I completely disagree - we want to encourage kids into our sport as a healthy outdoor activity is having a CEO who is morbidly obese a positive image?

The top sports administrator in this country is Dave Brailsford - part of his success is his close connection with the sport through active participation. Do you think the UK would have won the Olympics if the lead negotiator was the size of Nigel Wood.

Image is very important these days would you say Russell Crowe has had a positive or negative impact on RL in general?

nigel wood isnt the face of RL in this country, nor should he be. Nor should any CEO. No-one is looking Sepp Blatter and seeing a fit young man putting forth an image of health and vitality. Alex Horne at the FA is not a slim man, and i though Bill Beaumont had been dead for years, having seen a recent pic of him I'm not sure i was wrong.

How long into the Today programme is N Wood on please? Obv. I want to listen to it. I'm glad he didn't mention S Burgess as that would be promoting RU and making ppl think, 'oh yeah, he left RL.' Also we've heard enough of R Crowe this weekend, I wouldn't have wanted a reminder, again it would get proper sports supporters thinking, haven't they got other celebrities following RL, seems as if it's just R Crowe. You see lots of celebrities at RU matches (granted they're international matches that everyone goes too). But still, you know what I mean. But yeah, I wish he would lose some weight, and yeah I think he should leave the RFL, I'm sure a club would employ him.

Gina rinehart, James packer, Clive Palmer etc etc

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world it has sponsors wishing to throw millions at it - despite having a number of ethical issues at the top. RL in this country is fighting for every penny it has to tick every box to even get an audience. Having a CEO who must weigh at least 25st is far from ideal. It doesn't present the correct image IMO.

If Nigel Wood isn't the face of RL in the UK who is?

I dont like the man, i dont think he is doing a good job, but his body is not one of the reasons why. I can't believe any one is going to be put off by the fact the CEO is, in your opinion, fat. People used to say they couldnt have a woman at the head of a company because it looks bad, or they couldnt have a black guy or a homosexual running a company because of the image it gives off. Those people are dying out as dinosaurs, relics from a less informed time. The world came to realise that how you looked, what your private life was like, your lifestyle and personal choices didnt define your capability.

And if Nigel Wood is the face of RL in this country we have far bigger issues, It should be JP, or Hall, or Roby or someone actually playing the game.

What I don't get is why would Gary Hethrington allow someone like Nigel Wood to be the face of UK RL? Surely he could have picked someone else with a slimmer frame

I'm not sure they're the same; obviously any right-minded person would agree that the characteristics you've identified shouldn't be an issue when it comes to assessing competency and suitability for a particular role; those attitudes are dying out and rightly so - they needed to.

The issue of obesity is a rather different one however; for me, it speaks of a certain attitude towards ones own health and wellbeing that doesn't necessarily fill an employer, or employees, with confidence - if I'm looking for someone energetic, motivated, determined, tenacious, disciplined and inspiring, morbid obesity projects the opposite of all those things; even if the individual says they are, their lack of care for their own physical condition would suggest otherwise.

All that said, I agree with you - I don't think Nigel Wood is doing a good job, but that's not because he's a fat knacker.

Yeah but the gays are more at risk of aids aren't they, that portrays a certain attitude towards health and well being.

Or a black man with dreads, why would they want to project that image? Probably stoned half the time, hardly convincing they are motivated

Women are just naturally weaker aren't they, don't have the tenacity or discipline, too focussed on children and shoes.

He absolutely should have slipped a reference to Russel Crowe in. You may have heard enough of him but you're an RL fan who's had to put up with Eddies Hemmings banging on. You should not be the target audience for a piece on 'Today' which is an opportunity to let the wider world know we exist.
As for mentioning Sam Burgess and peope thinking 'oh yeah, he left RL', have you any idea what the profile of Rugby League is outside the heartlands? Let me flesh this out for you.

The only time I heard colleagues talk about Rugby League was when Ben Flower did his haymaker on Hohaia. During the discussion someone mentioned 'bloodgate' that happened at Harlequins, when I piped up that was not the same game the response was "yes it was, it was rugby".

If the entire first team of any Superleague club walked down any street in central London they would be so invisible they couldn't get themselves arrested. Rugby League doesn't have a low profile outside the heartlands, it has no profile outside the heartlands. Seriously, nobody knows we exist.

That is the audience you are broadcasting to, you have to give them reference points.

Oh yeah, the interview was around 08:30

He was 15 months ago.

...or is this too part of the imaginary BBC conspiracy?

There is no logic to your argument; you're either being deliberately obtuse, or you've disappeared up your own anus. For all the faux pc outrage you imply, I know that you're intelligent enough to understand that there is a difference between being morbidly obese, and characteristics such as gender, sexuality or cultural background.

I can't speak for the South of the country, but I work in Central Scotland, and whilst not many people follow the game they are all aware of it and know about it to a degree. When I first started up there people would mention Hull City to me, and when I said I was more interested in rugby they would generally say something like "it's all rugby league round there isn't it?" and a few would ask me which Hull team I supported knowing that there were two. I work with a guy from just outside Falkirk who supports Warrington and watches religiously on Sky, and a few others who enjoy watching on tv. But then on the flip side I had one guy who knew about league but wasn't even aware that international rugby league existed. Yet Scotland will be hosting a couple of 4 nations games next year!

So in my experience there is an audience for the game outside the heartlands, and people who are aware of the game are interested. Even in Scotland where 1 inch in the papers about the game is a miracle. There's a big market out there and we need to do more.

If Nigel Wood isn't the public face of rugby league, why is he doing interviews on the BBC?