Yes hard to believe when every other sport leap into bed with the bingo,betting and booze crew.

I would think (or hope) we have gone back to Heinz with a begging bowl

Given the size of the NRL's TV deal, I think Nigel Wood should go prostrate himself at the feet of our Aussie cousins, and ask for a few crumbs from their table, on the grounds that they won't miss the loose change, and it'll enable their players to carry on coming over here for a jolly for a few years more.

Last year's deal was an absolute shocker, which not only got us bugger-all last year, but has - as others have pointed out - probably made it much harder to get a deal this year. A few of us called that at the time....

I dont think BIG Nige could live with the crumbs off anyones table

I agree its not easy, and that the RU brand is worth far far more ( basically because your brand gets all the additional free exposure from the wide media coverage ) ... however....they're paid good money at the RFL and its not supposed to be easy. The question is not 'are we doing as well as Union?', because that would be unrealistic, but rather, 'are the current people at the RFL delivering somewhere near the best that could be realistically acheived?' The reason I don't like the excuses is that it seems we have virtually no standard by which to measure Wood et al. if every 'failure' is excused by 'well its hard'. How will we ever know if they're doing a good job? Put it this way, if I were an applicant for the job, I'd expect to have to commit to delivering a decent sponsor within 9 months, and expect to be fired if I didn't. I don't think its unreasonable for Wood to be held to that standard. If, after firing him, the next guy also fails to find a decent sponsor, then Wood would have some grounds to turn around and say "told you so, aint so easy is it" but he's been in the job too long and we should thank him for his service but take a shot at some new blood and fresh thinking.

Can we not go the same route as cycling?

They avoid the over reliance on one title sponsor for races like the Tour de France by signing up a pool of smaller sponsors.

The risk and exposure is lessened and its easier to find replacements when one sponsor leaves as the cost for a new company is shared with other title sponsors.

What I fear is that a publicity seeking, desperate RFL promote one of those lotteries where companies can pay £5k or something for a ticket and there is a clubcall type draw to pick the winning name. For me that would cheapen the value of SL.

don't panic the RFL/ SL have geared up three blue chip sponsorship deals for SL CC & WCC
Comet - Jessops & HMV
our future is safe

if HMV get on board will it be a record year?

(really sorry about that, i'll get coat)

This might be a daft question but there is a commercial department at the RFL ?

I assume there is, maybe that's where they're going wrong!

I couldn't find anything on the RFL site that actually points towards a Commercial Department (useless I'm going blind!)!

Quote MP="MP"I assume there is, maybe that's where they're going wrong! I couldn't find anything on the RFL site that actually points towards a Commercial Department (useless I'm going blind!)!'" If you ask them, I'm sure they'll say there is, but the whole thing just comes across as not-very-professional. Random example, look at the photo of the Directors www.therfl.co.uk/the-rfl/about_t ... _directors. Granted, you'd need a bit of work to make that lot look dynamic, but even so...ill-fitting crumpled suits and a cardigan, guy at the back resembling a used-car dealer from the 70's. Stood outside an old red-brick building. Does a commercial partner think "these guys will get value for my brand"? Not to mention the dreadful image quality. We have a massive uphill battle marketing this sport at the best of times, but we don't help ourselves by not getting the details of presentation right. This stuff seems trivial, but it matters.

Quote MP="MP"I assume there is, maybe that's where they're going wrong! I couldn't find anything on the RFL site that actually points towards a Commercial Department (useless I'm going blind!)!'" If you ask them, I'm sure they'll say there is, but the whole thing just comes across as not-very-professional. Random example, look at the photo of the Directors www.therfl.co.uk/the-rfl/about_t ... _directors. Granted, you'd need a bit of work to make that lot look dynamic, but even so...ill-fitting crumpled suits and a cardigan, guy at the back resembling a used-car dealer from the 70's. Stood outside an old red-brick building. Does a commercial partner think "these guys will get value for my brand"? Not to mention the dreadful image quality. We have a massive uphill battle marketing this sport at the best of times, but we don't help ourselves by not getting the details of presentation right. This stuff seems trivial, but it matters.

Oh, and whilst I'm ranting, look at this defintion of 'Vision, Mission, and Strategic Aims': www.therfl.co.uk/the-rfl/about_t ... na__values Most of you have probably heard of S.M.A.R.T. when writing this sort of stuff. It's not management-waffle ( though it can be in wrong hands) but common-sense. Make EVERY goal: SPECIFIC MEASURABLE ATTAINABLE RELEVANT TIME-BOUND Almost all the RFL's goals fail to match almost all of those criteria. The result is that the 'strategy' is itself just a load of waffle, against which its almost impossible to decide if they're delivering or not. Which is probably just how they like it.

Oh, and whilst I'm ranting, look at this defintion of 'Vision, Mission, and Strategic Aims': www.therfl.co.uk/the-rfl/about_t ... na__values Most of you have probably heard of S.M.A.R.T. when writing this sort of stuff. It's not management-waffle ( though it can be in wrong hands) but common-sense. Make EVERY goal: SPECIFIC MEASURABLE ATTAINABLE RELEVANT TIME-BOUND Almost all the RFL's goals fail to match almost all of those criteria. The result is that the 'strategy' is itself just a load of waffle, against which its almost impossible to decide if they're delivering or not. Which is probably just how they like it.