I agree with you entirely BT. I held a Barndsley FC season ticket for the last 22 years as well as a Trinity ticket, but packed in for several reasons thus: a} New team and new manager every season. You just get to know the players when it's "all change" once again, b) Too many Tuesday evening games in freezing wet weather,c) That long hike from the East Stand up Belgrave Avenue that nearly did me in on many occasions, d) A 15 minute car journey extended to a 70 minute journey when I started parking at the ground, owing to traffic congestion.

I've always thought that there was a large number of potential new Trinity fans in the Barnsley area. Not long ago there seemed to be a growing amateur RL scene in t'Tarn. We Played both Sheffield and St Helens at Oakwell in the not too distant past.

Matt, himself a Staincross lad, would seem the ideal ambassador to attract the fans across to Belle Vue

I remember reading the club news a couple of seasons ago or so and was pleasantly surprised at how many schools in that area we had officers/coaches going into. There were about 6 or 7 schools we linked up with if I remember rightly. It's an area we get fans from, we even landed ourselves with a great fan at the Oakwell many years ago that turned up trumps for us, can't think who though. Plus it's an area we've actively gone into schools to attract talent. I'm not sure where we stand at present but I wouldn't be surprised if we haven't kept up with the work we were doing in the South Yorkshire area under Carter and even taken it to the next level. It would be a good question for our Junior development guys or even DP.

There are some really good points in this thread. It would be worth someone (with the relevant local knowledge), dropping the club an Email at info@wakefieldtrinity.com and giving some feedback/suggestions. I dropped them an Email sometime back with a suggestion about ticketing, and had a good reply back - so they really were interested to have suggestions/feedback.

There are some really good points in this thread. It would be worth someone (with the relevant local knowledge), dropping the club an Email at info@wakefieldtrinity.com and giving some feedback/suggestions. I dropped them an Email sometime back with a suggestion about ticketing, and had a good reply back - so they really were interested to have suggestions/feedback.

Quote ="WT_Midlander"There are some really good points in this thread. It would be worth someone (with the relevant local knowledge), dropping the club an Email at info@wakefieldtrinity.com and giving some feedback/suggestions. I dropped them an Email sometime back with a suggestion about ticketing, and had a good reply back - so they really were interested to have suggestions/feedback.'" I did that, and also had a chat with Matt at the Forum, but obviously understand that he has quite a few things going on.... We even discussed my local which he's been in and knows some of my fellow punters there! Will drop the club a line.

Quote ="WT_Midlander"There are some really good points in this thread. It would be worth someone (with the relevant local knowledge), dropping the club an Email at info@wakefieldtrinity.com and giving some feedback/suggestions. I dropped them an Email sometime back with a suggestion about ticketing, and had a good reply back - so they really were interested to have suggestions/feedback.'" I did that, and also had a chat with Matt at the Forum, but obviously understand that he has quite a few things going on.... We even discussed my local which he's been in and knows some of my fellow punters there! Will drop the club a line.

Bit of a random one to throw in here but the YouTube site has had very few updates now for weeks.

The content on there has taken a nose dive recently. Last season saw it raise from nothing to 3.5k subscribers.

I do know that there is a lot going on with improvements and pre season starting and that they absolutely should take priority but it would be nice if the hard work continues on all the SM platforms.

It’s Christmas coming up and it would be nice to have some festive content videos etc with players to further grow the SM side (something we successfully started last season).

One other thing.

I was scrolling through SM reels earlier and I saw a reel of a sports team using their big screen to show fans but with filters on them such as crying filters etc.

I thought it would be quite a fun and novel thing to do for some light entertainment now we have a big screen perhaps pre match and half time.

Assuming the technology is there to do something like that.

We don’t necessarily have to do exactly that but there will be little ideas like this that could enhance game day.

Ellis mentioned he'd like to do things like that at the Shareholder meeting.

I too am a Barnsley supporter, but ultimately RL is my sport, and have gone off football over the past 15-20 years or so, and because of that struggle to justify shelling out on further ticket fees.

I do think trying to expand and tapping into the community is a great idea.

One question I would ask though, is it played in the schools, thats where to get them engaged

The other interest area to Trinity could be just in to Kirklees , I'm thinking about the Clayton West , Scissett , Denby Dale and Skelmanthorpe area which again has easy access to Wakefield and about half an hours drive to Belle Vue .

I don't believe it's a Giants hotbed , then again the Giants don't really have a hotbed so it's fair game territory in my opinion .

If it's a Huddersfield postcode it will already be in their score.
I assume you can't overlap, just pitch to include a new area.

Wakefield have been involved with Emley, Newsome and surrounding areas for a few years now, had some cracking young lads down especially Emley

Well Flockton is out that way and it has a Wakefield postcode.not sure about those named

I grew up in Emley and went to school in Skelmanthorpe and can confirm it’s HD8. Both Wakey and Giants do bits of outreach round there but there are more Huddersfield fans just because that’s where people identify with. BLM is right - Wakefield do more work with Emley Moor and their juniors so benefit from that. But ultimately it’s not got the potential fanbase Barnsley has, for all the reasons outlined by others above.

It's not about where we can develop players.
It's about where we can prove we develop players and I assume supporters in areas not covered by a rugby team.

So Barnsley is fair game but Huddersfield or Kirklees isn't. We can get players from there but it won't count as our area as it is already allocated to Huddersfield or Batley/Dewsbury

Otherwise Leeds could say Wakefield area is theirs.

Can Wigan or Warrington claim Las Vegas?

Quote ="imwakefieldtillidie"Can Wigan or Warrington claim Las Vegas?'" https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/su ... pportunity Reckon Ste Mills should plan a trip.

Quote ="imwakefieldtillidie"Can Wigan or Warrington claim Las Vegas?'" https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/su ... pportunity Reckon Ste Mills should plan a trip.

Definitely so, it could pay for itself, and it would be good to see the club's name out there mixing it with the big boys. He seems the kind of guy who likes to be one step ahead of the competition, if possible as well.

If there were some prospects over the pond, I wonder how the RFL would handle their categorisation under quota rules because I can't see many clubs wasting their valuable spots on ifs and maybes. We've got to make it look enticing for all parties, to break new ground in RL and a huge potential player pool in the US.

They could maybe bring some kind of rules for potential US players to gain said traction over there where they initially don't count as quota players. Obviously, it's all pie in the sky atm, and the very early days but still, it's very interesting and a thing that's been brought up so many times over the years. How can we make use of all those thousands of top athletes who don't make the NFL or play elsewhere? Crack that and it's a huge game changer in England and Aus long term,

I know when Toronto was making their mark and talking a good game, they had some trialists come over etc but it was never done properly IMO, where they got guys trying out who had a real chance to succeed.

If they're new to RL then they wouldn't count on the quota anyway. We'd effectively be their first RL club so would be fed trained. Same applied to John Davetanivalu the other year, and Mitieli Vulikijapani at Hull.

Of course, simple really.

Yet more dissatisfaction with IMG... https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/other/i ... f443&ei=58

Yet more dissatisfaction with IMG... https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/other/i ... f443&ei=58

[quote="FIL":1dc6k8ul]Yet more dissatisfaction with IMG... https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/other/i ... f443&ei=58[/quote:1dc6k8ul] seems the world is full of whingers and complainers... every thing is wrong... and when you change it, that's wrong too. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with setting minimum standards and sticking to it... even though if they had done that right the first time Trinity would now be in obscurity... quite frankly I'm excited about the future of the sport in the UK under the guidance of IMG (one of the most successful sports marketing organisations in the world... ever!) 450k is a drop in the ocean even in the world of rugby league... and to make sustainable change one has to do it from a position of stability and surety... and after watching the wretched effort of the game's administrators for 50 years, to even reach a position of stability would take quite some re-imagining!!! In the UK, rugby league is a minor sport played by a few people with a smaller than average spectator base. Grow steadily and introduce world changing ideas onto a foundation of stone... too many times we have built our ambitions on sand, but that takes patience... something humans seem to have cast onto the unwanted pile. People like Hearn are attractive because they have had relative success with other minor sports... however Hearn will not get UKRL because he wont get near the NRL and his success has been based on wholly owning a sport or gaining control through hegemony.... the NRL is a commercial juggernaut in Australia and NZ. So IMHO if UKRL is to gain any form of success, it needs to live by it's own coaching mantra and stick to the game plan.

[quote="FIL":1dc6k8ul]Yet more dissatisfaction with IMG... https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/other/i ... f443&ei=58[/quote:1dc6k8ul] seems the world is full of whingers and complainers... every thing is wrong... and when you change it, that's wrong too. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with setting minimum standards and sticking to it... even though if they had done that right the first time Trinity would now be in obscurity... quite frankly I'm excited about the future of the sport in the UK under the guidance of IMG (one of the most successful sports marketing organisations in the world... ever!) 450k is a drop in the ocean even in the world of rugby league... and to make sustainable change one has to do it from a position of stability and surety... and after watching the wretched effort of the game's administrators for 50 years, to even reach a position of stability would take quite some re-imagining!!! In the UK, rugby league is a minor sport played by a few people with a smaller than average spectator base. Grow steadily and introduce world changing ideas onto a foundation of stone... too many times we have built our ambitions on sand, but that takes patience... something humans seem to have cast onto the unwanted pile. People like Hearn are attractive because they have had relative success with other minor sports... however Hearn will not get UKRL because he wont get near the NRL and his success has been based on wholly owning a sport or gaining control through hegemony.... the NRL is a commercial juggernaut in Australia and NZ. So IMHO if UKRL is to gain any form of success, it needs to live by it's own coaching mantra and stick to the game plan.

[quote="Spookisback":38t6imd1]seems the world is full of whingers and complainers... every thing is wrong... and when you change it, that's wrong too. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with setting minimum standards and sticking to it... even though if they had done that right the first time Trinity would now be in obscurity... quite frankly I'm excited about the future of the sport in the UK under the guidance of IMG (one of the most successful sports marketing organisations in the world... ever!) 450k is a drop in the ocean even in the world of rugby league... and to make sustainable change one has to do it from a position of stability and surety... and after watching the wretched effort of the game's administrators for 50 years, to even reach a position of stability would take quite some re-imagining!!! In the UK, rugby league is a minor sport played by a few people with a smaller than average spectator base. Grow steadily and introduce world changing ideas onto a foundation of stone... too many times we have built our ambitions on sand, but that takes patience... something humans seem to have cast onto the unwanted pile. People like Hearn are attractive because they have had relative success with other minor sports... however Hearn will not get UKRL because he wont get near the NRL and his success has been based on wholly owning a sport or gaining control through hegemony.... the NRL is a commercial juggernaut in Australia and NZ. So IMHO if UKRL is to gain any form of success, it needs to live by it's own coaching mantra and stick to the game plan.[/quote:38t6imd1] I honestly just wish that we could shut these moaners up. All the energy fighting and whinging against a new system and none invested in helping along its development and success. It’s early days of a 10/11 year plan. There have been strides forward across the game. Honestly they should stop giving these people lip service and have proper reviews based on results year on year.

[quote="Spookisback":36y752ez]seems the world is full of whingers and complainers... every thing is wrong... and when you change it, that's wrong too. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with setting minimum standards and sticking to it... even though if they had done that right the first time Trinity would now be in obscurity... quite frankly I'm excited about the future of the sport in the UK under the guidance of IMG (one of the most successful sports marketing organisations in the world... ever!) 450k is a drop in the ocean even in the world of rugby league... and to make sustainable change one has to do it from a position of stability and surety... and after watching the wretched effort of the game's administrators for 50 years, to even reach a position of stability would take quite some re-imagining!!! In the UK, rugby league is a minor sport played by a few people with a smaller than average spectator base. Grow steadily and introduce world changing ideas onto a foundation of stone... too many times we have built our ambitions on sand, but that takes patience... something humans seem to have cast onto the unwanted pile. People like Hearn are attractive because they have had relative success with other minor sports... however Hearn will not get UKRL because he wont get near the NRL and his success has been based on wholly owning a sport or gaining control through hegemony.... the NRL is a commercial juggernaut in Australia and NZ. So IMHO if UKRL is to gain any form of success, it needs to live by it's own coaching mantra and stick to the game plan.[/quote:36y752ez] Completely agree, there is no long term strategic thinking at all. It's not delivered a £40m per year contract in year two so it's a failure, let's go back to what we've done for the past 30 years which has got the sport into the state it is. IMG are raising standards and pushing RL into the 21st century sporting psyche. The only way we get an improved tv deal is if we get a bidding process for the rights. We get more eyes on the sport other broadcastes will look at the game.

Agree with all the above. Stick with it. It's a long term plan.

[quote="Khlav Kalash":1eav1n1t]Completely agree, there is no long term strategic thinking at all. It's not delivered a £40m per year contract in year two so it's a failure, let's go back to what we've done for the past 30 years which has got the sport into the state it is. IMG are raising standards and pushing RL into the 21st century sporting psyche. The only way we get an improved tv deal is if we get a bidding process for the rights. We get more eyes on the sport other broadcastes will look at the game.[/quote:1eav1n1t] Short sighted stupidity is what it is. It’s quite simple. The IMG criteria is there to monitor and record things such as growth in actual numbers for engagement, infrastructure and strengthening on and off the pitch. When a business is at the next table to negotiate, the RFL will be in a much stronger position as there will be data and analysis available on the sport, right down to club level. This can be used as leverage and to justify investment in the sport. Increase in engagement, attendances, interactions for individual clubs will be rising. New screens, LEDs and increase sponsorship and businesses interested. All this increases the bargaining power for better investment BUT it will be gradual and take time. I can imagine the RFL went to the table with very little data and not ur themselves in a corner. Well, next time at the table they should have much more data and I would hope that it’s used to full effect. If these media outlets and people were to invest in positive articles to drive the growth it would help get there faster. But no, better to be combative and a stick in the mud. So short sighted it’s laughable.