Our game is now in a hell of a poor state.

I hear radio ads for the world cup on national radio, yet clubs in the heratland of the game are withering and dying!

The RFL need to look very closely, not just at what our sport aspires to be, but what it actually can be!
Wakefield, London, Bradford, Salford - all had or are having serious financial problems that have threatened the club. Add this to the anecdotal suggestions that Hull KR and Cas could be in bother too and youve got half of the games elite competition that is on the brink. and these are only the ones we know about.

I sincerely hope that the RL community, led by the RFL, rallies around for Salford like it did for us, but my fear is that because they are not seen as a big club, they have been in and out of SL over the years, and the fact that we are currently in the off season means that they will be allowed to go to the wall.

I hope not!

If credence can be given to recent comments by Salford Mayor, Ian Stuart that the Reds have already received loans from Salford Council of £1.5M, and that the Council are rejecting an ask of a further loan of £750,000 then the Reds are in dire straights in the amount of loan they need to stay alive.
He says that the Reds have a cash flow problem and have failed to pay their rent on the stadium and that fans are part of the solution.

"Fans are part of the solution", sounds like there is no-one with serious cash waiting in the wings, but they are leaving it a bit late to sort anything out for this season and it's fair to say that £750K would be a hell of a lot to ask the fans for.

Sadly I can't see a way forward for Salford. At least here at Bradford we have a potential fan base exceeding 10k which gives us some hope of future sustainability. The 3/4k Salford support is simply not enough. Perhaps if they changed their name to Manchester Reds they might be able to garner a bit more support but from what i've read the supporters would rather see the club die than see that scenario!

From the T&A today...

Contrary to reports, meanwhile, Bulls coach Francis Cummins has not tried to recruit Salford assistant coach Sean Long onto his coaching staff.

It is understood the former St Helens scrum half contacted Cummins about potential vacancies in the light of the uncertainty surrounding Salford's future.