What if London don't make the start line?

Quote: Roy Haggerty "That's why it has to be a strategic decision. Only fools and the self-interested pretend that London's circumstances are the same as a standard M62 club. For London to succeed (as opposed to survive or limp along), then those unique circumstances require a unique approach. Without such an approach, then they will fail.

I don't think you should assume that the RFL [idid [/isee this coming, however incredible that may seem. One of the reasons why Richard Lewis was so valuable to the game is that he was capable of taking a longer view - when he was still interested in his early years - and his lack of connections with any particular club or section within the game meant that he was able and willing to face down the self-interested, and to put in place systems and structures which benefitted the game in the long-term, as opposed individual clubs in the short-term. Once he became detached, and you had a more traditional local RL-club chairman type guy in Nigel Wood, we saw the retreat from such an approach in favour of a make-it-up-as-you-go-along short-termism. That self-interested short-termism has now fully infested the game and can be seen behind the walk-outs, splits, abandonment of the licensing structure (which theoretically forced clubs to think long-term), bizarre league structures designed to appease less successful clubs, and the failure to deliver both sponsorship and decent TV deals.

To a certain extent, this World Cup is papering over the cracks. This is the traditional RL-on-the-field saving RL-off-the-field relationship. However, this season has been chaotic at the level of the national game. I can't work out whether it's incompetence or complacency, but it's probably both.'"

As always well said and well put. Good summary.