Originally Posted by
eddiewaringsflatcap
Why is it you struggle to accept reality and try to spin everything? It comes across as some sort of personal mission which I think is misplaced. Almost like that scene in Blackadder goes Forth... ‘A staunch refusal to look facts in the face will see us through.’ You say lazy accusations thrown at the RFL mean people don’t take accountability, but where the RFL are concerned they have’nt for years.
Just taking a handful of your points:
1. Commercial profile of the sport. It wasn’t so long ago Big Mac expressed one of the greatest dangers to RL is its struggles to attract business partners who can generate the revenues needed across all levels of the sport. Your point on ‘sponsorship’ (Id recommend consigning that term to the last millennium) is actually an indictment of the sports leadership because it infers that those people have failed to make the sport an attractive commercial proposition to partners we need to improve both the perception and the balance sheet.
At one time RL had an unspectacular but solid portfolio of partners at club and ‘governingÂ’ level but far from this improving it appears to have gotten worse. Off the back of the disastrous Stobart deal, which should be an individual example of how not to manage a sport, the sport can only attract the ‘tabooÂ’ partners like alcohol, betting and tobacco or ‘bargain basementÂ’ like Dacia, Mushy Peas etc. Id doubt these sports generate significant income needed to grow the sport not create the impression of a vibrant, fashionable sport. Whether its a tough job to improve this situation matters little. Its been the responsibility of the RFL in the past to do just this and they failed so spectacularly that the SuperLeague clubs recently chose to manage their own commercial interests. Their confidence in the sports leadership was lowered to the point that they effectively said ‘enough is enough, we can do better.’ Whether Robert Elstone delivers the improvement needed remains to be seen. Its going to take time to repair the damage IMO.
2. Rule changes. Though I accept the shot clock is a step forward its been obvious to many that its been needed for years. The simple fact theres been so many rule changes (and ones coincidentally off the field as well) indicates a sport lacking confidence in its product. To me a lot of this relentless change has alienated the sports followers, especially where play offs are concerned which continue to be a failure. Over this weekend, at the point ‘it matters,’ the fans one of those clubs were so underwhelmed they rewarded their club with its lowest crowd of the season.
The rule changes and innovations often appear as ill conceived gimmicks; almost as if those brokering the TV deals either use them as a desperation selling point or worse, accept them when put forward by our broadcasters.
For me its panic stations in RL at the moment and Im reluctant to pretend problems donÂ’t exist or can be swept away by spirious positivity because they cant. People calling out failure isnt negative, in fact it’s absolutely crucial to influence change in the right direction.