My word. With fans like this, who needs enemies?

The majority of RL's fans don't deserve a decent administration, and because of the way they act probably won't ever get one as good as Lewis again. After all the work Lewis put in to turn our game around (totally ignored by these cynical apathetics), it's still not good enough.

The best thing that could probably happen to rugby league is these ignorant moaners stop claiming to be RL fans and just stay away. We might be in a position to actually attract genuinely pleasant and appreciative followers then who can spread the word and make RL a happy and entertaining place rather than a miserable and depressing one.

You can't pick those. Smokey didn't pick those in his argument. You must stick to his choice of towns, otherwise his "city" game will die on its 'arris.

Wigan borough has about 300k people in a conurbation of 2.6million people, St Helens is a town with nearly 200k people, Huddersfield is a town of 150k people Warrington has 200k.

Leigh has 43k, halifax 83k, Swinton 41k, Dewsbury 54k, Batley 50k, Keighley 51k.

Pretty big differences. You can have Castleford and Widnes in the flatcap competition if you want. Lets see if their fans want to be involved or whether they want to be in the franchise fairies league?

I've been watching the game since the early 80's and I still think you're a numpty. It's not just new fans who lack flat caps, as much as your inverse snobbery would like to think so.

Your right it's the norm for every half decent company to enlist a company to short list sponsors. It's the chairmans job to present the best possible solution to his clubs. Why did certain sponsorship offers only get disclosed after Stobart had been rubber stamped?

As for your international comments was that the international game in 2001 when we nearly won the ashes? Remember them ashes tours? Or would it be 1990? Or even the 1995 world cup were by 33k crammed into central park to watch England v Fiji ? Oh and not a welsh or London club insight of the top division. Yeah real dark days!

You'll get 1,500 per match. If yer lucky. Still, if they're all fawning over the RFL hierarchy you'll be happy.

Aye thought is was us flatcappers fault....you'd best get the super league clubs to give more free tickets out to fill the ground eh?

Failed at tennis destroyed rugby league, great cv the man as,no smoke without fire seems odd he is jumping now just as the super league chairmen start to question recent events in our sport but if you think getting sponsors for nowt is the way forward well who am I to question it.


Failed clubs

Players deported

Uk drug agency question the integrity of the rlf

And a franchise system that does not stop clubs going bankrupt

But Wigan town only has approx 81k. Halifax has about 216k in a "conurbation" Still a provincial northen town. And your figures for St Helens town and Warrington town are not right either. But hey ho, you carry on old chap.

Translation: "I have no clue I was just mouthing off and now I have to make a feeble excuse rather than expose my weak argument to further scrutiny".

Thought so.

or 1996 when we beat Fiji then lost 3-0 to NZ, or 1997 when we got beat by a team which wasnt even full Australia, or 1998 when we didnt play, or 1999 when we nearly got beat by Burleigh Bears, then were humiliated by Aus and NZ and struggled to beat an NZ maori or even 2000 when the world cup damn near killed the game.

What 'rubber stamp' was this? At least two clubs voted against the deal, so presumably they had more than one option presented to them.

The RFL takes the flak for an awful lot of stuff that's down to the SL club chairmen. You'd think that folk would bother to do a little research before sounding off.

2.6m is a hell of a lot bigger than 216k.

where is the 2.6m from?

Prey tell when the betfair offer was disclosed?

The conurbation Wigan is part of which is what I said.

Or were you trying to equate Wigan and Wigan Borough with Halifax and the entirity of Calderdale?

To avoid a boring debate on what counts as what, lets just use the actual equivalent figures. There are 82k people in the Halifax urban area and 166k in the Wigan urban area.

Ahh so you are including Greater Manchester in there. Oh dear.

Still a provincial northern town whos population is the less than Halifax's. Not that it matters as they are a fantastic team.

See above.

Wigan town approx 81k

Halifax town approx 90k

Both provincial northern towns. However, one is a major hub for the biggest bank in the country and the other sells beans.

HSBC has big offices in London and Leeds, i didnt know it had major offices in Halifax. But if you want to pretend that the arbitrary boundry based usually on geography which is as old as methusalah is a better measure than the actual amount of people in an area when judging the amount of people in an area crack on. I dont know what you think it adds to your argument though.

But Lewis is clearly not one for backing down.

A man of principle, he is reputed to have threatened to resign in 2005 if Super League clubs failed to back a plan to save London Broncos and, more recently, he put his neck on the line by urging Super League clubs to reject a lucrative offer from a betting company and instead accept a cash-less sponsorship deal with Stobart.

Taken from the sporting life website,best have a pop at them smokey seems it was his bidding for his lorry driving mate who he let get promoted even though they never topped the championship last season but hey ho

Terrible news, I seriously fear we will struggle to find someone of his calibre in the long-term. I've always felt he had a quiet, dignified authority that shone through the bluster of reckless club chairmen and flatcappers. It speaks volumes that the worst his detractors can throw at him are actually for the most part down to the clubs and their leaderships.

Arent HSBC's headquarter in Hong Kong now? Hardly British. But i digress, so we are agreed. You were wrong and Wigan and the rest are provincial northern towns. Good. Now carry on with your baiting of others.

Let me strap myself in while Smokey takes us on one of his tedious thread derailment journies . . .