Quote: Ferocious Aardvark "This. It really doesn't matter what the RFL say or do, even if they invented a cure for cancer and ended child poverty, there are loads within the game who couldn't wait to slag them off. Even something as genius as getting the sainted Wiggo to defer to ours as a harder sport produces queues of doomsayers itching to list the ways in which the RFL has "failed".'"
Really? The RFL got him to say that? Are you sure its not because he lives near Wigan, loves RL, and is mates with Tomkins et al? It's great, but don't credit the RFL with it.
Not finding a sponsor for the first time since whenever counts as a failure to me. Now, there may be endless excuses and not without justification - I don't doubt its very hard to find good sponsors...but, there comes a point when people need to be judged by results, and - whether or not Nigel Wood et al think they've tried as hard as humanly possible - they need to man up and say "We've failed to deliver on a basic requirement. We tried, but maybe others can do better, and so [maybe, post World Cup] we're stepping aside to make way for new blood".
Perhaps all the RFL's defenders are right and there's nobody out there willing to take the job(s) that could do better, but its time we took that chance - they're unlikely to do significantly worse - how could they?
I don't understand what, according to your view, the RFL would actually have to do in order for you to say they've failed (or at least not delivered what you'd expect). Do you really believe the best people are in the job?