Would you regard Richard Lewis, a great Rugby League sports leader?

Since holding the exectutive chaiman position since 2002, he has seen over many changes and developments in our sport over recent years. Such as the increase in broadcasting coverage and the increase in rights income, the Super League licensing system and reunification with the BARLA after nearly 30 years of division. So having very little knowledge of our sport from the start, how big has his influence been?

If not, which other great sports industry leaders would you say have provided more for their sport and why?

think he is a tit maself but hey each to there own

totally agree they all need a reet good kick up the a e at the rfl

I'm not in the position to be able to comment on the work he's done as I don't have any evidence to hand of what he has done and not done.

But I will say the international game is just as much of a mess as it's always been. Instead of 50,000 at Old Trafford or 38,000 at Leeds, this weekend will see us play in front of no more than 25,000 at Wigan, at a time when club attendances are up on average. Puzzling.

On a domestic level, Richard Lewis has done a fantastic job IMO, mostly in setting the foundations for expansion and marketing Super League. More recently the Championships are slowly being transformed into a creditable competition in itself instead of the dark basement that was the National Leagues.

As for the international game, there has only been one financially successful tournament since the Super League War of 97 that shattered the game at that level. While it may be a mess, its a mess on both sides of the world, and one that Lewis (as Vice-President of the RLIF) and Colin Love are slowly cleaning up.

The brains behind the franchising system, which will just about kill the lower leagues.

What those lower leagues that arent that far off the standard played by teams in The BARLA leagues....?


yet he could be the Brains behind the idea that Got the Catalan Dragons playing in front of sell out crowds, getting to wembley, producing French players plenty good enough for Superleague...and the knock on effect improving the French Game........


Boo Hoo..... Bring Back Widnes its ten minutes away from My front door......


Jesus Wept.....

dont be such a tit. rl was already established in the south of France. They had a backer who brought in Australians and stacey Jones, to say that some bloke from the rl did this for Catalans is just plain stupid.

Im saying look at the state of some of the lower league teams, gateshead, Oldham and Rochdale for a start. within 5 years, there'll be onl 2 leagues thanks to the franchise system and the lack of promotion and relagation.

Of the lower leagues, only Barrow have the ammo to be in superleague, evenmore than Celtic and Harlequins. A lack of quality coming through from the lower leagues, ultimately effects superleague and the national team.

Would Stacey Jones et al have even considered going to Catalan if Richard Lewis and the RFL had not invited them into Super League in the first place.



So you would like to see clubs spend lots of money they don't have on trying to get into SL? Would you like to see clubs that fail to get into SL go bankrupt because they've invested so much money into one season, and so you can have a cheap thrill once a year sat in front of the telly while 34 men play for their livelihoods in an attempt to put food on the table for their families?



No it doesn't because a lot of Super League clubs develop talent from within these days. Look at Kevin Sinfield, Danny McGuire, Rob Burrow, Kyle Eastmond, Joe Westerman all of whom played for Leeds, Saints and Castleford academys respectively.

Are you on drugs?

I know they do, so basically you're saying if they dont make it to a sl club, then they may aswell pack in? Have a look at the current GB squad players and see where they all started, not all started off with a sl club.

And tbh, I was happy about Catalansbeing brought into sl, what I'm not happy about is, franchise system.

Vikingman;

Barrow own their ground, have a wealthy backer and have no debts.
How many other lower league teams can boast those facts? Certainly not Widnes...

Yes Craven park is a real gem, you have the ability to pee all over your own shoes and stand under a tin shed and buy a rat burger.

A wealthy backer? Des has a fair amount of money but he isnt in the same league as our chairman.

We made a loss last year but also come just short of a 1 million turnover, no other club can get anywhere near that.

We are the best supported club outside the top flight and your statement is idiotic.

I think Richard Lewis has done a fine job. He can't fix everything, even in five years let alone five minutes, and he had to go conservative on the international game after the losses of the 2000 World Cup. I also agree with another poster that, given the perceived vast superiority of Aus over England, we'd be unlikely to be able to get those 50,000 plus attendances for Wembley and the like, so it's better to sell out Wigan than have 30k in a 75K seater stadium.

The fact that Lewis is also not a 'classic northerner' also helps with media. I'm a northerner myself so no offence here, it's just good to hear RL spoken about intelligently by someone with 'received pronunciation' and to have the media broadcast this to a public that often still thinks we all have cloth caps and whippets.