This is further bad news for us. I don't think that without him at Quins we would be at the Stoop. Now he's gone i fear that the new incumbant may take an 'anti' stance against us and either kick us out or price us out. It never rains.....

That thought geniunely had not crossed my mind when writing the original post, but that could also provide another reason for commissioning Evans - a useful insurance policy having someone on board who'll still carry considerable weight at the club.

Totally agree on all of this!

out of interest, what is the basis of our agreement with the Union lot WRT groundshare etc - is it a long term contract?

I believe we had to show we had a ground sorted (for three years) before applying for the licence we have now. I hope this has been done for the new application.

Apology accepted! Now lets hear no more of this Union nonsense!

Mind you, if Mark Evans fancies a bit of a challenge (and we can afford him) reckon he might be the man to finally get the club moving commercially bearing in mind the impact it would seem he had at RU. Certainly worth inviting in for a bit of a chat eh Mr Hughes?

I'm trying to work out what do all these comments say about our current CEO, Paul Blanchard? Is it [ijust[/i that people think Mark Evans would be better (I agree) or is that people think Blanchard isn't doing a very good job. We have been told he had a crucial involvement in the RFL negotiations. So I guess some kudos must go to him for that.

Personally I think Blanchard is about as much use as a chocolate teapot and I can't really think of a many positive improvements under his tenure which have helped to move the club forward.

Mark Evans given free range from Mr Hughes would double our gate in 12 months. given a long run our profile would rise and Mr Hughes would be able to spend less and maybe usea bit of cash for a real marquee signing.

Does anybody actually know what was negotiated with the RFL and what they are doing which has the potential to help DH out?

Tend to agree with this but presumably if we are sent packing you would
think our Landlords would consider where the off season shilling will be coming from.?
I say that as a dual coder with RL as my clear preference.

Agree elsewhere also if we could tap into Mark Evans expertise it will
hopefully prove invaluable.

I really don't think it would be realistic to expect Mark Evans to come in as our CEO - from my reading of the situation he will work on a consultancy basis therefore perhaps in offering advice to clients. Now if we could persuade him to take us on as a client, that would be a different matter. I've seen first hand what he's done at our Union friends as a duel season ticket holder!

We couldn't afford him.

It would have made sense if we could have obtained his services for free as there is no guarantee he will be able to do anything.

Rugby league and rugby union are completely different sells.

I think that's what The Penguin was getting at in the first place. I probably took it a bit off topic by bringing up the CEO stuff.


I agree with this, but surely we need to look for some way of breaking out of the cycle of low expectations and poor results on and off the field. I'm not saying buying expensive players like Monaghan or spending money on expensive consultants is necessarily the answer, but surely some novel and new ideas have to be attempted?

You can't keep doing the same things and expect a different outcome. The way things have changed (or more accurately not changed) since the last rescue “package” it seems like the club is content to just to stumble along surviving.

I mean involve him on a consultancy basis and I thought I'd made that reasonably clear.

I know he would be expensive but I think it would be a more than worthwhile investment given the potential rewards. QRU were a tight ship under his tenure and there must surely be some lessons we can learn; Particularly WRT GETTING SHIRTS IN STOCK FOR XMAS and having a competent back office operation.

Lets face it, there is no need to waste money on Evans to implement such changes, a school leaver with a GCSE in Business Studies could manage that.