Quote: ninearches "Interviewed tonight on BBC local news program & said his next job might not even be in rugby league. He came across to me as being somewhat disillusioned with RL.'" www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/41271778

Quote: ninearches "Interviewed tonight on BBC local news program & said his next job might not even be in rugby league. He came across to me as being somewhat disillusioned with RL.'" www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/41271778

He's dead right. RFL might want to employ him in some capacity

Whilst I agree with what he says, it does sort of make you wonder if this apathy and loss of interest had an effect on the team. I know he's the consummate professional but maybe some sort of underlying feeling came through and didn't stimulate the players.

He is right. I've not been interested last few years. Don't know what it is precisely but for me, as a sport, we don't do ourselves any favours at all.

We are a pantomime sport. Everything from Wolves Giants Warriors etc., to Sky's robot coverage, the presentation of which hasn't been invested in for years. Then we have the likes of Barrie McDermott and Eddie Hemmings thinking theyre comedians during the game. And everything in between. It's so old school its bordering retro.

We are also obsessed with growing the sport out of the NW heathland seemingly to try and prove ourselves to the outside world (guess what, no one's watching). We've abandoned historic clubs like Bradford in favour of ridiculous pipe dreams like Toronto which clearly aren't sustainable long term.

RL needs rebranding, professionalising, and needs to throughly reassess its goals. Sky also needs to assist in doing the same.

Didn't he do that for a short while when he was GB coach?

I imagine he will form some sort of motivational-speaking dynasty with Stuart Pearce.

He is spot on. We have been dull and uninspiring and games have become about seeing how long you can keep someone from playing the ball and get away with it. Biff / confrontations have been eliminated. Wingers are rated more for their kick return than speed and illusiveness. No wonder Sky haven't bothered to refresh their coverage in 10 years and crowds are falling. I've given up Sky Sports as I don't watch any games other than Warrington and the Grand Final.

Having said that I was hoping he would go to another club and take the following with him:

Agar, Jack Hughes, King Brothers, Patton, Jon Clarke and our entire scouting team. Basically all those not making the grade.

You made a lot of sensible points, followed by advocating a retreat to the heartlands which is a surefire recipe for killing our game. Bradford haven't been abandoned by anyone: they have had a series of owners all incapable of spending less than they bring in. The RFL even bought their ground for them ffs.

Meanwhile unsustainable Toronto get bigger crowds after less than twelve months existence than Salford, Widnes, Leigh, Wakefield or Huddersfield, five clubs with more than 600 years' collective experience in RL. Toronto will need to bring through some of their own players for sure, but I fancy they will bring more through than Salford, who can't be d to even run an academy.

I do agree the game is in a malaise. The current structure doesn't inspire people to turn up, the commercial element of most clubs and the RFL is a joke, and the RFL seem to have all but given up on international RL ( which for me is the key to increasing the game's visibility). We are also blighted with a fanbase within the game with a pathological impulse to see the negative in everything and to say everything is a joke if it isn't done like it was in 1975.

I just don't see, long term anyway and once the novelty wears off, Toronto being sustainable as a SL team. In fact I think it's ridiculous to have a domestic-international league. Catalan and Toulouse are about bearable but bringing in teams from across the Atlantic is a joke, regardless of their initial success. It's also another home game with no atmosphere for SL clubs.

RL doesn't have an international presence and never will have. It just isn't strong enough. It's not even strong enough in the heartlands. The best we can hope for is a return to a british and Irish lions type offering but even then we'll do something to ruin it. Like marketing it as some kind of WWE event.

Bradford may not have been abandoned but in fact the RL buying their ground has been more a hindrance not a blessing. I do agree their owners are to blame but to see a club with some 15000 fans to languish in the lower tiers isn't acceptable to me. The RFLs recent sanctions have made it impossible for them to rebuild. Just my opinion.

We also missed a trick at the end of the last world cup. It was marketed really well, was successful in attracting fans to all games and gerenally was a success. The RFL then did sod all to keep the momentum going.

While Smith is absolutely correct, you cant have a man with that view of the game running a top club.

saying that he has been feeling like this for years just makes it even worse..... he should have been removed years ago... NO, infact he should have walked away years ago when he knew his interest in RL was on the slide.

Now we are left with a side, that needs a massive rebuild, that could take years..... lazy recruitment, lazy coaching, poor motivation and terrible player-coach relations all coming home to roost.

leaves a sour taste this article...

Sport is becoming global so I see no reason why the 'Toronto model' cannot work. As for 'no atmosphere' sports like NFL in USa and to a great extent NRL do not enjoy big 'away' attendances.

What we do need is a completely new management team at the RFL. I think Roger Draper ( providing he's given a budget and sticks to it ) is the sort of character who can think big. RL DOES have an international tradition focused around GB v Aus test matches (not unlike cricket in that regard) and, though we ballsed up the opportunity to seize the name, we did have the first Rugby World Cup. You are right about the way we wasted a big opportunity at the end of the last one ( but that's my point about the RFL management ). Bradford had poor attendances for years - really SuperLeague was an aberration over their long-term record - and, in the end, overspent, as did Wigan in the 1980s. That the RFL bought Odsal may have proved a hindrance to their chances of a quick revival but, had they not done so, the club would not exist at all, now.

Union has increased in popularity by making the game more like rugby league (blind eyes to technical offences in play, reinterpreting the rules about releasing the ball when tackled to allow for 'placing' the ball, behind you for a team mate to pick up ) and by building on their 'establishment' base in the corporate sector. It's not an easy thing for smaller, established clubs to accept, but, to expand, direct investment by the governing body is necessary. In Aus, NRL competes with AFL in a parallel with RL v RU in UK ( RU meaning little there). Establishing Melbourne Storm in [iAFL [/iheartlands took lots of investment, and (despite the club's later issues over salary cap offences) it has been a success. Could not have happened if NRL had stayed with a 'heartlands only' approach.

Get rid of big Nig and move on.

Spot on this MD. Why wasn't this lack of enthusiasm spotted by the board etc?

Maybe now is time for a strategic review of our game, to encompass expansion, innovation, rules to return the game to the top as far as excitement and joy to watch is concerned. TS is saying what a lot of fans have been saying...our game is becoming boring BECAUSE boring tactics are rewarded. Something needs to be done.
Personally the idea that the way forward is to shut up shop and stick with the heartland is anathema. We should be pushing all out to make our sport national, if that means extra support for London and Birmingham etc then so be it. How can someone in Toronto start from scratch so successfully with all the additional problems of being trans Atlantic when we can't manage to build a successful London team is a very sad indictment.

Is it because a tv promoter has actually brought a new sport to the public. What sky did over here was just hijack our sport to ingratiate themselves with the viewing public & to sell their tv packages ,changing the format of our game as they went along. Once our pilot scheme was deemed a success they devoured every other sport to promote their tv network.