Without more broadcasting revenue, the game will continue to go backwards. I've got no faith that Fat Nigel is the man to lead the game forward, but he's got the safest job in sport! Ridiculous and depressing

On the TV deal thing, is it not just a matter of demographics. Whether we like it or not kick and clap attracts a lot of rich public school types. As an advertiser those kind of people tend to be more valuable than your average working class folks.

That 'might' be why BT are willing to pay so much more to attract fewer actual viewers, or they could alternatively just be bloody idiots.

Fair enough if Wigan fans have concerns at that (although Hock was banned for 2 years and Wigan won Super League during that time), what I'm talking about is the argument that Hock's departure to the NRL is some form of sign of death knell of rugby league in the UK. If Hock had been just a rank average player, then we wouldn't be having this discussion.



Thats what stops a thriving international game from developing which is really what marks RU out from RL. If the Aussies really thought playing GB was the ultimate challenge, like they do in cricket in the Ashes, then things would be a lot better. The tickets for the cricket Ashes sold out very quickly when they went on sale and next summer cricket will be huge in terms of sporting profile.

But in general, this issue of players leaving and moving on is something that has always happened. In Wigan's glory days you used to sign up everybody from other clubs, Hanley, Andy Gregory, Offiah, raid RU for Botica, Tuigimala etc. People back then used to say Wigan were ruining the game for everyone else. Most clubs have to deal with the food chain reality that if they produce a good player, they will struggle to keep on to him for more than 3 or 4 years and will then have to watch him playing against them for their rivals, it's what happened to us with Harris and Sculthorpe, happened to Wakefield with Ellis. Wigan don't even have to worry about this. It's not like players are coming through, playing a couple of seasons with Wigan and then saying I want to move to a bigger club. Hock has been at Wigan for a decade and he's got the chance to play in the NRL....this isn't a reflection on Super League or Wigan being substandard, it's Hock being good and getting opportunities. How many of you guys that support Wigan, if you were professionals and had played for Wigan for a decade, would honestly say you wouldn't be interested in a move to the NRL?

For all this talk about marketing and making the game bigger do you really think that would change someone like Gareth Hock's mind after a decade in SL and having the chance to test himself in another league? Maybe he's been on these forums and seen people say stuff about players like Peacock or Cunningham "yes he's good but if he was really that good how come he hasn't gone to test himself against the Aussies".

As for the game dying and all this crap look at the gates SL clubs get now (despite the economic times) and compare to back in the late 80s and early 90s, I know Wigan fans will regard that as the golden age of RL but outside of Wigan, Saints and Leeds there were hardly any fans, it was just a hardcore of a few thousand at most clubs. Now the game has better stadiums and bigger crowds.

Anyway despite Wigan losing a number of players, its not like Warrington and Leeds are going to avoid this problem over the coming years is it. Now that it's harder to sign up loads of players from the NRL there will be a premium on which clubs have the best young players coming through, surely Wigan of all clubs are going to be well placed for this?

Totally agree. We now seem to exist in a world where, thanks to satellite TV, the Aussie game is viewed by some as a extension of ours (or vice versa), and an opinion is held that if our players go to the NRL it's no big deal. They're still playing the same game, they'll still be available for GB, who will probably improve as a result, etc etc. It's a just like they've gone to a rival club, so the game overall will benefit.

Well no, it ISN'T like they've gone to a rival club and it IS a big deal.

Our domestic game is so weak in terms of talent at present that it simply can't afford to keep shipping its best and brightest to the other side of the world, where, regardless of the nice warm feeling we may get seeing them plying their trade on obscure satellite TV channels that no-one else in the UK is watching, they have basically been lost to us. They're not waving the flag for the British game while they're down there (no-one would notice if they were); they are putting the fruit of all the talent that our game invested in and developed into a different game on the other side of the world. Discounting the few (dubious) benefits that our international teams draw from this, they may as well be in Rugby Union.

Losing our players to the NRL is now a much bigger danger, IMO, than losing them to that 15-a-side joke game, the main reason being that going to the NRL will not damage their reputation as sportsmen. No-one would take Chris Ashton, Kyle Eastmond or Joel Tomkins seriously as rugby players now - they traded wealth for respect. But the likes of Morley, Graham and Burgess are held in high regard. So it's even more likely that good players will go there.

And it doesn't totally surprise me that some Warrington fans are refusing to see this as a problem. Much like Saints did when the main threat was Rugby Union (until Eastmond of course), they so far seem to have led a charmed life in this regard. But all that may change very quickly if players like Westwood, Atkins etc were suddenly to rip up their contracts and vanish over the horizon.

You have hit the nail on the head here. We have a better product but can't market it.

It's interesting to look how Premiership soccer just did its marketing for the next three years. They have got £2.28 BILLION off Sky for 116 games a season for three years. This figure is being seen as an inflated bid from Sky as they were desperate not to lose the rights. They thought they were bidding against cash rich Al Jazera believe it or not. Richard Scudamore was able to play one bidder off v the next and the bids are sealed so its a blind auction.

So despite it being obvious premiership soccer won't come cheap given its standing as sport Scudamore managed to wring every last drop of cash out of the bidders at a time of global economic austerity. He even said it was the best time to be doing a deal following the epic contest for the title last season. That put the price up as well he feels.

Compare that to the defeatist attitude of the RL leadership who agree to give Stobarts free sponsorship.



You don't need anything like that. You need a marketing department willing and able to do stuff like compare viewing figures with RU and go off to the likes of BT V and say how much for RL? Given the lack of sport on BBC and ITV they must surely be a target who could still give us a big increase in revenue while saving them from having to spend silly money on higher profile sports.

I am not saying it is easy to do this but we don't even seem to try. If RU can get £38m a season based on their viewing figures we need to employ marketing people who can up the value of our product considerably. It may not go to £38m a season right away but they have to get the profile higher so next time the price goes up and so on.

Charmed life, really?

We have been losing our best players for years...Harris, Sculthorpe, Nigel Vagana, Kohe-Love, Nutley, Fozzard etc, Andy Gregory if you go back a few years. Wigan have led a far more charmed life than us in terms of being a club that signs other clubs best players far more than has their best players poached.

In fact if you look at NRL clubs themselves, with their tight salary cap rules, there is a LOT more movement of top players and potential to unsettle clubs. If you look at any of the top clubs and their player movement over the past 5-8 years you will see top players emerging and then being lost due to salary cap pressures. In Australia this forces a higher churn which will happen here too, and churn opens up spaces for young players. How often do we say young players don't get enough chance and are lost to the game, but if players get exported to the NRL then it will force clubs to focus on their own production lines to ensure their success.

The long run implication of this is the clubs that are going to dominate SL will be the clubs with the best youth systems. That already happens to a degree but it will be even more so. So its for some clubs at the lower end to worry about more than Wigan. If Wigan ends up being the best youth system, and the only one that loses players to Australia, then assuming the players it loses are relatively big guns that are on big salaries, Wigan will just sign up other clubs best players and take the initiative from their rivals.

[iErgo[/i, a lowering of standards/quality, in SL. And a poorer spectacle for the UK speccies.

Frig me Sally, you can't claim Andy Gregory....a Wigan lad who you lot pinched from Widnes and only played 60 games for you anyway!!

Whilst Wigan bought, they also lost a few good ones (to club in the UK & Abroad) before their peak anyway......Henry Paul, Kevin Iro, Bobby Goulding, Phil Clarke and more recently to RU clubs - Jason Robinson, Chris Ashton, Joel Tomkins and Owen Farrell.

Boo hoo. How bloody far back do you want to go? Everyone has lost players to other clubs in British RL. That's not what we're talking about, and you know it.

I think the bottom line which most people have touched on is the leadership from the RFL (or the lack of it). We're a professional sport run by a bunch of amateurs. The only bright spark was the League of the Extraordinary campaign. For gawd's sake i hope the RFL push this harder in the build-up to next season...
I don't really have anything against Hock going to the NRL - he's done his time at Wigan and deserves a chance at the NRL. The whole ban thing may leave a bitter taste for some, but Hock wasn't that consistent in his performances last year...

Are you being serious ?

Seems the trolls are just coming in to 'put the boot in' to Wigan RLFC and nothing more.

Parramatta seem to be doing a juggling act so that they can fit Israel Folau under the Cap.
Below is a quote from Saturdays Sydney Morning Herald.

"Folau is likely to be one of the highest paid players in the NRL - but not next year. For Parramatta to accommodate him, he will have to commit to a long-term deal as the club's roster is largely settled for next season. By doing that, the Eels can back-end the contract so he receives more in the following seasons. Folau won't be badly out of pocket as it's believed he received a payout on the remaining two years of his GWS contract, which was heavily subsidised by the AFL. With English second-rower Gareth Hock also close to signing, Parramatta may have to release some players".

I feel this may be one of those "Greater good" moments. I know that we can never compete with the NRL in any time soon.

However, I do think that if there starts to be an exodus of talent (which will sadly probably have to include Sam) then the RFL might finally see it as something to worry about and start to make changes.

The main change that is needed is definitely the size of the league. The NRL only has 2 more teams and has more than double the money coming in from outside sources that we do. If thats all they can accomodate then how can we even begin to think that we can accomodate 14 teams in the long term?

Secondly there needs to be blanket changes at the top. Preferably a completely new management team.

Then we need a big change in the player's conditions. The way that sponsorships etc is frowned upon is madness. I know that its started to be relaxed slightly but there needs to be more.

For me if I had a choice between playing RL for 50k or playing RU for 50k + a car and other sponsorships like many have then I would choose RU.

We need big changes to the international scene but that wont come any time soon as the Australians arent really bothered about it it seems, much like the WCC which needs a bit of a rethink too. An end of season thing would be better than the game at the start that always means that two teams have played 1 less game until half way through the season.

I dont want the Cap to go but relaxing of it wouldnt go amiss. For example what Paramatta are supposedly doing for Folau is what we got done for with Fielden in effect. If a team is making much more money then they should be allowed to spend more money.

There needs to be REAL punishments for teams not running themselves in a satisfactory manner. If I were in control I wouldnt give a damn how famous the Bradford name is theyd be out the super league and in a lower league.

Finally we need to take our time and not expect everything at once. Im talking mostly about expansion. We need to build a heart that is stable enough to support the expansion first. Once we have 12 teams in the heartlands that are strong enough to sustain themselves if more are added then add more. Ok Catalans has been a success of sorts but London have been there for a while and arent really that stable and we all know about Crusaders. If Crusaders had been given a few more years to stabilise in the lower leagues they'd probably still be here.

if that's the case then why doesn't IL get a player or 2 instead of cash for Hock, Tim Mannah & MoiMoi would do me

Mannah & Fui are both props and if Gaz goes we will need a second rower with size, pace and skill. We have Hughes with the size and Faz is ok for pace and skill but not size. I don't know if there's a younger guy in the youth set up with Gaz's size and skill set but if there is then he might get an early promotion.

The SMH and Telegraph sites are treating Falou are already signed although he isn't apparently. The final paragraph re Gaz is the throw away for me.
It could be that Falou soaks up all the available cash under the SC leaving nothing for Gaz. The statement saying it may force players out I can't understand. At this stage those players that were OOC last season would have gone and all remaining will have contracts.
It appears Falou is nailed on but Gaz Hock is not! If it's a choice between Falou and Hock then there's only one man they're signing and it ain't Gaz!