We might not have now but we have had once that recall in the dim and distant past and it could happen again which again and as boring as I sound it is exactly why diversity and inclusion are hugely important in todays world. The "we" I use is all of us not a rugby club. The world is becoming more polarised and education is massive so that's why I am all for this stuff and JJB will be amazing at it. Like I said my issue was with the negative language used for the post and nothing else.

I suspect many organisations in different walks of life are finding that they have to take issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity more seriously these days. Better to do so and have a conversation about it than making defensive statements about not having a problem and trying to hide from the issue... We might like to assume that the treatment of players like Paul Sterling were isolated incidents in the past, and while I think RL in general has a good record on diversity, there is always room for improvement. JJB's new appointment sends out the right messages going forward IMO.

Amen to that !

Agreed. The goal should be to sell out the ground on match days. We are currently about 7k short of that. The only way to achieve this is by reaching out to a more diverse audience. A no brainer really. Anyway, will be interesting to see who we fill the coaching vacancies with.

SL average attendances for 2022 are out and are poor. Perhaps this isn't too surprising, but it's not something we necessarily have to accept. We're the highest, with Wigan, Sts and Hull not far behind. After that they drop off a cliff. My point is there is a game wide issue. It's all very well having a few clubs better attended than others (albeit with lots of room to improve) but if in the medium to longer term there is no one to play against then it's ultimately futile. The sport, certainly at the full time professional level, is now totally reliant on TV money. This is unsustainable given the competition in this country for leisure £. I agree that the answer is more paying customers, but for that to even start to happen then the product has to improve. A start would be the best players being on the field not sat in the stands. After that, well, that's where IMG may have some of the answers. We all want the game to thrive, I suspect. I'm all for looking at anything that may help it to do that.

I agree but even if the best players were available for every single match you still wouldn't be able to prize the predominantly white, middle aged men, who claim to support the game but don't get off the couch, down to the ground. The sport needs to tap in to new audiences.

New audiences are never a bad thing. But if the product doesn't improve then we won't be attracting anyone.

Thought this was the”transfer talk/rumour thread”?

It is. We digress.

Any ideas who might replace JJB as assistant.Willie Poching seems to be available available.

like pastor kylie and dor kev retirement jobs, jjb diversified the culture with furner