OKAY, not so long ago I said I didn’t want to talk about those three little words, or to be more accurate, initials – but I just can’t stop myself.
I’ve thought long and hard and looked on at what’s been happening since the Rugby Football League announced their twelve-year partnership with IMG.
That’s more than two years ago, and what we’ve had since seems to be far more controversy than progress.
We’ve got a new grading system which is pretty much another version of an old one in licensing, which was brought in for the 2009 season, then thrown out after 2014.
Even the outgoing RFL president Sir Lindsay Hoyle has had a dig at it, saying getting rid of promotion and relegation is a mistake.
I have to agree, and while it feels like I’ve been talking about it for ages, and I won’t go into fine detail all over again, it’s summed up by the farce over London Broncos.
They are the only remaining professional club in the city everyone says the game has to crack in order to truly flourish, but under IMG’s supposedly ‘super’ system, they appear to have no future in Super League.
You also look at Oldham, the grand old club Hoyle was visiting when he made his comments, and while admiring the investment and ambition, I wonder whether they will ever be able to dine at the top table again.
It seems to me that if a club isn’t already in Super League or have been over the last few years (with the Broncos the exception that proves the rule), they have an awful lot of work to do to get there – and not much of it concerns results.
Sport is all about winning and losing, fans dream of seeing their team lift trophies or go up, and worry about them going down.
That’s where the drama is, that’s what provides an edge and meaning all the way through a competition, and that’s what makes sport so compelling.
When you make what happens on the pitch less important than other things, you’re losing a vital element.
As Hoyle said: “When there’s something to play for, I always think that’s the best initiative.
“Of course you’ve got to make sure you have a proper ground and we’ve got to make sure we’ve got standards, but it’s got to be a combination of the two.
“You’ve got to have aspiration, otherwise why do people bother investing?”
IMG were supposed to be earning their hefty payment by bringing in new fans, new sponsorship and new money, and by raising the profile of Rugby League, but we’ve seen little evidence of that happening.
Their latest idea is reviving the War of the Roses, and I noticed Sam Burgess coming out to bat for that idea and suggesting it could become our version of State of Origin.
But while I thought the idea worth exploring at one time, I think that ship has now sailed – the players don’t want it, the clubs don’t want it, and I’m not sure the fans want it.
To me, we’re paying money to IMG that the game can ill afford. I’m not sure we’re getting anything like the outcomes we want or need, and I think many agree.
Contracts can be ended, and while it might cost us financially, it may be worth suffering some financial pain for longer-term gain.
Does anyone at the RFL have the crystals to do it?
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