Quote: Fax4Life "Er WRONG the Calderdale Community Coaching Trust is nowt to do with Calderdale Council its an independent trust and Halifax RLFC buy their services like other organisations such as the schools, thats what puzzles me how a club like Gateshead can afford these players???
Is there some special RFL rule in 'development areas' that means the 'expansion clubs' get the services of 'community players' for free???
I dunno but you need very deep pockets to pay for ex NRL palyers and on the evidence of last Sunday if they have 300 fans its on the top side tbh'"
I do not have inside knowledge of Thunder's finances, I am just a fan but I would imagine that any business plan they have is based on more than gate receipts (the support of the club has been pretty constant for the last few years so the gates we have would not have come as a surprise).
As well as the sponsors we have the club is heavily indebted to Steve and Sarah Garside who have put a lot of their own cash into the club and continue to do so. Without their input Thunder probably would not have survived and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude.
As to players wages, I have no idea how much they are paid but we have a mix of full time and part time staff who I would assume are paid accordingly. May explain why Thunder may be able to afford ex-NRL players
