Good post.

If the chairmen ran the sport, we would have an 8 club SL with no promotion or relegation, with the big clubs having their own cartel.

Yes, there have been some dumb decisions made over the last few years and certainly something needs to be done to allow "over age" players to play, when they are not selected for the first team.
The dual reg system was an utter joke and abolishing the senior academies (with no viable alternative) was wrong.

The current 8/8/8 system appears an unlikely vehicle to actually allow Championship clubs to gain promotion, on the basis that Wakefield were as weak as any SL club either has been or will be and yet they came through the system unscathed (and future SL clubs in the same position are likely to be stronger than Trinity were).

We have new clubs coming into the game from France and Canada, which on the face of it is great but, is there any medium or long term plan here or, is the idea just to wait and see what happens.

Having done away with "franchising", the probability of these new clubs getting into SL and staying there looks quite remote. Whereas, under the old system, a new club could have been accommodated far more easily, so the change now appears very short sighted indeed.

The salary cap should definitely have increased year on year, if only to allow for inflation but, instead, it has remained stagnant, with the "tweak" on the Marquee player.

Since the move to the Grand Final, the Challenge Cup (with the exception of the final) is on it's knees and the top clubs now only need 3 wins to get to Wembley plus, it has become harder/impossible for any lower league club to ever get there.

The list goes on..................

I personally don't like koukash however if he was to get the support he needs for a vote of no confidence then I can understand it. There is absolutely no ambition from the rfl, a lot of us fans hold that view if think and there certainly does need to be a shakeup but as others have said, who will replace them?

I agree in principal in what the Doc is saying along with his objectives but the RFL has got a stranglehold on our poorly set up short term future. The problem is the Doc and his gang would have to come out with viable alternatives and people in place to take over parameters in the game to attract more money sponsors in the game and social media presence to lift its profile against other sports.

Nigel Wood looks a non moveable object both physically and administratively and I still don't know after all these years don't know what Brian Barwick has brought to the table, whatever happens it won't be a short term fix and just get the feeling its a little too late, its not a matter of tinkering with the running of the game its very much a complete overhaul from top to bottom.

If the word spreading about is true, the no confidence vote is not just about a bunch of unhappy Chairmen airing their grievances, but something much more serious.

I feel the same way - I find Koukash to be brash, impulsive and arrogant, and I don't see what value he's brought to RL other than his net worth.

That aside - there is certainly room for improvement at the RFL; the leadership is parochial, short-sighted and amateurish. I disagree however that Koukash and whomever (if anyone) supports his motion, have to have a readymade alternative. Surely all they would need to do is unseat the incumbent, participate in a selection process for a temporary CEO, then go out to recruitment. The key would be replacing him with someone with genuine pedigree and a track record in a strategic leadership position in sport - it's a decent enough salary, and if we cast the net outside of the extremely small world of RL, I'm sure there would be lots of interest.

Yawn.

Sorry but the man is publicity mad , he speaks before thinking and when he breaks rules and gets in trouble he plays the hard done by card . He comes across as childish on his twitter account . First and foremost he needs to grow up otherwise any good ideas he may have will be lost in his childish tantrum outbursts when he thinks the powers that be are against him .

I do genuinely believe that Koukash wants the sport to succeed and in his defence, he is one of the few people who actually speaks positively about the sport. As abrasive as he may be, I'd much rather listen to someone like Marwan than I would someone like Hudgell.

The problem I have is that he, many other chairman and many supporters see the RFL as something of a lightning rod for all of the games ills, when the problems actually lie at club level. The marketing of the clubs, investment in facilities, player development, recruitment and retention, and reducing reliance on central funding - the clubs carry the can on that front.

I don't think that there is any dispute that Red Hall has its problems, but I genuinely think that the priority at present needs to be getting the clubs to actually pull their weight and drag themselves up to standard. They've had long enough.

I thought and still think koukash is a prick of the highest order.

But Nigel Wood and the rest need disposing, and fast. Time to bring the RFL down.

There will be a reckoning and I for one can't wait.

To be fair to the RFL, it has produced/sanctioned some great additions to the game, such as the Magic Weekend, the 40/20 Rule etc.

There is just no strong leadership, they seem to mean well but their interventions and processes are clumsy and usually ineffective. Solly was a big loss, he must be replaced with quality + get some fresh faces in there, who know about sports management and aren't just there by default like Nige.

I suspect he has a point but its just the manner in which he goes about playing it out in Public.

The game needs a forward thinking businessperson who can lead the sport, develop a strategy to grow it and increase its profile and subsequent income. I can't imagine for one moment Wood and co thought 'let's take the game to Toronto', more he received a call from a wealthy businessman in Canada and entertained the idea. Sport is a business and relies on income from sponsors and television. That has to be the focus.

To me it appears he has tried to do it behind the scenes ( with some well placed public outbursts) and 4 years down the line has given up and is feels the only option is to bring it to a head in public.

Reading lots of RL forums, the general consensus is that N Wood has to go. Dr K has been beating that drum quietly and loudly for 4 years; Nigel is still there on £250k a year ( more than any SL player), flying first class to Dubai, Canada, etc so how long do you wait before doing what most RL fans think is long overdue?

Koukash's problem is that whilst he may be right that Wood isnt the right man for the job, he doesnt seem to have any idea who would be, or how we would find them. Its like everything else in the game, we are at a fork in the road some arguing to go left, some arguing to go right without anyone actually knowing our destination or even bothering to learn how to drive the car.

Ive no problem with Koukash going public if thats what he thinks needs to be done. Its the next thing im interested in, and the thing after that, and each thing after that. Getting rid of Wood has to be a means to an end, not the end in itself. I can't shake the feeling there are chairmen in SL to whom over-throwing the RFL is like a dog chasing a car. They are trying as hard as hell for it, but they have no idea what it is or what they will do with it if they get it.

Over several years, 5 IIRC. Which is nothing when there are very few other significant forms of revenue, the next biggest being government funding.

If we want development we have to pay for it, it won't just magically happen. We have to invest in development areas.

Personally, I'd take £300k off the tv payments to each SL club to give us £3.6m as a development fund from which one or two areas can be targeted with funds that might make a difference when spent consistently year on year. Rather than the scattergun effect we currently have.

Probably cheaper to fly 1st class than buy two seats