RL COMMERCIAL Managing Director Rhodri Jones has revealed that he was once on the books of Hull FC as a media manager.
That meant that Jones, who has risen through the ranks at the governing body in 16 years, worked alongside the likes of Kath Hetherington in trying to enhance Hull’s media portfolio.
“I actually did eight months at Hull FC and not many people know that. I went and worked with Kath Hetherington and Jimmy Rule in a role of media manager,” Jones told The League Express podcast.
“They were at their new stadium, they had just won the Challenge Cup in Cardiff and it was also the period of time they sacked John Kear.
“So for a 24-year-old it was quite an interesting time to get used to and I didn’t really know what Hull was like.
“Peter Sharp came in as head coach, he was a really nice man. I really enjoyed working there but there was an opportunity that came up at the RFL in 2007 that I applied for and was lucky enough to get the job.”
Jones’ job, since becoming Managing Director of the newly-formed body RL Commercial, in recent months has been to explain the IMG grading system to all followers of rugby league.
A lot of that has focused on the quandary of the London Broncos who, after scoring so lowly in the provisional grades given to clubs at the back end of last year, will almost certainly be relegated from Super League in 2024.
The surprise of the Broncos actually getting promoted as quickly as they did means the capital club is currently not in the right place off the field, Jones has explained.
“There was perhaps an expectation that London wouldn’t be in Super League as quickly as they got promoted,” Jones said.
“The club isn’t in the right place but that doesn’t mean London disappears off the priority area.”
So how to crack the London audience? Jones is pragmatic but optimistic.
“One thing, we have to provide a London audience with a rugby league opportunity which we have with Wembley and potentially internationals. We haven’t had an international down there since the World Cup semi-final.
“There was talk around an IMG event there which is effectively Magic Weekend but we are continuing with that for the right reasons.
“We need to find a way of activating that London market but we haven’t found the perfect pill and I don’t think that’s a new problem for us.
“It’s something we are wanting to achieve over the next couple of years.
“When you look at Sky Sports’ audience data and our database data and in terms of population, London is third in the list after the North West and the North East and Yorkshire.”
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