Read this and weep. www.code13rugbyleague.com/2012/0 ... ge-needed/ There again the report is apparently the work of Maurice Watkins who just happens to be interim chairman of the RFL so he was definitely looking at it 100% objectively and not biased at all. He just happens to be on Planet Mars where lack of gravity has negative effects. Seriously, after the Crusaders pantomime and Bradford Bulls going into administration (again) I wonder what part of little change needed he actually means.

Read this and weep. www.code13rugbyleague.com/2012/0 ... ge-needed/ There again the report is apparently the work of Maurice Watkins who just happens to be interim chairman of the RFL so he was definitely looking at it 100% objectively and not biased at all. He just happens to be on Planet Mars where lack of gravity has negative effects. Seriously, after the Crusaders pantomime and Bradford Bulls going into administration (again) I wonder what part of little change needed he actually means.

What change do you suggest ?

At the very least dropping the number of Superleague clubs to 12 and even then the bottom 4 will probably not be able to compete.
If promotion/relegation to SL is still gong to be a no go area then consider having a Conference system for non SL clubs.

Actually it would help if the RFL actually acknowledged that there is life below maybe the top 6 or 8 SL clubs and gave these clubs more support. After all if they can waste Lord knows how much money on the Crusaders farce then surely the little clubs with long histories in RL (Batley, Dewsbury, Oldham, Rochdale etc.) are deserving of some of this largesse as well.

Perhaps recognition that if the game carries on as it is, it will simply wither away unlamented by all except for a few thousand die hards.

It is no consolation but the 15 aside code seems to be heading the same way - a few clubs at the top with all the money and the rest of them can get stuffed.

I could live with that.


Regionalised you mean ? I don't think the travelling we do is excessive.



Personally, I think all clubs should be able to stand on their own feet, including Crusaders.



Some would say it has already.

The travelling for me can be excessive - I have health issues.

No I didn't mean regionalised necessarily although that has a certain appeal. I was thinking more along the lines of 4 Conferences of 6 teams each each conference being of equal quality, play each other H & A twice, giving a 20 game season, the top 2 in each conference go into an 8 team play off to decide the Champions.

Yes it would be nice if all clubs (in whichever sport) stood on their own feet. There wouldn't be many clubs left if that happened.

Trouble with that is there's not much variety, only five different opponents in the regular season. And if the groups were of equal quality, you'd get weak teams in with the strong teams, leading to a lot of blow-out scores.

What do you see as the attraction of a Conference system ?

With a play off system to determine the champions, there is no need to play each team twice.

No pal. But that's not the point I was making.

I am thinking here of something similar to that used in American Football whereby the weakest teams get 1st choice of players available for signing and therefore, in theory, each team is of a similar standard. The huge downside is of course that players don't get the choice of who they play for. I probably haven't thought it through very well - the sun must have affected my brain


.

Maybe something along the lines of the old Lancashire and Yorkshire Leagues might work.

We don't have that single pool of college kids like they have.

I like they way the NFL is organised but it largely works because everything is so ring-fenced.

I've read this report now and it's largely about the decision making process within the game.

It's not about the competition structure or clubs going bust and to criticise it in terms of the OP is not fair comment.

Looking through other forums on the site, it's amazing how much has been read into this very bland document.

Yes it is a bland document Griff and that is what troubles me. It's a bit like the so called independent directors of a company writing in the annual report that the corporate governance of the company is fine whilst all around them the company is going downhill.

I still think you're reading too much into the report. The decision making structure is fine, Maurice wants to widen the RL Council as a forum, he says that reviews of competition structure and finances should follow.

It doesn't endorse current competition structures or finance and it goes out of its way to say that these weren't considered.

Have you actually read the report or just the hysterical press reports ?

However bland this document is, there's no way it can be as bland as this thread.

Zzzzzzzzzz.

The trouble with you young people is that you don't think the admin of the game is important.

Whereas, in fact, it is crucial.

Yes I have read the report - more than once. Let us agree to disagree on our respective interpretations of it and move on.

I dunno. It's sending ESO to sleep, which can't be a bad thing ....

[i16. The RFL Chief Executive immediately lead a review into the current RFL policies on:
a.Competition structures and game integration.
b. Super League Licensing and Promotion/Relegation.
c. Club sustainability and the appropriate level of RFL support for clubs.
d. Youth development and player production systems.
e. Expansion of the sport and RFL’s responsibility for European development[/i

Did you read this bit ? Not much room for different interpretations.

I bet the winter nights fly by in your house.

Thought you were asleep ?