Thank you so much for that

That's exactly what rob Parker is doing.

Nankivell prepare to be shot down.

For what its worth while its not what the majority of users of this forum will want to hear its a thunderbolt of reality.

I’m not going to shoot him/her down as he/she as the right to their opinion, and I hope we look after his/her son, wish him well and hope he enjoys his time with us.

But for me the main crux about no P&R etc it’s not about if we are good enough, it’s that it removes the sense of occasion, the special tingle in fans and players bellys. You can’t compare teams at the very top.

I couldn’t tell you our league position, as I haven’t looked at the league table once this season it simply doesn’t matter where we are, but I do know that the team I’ll be shouting for tonight at Ewood are 16th probably no chance of promotion and more likely if they don’t buck their ideas up could still be relegated. (Even though tonight’s game is about a possible visit to Wembley beating the Pie's there would be a Brucey bonus )

I work in W!g@n and if you talk to their fans they’ll tell you they got better and rallied together because they had a season not too long ago where it looked at one point they could be relegated. That’s what sports supposed to be about players full of commitment, wanting/needing to win and fans going watching nervously because it matters, because we could 'win' promotion, because we could be relegated. Because we could win the Cup (50/1 Rovers ).

Interestingly I heard on the radio last week that Rangers (the Scottish lot not the Miners) are considering going to the European Court, as they beLeighve that preventing them from joining the English leagues is an illegal restriction of their Business under the European fair trade laws, it was mentioned that the impact of this should they win would have a similar effect of the Bosman ruling, and leagues all over Europe would not be allowed to put in place restrictive regulations that prevent clubs playing in whatever league. Whether this would apply to licensing rules for SL is currently anyone’s guess.

However the poster is correct in most of his points.

Time for the old boys at the RFL to go and bring in someone who will save a dying game, as if you look accross the board, even SL the attendances are down. Theres a thread on the VT with the SL and Championship attendences on.

The longer the set up remains the same, everyone attendances will begin to wane, even Fevs will decline again when they get rejected.
It was said at our LISA meeting we take 300 fans plus to away games but no one ever bring that many to ours.

You won't hear Leeds fans moaning about not being able to get promoted because they are in the top league and they have a chance to play in finals at Wembley and Old Trafford. I think you would hear them moaning if someone suggested they should twin with the NRL clubs, thus making SL a reserve league for NRL teams. That's not a bad idea - Hetherington and Nigel :O)

The problem for Champ sides is that they are playing in front of ever decreasing crowds because the top prize has been taken away from them and their promising young players get snapped up by top teams in SL. We just want a level playing field so that every team in Rugby League has a chance to aspire to the very top. If you see that as moaning, that is your perspective. I see it as supporters fighting for their clubs right to have a chance to get to the very top, which has been taken away from them.

Please dont get me wrong im all for P&R but am a realist the old days of yo yo teams bouncing up and down divisions getting tonked every week by 60 and 70 points are the last thing any sporting competition needs. What in all honesty is the reality of our club ever being ready for SL within the foreseeable future (barring a wealthy investor coming on board and investing crazy amounts of money)???? not to mention the fact other teams are in a far better position on and off the field and have been for many years now to make pomotion and relegation irelivant to us anyway.

When we all take off our Centurions tinted glasses and look at the big picture the reality is all we have is a Stadium (which is not our asset as we own it) and what else in all honesty that SL is really looking for????

The club is being run on charity and hand outs with volenteers in key roles doing what they can in thier spare time (which i respect 100%) but its not a foundation for full time professional RL.

Regards restriction on trades franchising was voted in by the clubs so i fail to see how anyone fighting against it would have a leg to stand on.

With the best will in the world and respect to Rob whos a great lad and has been a fantastic RL player he isnt a buisness manager nor a commercially driven guy.

Ive no doubt hes giving the role 110% effort and comitment and ive no idea what kind of deal hes struck to carry out the role but could we not have been smarter here?

Quote: Starbug "While you are correct to a degree Graham , it is pointless worrying about things you have no control over , all you can do is do your best to expoit what you do have some control over , I'm sure at some point in your business life you were in a similar position , did you give up , or did you find the solution ?'" When things were taken out of my control, as they have to a degree with all Champ sides, and I lost my business and life savings, I changed tack and I wrote and self published a novel for secondary school children. It is called TOM O'KELL AND THE SHAMAN'S DRUM and is available on LULU.COM and AMAZON. It will soon be available on WWW.TOMOKELL.COM, maybe in a couple of weeks. I am also trying to get it into Waterstones. Someone who read it wrote me a two page letter saying that she couldn't put the book down and that it is a lot scarier and darker than HARRY POTTER. Maybe the club could invite me down to do a book signing if they can get enough children interested and make some money from it. Maybe there is someone out there who wants to invest in marketing the book and sponsoring me to write the sequel, TOM O'KELL AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE JACKAL. I had to get my advert in :O)

Quote: Starbug "While you are correct to a degree Graham , it is pointless worrying about things you have no control over , all you can do is do your best to expoit what you do have some control over , I'm sure at some point in your business life you were in a similar position , did you give up , or did you find the solution ?'" When things were taken out of my control, as they have to a degree with all Champ sides, and I lost my business and life savings, I changed tack and I wrote and self published a novel for secondary school children. It is called TOM O'KELL AND THE SHAMAN'S DRUM and is available on LULU.COM and AMAZON. It will soon be available on WWW.TOMOKELL.COM, maybe in a couple of weeks. I am also trying to get it into Waterstones. Someone who read it wrote me a two page letter saying that she couldn't put the book down and that it is a lot scarier and darker than HARRY POTTER. Maybe the club could invite me down to do a book signing if they can get enough children interested and make some money from it. Maybe there is someone out there who wants to invest in marketing the book and sponsoring me to write the sequel, TOM O'KELL AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE JACKAL. I had to get my advert in :O)

You seem to have it summed up nicely there, and it hurts like hell, but we really don't have a chance of the 2015 place should there still be one in SL .

Dick it gives me no pleasure i assure you, like you say it really does hurt but reality always does.

You are Neville Chamberlain and i claim my £5.

Lets hope the current directors are a bit more Churchillian.

Blinkered.

They also have the personal gratuntees(sp) with the bank, so why should they put in more?