I welcome the news that the Rugby Football League and Super League, having made up and got back together after their messy split, have entered into a long-term partnership with IMG.
It’s for twelve years, giving the well-known and worldwide events management company, who have had plenty of involvement in all manner of sports, plenty of time to achieve their objective of “maximising” the growth of our game.
We certainly need some new independent thinking because sponsorship, TV money, attendances and even interest all seem to have been dropping, and there appeared to be trouble up ahead even before the pandemic came along.
Hopefully it won’t be twelve years before we see some results of IMG’s involvement, because there are crucial new TV deals to negotiate, with the current agreements with Sky, Channel 4 and Premier Sports running out next year.
It will be interesting to see how coverage pans out – will the same trio remain involved, will we see a continuation of different deals for different divisions, and how will those divisions be structured?
Talk of two tens, effectively a two-tier Super League, isn’t going away, and we don’t know the extent to which IMG will influence the thinking on that front and just how much power in general they will wield.
There’s a glaring need to re-energise the game from top to bottom, to strengthen the foundations as well as the higher levels and for clubs to look beyond their own vested interests to make sure Rugby League survives, never mind expands.
The obvious question is, having got a big hitter involved, will the powers-that-be and the clubs leave IMG to get on with it?
I really hope so, but going by the last 127 years, in other words, since the breakaway and formation of the Northern Union in 1895, I won’t be holding my breath.
If all that talk of maximising things sounds familiar, it’s probably because similar words were being used when Super League separated from the RFL back in 2018. And look at how that turned out!
As a footnote, I almost spilled my cup of tea when I heard RFL Chairman Simon Johnson telling Sky Sports viewers that supporters would get the chance to have their say on the future of the game. I’m not sure that’s ever happened.
Then again, giving an opinion doesn’t mean it will be listened to!
Little reward for Giants’ success
Congratulations to Huddersfield on their 32-22 win over Wigan, but given the number of changes each side made after their respective Challenge Cup semi-final victories, I’m not sure we should read too much into it ahead of their repeat meeting at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a week on Saturday.
I suspect as far as the two coaches are concerned, their notes on the match and their team’s performance will end up in the dustbin rather than the filing cabinet.
Still, for Ian Watson, it was another two points towards the Giants’ play-off bid.
What a shame there weren’t more spectators present to witness a seventh victory in twelve league games so far (and that should become eight in 13 when they host Toulouse on Friday, when I think they’ll win by 16).
After their excellent semi-final success against Hull KR, Huddersfield might have expected better recognition on their homecoming, and I felt for both Watto and Ken Davy.
The poor turn-out must also have set a few alarm bells ringing at the RFL, and there needs to be a big push on ticket sales ahead of the Cup Final.
St Helens were solid in bouncing back from their semi-final defeat by Wigan and seeing off Hull, and I rated it an eight-out-of-ten performance by the whole team.
Hull were decent (seven out of ten) but outdone by the hosts’ quality.
Daryl Powell is clearly still struggling to get any kind of consistency from Warrington, who lost their way in the final stages at Catalans, and George Williams just doesn’t look to be enjoying his rugby.
I think Saints will win by 24 at Warrington on Thursday, and I’m backing Hull to get the better of Wigan by ten on Saturday.
G’day Willie!
So after Hull KR wave goodbye to Tony Smith, they will say hello, or should that be g’day, to Willie Peters.
The Australian played for Gateshead, Wigan and Widnes as well as Souths and St George, so has an idea of what he’s coming to, although things have changed a bit since he returned Down Under in the mid-noughties.
He has been assistant coach at Manly and Souths and is currently at Newcastle Knights, working with, gaining experience and picking things up from some impressive names – although I hope he doesn’t carry on like Wayne Bennett did when he came over here!
I’m a bit disappointed Rovers haven’t gone for a British coach, but it’s their club and their choice.
It was slightly worrying to hear Danny McGuire, who I thought would have made a great replacement for Tony, say he wasn’t certain about his future at Craven Park.
He knows the club, players and supporters well, and he could be a very useful ally for Willie, but it may be that he has his own ideas on who he wants to work with. Time will tell.
Just as with Danny, it will be interesting to see what Tony does next, and hopefully Rovers will recover from their disappointment of missing out on the Challenge Cup Final and force their way into the play-offs for the second successive season.
They’ll have to do it without halfback Jordan Abdull, who is set to miss the reminder of the season with a nasty thigh injury which needs surgery. What a shame that is for both the player and the club.
It would be a big shame if their achievements of last year turned out to be a flash in the pan rather than the start of a period of sustained progress.
Having visited Castleford, they have a tough clash with Catalans on Saturday lunchtime (it’s the latest Channel 4 match). I’m going for the Dragons by twelve.
In the other two games, both on Friday, I think Leeds will beat Wakefield by 16 while Castleford will win by eight at Salford.
Back in the dug-out
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’m going to be back in the dug-out at Batley on Sunday, as director of coaching for the British Asian Rugby Association team when they take on Team Colostomy UK at Mount Pleasant.
It’s a 1pm kick-off and a curtain-raiser to the Batley-London Broncos Championship match and will be played under modified Masters rules to enable players of all ages and abilities to take part.
Team Colostomy UK, with whom my old Leeds teammate Carl Gibson is involved and with whom I’m pictured, were set up by the charity of that name in 2018 to enable people who have had stoma surgery to enjoy playing our great game and to challenge and change perceptions of what it means to live with a stoma.
Another of my old playing colleagues Ikram Butt formed BARA 18 years ago in a bid to help break down cultural and religious barriers and promote inclusion of all communities through sport.
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