Looks like Ottowa is the location for Canada 2. https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... the-future

Looks like Ottowa is the location for Canada 2. https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... the-future

DING DING DING DING DING! We have a winner!

The world has moved on and the thing that has perhaps changed more than ever over the last 20-30 years or so is the concept of the "working man".

The "working man" doesn't get dirty working in factories or pits any more - they work in clean, comfortable high-rise office blocks and on out-of-town business parks.

They aren't members of a trade union any more.

They are more likely to go to university than they have ever been before.

They don't have a "job for life" in the same town that they grew up in any more - they're much more transient, moving around looking for new jobs, promotions and living in different places.

They don't go to the working mens club for a pint of mild and bingo on a Saturday night - they go to the fancy bar in the city centre where they sell expensive cocktails because that's where the good-looking people go.

You can hate that societal change all you want, but you can't fight it. You can try, but you'll lose and right now, most of our clubs are losing. Tony Blair famously went after "Mondeo Man" and that's what RL clubs still seem to be doing, ignoring that "Mondeo Man" is now "BMW 3 Series Man".

What does any RL club in the UK offer to the "working man" of today that they can't get elsewhere?

Ok, let's have a discussion on where the game should be heading and why people actually watch the game.

Personally, I follow Trinity because I'm from Wakefield and RL IS part of the culture.
Yes, there is a myriad of choice when it comes to how one may wish to spend their time and amongst other things, I follow Wakefield.
This usually means all home games, barring the odd one that may clash with something "more important" and I also attend around 70% of away fixtures, including Catalan, plus, home international games.
The most enjoyable fixtures are the derby games (Leeds and Cas especially) plus, the annual trip to Perpignan and I've done this for most of the last 35 years.
Despite doubting that Toronto should be in the competition, I will also attend this fixture when they make it into SL, although this is likely to be a one off, rather than an annual trip.

As I have said previously, RL has no sensible forward thinking, none and I firmly believe that replacing UK based sides with N. American clubs, will kill the game in this country and IF the sport is serious about growing the game over here, "we" should target an area, give it 5 years (minimum) of the Magic Weekend to help generate local interest and assuming the "new" club was in SL, protect them from relegation for 3 -5 years.
WE should also look at ensuring that Toulouse are included in SL a.s.a.p. to try and lift the games profile in France.

At this point, moving "magic" back to Newcastle would be sensible, to allow their fan base to grow as, currently, Magic is nothing more than a mickey up and it's not doing anything to "spread the gospel".

Maybe "we" could also consider having Magic or maybe The Challenge Cup Final at the Nou Camp, which again would create some great publicity.

You've not mentioned anything about marketing & TV games which hits new audiences and would attract new supporters in all areas and particularly new growth areas
Also growing grass roots rugby to hook kids and families into the game- in new areas

Moving 'stuff around' is no different to introducing a shot clock. Its gets noticed by the regulars

The Magic Weekend is like a mickey up because that's what it is designed to be. It's designed to be an event that the RFL can sell to cities and venues. Any notion of it being an "expansion" exercise is either secondary, or manufactured by people who want to point out that it doesn't work.

RL may not have sensible forward thinking, but that's not just an RFL issue. Where is the forward thinking at the vast majority of our clubs to improve the matchday experience, to generate bigger crowds, to reach new audiences that don't currently buy into the sport, to attract new commercial partners and to make the TV product more attractive? There's very little evidence of any of it and these are all within the capabilities of the clubs.

The reason why North America has even made it onto the agenda is because the clubs here aren't doing these things. Whether that is through inability or inaction, our clubs have generally decided that instead of doing things that will grow the sport, the best way to stop the rot is to keep offering cheap tickets, insist that the need more loop fixtures to get more money from a declining supporter base and to make the playing talent take real-terms pay cuts for 20 years. You cannot blame the RFL for any of that - its the clubs that are voting for loop fixtures, the clubs that are under-selling the sport with cheap tickets, the clubs that are offering stadium sponsorships as raffle prizes and the clubs who aren't attracting new audiences. If they were doing these things, the appeal of having a team in Canada or New York is massively reduced.

You're right in that RL may well be a proud tradition in Wakefield, as it is in many other towns and small cities. But even if you take Canada and the US out of the equation, if this sport and the clubs continue with this path, how much of a tradition do you think it will be for the next generation and the generation after that?

Sorry Bramley but, you are utterly wrong about magic weekend.

It was "sold" as "taking the sport to new areas" and the only reason for it retreating to Manchester was falling attendances and I believe that it is you that is changing it's remit to suit YOUR agenda.

As for yet another swipe at Trinity regarding selling "raffle" tickets for it's stadium naming rights, I think this has been pretty successful.
It generates the same level of "sponsorship", if not more, than just "selling" the rights, whilst engaging with a greater number of local companies

As for the cheap tickets, you are correct. However, the catalyst to this was the threat of expulsion for clubs not reaching the RFL target of 10,000 attendances and the effects of this are still being felt at clubs like Huddersfield that can no longer sell their tickets at full price.
Cheap tickets are utterly counter productive and they cheapen the product.

My Irony meter has just exploded......after 2 decades of "London don't deserve a spot.....poor Keighley", the one time we do earn the spot and we shouldn't be there?
That Round 1 defeat still hurting?

Magic Weekend came about because the Welsh Tourism industry, which had got hooked on sports fans staying in Cardiff whilst Wembley was under construction, threw £1m at the RFL to host an event that would fill hotel beds in Cardiff. Expansion was not the agenda. It's move back to Manchester was influenced by a similar deal with the North West Tourism / Development agency and an arrangement with Manchester City, who were influenced by the profit from bar sales. The events in Newcastle also had similar economics behind them.

The idea of expansion may have been mentioned in various sales pitches, but I'm sure you understand that what influences decisions and what actually gets "sold" to the public are two very different things. Magic Weekend is about profit - nothing else matters.



Its not just a swipe at Trinity, but at any club that resorts to such a tactic. It shows poor commercial acumen that a club can't establish a value for one of its most important properties that someone is willing to pay for. Much like cheap tickets, the raffling off of sponsorship cheapens the value of the asset. Why would a sponsor pay a market rate for something when they "can take a punt" for a fraction of it? Are you saying that it's a "sign of success" that a club's stadium naming rights are seen as a "bonus", rather than something valuable? You can't convince me that raffle tickets was Wakefield's 'Plan A' - it was almost certainly a panic tactic when they couldn't get the true value of the sponsorship. I think the

FWIW I still expect London to get dragged into the relegation battle but, good luck with the season.

We were sat a couple of seats away from Mr Hughes and hid lad when London played Toulouse in France, when a howler by the ref cost Toulouse a point, with the game ending in a draw.