Not really. They were in an impossible position in 2020 but Elstone manoeuvred them out.

The fact that Leeds and St Helens were so incensed by what Elstone did that they voted against him in a confidence vote suggests Hetherington and McManus saw plenty they liked in the club.

Setting them up to fail IMO. I just don't get how those who make the decisions come to the conclusion that the best way to improve Super League is to handicap the new boys.

It's because the people making the decision are the other Super League clubs, or at least a majority of them. And they are not interested in improving the league by making the new club competitive.
I believe Leeds voted against this, Hetherington, as he usually is, on the right side of the key decisions.

Yep, this is the exact reason I'm hoping Leigh stay up

The £800k is not an issue, our owner has stated that, the biggest problem is that we have signed a quality champ squad most of whom have “not quite made it” at the top level ( Jordan Thompson an example) or are on their way down (Ben Flower)

Also have an unproven coach a top end of champ let alone SL,

With not much quality around to bring in its gunna be a tough gig

100% spot on. How many other sports allow the turkeys to vote for Christmas? Its absolute madness.

We pay money to have a RFL board and a SLE board and they dont even make any decisions. The clubs do.

Leigh, Toronto, Timbuctoo should all have the same central funding as the other clubs in the league. You either accept them into Super League or you dont. To ask Leigh to compete on less money than the rest is absolutely ridiculous.

If the latest Sky offer is true the it could be 10 team SL or maybe even 8 .never mind 12 . Elstone has a big negotiating job on his hands

Some clubs are really going to struggle if they have to take a 50% cut in TV money.

They'll have to accept Sky's offer. There is no one else interested. Tough sh-t. The game continues to kill itself.

I’ve not been following any of this, are BT not interested?

If Elstone does a deal where the game ends up on only 50% of current deal, Nigel Wood’s reign will look like a golden era.

IF the deal is for less than the current one, Elstone should fall on his sword and the RFL should take control of the game again. IF....

The game needs an injection of cash and a strong enough governing body to implement some considerable (and painful) changes to the game as a whole in this country and not just fritter it away.

Unfortunately, im not confident in either, the tail wags the dog and the governing body (ies?) are so weak its untrue.

I'd love the NRL to come in and buy into the game over here and revolutionise the antiquated systems in place here.

We have consistently as a game undersold ourselves time and time again, look at the publicity that has been generated in the mainstream media by Kevins MND marathons, look at the positive impact RL has on communities across the North, look at how the real RL family comes together and the savagery of 80mins of RL and tell me how the fudge a governing body(ies) cant sell this game to audiences consistently and profitably?

We've become a game mired in gimmicks, quick fixes, fads and selling the game on Northern stereotypes (not gonna fly outside the M62) Until we start to embrace a more professional presentation of the game then we'll always hand the vison of the game to its detractors / Mungoball haters.

Does anybody understand the pros and cons of the private equity deal Elstone is reportedly negotiating. I would have thought if we are going down that route Leeds would be be better served by sorting something out for themselves. Can't really find anything good to say about Elstone. Hetherington and McManus have clearly smelled a rat, and I trust both to get the big things right.

Because Darth & McManus know both how to run a club.

Others are just blinded by the promises of ££££ but cant see the long term effects

McManus was one of the people behind the split and the appointment of Elstone, all to get Nigel Wood away from running the game, as they didn't have faith in him negotiating the TV deal, based on the previous 5 year deal he negotiated. In hindsight, Wood deserves a medal for that deal.