Hetherington.

he's been on his way since he went part time, it was only a question of when
if a replacement was not lined up, or the RFL think looking within once he does go is good enough then that is when serious questions need to be asked

Nothing has changed at all eh?....pre ESL, wigan had won/bought the Championship in 8 of the previous 10 years and won the Challenge cup 8 years on the trot. The Only team to stop them winning all 10 championships had to sell their entire squad to stave off total obliteration......if you'd have asked any member of the Public outside the M62 Heartlands to name a RL team the vast majority would say 1 name....WIGAN!
Unlike the 10 pre-SL years, there are potentially 6 teams in with a shout of winning the comp......all of them, from Hudds through Wire, Wigan, Leeds, St Helens and Catalans are being run pretty well and within their means. Yes, Hudds have had a few years of cheap ST's, but they have gone from an average of 2,800 to over 7k in 10 years....Bradford are a badly managed club.....there were plenty of those in the game pre Superleague...

I've stood behind the Gents "wall" at Hilton Park with a warm beer in one hand and my old fella in the other, pi55ing whilst watching the game over the wall........I've also sat in the stand at Leigh Sports Village, supping cold beer under cover from the elements, been able to use clean and comfortable facilities. My 12 yr old daughter thought the stand at Knowsley Road was going to fall down when we were there for the play-offs in 2003......the Willows was a hole and both St's and Salford are seeing better crowds as a result of their new stadiums....Wire too......as for Oddslum....it's a hole pure and simple and should be sold to tescos in exchange for a 20,000 all seater modern stadium.

In London, whilst the general public still don't care, thousands of Kids are taking up the game.......The French have a WORKING Team in the european comp and their leagues are getting better.........

The game has moved on imeasurably since the birth of ESL and even more so under the stewardship of Richard Lewis.

Put simply...when he arrived at the RFL they were 2 million quid in the hole......now as he leaves, they are cash rich.
That is progress....IMO

has it seriously taken 26 pages for someone to write this?

There is a God, Thank you.

Big Nige to follow and we can start uniting our game again.

Folk harp on about pre SL, why not pre 1895 or WW1 or WW2 or 1960's

ALL Sport has changed since Sky threw money at it, RL is no different except it has whored itself cheaply and forgets its extended family.

The population of the heartlands is greater than Wales or Ireland or Scotland - we have plenty of opportunities solely on our doorsteps should we so wish, but that would not be the way to maximise our potential in the same way that ignoring the non SL heartlands currently is.

We need expansion but from strong foundations, built on honesty, unity and trust.

We need a dynamic leader with presence and vision, not afraid to embrace new ideas and look outside the box, but also with an inclusive outlook to embrace the passion and history of the areas that spawned our great game.

This is a fantastic opportunity, lets pray it isn't wasted.

Queue 1995 with fat greedy club chairmen all tripping over themselves to give Uncle Rupert whatever he wanted, just so long as they got their TV money

By the time Uncle Rupert came along, the game was close to extinction.........and the speed at which some clubs shafted others was obsene to say the least...and then you say we should revert back to the heartlands and build the game from there...then spread outwards?.....tell me, how did that go between 1895 and 1995?

You've recently attended a management training day, haven't you? Or maybe you're a politician of some sort?

Not really pal, but our company do employ 2000 folk across the country and make over £12m a year ebitda in a very competitive market, if that helps to justify my vision and right to comment.
I obviously await the critics from Education, Journalism and other non producers capable of better grammar and bigger words.

Haha visits the sin bin theres loads of em

Ooh, ooh, BINGO!!!!

Whoooooosh!