Rugby League, yet again, shows just how utterly unprofessional it actually is.
The greedy muppets from Wigan & Saints just couldn't hold their water and gave some kind of fake news conference to tell the world something that hasn't even been agreed. Disgraceful behavior.

Whether or not the game abandons the current format and it probably should, the sport should be able to organise itself well enough to get maximum publicity and benefit from the change.

The sensible thing right now would be to increase SL to 14 clubs and include Toulouse and Toronto and if we then want 1 up 1 down so be it.
However, what seems more likely is a reduction in clubs to give 10 SL clubs a larger slice of the Sky cake.
Talk about killing the sport, what the hell is going on ?

On the subject of 2 x 10 SL1 & SL2, this is just a cull of the top flight and re naming of The Championship.
Nobody will give a toss about SL 2, again, just stupid.

Why? What do Toulouse and Toronto actually give to the game other than a bit of international glitz and expensive travel arrangements? Toronto add a bit of interest at the moment (which will wane), but Toulouse are established as a Championship team that needs an expensive flight (all flights are expensive compared to road trips) and accommodation to get to for away teams.

If the away team support is irrelevant, what do each of these teams actually give to the UK RL game in tangible terms?

Some of what you say is perfectly correct, however your chairman has backed this move & it is nothing more than protectionism from the mediocre, the poor & most likely to be involved in an 8 way fight for survival/promotion & greed from the very top. Only Leeds have come out to say that they do not back these mooted plans.

Yours & Widnes, Salford & Huddersfield attendances & revenue from ticket sales are pitiful for established Super League Clubs & no doubt all those Clubs will benefit from taking all of the pie *which is what Lennagan & Co want* while having the protection that the lower tiers will never compete without funding. Many of those lower tier Clubs will go to the wall & a breakaway or split may be on the cards if SL do not play ball.

What revenue do you believe Toronto & Toulouse will bring to your Club ?
Will Salford, Widnes & Hudds, KR, Catalans & yourselves be claiming your slice of the pie without ever really being anything other than bottom & mid table fodder ?

Will this lead to a breakaway or a complete split ?

Lennagan in particular & McManus think they can just railroad this through & all will just suck it up bit are they confident they won't destroy the sport in the process ?

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Did they heck. They took about 30 and I was one of them ! Not that I blame them as they played Toulouse 6 weeks previous and the Catalan game was televised. But if you're defining 25-30 as a large number then damn.

Your club has voted for it. Barwick and Rimmer can,t run Superleague they don’t have the dynamics to increase the image profile of our game.
There is still a lot of deadwood in RFL, marketing and sponsor values of our game are atrocious.
The game needs a fresh approach, Barwick just doesn’t do anything at all for our sport and Rimmer can’t view things from the right perspective. Hethrington will lose influence hence the dummy spat.

You say 'International glitz' as if its some glib throwaway benefit, but its actually very important in challenging some of the perceptions that hold this sport back - that we're a sport where big men just barge into each other in poor northern ex-pit villages.

Clubs like Toulouse and the proposed North American teams represent opportunities to change those perceptions and sell something different to the public, to broadcasters and commercial partners.

Whether the sport takes those opportunities is another question entirely, but the cost of a few flights is, in my view, an opportunity cost worth paying. European travel, at the every least, is common across pretty much all professional sports and given that we regularly see SL clubs flying out to the Canaries for warm weather training, I don't think it's a cost we can't bear.

Who has this perception? I've done a lot of work down south and in particular London and this isn't the perception I encountered once. The perception I got more was that club scene was pretty strong and in comparison with union - but international scene was non existent. Pretty accurate really. Plenty of people I spoke to acknowledged that the skill level is high and it's an exciting game.

I believe genuinely that the biggest detriment to our success is internally we do not believe we can be as big a sport as we want to be, and that our own parochial views hold us way back more. It's like we don't want to attract big sponsors and push the boat out no the basis we already think that they believe we are a northern pit town sport when in fact that is not the case, but we accept it and then give our sponsorship away for pittance.

Regarding Toronto & Toulouse.
Either stick them in the top flight and take whatever benefit there is in having additional overseas sides in "our" comp or, get rid completely.
I still dont know whether there are any major benefits in having them (in terms of profile, exposure increasing sponsorship & increasing revenue etc). However, there is sure as hell no benefit in having them in the lower leagues.
Cant argue about increased costs etc and these are, relatively speaking, far higher in the Championship, where the visiting clubs are less able to afford the additional expense.
IF they are needed in the comp, it makes sense to have them in SL, if not, well, they should never have been invited to join.

Regarding what they give to the UK in tangible terms, this will only be measured in future years and maybe we will se a huge increased TV deal


As I said, i'm not convinced but there is only one way to find out.

You and your stereotypes. We're a poor northern ex-fishing village I'll have you know.

That perception is certainly there in the commercial world and, on many of the metrics that advertisers consider when looking to push their message, the RL audience scores poorly - this like MOSAIC profiling, average household incomes, etc. That's not going to change without some form of expansion.

The advertising world has changed since the Internet era. It has become very cheap to reach the audience that we speak to. Facebook means that I could set up an ad in 15 minutes and put it in front of 4,000 people in Widnes for less than £200 (and I'd get the data from those people I reach). When it comes to sponsorship, that's what the sport is competing against now - not Union or Football, but Google and Facebook. One of the reasons we're so appealing to bookies and pay day loan firms is because they're still somewhat excluded from those cheaper platforms. The only way to tackle that is to reach an audience that is worth more (and so advertisers are willing to pay more) and harder to reach. Those audiences are usually in big cities.

I think you're right in that people can appreciate the skill, but we don't portray that very well. Too few of our players are properly media trained, with a handful of notable exceptions they aren't eloquent in front of a camera in the same way that players in other sports are, and it supports that 'thick northern lads' image irrespective of how skillful they are.

I also agree with you that the sport holds itself back, almost fearful of success, although I'd argue that's more an issue at club level.

The other side of the coin though is thats its not a perception, when people see Toronto full of ex pit village UK players and OZ/NZ rejects the reality is thats its a Deception. Grass roots need to be put in place so that they can grow progressively, its no good throwing them into the top end they will wither and struggle for identity with its fan base.

Do we really want to be a nomadic global sport all on the basis that it looks good. By all means we can promote the sport to other countries but giving them a place at the top table is fundamentally fallacious.

I think on that one you're looking for an issue where there isn't one there. Owen Farrell is from the same poor Northern ex pit village as Joel Tompkins, but one gets global endorsement deals and the other spends his spare time abusing bar staff in Wigan.

Pro sport is many things and one of those things is a form of advertising. What matters is not who is wearing the sandwich board, but where that sandwich board is and who is looking at it.

Toronto and North America represents a risk, but the bigger risk is hoping that we can keep doing what we're doing and that things will change.

People going on about Hetherington having a dummy spit but it was the 3 owners (and others) that have clearly had a dummy spit because they've come out with this announcement when talks are still ongoing and they haven't got their way yet.

Thing is if Leeds and GH wanted to look after themselves they'd have been sat right there next to the other owners. If the objective is of giving more money to SL clubs how does that hurt Leeds? They'd do as well out of as any of the big clubs especially with the new stadium work (which more money would help us pay for even better)

People go on about Leeds getting their way currently but what is it currently that is giving us an advantage over others especially the big clubs that we wouldn't have if things went the way those owners want it to go?

WHAT....LIKE GRIDIRON.....jesus wept.....when will anyone see that the EMPEROR IS NAKED?

All we are asking for is to give us a FAIR chance...let us have a go...we are more than up to the task! More than up to it AND SO MUCH MORE!

Congratulations on taking a comment out of context.

Look at the parts of the sport that get people excited - that go viral - it's not the big bruising plays, but the flair, the skills and the trick plays. That's what gets people talking about any sport - be that Gridiron, basketball, RL or soccer. It's the Ronaldos and Messis of this world that kids aspire to be, not Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier.

And not withstanding any of that, the NFL reaches hundreds of millions of people in some of the world's biggest media markets. They can afford to be slightly more resistant to change than we can.

Super League clubs are worried as 4 could go down and the championship as become strong this is what the issue is

Certainly one or two will go down this year....maybe more.

At the moment, if we went into the middle 8's like they stand now.

Catalans and Huddersfield definitlye have enough to take care of Toronto, Toulouse, Featherstone and Halifax. Hull KR and Widnes would be difficult, it would be close in most games however I would probably still put my money on the SL outfit.

Actually... I take that back. In each game where the SL team meet Toronto - it would be like taking a paddle from a Canoeboy.

RUN WITH THE PACK - Oh... thats right, there isn't one.

It's a tough one, as both us ( KR ) and widnes have had a real bad run with injuries and are now on the verge of getting people back, aided with some recruitment could come in looking good at the right time. Catalans I think will nick 8th, and huddersfield have proven to be rocks and diamonds. I've watched them be both impressive, and down right awful.

Salford I think could be the worry - starting 17 is decent, but the lack of depth is starting to bite and a few more injuries and signing people like shorrocks as starters could be a recipe for disaster

Not a bloody chance



Toronto look like they will be a genuine challenge but Toulouse & co wont be anywhere near.
Of the other contenders, Leigh probably have the best chance but, they're not yet in a top 4 place.

Halifax & Fev, not a chance and London seem to be struggling.

Widnes are the only vulnerable side but, you would have to expect them to make a couple of signings.
Even with Toronto busting a gut, it could still be "as you were", when we start next season - unless there is a format change, in which case all bets are off.

The fixture scheduling is a little unknown at present and this could be THE major factor in deciding the MPG contestants.

Halifax beat leigh at home heavily and lost at leigh last week by a try in the last 2 mins but ok Leigh are far better than fax

and Wakefield hammered Wigan last week. Does that make us better than them overall?

They may of but the league table does not lie does it wigan are second so your point is invalid

where fax are 4th and leigh are 6th