Chapel House Motor Company Limited Advertising Banner
Page 5 of 8 FirstFirst 12345678 LastLast
Results 101 to 125 of 186

Thread: 12 teams in Super League 2021 it is then

  1. #101
    Banned
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Wilts
    Posts
    5,346
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by The Wee Waa Womble View Post
    It’s the RFL, if they wanted to bring in a club based in Greenland they’d create a set of ‘conditions’ to make them an eligible option. Personally I think a 14 team league with relegation would be better, then you could add Toulouse, Bradford and London (for example) but teams like Leigh, York, Halifax etc would still have the opportunity to earn their place.
    Mate Im surprised there isn’t some crackpot arguing the game’s future depends on expansion to Greenland. The response when the fly by night Toronto venture were kicked from SL was laughable.

    The article from totalrl is hugely revealing. Yet again it shows zero corporate governance in the sport which appears to be run like a struggling Working mans club.

  2. #102
    In The West Stand Dux's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Liverpool
    Posts
    5,572
    Rep Power
    27

    Default 12 teams in Super League 2021 it is then

    Quote Originally Posted by Angry Dave View Post
    I agree with that in theory but we're already struggling to get enough players for a 12 team league and then you get certain clubs moaning about spreading the TV money between more. In all honesty, I don't know what the answer is, it feels like the game is going down the toilet at the moment.
    Was going to write almost exactly the same reply. A 14 team league would be great but the game doesn’t have the resources for it at the moment.

    It seems to me like we’re in a bit of a phase where we just need to cling on and survive. You have to be careful with that sort of mindset, as you can end up making it a permanent state of affairs, but with the broadcasting landscape the way it is it’s difficult to see how the game can grow in any real way any time soon.

    It is at least positive that BT Sport seem to have got involved in the TV bidding this time. Perhaps in 2-3 years they may want to make a more competitive bid. Since the start of SL I don’t think there’s ever been a time when two realistic potential broadcast partners have had to compete for the TV rights to the game.

  3. #103
    Learning All The Songs
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    Stood at the back of Stand B in Knowsley Road
    Posts
    1,884
    Rep Power
    13

    Default

    Re, TV etc About 5 seasons ago Sky used to show a championship match on a Thursday, the skill level was possibly a bit lower than Super League and the defences weren't as good but nevertheless they were entertaining games.

    They don't show them now and a couple of years ago I queried why the RFL don't try to get Channel 4 or 5 interested, but apparently they can't.

    Although Sky don't show them they have the rights to them under the package agreed for Super League.

    I assume its the same with the new deal. I can understand Sky's point of view but I think the RFL slipped up agreeing to that in the first place

  4. #104
    In The West Stand Dux's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Liverpool
    Posts
    5,572
    Rep Power
    27

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Infamous Grouse View Post
    Re, TV etc About 5 seasons ago Sky used to show a championship match on a Thursday, the skill level was possibly a bit lower than Super League and the defences weren't as good but nevertheless they were entertaining games.

    They don't show them now and a couple of years ago I queried why the RFL don't try to get Channel 4 or 5 interested, but apparently they can't.

    Although Sky don't show them they have the rights to them under the package agreed for Super League.

    I assume its the same with the new deal. I can understand Sky's point of view but I think the RFL slipped up agreeing to that in the first place
    I suspect it's only a matter of time before the SL clubs decide to pull up the drawbridge and go back to licensing, at which point the Championship will become completely meaningless in any case.

  5. #105
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk The Wee Waa Womble's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Harrogate
    Age
    33
    Posts
    7,965
    Rep Power
    30

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Angry Dave View Post
    I agree with that in theory but we're already struggling to get enough players for a 12 team league and then you get certain clubs moaning about spreading the TV money between more. In all honesty, I don't know what the answer is, it feels like the game is going down the toilet at the moment.
    Yes I suppose ‘in theory’ always works better in my head. I’d also like to significantly raise the salary cap as well, on a means based system where you prove you can afford what you spend by revenue or owner investment, with massive incentives for producing academy players even if they end up playing at another club. Sick of Saints, Wigan, Warrington etc being dragged down to the level of the likes of Wakefield under the guise of ‘making super league competitive’. If it was truly competitive then we’d have had more than 4 different winners of super league in 25 years.
    Forwards win games. The backs decide by how much.

  6. #106
    Banned
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Posts
    4,739
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by The Wee Waa Womble View Post
    Yes I suppose ‘in theory’ always works better in my head. I’d also like to significantly raise the salary cap as well, on a means based system where you prove you can afford what you spend by revenue or owner investment, with massive incentives for producing academy players even if they end up playing at another club. Sick of Saints, Wigan, Warrington etc being dragged down to the level of the likes of Wakefield under the guise of ‘making super league competitive’. If it was truly competitive then we’d have had more than 4 different winners of super league in 25 years.
    Again, I totally agree with you.

  7. #107
    Learning All The Songs
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    Stood at the back of Stand B in Knowsley Road
    Posts
    1,884
    Rep Power
    13

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dux View Post
    I suspect it's only a matter of time before the SL clubs decide to pull up the drawbridge and go back to licensing, at which point the Championship will become completely meaningless in any case.
    Meaningless as far as Super League is concerned, but its still entertaining.

    I like the game at any level, I don't get out much these days but I used to take my son to play junior games and then watch the open age at Blackbrook or Thatto Heath, that's rugby league in its raw state :-) you feel every impact stood on the touch line at those games

    When everything gets back to normal I must make the effort to get to some of those games, sometime its more fun than sitting in the stand at Saints

  8. #108
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Macclesfield
    Age
    46
    Posts
    8,427
    Rep Power
    33

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Infamous Grouse View Post
    Re, TV etc About 5 seasons ago Sky used to show a championship match on a Thursday, the skill level was possibly a bit lower than Super League and the defences weren't as good but nevertheless they were entertaining games.

    They don't show them now and a couple of years ago I queried why the RFL don't try to get Channel 4 or 5 interested, but apparently they can't.

    Although Sky don't show them they have the rights to them under the package agreed for Super League.

    I assume its the same with the new deal. I can understand Sky's point of view but I think the RFL slipped up agreeing to that in the first place
    The tender is in two parts. 1. Super League, 2. RFL properties (Challenge Cup, internationals, lower leagues).

    The feeling is that Sky currently have both contracts but have sub-licensed the Cup and internationals to the BBC. The new deals look the same but it could be that Sky are only interested in the SL bit, hence the drop in value. That would make sense given that it makes little sense for Sky to buy rights for the Cup and internationals when the Cup Final has to be on free TV and the RLWC has already been sold to BBC.

    The £40m per year last time included the following..
    £162m for Super League over 5 years (£16m reinvested into the lower leagues)
    £20m for Cup and internationals over 5 years
    £18m reportedly for coaching and development.

    So £200m over 5 years, with £146m for the SL (£162m minus the £16m subtraction) meant just under £30m a year for the SL clubs. So, it’s not necessarily a bad deal if the new deal is £30m or so per year just for SL. Given the split between SL and RFL it’s unlikely the RFL can take any of the new Super League package money away from the 12 clubs like it did with the last deal, so the clubs themselves will have exclusive rights over the cash offered for that tv package.

    The problem is that the other bits of the last deal for coaching, the lower leagues and all of that will likely be much reduced, with the RFL hoping that the BBC front up enough cash for the Cup as well as the internationals beyond the WC.

    I may be wrong, Sky may have bought both packages for around £30m which would be a significant drop, but if they’ve only bought the SL package for £30m or so per year it’s not too bad.

  9. #109
    Moderator Div's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Sintellins
    Posts
    11,911
    Rep Power
    32

    Default

    I know we all place emphasis on playing facilities and catchment area / potential for crowds. However, the one area that should be high on the agenda should be player development.

    There are so may clubs in SL that are simply not producing any players and are dependant on lads produced by other clubs falling out of their system so that that can mop them up. Wigan, Saints and Leeds are doing it the right way and there are so many lads running around at SL and Championship that have been produced by those clubs. Warrington have been hopeless at it although the penny seems to have finally dropped there and they have been investing for a few years now. I understand Huddersfield have a decent crop and as we know even London have been been decent at it.

    The likes of Salford that seems to be flavour of the day with loads of folk have frankly contributed cock all. They have had a modicum of success in the last couple of years on the coat tails of players coming through the ranks of other clubs. Consequently they have to constantly throw money at signings and they have a huge turnover in playing roster year after year.

    If there is a shortage of players to make a 14 team league sustainable then the finger cannot be pointed at the clubs with successful academy system.

    If the likes of Wakefield and Castleford were a hotbed of player production we could maybe overlook the fact they are playing in dilapidated stadia. The fact is they are surviving season to season and bringing very little to the party.

    I keep repeating myself but the game needs a visionary with a plan for the next 10 years and beyond. Certain clubs have to be given a shot across the bows right now - sort out the junior development and stadia or you are out.

  10. #110
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk The Wee Waa Womble's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Harrogate
    Age
    33
    Posts
    7,965
    Rep Power
    30

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Div View Post
    I know we all place emphasis on playing facilities and catchment area / potential for crowds. However, the one area that should be high on the agenda should be player development.

    There are so may clubs in SL that are simply not producing any players and are dependant on lads produced by other clubs falling out of their system so that that can mop them up. Wigan, Saints and Leeds are doing it the right way and there are so many lads running around at SL and Championship that have been produced by those clubs. Warrington have been hopeless at it although the penny seems to have finally dropped there and they have been investing for a few years now. I understand Huddersfield have a decent crop and as we know even London have been been decent at it.

    The likes of Salford that seems to be flavour of the day with loads of folk have frankly contributed cock all. They have had a modicum of success in the last couple of years on the coat tails of players coming through the ranks of other clubs. Consequently they have to constantly throw money at signings and they have a huge turnover in playing roster year after year.

    If there is a shortage of players to make a 14 team league sustainable then the finger cannot be pointed at the clubs with successful academy system.

    If the likes of Wakefield and Castleford were a hotbed of player production we could maybe overlook the fact they are playing in dilapidated stadia. The fact is they are surviving season to season and bringing very little to the party.

    I keep repeating myself but the game needs a visionary with a plan for the next 10 years and beyond. Certain clubs have to be given a shot across the bows right now - sort out the junior development and stadia or you are out.
    You basically have 5 or 6 academies propping up the production line for 2 leagues. At no point is that ever going to be sustainable or produce the quality of players needed to raise the standard of the game.

    Raise the salary cap significantly. Only 5 foreign players per squad, that means anyone not born in or qualified for England. Players produced by your own academy don’t count on the salary cap. Now this might mean that 3 or 4 teams pull away from the rest in terms of player quality but it would force other terms to produce their own talent in the long term and I’d rather take a 4 team dominated league for the next 10 years while the other teams raise their standards to close the gaps than continue with the current 4 team dominated league where the best clubs are dragged down to the lowest common denominator. More money attracts better players which raises the standard, makes it a better game to watch, increases the money from sponsorship and TV deals meaning everyone gets more anyway.
    Forwards win games. The backs decide by how much.

  11. #111
    WARNING! PIE EATER!

    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    5,801
    Rep Power
    20

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Div View Post
    I know we all place emphasis on playing facilities and catchment area / potential for crowds. However, the one area that should be high on the agenda should be player development.

    There are so may clubs in SL that are simply not producing any players and are dependant on lads produced by other clubs falling out of their system so that that can mop them up. Wigan, Saints and Leeds are doing it the right way and there are so many lads running around at SL and Championship that have been produced by those clubs. Warrington have been hopeless at it although the penny seems to have finally dropped there and they have been investing for a few years now. I understand Huddersfield have a decent crop and as we know even London have been been decent at it.

    The likes of Salford that seems to be flavour of the day with loads of folk have frankly contributed cock all. They have had a modicum of success in the last couple of years on the coat tails of players coming through the ranks of other clubs. Consequently they have to constantly throw money at signings and they have a huge turnover in playing roster year after year.

    If there is a shortage of players to make a 14 team league sustainable then the finger cannot be pointed at the clubs with successful academy system.

    If the likes of Wakefield and Castleford were a hotbed of player production we could maybe overlook the fact they are playing in dilapidated stadia. The fact is they are surviving season to season and bringing very little to the party.

    I keep repeating myself but the game needs a visionary with a plan for the next 10 years and beyond. Certain clubs have to be given a shot across the bows right now - sort out the junior development and stadia or you are out.
    Exactly, you and I have had this same conversation for many years. I regularly talk to the father of a superleague player who plays for a Yorkshire team and he too is of the same opinion. He has coached at amatuer and academy level and gets peed off with the system and particularly how young players are "scouted" then dropped by the pro clubs but don't return to their community clubs.
    His thoughts, very much like mine are that "boys" should not sign pro forms until they are seventeen or eighteen. We should revert to town teams at the lower age groups.

    As for the twelve teams I would hope that Toulouse or Leigh get that twelfth spot, at present there are already six teams in Yorkshire to make it seven is imbalanced IMO. I have a very good friend who is involved with Featherstone (had some great post match sessions in their board room) so he won't be at all pleased with my reasoning

  12. #112
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk Scouse Don's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Blatherings on That Saints podcast.Back home in St.Helens and in the South stand for service
    Posts
    8,685
    Rep Power
    30

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Rogues Gallery View Post
    Exactly, you and I have had this same conversation for many years. I regularly talk to the father of a superleague player who plays for a Yorkshire team and he too is of the same opinion. He has coached at amatuer and academy level and gets peed off with the system and particularly how young players are "scouted" then dropped by the pro clubs but don't return to their community clubs.
    His thoughts, very much like mine are that "boys" should not sign pro forms until they are seventeen or eighteen. We should revert to town teams at the lower age groups.

    As for the twelve teams I would hope that Toulouse or Leigh get that twelfth spot, at present there are already six teams in Yorkshire to make it seven is imbalanced IMO. I have a very good friend who is involved with Featherstone (had some great post match sessions in their board room) so he won't be at all pleased with my reasoning
    I agree with you about Toulouse and or Leigh because we do not need another Yorkshire club to unbalance the league. I suspect however that dark arts at at work and Bradford will be shoehorned back in.
    Learned comment from The Don

  13. #113
    In The West Stand Ralph Fridge's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    Around
    Posts
    5,517
    Rep Power
    17

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Rogues Gallery View Post
    Exactly, you and I have had this same conversation for many years. I regularly talk to the father of a superleague player who plays for a Yorkshire team and he too is of the same opinion. He has coached at amatuer and academy level and gets peed off with the system and particularly how young players are "scouted" then dropped by the pro clubs but don't return to their community clubs.
    His thoughts, very much like mine are that "boys" should not sign pro forms until they are seventeen or eighteen. We should revert to town teams at the lower age groups.

    As for the twelve teams I would hope that Toulouse or Leigh get that twelfth spot, at present there are already six teams in Yorkshire to make it seven is imbalanced IMO. I have a very good friend who is involved with Featherstone (had some great post match sessions in their board room) so he won't be at all pleased with my reasoning
    Do you think the drop in numbers playing the sport at amateur and junior level would scupper any hopes of town/county teams being a realistic prospect though?

    We need more people playing the sport & we also need the professional game to be ran well, with solid, lucrative sponsorship & tv deals & a strong Championship & League 1. At the moment, we don't seem to have any of it.

    I am concerned for the future of the sport. We are sleepwalking into the abyss

  14. #114
    WARNING! PIE EATER!

    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    5,801
    Rep Power
    20

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ralph Fridge View Post
    Do you think the drop in numbers playing the sport at amateur and junior level would scupper any hopes of town/county teams being a realistic prospect though?

    We need more people playing the sport & we also need the professional game to be ran well, with solid, lucrative sponsorship & tv deals & a strong Championship & League 1. At the moment, we don't seem to have any of it.

    I am concerned for the future of the sport. We are sleepwalking into the abyss
    My hope would be that town teams would be picked from schools and that would encourage more schools to participate. We need the pro clubs to engage more with schools and RL officers to do the same. Sadly that also means financial investment so that could mean diverting founds further down the food chain and I can't see that happening when the pro clubs are losing money.That's also why I can't see anyway of increasing the salary cap until we get clubs on a more stable financial footing.

  15. #115
    In The South Stand Noel Cleal's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Posts
    3,471
    Rep Power
    21

    Default

    An increase from 12 to 14 teams will always result in a drop in quality as will a decrease from 12 to 10 improve. You are just gaining or losing the 50 worst players in the league. That is just the simple logistics of the situation.

    The way I judge it is look at the players that are playing outside the Super League. Guys like D Peyroux, M Garbutt, K Dixon, R Atkins in the championship next year there does seem to be a few players that would ten years ago be playing for Salford and Huddersfield.

    So I guess we need to ask, if we added the top 25 players from the championship, the 10 top juniors and 15 solid NRL imports. Would the quality of the completion deteriorate to the point we regretted doing it.

    I suspect that the bigger concern is the quality of the clubs, we already have a couple of clubs that operate well under the salary cap, which by definition reduces the quality of what a 12 teams league should be at. There is also the money situation, given the track record of self interest in Super League, would clubs be willing to have 14 pieces on the pie. You suspect No.

    In the end, as others have said, making decisions in isolation is what is killing us at present. We need a strategy to improve the league and the sport and to take actions based on that.

    Regarding the increasing numbers of players in the league, the regional academies feel like an underused asset. Imagine what sort of things Alan Robinson at Coventry Bears could do with a bit of funding. I have been of the opinion for a while that TV money should go directly towards the running of academies. Then clubs would not be allowed to chose to not have them to save costs.
    I could agree with you but then we would both be wrong.

  16. #116
    In The West Stand Dux's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Liverpool
    Posts
    5,572
    Rep Power
    27

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Div View Post
    I know we all place emphasis on playing facilities and catchment area / potential for crowds. However, the one area that should be high on the agenda should be player development.

    There are so may clubs in SL that are simply not producing any players and are dependant on lads produced by other clubs falling out of their system so that that can mop them up. Wigan, Saints and Leeds are doing it the right way and there are so many lads running around at SL and Championship that have been produced by those clubs. Warrington have been hopeless at it although the penny seems to have finally dropped there and they have been investing for a few years now. I understand Huddersfield have a decent crop and as we know even London have been been decent at it.

    The likes of Salford that seems to be flavour of the day with loads of folk have frankly contributed cock all. They have had a modicum of success in the last couple of years on the coat tails of players coming through the ranks of other clubs. Consequently they have to constantly throw money at signings and they have a huge turnover in playing roster year after year.

    If there is a shortage of players to make a 14 team league sustainable then the finger cannot be pointed at the clubs with successful academy system.

    If the likes of Wakefield and Castleford were a hotbed of player production we could maybe overlook the fact they are playing in dilapidated stadia. The fact is they are surviving season to season and bringing very little to the party.

    I keep repeating myself but the game needs a visionary with a plan for the next 10 years and beyond. Certain clubs have to be given a shot across the bows right now - sort out the junior development and stadia or you are out.
    Not long ago I would have agreed with every word of this, but over the last few years I've started to see it a little more from the perspective of clubs like Salford, Wakefield etc.

    One of the things that I think is misleading when it comes to this topic is the language that we tend use about player development: we talk about clubs 'producing' players, as if there was nothing there before and thanks to that club's investment a top player came into being, as if generated in a lab.

    Of course the reality is that clubs stock their academies from a very limited pool of pre-existing junior players. Some players will be late bloomers and some players who are outstanding at a young age don't manage to sustain that level as they get older, but clubs have a pretty good idea when they recruit juniors who is likely to be a top player and who isn't. Just like at the top level, the best players want to go to the top clubs, who can offer them more money and more chance of success.

    With all that in mind, I can see why a club like Salford might choose not to invest in an academy. The likely outcome is they spend money on networking and facilities, and the best junior players still go to Wigan and Saints anyway. If they do manage to unearth a gem, the likelihood is that he'll be poached by a top club by the time he's 23 (either for free at the end of his contract or for a paltry compensation fee). The result: they end up with youngsters who weren't good enough to make it at Saints/Wigan, which is exactly the result they get by not running a proper academy in the first place.

    To my mind what the clubs (and the RFL) should be emphasising more than anything else is working with schools and community clubs to help raise the levels of participation at pre-academy age. Only once there are enough talented young prospects to go around will clubs like Salford have a genuine incentive to develop a proper academy system.
    Last edited by Dux; 25th November 2020 at 14:20.

  17. #117
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk Belgian Saint's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    11,184
    Rep Power
    32

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by The Wee Waa Womble View Post
    Yes I suppose ‘in theory’ always works better in my head. I’d also like to significantly raise the salary cap as well, on a means based system where you prove you can afford what you spend by revenue or owner investment, with massive incentives for producing academy players even if they end up playing at another club. Sick of Saints, Wigan, Warrington etc being dragged down to the level of the likes of Wakefield under the guise of ‘making super league competitive’. If it was truly competitive then we’d have had more than 4 different winners of super league in 25 years.
    You won't get many dissenters to this.

  18. #118
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Macclesfield
    Age
    46
    Posts
    8,427
    Rep Power
    33

    Default

    Seriously, this page of this thread is some of the best stuff I've seen on here in a while. Excellent stuff, really interesting, and I'm intrigued to see what happens with the 12th team and the details of the tv deal. It could be the most important off season we've had as a sport in years. On a side note, had we done what a few of us suggested a few months back and re-scheduled the season through to Xmas we could have had crowds at some grounds from next week and a GF with 3-4,000 in attendance. Missed opportunity there.

  19. #119
    In The South Stand
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    3,647
    Rep Power
    22

    Default

    I just don’t get the logic behind the likely return of Bradford. It smells of the last, desperate act from Robert Elstone and not a lot else. I might want Toulouse in for my own selfish travel reasons but I can genuinely see a case for Toulouse, Leigh, Featherstone and London, a little less so York but I can’t see why Bradford would even be considered given their financial issues, the fact they’re on about moving back to a decrepit hole in Odsal and how far from being a Super League side they are on their teamsheet. It seems a handful of people are getting bleary eyed about Bradford based off of how they operated as a club twenty-five years ago, when they were handing out free tickets to everyone when their last season in Super League saw pretty average crowd figures. I hope sense prevails and the teams are assessed objectively but I can’t see it happening.
    St Helens Rugby League Football Club

  20. #120
    Banned
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Posts
    1,105
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    There has been a massive change in dynamic between Bradford and Leeds. Hethrington and Caisley had issues lets say and these continued as Bradford limped forwards when Caisley scarpered. Carrick is the money man at Leeds, Hethrington, like Caisley has a good few bob, but not enough to invest heavily in a sporting club.

    Now Wood has been basically given Bradford and he and Hethrington are very close. Bradford returning works for Leeds "big crowd guaranteed" and reversed. It does nothing for the credibility of the sport or the historic Lancashire clubs. Wood trousered serious money from the RFL both in salary and pay off. Actually it was obscene at a time when the lowest paid RFL staff did not get inflation busting pay rises. Unless Saints, Wigan and Wire push back these basket cases and Wood will be back and the boys are back in town. Odslum joins Wakey and Cas for us to have no family or adequate disabled facilities, to be fair that still applies to Headingley for away fans.

  21. #121
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk fishy3005's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    earth
    Posts
    12,154
    Rep Power
    31

    Default

    Leeds v Bradford regularly got over 20 thousand spectators in the late 90’s, early 00’s. Wasn’t Leeds suing over Iestyn Harris the final nail in Bradfords coffin? If so it was a dumb move on Leeds part.
    screaming in the family corner, scaring the kiddies

  22. #122
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk Belgian Saint's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    11,184
    Rep Power
    32

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dos Cervezas View Post
    I just don’t get the logic behind the likely return of Bradford. It smells of the last, desperate act from Robert Elstone and not a lot else. I might want Toulouse in for my own selfish travel reasons but I can genuinely see a case for Toulouse, Leigh, Featherstone and London, a little less so York but I can’t see why Bradford would even be considered given their financial issues, the fact they’re on about moving back to a decrepit hole in Odsal and how far from being a Super League side they are on their teamsheet. It seems a handful of people are getting bleary eyed about Bradford based off of how they operated as a club twenty-five years ago, when they were handing out free tickets to everyone when their last season in Super League saw pretty average crowd figures. I hope sense prevails and the teams are assessed objectively but I can’t see it happening.
    I doubt they would have been entertained if it wasn't for Wood's relationship with Hetherington and Rimmer. I just hope the other club chairman remember why they got shut of Wood and don't let him back near SL

  23. #123
    Learning All The Songs RJM25R's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Royton, Oldham
    Posts
    2,098
    Rep Power
    16

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    On a side note, had we done what a few of us suggested a few months back and re-scheduled the season through to Xmas we could have had crowds at some grounds from next week and a GF with 3-4,000 in attendance. Missed opportunity there.
    That’s a real tragedy.......
    Can't stop the spirits when they need you.

    This life is more than just a read through.

  24. #124
    Banned
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Posts
    1,105
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by fishy3005 View Post
    Leeds v Bradford regularly got over 20 thousand spectators in the late 90’s, early 00’s. Wasn’t Leeds suing over Iestyn Harris the final nail in Bradfords coffin? If so it was a dumb move on Leeds part.
    Wasn't the final nail Fishy, more like the initial serious one. Caisley whilst from a legal background is no George Carmen. It was similar to us having signed Shelford on a cig packet, the Harris episode didn't stack up but Caisley wouldn't stop. Ultimately Leeds backed by Carrick could afford the fight, Bradford never had a money man of note. It started going sour and Noble knew it, Fielden was sold and Caisley went exit stage left. The poor guy initially left holding the baby ended up taking them into administration, first time. I was doing DofE work with themselves and Leeds at the time and it was feisty to say the least between the clubs. Wood is frankly as far up his own rectum as double glazed. Anyone but Bradford.

  25. #125
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk Belgian Saint's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    11,184
    Rep Power
    32

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Cyprus View Post
    Wasn't the final nail Fishy, more like the initial serious one. Caisley whilst from a legal background is no George Carmen. It was similar to us having signed Shelford on a cig packet, the Harris episode didn't stack up but Caisley wouldn't stop. Ultimately Leeds backed by Carrick could afford the fight, Bradford never had a money man of note. It started going sour and Noble knew it, Fielden was sold and Caisley went exit stage left. The poor guy initially left holding the baby ended up taking them into administration, first time. I was doing DofE work with themselves and Leeds at the time and it was feisty to say the least between the clubs. Wood is frankly as far up his own rectum as double glazed. Anyone but Bradford.
    I thought they were up each others.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •