021. This was because there was a complete failure of the sport to add, or simply maintain, value of the TV rights and despite a warning from Sky when the 2 year 2021-2023 deal was signed we failed to take heed. Now the TV deal has gone down again.

Yes IMG may now be involved but the real change hasn't even begun yet.

[Gomersall]

2 hours ago, del capo said:

They are supposed to.

Compensation (transfer ) fees are payable from the point of Scholarship upwards as a player develops aii the way up. 

Operational Rules for Tier 1-3 covers it all including the actual fees in C1. C1 (3) is particularly instructive.

Most talent is produced by the Community game, Very few these days come from outside it

Supposed to infers it doesn’t always happen then?

[SUPERSTUD]

3 hours ago, The Future is League said:

 

Duel Reg does nothing to a club who should be developing their own players

Its just a short solution

100% this. A lazy lazy cheap system that destroys sporting ambition and sporting life’s. 

[SUPERSTUD]

3 hours ago, Griff said:

Duel registration would be great.  Much better than dual registration.

Spelling police not needed on this one. Show some respect and sea the bigger picture.

[Damien]

And so it begins. It must be devastating for the players:

 

[del capo]

43 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

Supposed to infers it doesn’t always happen then?

Correct.

The RFL computerized registration system  triggers the process but that depends upon correct info being input.

There is in fact a 'sweep ' taking place at the moment on behalf of the Community game to ensure payments have been made.

I can't speak for the Pro game but assume they are capable of looking after their own interests.

[Rovers13]

2 hours ago, NW10LDN said:

I think IMG will come to regret their time in rugby league. They are now getting blamed for the decisions of a club made prior to them signing an agreement with the RFL. Even today social media is littered with fans taking pot shots at them. If the sport is the same now in 12 years or in an even worse state then it won't be down to IMG but rather the entrenched voices within rugby league who oppose any form of change.

If IMG don’t get full control they won’t be here 3 years let alone 12 years, they won’t stick around as their here to make money, they don’t make money they will be gone and plus their a huge company their used to being in charge. They will of let things slide for now as they don’t come into the sport until after this weekends finals. 

[Rovers13]

The days of clubs voting I believe will be firmly over and don’t think they will get any say at all. 

[Hello]

15 hours ago, NW10LDN said:

I think IMG will come to regret their time in rugby league. They are now getting blamed for the decisions of a club made prior to them signing an agreement with the RFL. Even today social media is littered with fans taking pot shots at them. If the sport is the same now in 12 years or in an even worse state then it won't be down to IMG but rather the entrenched voices within rugby league who oppose any form of change.

I agree with this, but I hope that they can get themselves in gear to reverse some of this decline.

Edited October 14, 2023 by Hello

[The Masked Poster]

8 hours ago, Gooleboy said:

The Gateshead operation was moved to save Hull.

Yeah….but the question still remains. I remember Brian Carney scoring for Gateshead when they played  - and beat - Wigan in Edinburgh. I won’t embarrass myself by saying what I thought they might go on to achieve. I’m getting quite misty eyed here about what seems like now, halcyon days of aspiration.

Edited October 13, 2023 by The Masked Poster

[dead man inc]

10 hours ago, del capo said:

…Either way travel / hotel costs must be met centrally and in  full for each club…

 

14 hours ago, Dovster said:

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

If the travel/hotel costs were met centrally, I believe there could have been a good chance that Skolars & Newcastle might still have been able to stay financially viable in league 1. (For Skolars their travel expenses was a significantly bigger cost than player wages.)

Last year, league 1 central funding was ~£15,000 (it’s rumoured to be about £3000 less this year) It didn’t even cover Skolars 3 longest away trip travel/hotel costs last year!

I genuinely wonder how many league one teams are going to be able to survive on under £15,000 central funding. Do any league 1 teams actually turn a profit?

The last 8 years i have really enjoyed watching league 1 games - it was a great competition. Even with Skolars regularly losing I got the chance to watch some fantastic games, see good teams/players & meet some great & dedicated away fans. I fully understand money has to be cut somewhere due to the reduced TV deal, but cutting the largest % from the bottom end that in reality actually needs the most help & support is devastating.

[MidlandsJohn]

10 hours ago, Eddie said:

Do they survive mainly on gate receipts then? 

Not an avid follower of basketball by any means, but as far as I'm aware the British league for years has offered semi-pro level salaries as it attracts players who will need to make their pro career overseas by being the "shop window" in which they can grab the attention of teams in the bigger European leagues. I'd assume cultural similarities and no language barrier must also factor in for North American players.

 

The sheer number of players churned out by the American college system means that if someone has an amazing season and you lose them to somewhere bigger, somebody else is always willing to come over for their shot.

 

However, things seem to be trending upwards as Sky are back involved in broadcasting the league to a limited extent and Newcastle are actually pulling "double duty" this season by competing in the North European league as well as the British domestic competition. Having their own arena is crucial for this as many British clubs were effectively frozen out of European competitions for many years because they lacked their own stadiums and playing in council gyms/leisure centres wasn't deemed good enough.

[yipyee]

Union club buys league club, union club doing well now, union club closes league club down.

Didnt this happen in London as well ? 

Think both union clubs were in the second tier for a spell too.

Presume the union club is struggling financially like the other ones.

Can we not implement a proper persons owner test and stop union entities buying RL clubs ?

[yipyee]

1 hour ago, MidlandsJohn said:

Not an avid follower of basketball by any means, but as far as I'm aware the British league for years has offered semi-pro level salaries as it attracts players who will need to make their pro career overseas by being the "shop window" in which they can grab the attention of teams in the bigger European leagues. I'd assume cultural similarities and no language barrier must also factor in for North American players.

 

The sheer number of players churned out by the American college system means that if someone has an amazing season and you lose them to somewhere bigger, somebody else is always willing to come over for their shot.

 

However, things seem to be trending upwards as Sky are back involved in broadcasting the league to a limited extent and Newcastle are actually pulling "double duty" this season by competing in the North European league as well as the British domestic competition. Having their own arena is crucial for this as many British clubs were effectively frozen out of European competitions for many years because they lacked their own stadiums and playing in council gyms/leisure centres wasn't deemed good enough.

Smaller numbers in a basketball team / squad so more to go around. The game is televised, is global , is an Olympic sport and has global superstars. In the UK it is played around the country and is on the school cariculam 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

15 hours ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

Please explain the relevance

Look back at the posts 

[Gav Wilson]

7 hours ago, yipyee said:

Union club buys league club, union club doing well now, union club closes league club down.

Didnt this happen in London as well ? 

Think both union clubs were in the second tier for a spell too.

Presume the union club is struggling financially like the other ones.

Can we not implement a proper persons owner test and stop union entities buying RL clubs ?

Exact same thing happed in Leeds, but the other way around. 

[Gav Wilson]

9 hours ago, Rovers13 said:

The days of clubs voting I believe will be firmly over and don’t think they will get any say at all. 

Fingers crossed!

[gingerjon]

7 hours ago, yipyee said:

Didnt this happen in London as well ? 

No.

[JM2010]

6 minutes ago, Gav Wilson said:

Fingers crossed!

I agree. Most clubs don’t vote for the good of the game just for what benefits them

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

1 hour ago, Gav Wilson said:

Exact same thing happed in Leeds, but the other way around. 

Yep....it was funny 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

No.

It was different that is for sure.....I always suspected there was a conspiracy though 

[Rovers13]

1 hour ago, Gav Wilson said:

Fingers crossed!

That’s only my opinion Gav, but I just feel why would IMG come in to rescue the sport if they are not allowed full control, im sure clubs have signed over rights etc, because a big company like IMG imo (just a guess) are here to make millions not thousands so I can’t see them not having their feet firmly under the desk. 

[Hopping Mad]

On 13/10/2023 at 12:56, EggFace said:

I'm not comparing those (2nd rate sports in the UK) BUT I think what you say is a good idea to see how these clubs live within their means and maybe Rugby League could reseach how these sports can do it.

Top level, professional ice hockey - the Vipers - failed in Newcastle in 2011. The present team - the Wildcats - seem to be a student outfit. Out of town, Whitley Warriors stagger on.

Speedway, at Brough Park, Byker, packed up in Newcastle in 2022. 

When I worked on Teesside, I watched a lot of North East sport. Very much a case of football first, everything else a tiny, distant second.

Always going to be hard for RL to establish a firm foothold.

Edited October 14, 2023 by Hopping Mad

[Lowdesert]

14 hours ago, NW10LDN said:

I think IMG will come to regret their time in rugby league. They are now getting blamed for the decisions of a club made prior to them signing an agreement with the RFL. Even today social media is littered with fans taking pot shots at them. If the sport is the same now in 12 years or in an even worse state then it won't be down to IMG but rather the entrenched voices within rugby league who oppose any form of change.

I doubt they will.  They are being well paid and will eventually do something to justify that.

Social media enables everyone to say what they like when they like or copy/paste someone else’s comment and make it their own.  

Iirc img are providing ‘advice’.  It is up to the chief execs to take it and action it if they wish.  Remember the biggest percentage (imo) of consultants mantra is - ‘give me your watch and I’ll tell you the time’.  To judge whether that is valid we have to see what new ideas or suggestions have been brought in.  Do we know?