Well blow me down with a feather! I take it all back.

A bit worrying though where it says he has no previous experience. Is it a case of doing things on the cheap again?

I hope he does well for us.

Think it will be OK, commercial management is less abotu financial management and more about relationships and building them with people and linking them to CTRLFC.

Commercial Managers are people with a wide and varied network of relationships who can press the flesh and get endorsements, concessions and appearances.

Having heard Mr Foz speak I think he is extremely articulate, well liked and funny - much like Mr Poskitt used his ex playing network of contacts to improve his footprint, so will Mr Fozzard. Lets not bag it before it starts!

I do not think it will be a case of doing things on the cheap, in my experience these kinds of role have a small basic salary, but pay a linear scale based on commercial revenue and growth - so it should be risk free, the more money in the Tiger till, the more you get paid.

One thing's for sure, if he can't open a few doors he'll just plough straight through them.....in fact where his name won't take him his appearance might.

You know what, this could work.

In the current economical climate its harder than ever to try and get companies to part with sponsorship monies so to set on a guy with no experience into the lead role is a big risk. He's a good bloke to have around but he's been a professional RL player all his working life, are his knowledge of business and his contacts going to be substantial enough at this stage? I guess he'll come cheaper than an established commercial manager would and it could well be a success but then again it might not, time will tell. Its certainly a headline grabber but will it bring home the bacon?

If you think this is a good appointment then try reversing it in your head... how would you react to a complete amateur turning out at prop forward (... insert the obvious joke here ... )? Seriously, sales and marketing are key to any business. This is a huge risk which belies a lack of commitment to a crucial business function. I hope it works out okay, but let's face it the precedents aren't good.

Well put.

I hate to bag the guy, because he seems like a genuine bloke, but I'd rather he'd come in as a junior member of the marketing team and learned the ropes before taking on such an important job straight off.

I wonder if he'll go to meetings with his big arm strap/weapon in place?

Will he walk whilst kicking out at the same time too?

Happy with this appointment, his off-field persona very much belies his on-field one. He's a personable bloke who will undoubtedly have plenty of contacts throughout the game.

I'm in the dark here so could people who know explain to me what experience Craig Poskitt had prior to his appointment to the role?

He is a likeable man with big aspirations and very ambitious.

Having listened to him at the Meet the Players event start of last season everyone left the event asking for him to get into the RFL.

He has big ideas and who better to speak of desire, passion, what rugby league is about and then showing them what their money will be going towards than a man who has devoted much of his life to the sport.

All too often I've seen people with no connection to the game come in and think it's a simple sale exercise. In reality, to sell the sport, to sell the game you have to have that drive, devotion and passion to it. People will then buy into that.

fully agree with you, fully

I suppose the downside is that you don't want to limit selling your commercial property only to people and/or companies who are interested in the game; you also have to be able to make a viable business proposition to people who are purely interested in promoting their brand - that's where experience, expertise and selling smarts comes into play.

Either way, I hope it works out - he seems like a good bloke off the field and after the service he's given to RL, he deserves an opportunity to make a living without getting his head kicked in every week.

Correct. He does have that get up and go that you need in a commercial manager. Contacts will happen in time. I do worry a little about him not being qualified in this area but then again it's the robots that they produce at universities on media courses that have runined the music industry. Sometimes a new perspective can work. Good luck Foz.

....or a Kippax Welfare footballer turning out at loose-forward and we all know how badly that went

It only as bad an appointment as sticking goldy in the centre!!!!