Oh dear.

Thats no way to talk about Nigel Wood

with all the uncertainty, steve mac has quit now.

ironically..his quitting because of the uncertainty greatly increases the uncertainty!


Question is...where is he going..must have somewhere lined up? Even uncertain pay is better than no pay! Rumours are that he is going to Whitehaven..

mapleyther

was told all the players had to look for new clubs

taken from and I hope Fridays meeting at the RFL is a positive one "

Rod Findlay, Thunder Chief Executive, commented:

"It was with great sadness that I received Steve's resignation and I know that Steve and Sarah Garside are sorry to see a coach of Steve's calibre leave Thunder. Steve and I have obviously worked very closely together since he was appointed in May 2009 and I have learnt a lot from him. I am sure all of the Thunder family will wish him well in his next venture."

Something which doesn't seem to have been stressed in all this is that Gateshead didn't play Leigh until after they had acquired all their extra Aussies. Even if they could have afforded them there was never a level playing field there. What would have happened if we had played them earlier?

I've never had a problem with the Toulouse thing: they were the rules. Gateshead is another matter entirely, something the RFL should consider when they discuss the matter later in the week.

oh dear
Posts: 124


Rumpole signing off
« on: Today at 07:22:36 PM » Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Thunder fans and friends,

Today has seen the departure of our coach due to the uncertainty surrounding the future of Thunder with the present benefactor. This departure was for the right reasons and I for one wish Steve a happy future. There was a planned meeting on Friday that Steve was to attend as there was some hope that the club could go forward with the RFL's approval. Rod indicated that such approval could take many weeks and having regard to that fact Steve left the club to pursue his chosen career elsewhere.

At the meeting of the shareholders the other week when Jenson Button Ltd and Arion decided not to honour their commitment to the club and failed to pay over the 120k we had been waiting for for the past 18 months or so. I as everyone knows have been funding the club during that time with only one month this season that did not require a substantial input to pay staff and players wages. Clearly without any assistance this situation can not continue. I was and are only a 20% shareholder in this business with a debt to me of many thousands.

I have decided that I cannot continue funding this club and have therefore withdrawn any financial assistance to it. It would take many weeks to reform and set up a new company that would still require a high level of funding. If anyone wants to take up the Thunder baton and move it on with a new company then they have my complete blessing. Perhaps the thunder storm might link up with others to move the name on.


We have made some great friends in the North East over these past 5 years and we wish you all the best for the future.

Regards



Rumpole

Looks like the smelly stuff has hit the fan. If the Oldham situation carries on it doesn't look good for rugby out of Sky League, is the Championship/Championship One structure still viable with 2 less clubs?

I'd combine the two and split them into conferences.

This is very sad news for the game and especially for the sensible Gateshead fans.

The best way forward for the Championsip is now one league. Nine home games a season is plain daft and even the RFL and that bloody idiot General Zod must realise that.

Findlay will make sure they're okay, he has a business plan that he's putting to the RFL and they wont turn him down.