Alas, it would seem that it easy to point at something like the 6 Nations as the reason that Union is as big as it is, but the reality is that the 4/5/6 Nations has existed for 135 years and over a similar period of time as RL has existed, has grown steadily. Even in the 70's when I was dragged to Landsdown Rd it was a big thing, but it wasn't the reason the we would also get 30,000 to a senior schools cup final. The old English County Championship Final used to see tens of thousands bus from Cornwall or Lancashire or Yorkshire to the final at Twickenham, the Varsity match used to fill TW2......The B&I Lions tours were major sporting events.......and at the same time, GB V Aussie in the RL tests and the Challenge Cup were as well supported and covered in the Media as any Union event......what's happened is that we've dropped the ball, pure and simple and rather than address this and hire someone(s) to pick it up and try and redress the balance, we sit there and say "it's not fair".

Mergers may seem like a drastic action, but 23 years into the SL era there are still people at the top of our sport that believe that "if you build it they will come".......but guess what, in terms of a new stadium for either Castleford or Wakefield, we have neither the new stadiums nor the fans flocking in any great numbers, with wakey down 31% on last year and Cas down 20%......is it reasonable for either club to be looking to build new stadiums separately?

So....let's not merge them, but for christ's sake at least look at sharing a stadium and then get the bloody thing built.

If you're making an omelette, it's pretty hard to do it without cracking a few eggs.....if folk can't see that 4,000 is unacceptable for SL club average, go back over 19+ years of "what do London bring" threads on these boards for a refresher course.

Wakefield are a lower half of the table side, playing out of a condemned site watched by an ever decreasing number of fans....this isn't my opinion, this is a reality. What do they bring to SL? 145 years of History doesn't pay the bills and neither does it appear to ignite the interest of the local residents who can't even half fill Belle Vue.

As I say, I am suspicious of Toronto and their claims, but surely....the minimum that needs to be considered is a stadium share rather than 2 White Elephants a bus ride apart?

You're entitled to your opinion but it's a bit null and void if you refer to three clubs as "bigoted s". Wakefield will be dealt with, as will many in the near future whether it be licensing or operating criteria, until then it'll be down to what happens the pitch.

is English not your first language? I believe what I said was that[u those fans[/u who would whine, act indignantly and refuse to attend a merged club are bigoted s and I stand by that assertion. 145 years of playing the sport and Wakefield are on 4k gates...heritage, history and teary-eyed memories are great, but they don't build stadiums nor pay bills......the "team before the game" model doesn't work, especially in Rugby League in the UK.....Wakefield, Salford, Widnes, Huddersfield....all clubs that have 588 combined years of History, heritage and teary-eyed memories....currently these 4 giants combined are averaging 4,457 fans per game....none of these clubs will be challenging for honours any time soon with Huddersfield the only ones to have ONCE been involved in the 44 top level finals since SL started.....

...as for the "on the pitch" statement....a favourite go to of fans of clubs who are happy with mediocrity for the entire sport as it enables them to hide their shortcomings amongst the other "water-treading" dross.....sorry if it sounds harsh, but the RFL and SL will soon part company and a few chairmen will dictate who's in and who's out and 4k gates playing out of a rubbish tip isn't going to give the Pearsons and Lenegans their parity with Union that they so crave.....

See the usual anti trin b@ll@cks is being spouted.

Our history and the fact we are a top 8 club mean super league needs us. Also in Carter we have the best chairman in super league. An example to all of how a club should be run.

You're quite funny keep up the good work

I think you're being a bit over the top with the SL needs us line. SL will carry on with or without WT in the same way as it has with Bradford and other clubs which have been and gone. Hull KR pull in decent gates for a lower SL club but i'm sure that SL wouldn't bat an eyelid if we were to be relegated and never to be seen in the top flight again.

Yes, Wakefield under Carter are a shining example of growth and progress, as you can see from the huge crowds flocking to see them, the fact that they can sell their stadium sponsorship without having to resort to raffle tickets, and their ability to spend full cap.

If Carter is the best there is, it's a sad indictment of the standards in this sport.

Early suspicions are Wexford is a troll, don't assume all 'real' Trinity fans are like this.

Haha who is this troll?

Regards

King James

If you don’t think trin being forced to merge with cas isn’t the usual b@ll@cks then that’s up to you.

Nobody said "force them to merge".....you can bring a horse to water but you can't make it drink....so just let the thing die of thirst. An invitation from Castleford would be akin to "trin" wining the lottery.....but if you don't want to fine.......carry on with crowds that London Broncos used to be lambasted for......because you're important to SL.....without you they will perish

Like Cas and many other unfashionable clubs we have some very desdicated fans and a history that is too important to just throw away and I’d include London in that.

I suppose what superleague needs is another made up side that’ll go bust in a few years when the rich owner gets bored. Or another gimmick league structure we can stick with for all of five minutes.

I’m guessing with Toronto Wolfpack in superleague we can look forward to investment From walmart, Exxon Mobil or Apple when we break that North American market?

What’s the bets that in five years time Toronto are a long and distant memory (or a league one side living hand to mouth staffed by dedicated rugby league fans), the league will be decided by a lottery, Dacia will have been replaced by farm foods and it’ll still be Wakefield’s fault.

Wakefield troll in rant about sponsorship from non fashionable names. Probably posted from inside the MOBILE ROCKET stadium

Regards

King james

Spoken with all the arrogance expected from a typical Rhino's supporter.

As with all things in life, it depends where you start from and when Carter took over, Trinity were a total basket case and on the brink of oblivion, selling a different player every week, just to make it to the end of the season.

If you measure from the starting point, factor in a very short time scale and measure where Trinity are now and then tell me which other SL Chairman has achieved what Carter has and with very little resource then, Carter may well be the best SL Chairman that there is and but for the intransigence of our local council in scuppering progress towards a new stadium, Trinity could progress much further

Anyone (apart from Koucash) can run a successful club with an endless supply of cash but, try doing it with next to nothing.

Wind your neck in, get of your fecking high horse and recognise the job that he has actually done.

Mobile Rocket I like it, TOTALLY WICKED!!

this week's backchat is worth a watch. despite protestations it's about money. leneghan and co want more and stuff the rest

1. No they can't....ask any London Broncos supporter what £22,000,000+ of investment from Hughes bought us.
2. Wakefield are not a successful club unless you define success as surviving as a mid table entity with the 2nd lowest crowd average in the comp......and if you do you need to redefine success.

This isn't a Wakey bashig thread, but the reality is that if we got the SL 1&2 that is the topic, Wakey would be one of maybe 5 candidates for regular yo-yoing between the 2.......they aren't alone in holding the game back, but they are still a guilty party.

On what basis would they be regularly yo-yoing ?

After many years finishing among the bottom few clubs, they appear to have established themselves as a top 8 club (see previous post regarding Mr Carter).
Even the "experts" have stopped tipping them for the wooden spoon, although some just cant help themselves


5th last season, probably 6th this season, its a long way from being a yo-yo club.



Back on topic

SL 1 & SL 2 is an utter sham.
Although there mat be some tinkering with the format and with some small funding changes, the main reason for certain clubs pushing the idea (those with red & white jerseys), it's just a re brand and an excuse to divide the main part of the funding cake into 10, instead of 12.

Mind you, expect another change, to make "every second count" and we can have yet another change to the format in 2022.

It still seems bleeding obvious that Toronto & Toulouse should be included in SL so that we can see whether there is any merit in further overseas expansion and seek an increase in our TV funding on the back of it.
If SKy aren't interested, they why should "we" continue with the global expansion project.

12th, 9th, 5th and this year currently 6th......if you stay 6th then your average over 4 years is 8th....you pedigree over your SL history is 9.5......with a couple of other "false dawns"...and play-off appearances.....6 years ago you had DOUBLE the number of fans, but it would seem the dizzying heights of 6th aren't the draw you believe because you've zero chance of silverware....and that will continue until your financial god of a chairman spends more money on decent players instead of spending money on survival....and sport is about winning.....Any news on the gate for the re-arranged widnes game?...was it better than your 4,014 average this year......

12th, 8th, 5th and currently 6th, only slightly different to your miss quote but, lets have it right. Again, from deaths door, only 5 years ago, most would say excellent progress ??
Double the number of fans ??, again, another miss quote.
Yes, there were more under the Glover regime however, this was during a period of cheap season tickets, giveaways and some dramatic overstating of crowds and whether the numbers published are correct, perhaps we shall never know. However, our chairman certainly believes that revenues from those attending now is actually higher now, than it was back then.
As for signing poor quality players ??
Take another look at the table and realise that Trinity are currently 6th, with the lowest playing budget in the comp.
Our chairman may not be blowing the budget on superstars but, he and Chester have assembled a pretty competitive squad and perhaps you can let Mr Carter know just where the cash comes from to fund a "better" squad.
It appears to be getting slightly better year on year, which, many would say, is exactly what any club should be striving for.

So.....the bits in BOLD are the pertinent ones here.
The declared finishing positions were one out...sorry about that. The double the fans one though isn't......the official and declared attendance average in 2012 was 8,172. Without access to yesterdays figure, your current season average is 4,014, which is less than half of the 2012 figure. The fact that you pulled me up on one position over 4 years but are happy to then decry official attendances is rather odd.....as for getting better, it would seem that 5th last year hasn't attracted any new fans, but instead delivered a drop of some 31%......but according to you that's OK.....because the missing 1,000+ were cheapskates anyway

Seems like it to me.

I don recognise the work that Carter has done at Wakefield, but I simply question whether the moniker of "best Chairman in SL" is appropriate. I realise that any questioning of the goings on at The Mobile Rocket Stadium will trigger the chippy Trinity fans on here, but that goes the the territory I suppose.

I've said earlier in the piece, Carter is a bean-counter by trade. There's nothing wrong with that, but he is not and never will be any sort of visionary to take a club forward. He's presiding over dwindling crowds, he has to raffle off stadium sponsorships, presumably because his commercial team can't sell it for a sustainable rate, and there seems to be very little growth there. The last point, in fairness, is not unique to Wakefield, but it's not unfair to critique where critique is due.

....kind of like how some Wakey fans seem to think Wakefield" are a top side" now?

This didn't start off as a wakey bashing thread, but over defensive Wakey posters have attracted a fair amount of reasoned and balanced criticism.......

Bradford, Wire, Castleford, Leeds, Wigan, St Helens and Hull are the sides that gave the engravers options in terms of the Grand Finals to date...in the same era add Sheffield, London, Huddersfield, Catalan and HKR to the list of finalists of the Challenge Cup.......all can have said to performed better than Wakefield in the modern era because they actually had a shot at winning something......currently you're not even the biggest RL club in a 10 mile radius......and if it weren't for an even worse supported outfit in Salford , you'd be the worst supported SL side whilst playing out of the worst SL ground.