You forgot that all players now have to be born in Yarkshire so he can pay them in Hovis.

Yeah and it seems we're now best buddies. The great Saints/Wire/Wigan/Hull KR power grab of 2018 will go down in history as one of the pivotal moments in global sports.

Quote Alffi_7="Alffi_7"McManus having a swing back at Hetherington now www.totalrl.com/saints-chairman- ... herington/'" That’s very wet well put from McManus there, well said!

Quote Alffi_7="Alffi_7"McManus having a swing back at Hetherington now www.totalrl.com/saints-chairman- ... herington/'" That’s very wet well put from McManus there, well said!

Not much of an ego battle going on there, eh readers?

People have their views on Gary Hetherington but he knows what he is doing.

He has built one of the most successful sporting dynasties of the past decade and a half. Before he took over, Leeds were the glamour club of money but no real substance and success. He completely changed their performances.

He has earned the right to have an opinion.

I'm beginning to think you were once an ex coach or chairman.

And before that he built from scratch with his own money (when he wasn't rich) an expansion club that made it to the top flight and stayed there.

He knows more about running successful and profitable RL clubs than anyone else in the UK sport. He more than has a right to say.

Given he's literally the only UK SL club representative without a financial incentive behind these moves (he doesn't have to put money into his club to support it) there is a lot to be said for looking at why he is against the other SL clubs trying to raise the drawbridge and sidetrack the rest of the sport.

Leeds don't care about the structure particularly nor do they care about pinching the money from the championship clubs - but putting the unsuccessful SL club owners in charge of everything is a recipe for disaster. It's Elstone's job to ensure he isn't sidetracked by the self-interests of those owners and the RFL's job to ensure the wider interests of the sport outside the top flight (especially the community game) are looked after.

So far Elstone's start as an independent arbiter has been distinctly unpromising.

I wouldn't say that Saints, Wigan and, to a lesser extent, Warrington are examples of unsuccessful SL clubs though.


The SL clubs are the shareholders of SL and pay Elstone's wages so I do hope he is putting their owners interests first. The RFL can look after the lower tiers and grass roots. Something has to change as the game is on it's knees.

I think the way this is going is ...

1. Have a smaller SL with French and North American sides with the TV rights money shared amongst a smaller pool. Salford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Widnes into the championship.

2. Remove / dramatically increase cap - so we can get some quality back into the sides.

If their stated concern is the commercial success of SL Wigan and, to a lesser extent Saints are the worst examples - huge losses despite being well established clubs with decent crowds and generally winning on the field. Wire are somewhat better.

Ian Lenagan is the last person who should be lecteuring other people on how to grow audiences and increase commercial revenues for RL. His only interest is in ultimately grabbing the money that goes to the Championship clubs.

Quote The Ghost of '99="The Ghost of '99"If their stated concern is the commercial success of SL Wigan and, to a lesser extent Saints are the worst examples - huge losses despite being well established clubs with decent crowds and generally winning on the field. Wire are somewhat better. Ian Lenagan is the last person who should be lecteuring other people on how to grow audiences and increase commercial revenues for RL. His only interest is in ultimately grabbing the money that goes to the Championship clubs.'" Most of the association football Premiership clubs run at a financial loss due to the largess of their owners yet the Premiership is the most successful football league in the world. If you want to watch a club break even on 4-5K average crowds then don't be suprised to see low quality players and a dull spectacle. I'm sure seeing a healthy P&L will be of little comfort. Maybe less SL generated money has to go to the Championship clubs and have some go to the wall and the strongest re-invent and prosper. We cannot continue with the SL being hamstrung and restricted by bankrolling the long tail of clubs which even their own fans have stopped watching*. [size=85 *The average attendance in the Championship is ~2000*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_a ... ts_leagues[/size

Quote The Ghost of '99="The Ghost of '99"If their stated concern is the commercial success of SL Wigan and, to a lesser extent Saints are the worst examples - huge losses despite being well established clubs with decent crowds and generally winning on the field. Wire are somewhat better. Ian Lenagan is the last person who should be lecteuring other people on how to grow audiences and increase commercial revenues for RL. His only interest is in ultimately grabbing the money that goes to the Championship clubs.'" Most of the association football Premiership clubs run at a financial loss due to the largess of their owners yet the Premiership is the most successful football league in the world. If you want to watch a club break even on 4-5K average crowds then don't be suprised to see low quality players and a dull spectacle. I'm sure seeing a healthy P&L will be of little comfort. Maybe less SL generated money has to go to the Championship clubs and have some go to the wall and the strongest re-invent and prosper. We cannot continue with the SL being hamstrung and restricted by bankrolling the long tail of clubs which even their own fans have stopped watching*. [size=85 *The average attendance in the Championship is ~2000*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_a ... ts_leagues[/size

But the stated point of this breakaway is to strengthen the commerical performance of the league. Why would we empower people whose own clubs (Saints and Wigan) have seen constantly declinining crowds and revenues? We're placing a lot of faith in Elstone who I'm sure is a fine administrator but if Lenagan is the power behind the throne we are in trouble.

Could it not be said that we are in trouble without change? The whole of UK Super League is in crisis with a stale, boring game with dwindling interest.