2025 Squad

[jamescolin]

Imagination is very rare these days. I used it in sales when I was working but see little of it now. Expand the mind and look outward, talk to people about their requirements, solve their problems. People recommending you is far better than posters. Get on to their wavelength and fully understand them. If you are selling and they cant afford it, but want it, then reach an arrangement without charging them interest. I used to go to people in business and advise them, looking at their way of doing things and putting them on the right path. Do no overstock, get your cash flow in proper order, give discounts on items you want to lower the stock of. Check their finance efforts are in the best way of controlling them and so on . Finance them if funds were needed. Lots of it has gone. I got shopkeepers and stall holders to recommend each other if they didnt sell the product the customer was looking for and they did likewise for the recommender. I told all of them to send customers to me in the bank. if they needed finance to buy a product. Then passed the money to the shopholder or store with a small payment from them to my branch for the sales being made. Thus we all ended happy. Widen your horizon to succeed.

[gazza77]

1 hour ago, jamescolin said:

Imagination is very rare these days. I used it in sales when I was working but see little of it now. Expand the mind and look outward, talk to people about their requirements, solve their problems. People recommending you is far better than posters. Get on to their wavelength and fully understand them. If you are selling and they cant afford it, but want it, then reach an arrangement without charging them interest. I used to go to people in business and advise them, looking at their way of doing things and putting them on the right path. Do no overstock, get your cash flow in proper order, give discounts on items you want to lower the stock of. Check their finance efforts are in the best way of controlling them and so on . Finance them if funds were needed. Lots of it has gone. I got shopkeepers and stall holders to recommend each other if they didnt sell the product the customer was looking for and they did likewise for the recommender. I told all of them to send customers to me in the bank. if they needed finance to buy a product. Then passed the money to the shopholder or store with a small payment from them to my branch for the sales being made. Thus we all ended happy. Widen your horizon to succeed.

All logical points Colin, but what's your actual proposal to improve our IMG score?

I agree it needs some imagination to generate additional interest, especially for the social media metrics. It's not my specific area of expertise as an accountant, and at 47 I feel like I'm not the demographic to be targeting anyway. It needs someone brought up with the whole array of social media outlets to be leading that, such as we used to have a few years ago as was mentioned in an earlier post.

[Mark T]

. 

Edited October 25 by Mark T

[Mark T]

5 hours ago, gazza77 said:

All logical points Colin, but what's your actual proposal to improve our IMG score?

I agree it needs some imagination to generate additional interest, especially for the social media metrics. It's not my specific area of expertise as an accountant, and at 47 I feel like I'm not the demographic to be targeting anyway. It needs someone brought up with the whole array of social media outlets to be leading that, such as we used to have a few years ago as was mentioned in an earlier post.

Posted 2 minutes ago

Meaningful content from the club would be a good start and perhaps an explanation of our current scores,along with clear information relating to the different social  media platforms which supporters can use to improve things.  Other than Facebook I've no idea of what other metrics are used. 

Edited October 25 by Mark T

[RobLambert]

14 hours ago, Mark T said:

clear information relating to the different social  media platforms which supporters can use to improve things.  Other than Facebook I've no idea of what other metrics are used. 

Yep - I think that may apply to quite a few of us

[The Phantom Horseman]

https://www.rugby-league.com/uploads/docs/Grading Handbook (Final Version).pdf

Page 11-13 of 65 (plus if you really want to complicate matters, pages 38-57, where they explain to clubs how to gather the data).

The club did say to people at the start of the season that we could help by following them on as many social media platforms as posible (FB, Twitter, instagram etc) and by trying to "engage" where possible (eg by "liking" FB posts).

I suspect that at the moment our IMG score is not in a place where a concerted effort to increase social media following/engagements would result in any material difference to our ranking (eg upping social media following from 50k to 100k only gets you 0.05 points!) which is probably why the club hasn't emphasised it all that much at this stage. I think if we started getting into a competitive place on IMG scores then I'd imagine there would be more of a targeted effort.

Judged on our provisional score from last year, the area where we could improve by a chunk (1.5 points) is in the Stadium Facilities score, where you either get 1.5 points or zero, and you have to tick 9 boxes to get 1.5. But there would be a lot of work involved in that I'd guess, though perhaps the intention to build the boxes at the POR end is a start in that direction. Fincane is the other area where we might have scope for improvement you'd think.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

2 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

https://www.rugby-league.com/uploads/docs/Grading Handbook (Final Version).pdf

Page 11-13 of 65 (plus if you really want to complicate matters, pages 38-57, where they explain to clubs how to gather the data).

The club did say to people at the start of the season that we could help by following them on as many social media platforms as posible (FB, Twitter, instagram etc) and by trying to "engage" where possible (eg by "liking" FB posts).

I suspect that at the moment our IMG score is not in a place where a concerted effort to increase social media following/engagements would result in any material difference to our ranking (eg upping social media following from 50k to 100k only gets you 0.05 points!) which is probably why the club hasn't emphasised it all that much at this stage. I think if we started getting into a competitive place on IMG scores then I'd imagine there would be more of a targeted effort.

Judged on our provisional score from last year, the area where we could improve by a chunk (1.5 points) is in the Stadium Facilities score, where you either get 1.5 points or zero, and you have to tick 9 boxes to get 1.5. But there would be a lot of work involved in that I'd guess, though perhaps the intention to build the boxes at the POR end is a start in that direction. Fincane is the other area where we might have scope for improvement you'd think.

0.5? "In order to score 1.5 the club’s stadium facilities must reach Super League  minimum standards. If these standards are not met the club will score 0.5."

It really isn't a criterion to enable measurement of improvement but a switch. If, as many feel, the scoring was deliberately chosen to be biased I suspect this was to try and stop old, antiquated grounds being anywhere near scoring highly. Unfortunately one club with such a stadium has found a way round and a second is reportedly going to meet the full 9 requirements (although too late for this year) in the next week or so.

[jamescolin]

Look at all your assets and use them to their best reults. 

[lingaro]

2 hours ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

0.5? "In order to score 1.5 the club’s stadium facilities must reach Super League  minimum standards. If these standards are not met the club will score 0.5."

It really isn't a criterion to enable measurement of improvement but a switch. If, as many feel, the scoring was deliberately chosen to be biased I suspect this was to try and stop old, antiquated grounds being anywhere near scoring highly. Unfortunately one club with such a stadium has found a way round and a second is reportedly going to meet the full 9 requirements (although too late for this year) in the next week or so.

Where does is say installing plastic seats in an asbestos covered stand gains you points?  

[haskey]

I thought the heading for this post was SQUAD

[J Phil Loxton]

2 minutes ago, haskey said:

I thought the heading for this post was SQUAD

Like you 'h' I thought somewhere on the line it's got a bit mixed up.

[Blind side johnny]

On 26/10/2024 at 14:11, The Phantom Horseman said:

https://www.rugby-league.com/uploads/docs/Grading Handbook (Final Version).pdf

Page 11-13 of 65 (plus if you really want to complicate matters, pages 38-57, where they explain to clubs how to gather the data).

The club did say to people at the start of the season that we could help by following them on as many social media platforms as posible (FB, Twitter, instagram etc) and by trying to "engage" where possible (eg by "liking" FB posts).

I suspect that at the moment our IMG score is not in a place where a concerted effort to increase social media following/engagements would result in any material difference to our ranking (eg upping social media following from 50k to 100k only gets you 0.05 points!) which is probably why the club hasn't emphasised it all that much at this stage. I think if we started getting into a competitive place on IMG scores then I'd imagine there would be more of a targeted effort.

Judged on our provisional score from last year, the area where we could improve by a chunk (1.5 points) is in the Stadium Facilities score, where you either get 1.5 points or zero, and you have to tick 9 boxes to get 1.5. But there would be a lot of work involved in that I'd guess, though perhaps the intention to build the boxes at the POR end is a start in that direction. Fincane is the other area where we might have scope for improvement you'd think.

It would also appear that the SM benchmarks are being significantly increased for future assessments.

[David Shepherd]

On 26/10/2024 at 14:11, The Phantom Horseman said:

https://www.rugby-league.com/uploads/docs/Grading Handbook (Final Version).pdf

Page 11-13 of 65 (plus if you really want to complicate matters, pages 38-57, where they explain to clubs how to gather the data).

The club did say to people at the start of the season that we could help by following them on as many social media platforms as posible (FB, Twitter, instagram etc) and by trying to "engage" where possible (eg by "liking" FB posts).

I suspect that at the moment our IMG score is not in a place where a concerted effort to increase social media following/engagements would result in any material difference to our ranking (eg upping social media following from 50k to 100k only gets you 0.05 points!) which is probably why the club hasn't emphasised it all that much at this stage. I think if we started getting into a competitive place on IMG scores then I'd imagine there would be more of a targeted effort.

Judged on our provisional score from last year, the area where we could improve by a chunk (1.5 points) is in the Stadium Facilities score, where you either get 1.5 points or zero, and you have to tick 9 boxes to get 1.5. But there would be a lot of work involved in that I'd guess, though perhaps the intention to build the boxes at the POR end is a start in that direction. Fincane is the other area where we might have scope for improvement you'd think.

I'd argue that Social Media should be high on the agenda now, and not just for IMG points.

We need to be all over Tiktok, Insta, Youtube, Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook with at least 4-5 posts a day, most of them just for engagement farming purposes (interviews, polls, lads training, daft quizzes etc). This is how we reach the next generation (not facebook & twitter, they're for old codgers like me. Young uns rarely use them).

You won't see instant results, but you need to be in people's faces all the time if they're going to remember you when it's time to spend £20 on a Sunday afternoon's entertainment.

[The Phantom Horseman]

39 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

I'd argue that Social Media should be high on the agenda now, and not just for IMG points.

We need to be all over Tiktok, Insta, Youtube, Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook with at least 4-5 posts a day, most of them just for engagement farming purposes (interviews, polls, lads training, daft quizzes etc). This is how we reach the next generation (not facebook & twitter, they're for old codgers like me. Young uns rarely use them).

You won't see instant results, but you need to be in people's faces all the time if they're going to remember you when it's time to spend £20 on a Sunday afternoon's entertainment.

Yes, this is a fair point. Hopefully as we get a more secure financial position we'll be able to get someone working on this full time, I think part of the issue is we've probably been operating on something of a skeleton staff this year.

Edited October 28 by The Phantom Horseman

[POR]

On 26/10/2024 at 20:56, haskey said:

I thought the heading for this post was SQUAD

'Don't worry h apparently we only have to

Stay tuned in the coming days as we announce some exciting signings

[POR]

According to PH we have signed some really class players that are going to be very entertaining to come and watch

[Catflap]

41 minutes ago, POR said:

According to PH we have signed some really class players that are going to be very entertaining to come and watch

He's certainly bigging these signings up.... Is this going to lead us to be underwhelmed??

[lingaro]

Didn't he also alluded to some being full time or having plenty of time to use the clubs facilities...over seas players??

[The Phantom Horseman]

45 minutes ago, lingaro said:

Didn't he also alluded to some being full time or having plenty of time to use the clubs facilities...over seas players??

Yes I noticed that too. Could be overseas players, could be domestic signings (eg we have been linked with Tuimavave and if we signed him I don't imagine he'd be supplementing his income with a few shifts at One Stop). Also could apply to Foundation players.

[bigbaldnmad]

Think it would be nice if they announce some.

[Tubby]

39 year old Harrison Hanson been released by Toulouse... If Hull don't go for him, it would be about right for us!

[POR]

58 minutes ago, bigbaldnmad said:

Think it would be nice if they announce some.

PH said some sort of presentation night  this friday with some announcements  b furthermore

Featherstone Rovers can confirm the seven players that have left the club following the end of the 2024 campaign. Charlie Harris  Harry Bowes, Zeus Silk, Keenen Tomlinson, Wellington Albert, Declan Patton and Jack Bussey.

[Michael Bates]

Jack Bussey, Wellington Albert, Dec Patton, Charlie Harris, Zeus Silk, Harry Bowes and Keenen Tomlinson all confirmed as not returning. Some showed flashes but no real losses there.

 

I think injuries have caught up to Bussey unfortunately as he's been exceptional for the majority of his second stint at the club. Remembering a horrible day at Workington away a couple of years ago when he won the game for us himself. Other highlights include him playing at Bradford at stand off with the number 10 shirt on his back and absolutely bossing it. All the best Jack.

 

Unfortunately the post also seems to say, without saying, that Greg Eden will be staying.

Edited October 30 by Michael Bates

[POR]

More news from the club 

Keep your eyes peeled over the coming days as a number of exciting signings and retentions are set to be announced!

[The Phantom Horseman]

3 hours ago, Michael Bates said:

 

 

I think injuries have caught up to Bussey unfortunately as he's been exceptional for the majority of his second stint at the club. Remembering a horrible day at Workington away a couple of years ago when he won the game for us himself. Other highlights include him playing at Bradford at stand off with the number 10 shirt on his back and absolutely bossing it. All the best Jack.

 

Agree wholeheartedly with this and I'd add his appearance at "prop half" against Toronto at home a few years ago was another great display. One of my favourite players in his two spells at the club and also one of the most versatile, graduated from playing half back for the reserves to being a regular middle whilst also very effective at back row.

Edited October 30 by The Phantom Horseman