Do you really think that RL players are overpaid? I don't disagree that many clubs pay far more than they can afford to, but that is an entirely different matter.

Most RL players have - at best - 12 to 15 years of earning potential in the game, but most players will have salaries of less than £60k a year. Yes, this a very good salary at the time it is being earned, but when you consider that they'll have another 30/35 years before they reach (proper) retirement this is actually a long time to cover when they are likely to earn much less than when they were playing.

Add into the equation that these guys are putting their body on the line for a good chunk of the year and I'd think it's more accurate to say these guys are being UNDERpaid. This has to be what the players think too otherwise you wouldn't see the likes of Joel Tomkins moving across to the 15-man code.

The real buffoons are not the owners of the SL clubs (true, some are not the greatest of businessmen either) - the people who have to shoulder the most responsibility for the precarious financial state of many clubs are the people at the RFL who have consistently sold the "family silver" for a pittance......or as in the case of the Stobart deal, for absolutely nothing.

The SL clubs lost 8 million quid in 2012 despite the sky money. All the money is paid to players. Players may deserve the money they get but the game cannot afford to pay wages at exsisting levels.

Thanks for that Richie RDM Mathers!

Cannot disagree with your posts on this subject.Totally agree.

At least that's a more complimentary "outing" of who I am.................last time someone "named" me I was Di Maskill!!!

Don't tell them your name Ted

...... oops

Agree totally.

Whilst we obviously need someone towards whom we can direct our spittly indignation, the figures you quote without context clearly don't tell the full story.

Andrew Glover took over the club in February 2011. He honoured the season tickets that had been purchased to that point in time, the club saw no benefit from merchandise that had been purchased up to that point either, and he also took on some of the historical debt the club had incurred. The 2012 season, IIRC, saw the construction of the roof over the north stand and part of the western terrace. If the accounts for these 2 years reflect the loss of income and expenditure, then I'd say we've done a damned sight better than many SL clubs in far more enviable positions than ours.

Some of those costs he may have borne himself. Others will have been converted into directors' loans. Either way, to throw it all at his doorstep is a little unfair, IMO.

I agree with you that RL is not something that any "investor" would consider to be a profitable investment, and like you, I see no reason either that with a move to a new stadium, this club could not be self-funding, or better. Belle Vue offers limited opportunities for generating additional income beyond match days. To operate at break-even or a modest profit out of Belle Vue would be a massive achievement, and down to a large degree of luck. Modern facilities just off the M62 will be far more attractive, and sponsorship revenue should increase considerably too, with the better opportunities for advertising they offer.

In the meantime, it's up to the supporters. If we get that one-in-a-million sugar daddy, then great, but simple maths says we won't, so the problem is ours.

I agree with you totally, and not just to counter the trend.

I don't think anyne would be playing RL if the wages were any lower.

I started work at 18 so will probably work 45 years, currently on around 20k.

If I were a RL player, I'd have to earn 60k in my 15 year (max) career to equal that - and that's assuming my wages will stay the same for the next 40 years.

I honestly was shocked to find that scholarship players at clubs get absolutely nothing - not even travel expenses. Their "earnings" during that time is their training. And even their first contract at 17/18 is only in line with what they'd earn in a day job.

I agree that player's wages are THE drain on the club's finances, but pay players any less and it won't be financially viable to be a professional RL player, and we will go back to part time.

Catch 22 really.

If I were a businessman then I'd suggest alternative methods of generating/saving money. But I aren't, so I can't.

Not that I begrudge the wages that players earned, but it's not like they can't work beyond their playing careers. Most used to double up with work in any case. The only argument against the current trend is that at 32 and with no other training or experience it can be tough to find a new path that pays well.

A lot of players seem to have awoken to this now and are finding ways to make the transition to civy street in readiness.