Are we not pleased that the RFL are on the ball here? They have done what any PROPER organisation would do and will investigate quickly etc.

I am pleased about this as we usually get silence from our "leaders" let me re phrase this the RFL leaders, I would not want them anywhere near leading me as I suspect a number of Halifax fans may feel the same about one of the leaders.

What a pity they did not take this action some years ago and Father Ted has mentioned this and as many know (those of us at a Riversiders meeting) Millward knew of the details on the following Monday after Long and Gleeson had done something similar. The question is why did the RFL not take the same action and we can all surmise and speculate and of course they took over 2 months to identify what any normal people and business would have done within 2 days probably 2 hours to identify the situation and deal with it there and then. However the Challenge Cup Final was around the corner and Long was MoM so everything is OK.

This is the RFL an organisation that does not seem responsible to anyone, but just look at the salaries paid to its senior people. Are they worth their pay would you pay someone over £200k a year to have the profile we do? We are becoming a very second rate sport with a good product but flagging international profile and frankly a joke organisation e.g. Willie (I know the Tongan President) Mason etc. Unfortuantely I feel our days are numbered with a static salary cap, no international profile, matches shunted all over on terrestrial TV and but for a few clubs a low fan base unlike Union which has increased substantially in the last 5 years.

I am afraid where we will be in 5 years and my view is the powers that be put too many eggs in the (we need Yorkshire i.e. Leeds to succeed) and I know the Leeds fans will get uptight about these comments but please reflect on how long it took with Sky's massive input to get there. I will of course accept Leeds had a really good side and youth policy but believe they also had an advantage from Red Hall being based there. However this mail is not about the latter it is about where we stand in the sporting arena?

Please let's not kid ourselves. This is absolutely awful for the credibility of the British game with the attitude some of the RL players have. How can we attract credible sponsors and bumper TV deals when stories like this are out there?

The RFL have FAILED to protect the credibility of the game when they didn't hand out life bans to Sean Long and Martin Gleeson. The RFL have to be VERY heavy-handed with this. This lad should be given a life ban from the game. They should conduct a thorough investigation and make a statement on the matter. To set an example and send a warning to anyone in the game who fancies a bet on their own team. We need to protect the credibility of the game. If players are betting on their teams to lose in the Super League, Championship 1 or 2 then fans are going to wonder what's the point in seeing something that isn't a contest? It shouldn't matter what competition you play in, how big a name you are or how old you are. You threaten the integrity of the game with something like this and you're banned from playing the game for life. No excuses, no exceptions.

.... and no winning bonus offered. !

Agreed!! remember though there's higher profile sports with similar/bigger problems than us in RL, its not good no, but lets not over exaggerate. Rugby League is in good shape in general

Its in better shape than Celtic eh mate? Champions again ole ole!!

Well there you have it. As we're negotiating a new TV deal (presumably with Sky) one of his pi$$ poor excuses for a newspaper runs a story which, when blown out of proportion as much as it has been in that article, can be used to drive down the money his other company (Sky) would have to pay us. Dave Whelan is nothing compared to this to$$er.