Do you have Osama on speed dial, just in case?

I think that's yet to be proven.

Not having a go at Cas as they are a traditional heartlands club but are they really what the future of RL is all about.

Forget tradition, forget history(why you ask), the future of RL is about clubs spread far and wide in modern stadiums with big crowds.

Has a smallish town in Yorkshire surrounded by other RL teams got that potential?

If you compare RL with football traditional teams have dropped divisions over time and the game has moved on. Big crowds, nice stadiums , plenty of sponsorship etc That is the blue print for success in the premier league

I really cant see the likes of Hudds, Cas, Wakey etc all being in the top league in the future. Maybe this time, but longer term, I'm not sure

We may disappear as well, who knows where the game will go.

Try reading stats like these, Cas is an area of tallent and always has been, how many players are from around Cas at this moment, How many have been brought through as youngsters by cas ?

rlLook Hererl
rlAnd Hererl

Does Danny Orr, John Wells for you ring a bell ?
players at Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield, etc etc, do i need to go on ?

Speedy I had a feeling you would respond. My post was about so many "small" clubs in a smallish area and there potential, not Cas in isolation. I accept you produce players more readily than most but that isn't necessarily the only criteria for the game in terms of individual clubs.

Man Utd possibly the largest football club doesn't have a team full of Mancunians. That doesn't appear to hold them back.

I suspect it all depends on where the RFL believes they can take the game. 5 SL clubs within 20 miles I doubt is the future.

Who knows

Where are these clubs you speak off? When they turn up and offer more than Cas currently do it might be time to consider the future of town clubs like Cas.

Cas will be in a modern stadium playing in front of big crowds (we already have decent crowds despite a crap stadium and no real success) within the next couple of years, our geographical location in a congested heartland is of no relevence provided we can compete and offer more than any alternative.

Does having 10 NRL clubs from the Sydney area (some with equally poor stadiums as our own clubs) stop that competition being vibrant or hold the game back over there?



It hasn't stopped smallish town teams in Lancashire and Merseyside from being the best club sides in the world at points in the games recent history.

What can you see on the horizon that makes you think northern towns won't have the potential to be successful in the long term?



The Premiership is a multi-billion pound industry where one club's profit, turnover, fanbase and tv revenue is worth more than the entire sport of Rugby League.

Rugby League is a sport with limited appeal in certain parts of the country and manufacturing clubs just so we can attempt to show the world we're a national sport played and supported nationwide by significant numbers is worthless and has a provern track record of failure.

Let them come, let them build and let them leave northern town teams for dead, until them let's cherish what we have before wanting them to be killed off.



Why not? and do you include Warrington or any other northern town teams in that group?



You may, but i'm not arrogant enough to dissmiss your club like many others frequently do and i wish you nothing but continued growth for the sake of the game.

I fully agree with the(some) points you have raised. I believe next Tue will give us all an indication of where the RFL want SL to go in the next 3 years and possibly beyond.

They have the Celtic C and Toulouse open to them for inclusion. It will be interesting to see if they bring either or both of them in and if so at who's expense, if any.

Accepting RL is not football and never will be in terms of size I believe we should be challenging and exceeding the likes of RU, cricket and Tennis for example.


As for your argument regarding Warrington, no one was more annoyed than me when Maurice made plans for them to merge with Widnes at the beginning of the SL era.





It has hence why they have introduced Melbourne, Titans, Queensland Cowboys, Canberra, Brisbane in the past 25 years, merged (Wests and Balmain)(St George and Illawarra steelers) amongst others, got rid of Norths and are about to relocate Souths out of Sydney- sadly your argument doesn't hold much strength

Anyway back to the topic-Welcome home Dorny you've had 2 seasons with teams that haven't appreciated your talents. Bring back the golden triangle

No, I don't want Tommy back, he wanted to go to Pieland, and he is no better than Orr IMO.

Have to disagree. Tommy was always prepared to take the defense on and thus is more unpredictable. Teams know that Danny is always looking to pass so they tend to move up and not rush in as they know what he will do.

Tommy is still unpredictable at Wigan. Interesting point about Danny Orr made by a few people. Thinking about it when we go from left to right alot defences compress towards the middle after one goes out towards Orr. This compacted defence protects against the kick but has also been great benefit to the likes of Tony Clubb and earlier Matt Gafa as teams don't seem to rate Danny Orr's kicking game (some fans here would say rightly so).

One thing is for sure is that we will miss Danny Orr this weekend.

That's dumb. Cas are a great club and offer loads to the game, so what if they're in a small town in Yorkshire? Their support spreads a long way further than the borders of the town anyway and there are plenty of smallish towns in top level soccerball. Blackburn's hardly a metropolis, neither's Portsmouth. A good club's a good club. And Cas is definitely one of them.

We will see the RFL's vision for the future on Tue. Everything else is opinion and conjecture

Which makes it much more fun

No we won't we'll see something between their vision for the future and an appeasement of the northern heartland's clubs feelings.

Just a topic for discussion, but how much does th RFL and SL owe French Rugby League? I think there is both a duty and an advantage to help bring the French gane up to top class standard, but maybe that's fulfilled by Catalans. As such, I don't think that Toulouse should be in the mix on Tuesday.