My issue is with the critiscism of "the sport". Maybe I'm too broad in my definition but a sport for me is not defined by its governing body.
I'd applaud an article on the ineptitude of Woods et al and the way they badly undersell a fantastic product. I'd also support an article talking of the bulls fiasco and how there's a clear double standard in protecting some teams and not others. But to suggest the sport is decieving the public, or that the actions of the executives taints the whole sport from elite professionals to kids playing on a weekend is ridiculous.
The stobart sponsorship deal was a farce - but thats why its been dumped.
The particpation figures quoted here don't match the figures I've found today which say 100, 000 participants are now registered. He also ignores junior participation and the record number of schools ( 25000 + ) playing the sport as well as figures showing those who play MORE than once a week. Also deceptive, considering that the 2000+ professionals can technically only play once a week if theres only one club fixture a week.
We are subservient to our sky paymasters - so is any other sport on sky. Including football who also formed their own breakaway top flight division when Sky offered them a huge pile of cash. Why the implication that its only us ?
The Bulls plight has been badly managed. But in football, Portsmouth went into high profile administration as did Liverpool before the Fenway takeover. There were no stories claiming that football was "living a lie".
Jamie Peacock's suggestion is slightly OTT for me, especially in a time of recession, but he is a former national captain, understandably would talk up the game and its promotion and I don't feel in this case is trying to 'lie' to the public.
£29 million pounds is wasted ON ANY SPORT when we have failings in the NHS and education. Its no more grotesque than the millions pumped into archery and basketball for the olympics or a single penny thrown at GB footballers, whose sport is already saturated with cash yet still had public investment to inflict their unnecessary appearance at the London games.
As for being prisoners of the M62 corridor, I believe the Catalans are doing well. Allegedly, there's a franchise in London and at amateur level the sport is being played all over the country.

The sport is badly sold and administered by a few suits at the top. But the sport itself, on the pitch, in the community, its ideals, values, heritage, is a fantastic product, especially considering the disadvantages of exposure and media profile its suffers ona purely geographic level. I find it slightly spiteful than considering the Bulls and sponsorship angles could be run at any time in the last month, they choose to run it the day after the succesful, national showcasing of the sports cup final, with the ( in my opinion ) false implication that its a failing sport, that nobody wants to play, or sponsor and which is conning the public out of their money.

Excellent analysis Rumour13. Does anyone know the guys pedigree ? Has he written this article because he is genuinely concerned for the direction in which our game is going?
Or is he ,as I suspect, yet another media guy jumping on the popular bandwagon of putting the boot into the game I love so much?

rlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Calvinrl

Seems he's an experienced and respected sports journalist. He helped set up the English Institute of sport and has been a consultant to various sports funding bodies. However, he is a 'southerner' and a soccerball fan, so he probably has an issue with wasting funding on such a minority sport in which he has no interest.

This is the kind of journalist we should be selling our game to and getting him on side.

Thanks for that Coco.
Yeh seems to be well respected.
Always suspicious as I have spent much of my time attempting to convince people with deaf ears about The Greatest Game.
Seems he is one who of those who we need on our side if we are to progress the cause of RL.

If we are to progress the cause of RL it's probably less about getting people in side and more about getting shot of people who are clearly seen to be holding it back.

cant fault em R.L controled by muppets it as bent as 9 .bob note
bet its fixed to keep Bradford in top 8.