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Thread: Issues in the game

  1. #76
    In The South Stand KentishBarry's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    Commercial presentation and profile
    • Sponsorship and Marketing
    • Television coverage
    • Branding

    Governance
    • Lack of cohesion between RFL / SL / Club owners
    • Competition structure and rule changes

    Are we on the right track with this as a skeleton structure of how it would look? Please add extra bullets and I'll take another look.
    How about something on development/expansion versus heartlands grass roots? I don't really know enough about the latter, but many on here have said that it has been neglected in favour of chasing new pastures...And on expansion, we've had very little long term success, the basket case of Toronto being the latest example. We just seem to lurch from one expansion project to another.

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    Trouble is Rimmer. He threw an awful lot at Oxford and Gloucester in particular and is still in a job.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cyprus View Post
    Trouble is Rimmer. He threw an awful lot at Oxford and Gloucester in particular and is still in a job.
    Interesting- can you expand a bit more?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    Commercial presentation and profile
    • Sponsorship and Marketing
    • Television coverage
    • Branding

    Governance
    • Lack of cohesion between RFL / SL / Club owners
    • Competition structure and rule changes

    Are we on the right track with this as a skeleton structure of how it would look? Please add extra bullets and I'll take another look.
    Yes, this looks good to me and thanks for doing this

  5. #80
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    poor stadiums, especially in Yorkshire, the absolute absurdity of the salary cap. How can it have only been increased from 1.8 to 2.1 in the last 20 years (all though I'm sure they'll use the marquee signings as justification for that)? The 2002 salary cap has a worth of £2.625 million today.

    The total lack of support or incentive given to clubs who don't/can't produce their own academies resulting in potential world-class players slipping through the nets over the years.

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    Long story short, I clicked a video on youtune saying Major League Rugby. Its wasnt League. It was American Rugby Union. So I searched for USARL and there is a decent little league happening over there.


    The I gots to reading (wiki surfing) about Rugby League and came across this...



    "Super League average attendances are in the 8,000 to 9,500 range. The average Super League match attendance in 2014 was 8,365.

    •In 2018 average Super League match attendance was 8,547.

    •Ranked the•eighth most popular sport in the UK•overall,rugby league is the 27th most popular participation sport in England according to figures released by•Sport England; the total number of rugby league participants in England aged 16 and over was 44,900 in 2017.This is a 39% drop from 10 years ago.

    While the sport is largely concentrated in the north of England there have been complaints about its lack of profile in the British media. On the eve of the•2017 Rugby League World Cup Final•where England would face Australia, English amateur rugby league coach Ben Dawson stated, "we’re in the final of a World Cup. First time in more than 30 years and there's no coverage anywhere".


    ‐-------------------

    So I checked up some stuff myself.

    2019 average was 8,441 which was lower than 2018. 2020 was 4171 but due to covid we wont get a true reflection of the average attendance.

    Articles I found regarding rugby league positon in popularity rankings is usually both codes get chucked together and rank somewhere around 3 or 4.

    Participation (all ages I believe)
    2020 -58,800
    2019 -62,900
    2018 -70,600
    2017 - 72,300
    2016 - 68,400

    Obviously covid would have had a huge impact on 2020/2021 numbers but the numbers arent great.

    Lack of Media. Is a massive massive problem.
    Theres no decent podcasts, you dont see players on any TV shows that are sports related. Never hear them on the radio just as a general guest of the show.

    Sky seem to have little clips of the sports they show , usually one person/team winning/losing, we dont have that.






    The SL and RFL have a clean slate to work on following on from covid. It needs to be pushed to the front of peoples minds about going to the game. Better media coverage. Hound the media to getting players on tv, radio, podcasts.

    Pushing them Average Attendance Figures up. Push them up and you interest better business partners. Better partners bring the attention of Sky and BT to open their wallets.

    Going to your local club, playing/volunteering, anything that can generate bigger numbers of participants. Better players come through. Restart the u19s or reserves. A proper youth system where we dont lose players at a young age to either go work or to other sports.


    Here endeth my midnight rant.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sinkers89 View Post
    Long story short, I clicked a video on youtune saying Major League Rugby. Its wasnt League. It was American Rugby Union. So I searched for USARL and there is a decent little league happening over there.


    The I gots to reading (wiki surfing) about Rugby League and came across this...



    "Super League average attendances are in the 8,000 to 9,500 range. The average Super League match attendance in 2014 was 8,365.

    •In 2018 average Super League match attendance was 8,547.

    •Ranked the•eighth most popular sport in the UK•overall,rugby league is the 27th most popular participation sport in England according to figures released by•Sport England; the total number of rugby league participants in England aged 16 and over was 44,900 in 2017.This is a 39% drop from 10 years ago.

    While the sport is largely concentrated in the north of England there have been complaints about its lack of profile in the British media. On the eve of the•2017 Rugby League World Cup Final•where England would face Australia, English amateur rugby league coach Ben Dawson stated, "we’re in the final of a World Cup. First time in more than 30 years and there's no coverage anywhere".


    ‐-------------------

    So I checked up some stuff myself.

    2019 average was 8,441 which was lower than 2018. 2020 was 4171 but due to covid we wont get a true reflection of the average attendance.

    Articles I found regarding rugby league positon in popularity rankings is usually both codes get chucked together and rank somewhere around 3 or 4.

    Participation (all ages I believe)
    2020 -58,800
    2019 -62,900
    2018 -70,600
    2017 - 72,300
    2016 - 68,400

    Obviously covid would have had a huge impact on 2020/2021 numbers but the numbers arent great.

    Lack of Media. Is a massive massive problem.
    Theres no decent podcasts, you dont see players on any TV shows that are sports related. Never hear them on the radio just as a general guest of the show.

    Sky seem to have little clips of the sports they show , usually one person/team winning/losing, we dont have that.






    The SL and RFL have a clean slate to work on following on from covid. It needs to be pushed to the front of peoples minds about going to the game. Better media coverage. Hound the media to getting players on tv, radio, podcasts.

    Pushing them Average Attendance Figures up. Push them up and you interest better business partners. Better partners bring the attention of Sky and BT to open their wallets.

    Going to your local club, playing/volunteering, anything that can generate bigger numbers of participants. Better players come through. Restart the u19s or reserves. A proper youth system where we dont lose players at a young age to either go work or to other sports.


    Here endeth my midnight rant.
    A big problem with participation is lack of opportunity. I wanted to play rugby league when I started playing at the age of 7 but would have had to travel 40 minutes to Leeds or York whereas the local union club was 5 minutes away so ended up playing there. I don’t know what it’s like in Lancashire but in Yorkshire every town has a rugby union club but there’s very little rugby league outside of the cities. In Harrogate there are 2 thriving union clubs but despite the town being a Leeds Rhinos supporters stronghold I’ve never seen them attempt anything in terms of trying to grow the sport in Harrogate. As it stands now 18 months or so ago a rugby league team was set up as part of the fantastic work York City Knights are doing but that was getting about 10 people down training and obviously Covid knocked it on the head for now. Hopefully under the York umbrella that club will continue to grow alongside others like it, just a shame that a club like York has to take responsibility for growing the game rather than the RFL as most clubs don’t have the money or manpower to do it themselves.
    Forwards win games. The backs decide by how much.

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    Something that the NRL clubs do has always struck me as an idea we should have taken on board. Most if not all the Sydney clubs will play a home game outside of Sydney, whether it be in Darwin, Perth or a small town in rural NSW. But they don't just do it once, they do it over and over again every year. If you live in Perth you know the Roosters will play a home game there the next two years, if you live in Darwin you know you'll get a game or two every year, etc.

    Now there are worthwhile financial reasons for the Roosters to play in Perth or teams taking games to Darwin, and it would be difficult to expect our clubs to give up a home game in similar fashion and miss out financially, but if we were to pick 6 towns or areas that we felt deserved or would benefit from having a Super League game every year why not play a round of games 'on the road' as opposed to Magic Weekend, which has ended up just being a weekend away for fans and isn't really serving it's initial purpose of expanding the game. Commit to those six areas for 3 years initially, take a game there every year and do some work around those fixtures to boost interest. Make tickets affordable, do deals for 3 year tickets to encourage people to come back in year 2, give away 500 tickets to local school kids etc, stick big screens up around the six venues so that people could watch other games before their chosen one, set up places to eat and drink around the venues, just get people in the area interested.

    Wouldn't Sky support a round of fixtures that they could hype up and give some stupid tag line to whilst going to new places, whilst as a game we attempt to broaden interest in a more authentic way, or even improve interest in places were the game has suffered. For example, have two of the six games in Cumbria (Workington, Barrow or Whitehaven), one at Kingston Park in Newcastle, one in Wales, one in the Midlands and one in London. But go back year after year and see if interest grows. If it doesn't, replace one or some of the venues with new 3-year deals elsewhere.

    Year One
    Sat
    1pm - Saints v Castleford at Barrow
    3:30pm - Wigan v Hull at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
    6pm - Catalans v Huddersfield at Twickenham Stoop
    Sun
    12pm - Leeds v Hull KR at Kingston Park, Newcastle
    2:30pm - Salford v Warrington at Workington
    5pm - Wakefield v Leigh at Bescott Stadium, Walsall

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    Something that the NRL clubs do has always struck me as an idea we should have taken on board. Most if not all the Sydney clubs will play a home game outside of Sydney, whether it be in Darwin, Perth or a small town in rural NSW. But they don't just do it once, they do it over and over again every year. If you live in Perth you know the Roosters will play a home game there the next two years, if you live in Darwin you know you'll get a game or two every year, etc.

    Now there are worthwhile financial reasons for the Roosters to play in Perth or teams taking games to Darwin, and it would be difficult to expect our clubs to give up a home game in similar fashion and miss out financially, but if we were to pick 6 towns or areas that we felt deserved or would benefit from having a Super League game every year why not play a round of games 'on the road' as opposed to Magic Weekend, which has ended up just being a weekend away for fans and isn't really serving it's initial purpose of expanding the game. Commit to those six areas for 3 years initially, take a game there every year and do some work around those fixtures to boost interest. Make tickets affordable, do deals for 3 year tickets to encourage people to come back in year 2, give away 500 tickets to local school kids etc, stick big screens up around the six venues so that people could watch other games before their chosen one, set up places to eat and drink around the venues, just get people in the area interested.

    Wouldn't Sky support a round of fixtures that they could hype up and give some stupid tag line to whilst going to new places, whilst as a game we attempt to broaden interest in a more authentic way, or even improve interest in places were the game has suffered. For example, have two of the six games in Cumbria (Workington, Barrow or Whitehaven), one at Kingston Park in Newcastle, one in Wales, one in the Midlands and one in London. But go back year after year and see if interest grows. If it doesn't, replace one or some of the venues with new 3-year deals elsewhere.

    Year One
    Sat
    1pm - Saints v Castleford at Barrow
    3:30pm - Wigan v Hull at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
    6pm - Catalans v Huddersfield at Twickenham Stoop
    Sun
    12pm - Leeds v Hull KR at Kingston Park, Newcastle
    2:30pm - Salford v Warrington at Workington
    5pm - Wakefield v Leigh at Bescott Stadium, Walsall
    Why can I already see the #SLRoadtrip, or something of that ilk, being drawn up by them to market it. That took me about 2 seconds, probably something similar to the work Sky would do. Although i do think the idea itself is a good one, and probably worth a look at replacing Magic Weekend.
    Last edited by Tomsepho; 10th February 2021 at 11:57.

  10. #85
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    Something that the NRL clubs do has always struck me as an idea we should have taken on board. Most if not all the Sydney clubs will play a home game outside of Sydney, whether it be in Darwin, Perth or a small town in rural NSW. But they don't just do it once, they do it over and over again every year. If you live in Perth you know the Roosters will play a home game there the next two years, if you live in Darwin you know you'll get a game or two every year, etc.

    Now there are worthwhile financial reasons for the Roosters to play in Perth or teams taking games to Darwin, and it would be difficult to expect our clubs to give up a home game in similar fashion and miss out financially, but if we were to pick 6 towns or areas that we felt deserved or would benefit from having a Super League game every year why not play a round of games 'on the road' as opposed to Magic Weekend, which has ended up just being a weekend away for fans and isn't really serving it's initial purpose of expanding the game. Commit to those six areas for 3 years initially, take a game there every year and do some work around those fixtures to boost interest. Make tickets affordable, do deals for 3 year tickets to encourage people to come back in year 2, give away 500 tickets to local school kids etc, stick big screens up around the six venues so that people could watch other games before their chosen one, set up places to eat and drink around the venues, just get people in the area interested.

    Wouldn't Sky support a round of fixtures that they could hype up and give some stupid tag line to whilst going to new places, whilst as a game we attempt to broaden interest in a more authentic way, or even improve interest in places were the game has suffered. For example, have two of the six games in Cumbria (Workington, Barrow or Whitehaven), one at Kingston Park in Newcastle, one in Wales, one in the Midlands and one in London. But go back year after year and see if interest grows. If it doesn't, replace one or some of the venues with new 3-year deals elsewhere.

    Year One
    Sat
    1pm - Saints v Castleford at Barrow
    3:30pm - Wigan v Hull at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
    6pm - Catalans v Huddersfield at Twickenham Stoop
    Sun
    12pm - Leeds v Hull KR at Kingston Park, Newcastle
    2:30pm - Salford v Warrington at Workington
    5pm - Wakefield v Leigh at Bescott Stadium, Walsall
    I like this idea.

    I never really got Magic Weekend. Only ever went to 1. Didnt really tend to watch it on tv either , just Saints.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    Something that the NRL clubs do has always struck me as an idea we should have taken on board. Most if not all the Sydney clubs will play a home game outside of Sydney, whether it be in Darwin, Perth or a small town in rural NSW. But they don't just do it once, they do it over and over again every year. If you live in Perth you know the Roosters will play a home game there the next two years, if you live in Darwin you know you'll get a game or two every year, etc.

    Now there are worthwhile financial reasons for the Roosters to play in Perth or teams taking games to Darwin, and it would be difficult to expect our clubs to give up a home game in similar fashion and miss out financially, but if we were to pick 6 towns or areas that we felt deserved or would benefit from having a Super League game every year why not play a round of games 'on the road' as opposed to Magic Weekend, which has ended up just being a weekend away for fans and isn't really serving it's initial purpose of expanding the game. Commit to those six areas for 3 years initially, take a game there every year and do some work around those fixtures to boost interest. Make tickets affordable, do deals for 3 year tickets to encourage people to come back in year 2, give away 500 tickets to local school kids etc, stick big screens up around the six venues so that people could watch other games before their chosen one, set up places to eat and drink around the venues, just get people in the area interested.

    Wouldn't Sky support a round of fixtures that they could hype up and give some stupid tag line to whilst going to new places, whilst as a game we attempt to broaden interest in a more authentic way, or even improve interest in places were the game has suffered. For example, have two of the six games in Cumbria (Workington, Barrow or Whitehaven), one at Kingston Park in Newcastle, one in Wales, one in the Midlands and one in London. But go back year after year and see if interest grows. If it doesn't, replace one or some of the venues with new 3-year deals elsewhere.

    Year One
    Sat
    1pm - Saints v Castleford at Barrow
    3:30pm - Wigan v Hull at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
    6pm - Catalans v Huddersfield at Twickenham Stoop
    Sun
    12pm - Leeds v Hull KR at Kingston Park, Newcastle
    2:30pm - Salford v Warrington at Workington
    5pm - Wakefield v Leigh at Bescott Stadium, Walsall
    I'd target places like Bath Glouster and Northampton too

  12. #87
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    Quote Originally Posted by mufcsaint View Post
    I'd target places like Bath Glouster and Northampton too
    Yeah, deffo, I was just typing as I was thinking.

  13. #88
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    Something that the NRL clubs do has always struck me as an idea we should have taken on board. Most if not all the Sydney clubs will play a home game outside of Sydney, whether it be in Darwin, Perth or a small town in rural NSW. But they don't just do it once, they do it over and over again every year. If you live in Perth you know the Roosters will play a home game there the next two years, if you live in Darwin you know you'll get a game or two every year, etc.

    Now there are worthwhile financial reasons for the Roosters to play in Perth or teams taking games to Darwin, and it would be difficult to expect our clubs to give up a home game in similar fashion and miss out financially, but if we were to pick 6 towns or areas that we felt deserved or would benefit from having a Super League game every year why not play a round of games 'on the road' as opposed to Magic Weekend, which has ended up just being a weekend away for fans and isn't really serving it's initial purpose of expanding the game. Commit to those six areas for 3 years initially, take a game there every year and do some work around those fixtures to boost interest. Make tickets affordable, do deals for 3 year tickets to encourage people to come back in year 2, give away 500 tickets to local school kids etc, stick big screens up around the six venues so that people could watch other games before their chosen one, set up places to eat and drink around the venues, just get people in the area interested.

    Wouldn't Sky support a round of fixtures that they could hype up and give some stupid tag line to whilst going to new places, whilst as a game we attempt to broaden interest in a more authentic way, or even improve interest in places were the game has suffered. For example, have two of the six games in Cumbria (Workington, Barrow or Whitehaven), one at Kingston Park in Newcastle, one in Wales, one in the Midlands and one in London. But go back year after year and see if interest grows. If it doesn't, replace one or some of the venues with new 3-year deals elsewhere.

    Year One
    Sat
    1pm - Saints v Castleford at Barrow
    3:30pm - Wigan v Hull at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
    6pm - Catalans v Huddersfield at Twickenham Stoop
    Sun
    12pm - Leeds v Hull KR at Kingston Park, Newcastle
    2:30pm - Salford v Warrington at Workington
    5pm - Wakefield v Leigh at Bescott Stadium, Walsall
    Not sure I would pick Twickenham, but I think the concept is a great idea.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Belgian Saint View Post
    Not sure I would pick Twickenham, but I think the concept is a great idea.
    It’s probably the best location if you’re going to have Catalans v Huddersfield in London though - close to Heathrow airport, on the right side for anyone travelling down the M1/M40 and a small ground with a capacity under 15k.

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    The International game is a massive issue here, I think. England not playing games every year is shocking (I’m not counting last year, that wasn’t their fault).
    St Helens Rugby League Football Club

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    Something that the NRL clubs do has always struck me as an idea we should have taken on board. Most if not all the Sydney clubs will play a home game outside of Sydney, whether it be in Darwin, Perth or a small town in rural NSW. But they don't just do it once, they do it over and over again every year. If you live in Perth you know the Roosters will play a home game there the next two years, if you live in Darwin you know you'll get a game or two every year, etc.

    Now there are worthwhile financial reasons for the Roosters to play in Perth or teams taking games to Darwin, and it would be difficult to expect our clubs to give up a home game in similar fashion and miss out financially, but if we were to pick 6 towns or areas that we felt deserved or would benefit from having a Super League game every year why not play a round of games 'on the road' as opposed to Magic Weekend, which has ended up just being a weekend away for fans and isn't really serving it's initial purpose of expanding the game. Commit to those six areas for 3 years initially, take a game there every year and do some work around those fixtures to boost interest. Make tickets affordable, do deals for 3 year tickets to encourage people to come back in year 2, give away 500 tickets to local school kids etc, stick big screens up around the six venues so that people could watch other games before their chosen one, set up places to eat and drink around the venues, just get people in the area interested.

    Wouldn't Sky support a round of fixtures that they could hype up and give some stupid tag line to whilst going to new places, whilst as a game we attempt to broaden interest in a more authentic way, or even improve interest in places were the game has suffered. For example, have two of the six games in Cumbria (Workington, Barrow or Whitehaven), one at Kingston Park in Newcastle, one in Wales, one in the Midlands and one in London. But go back year after year and see if interest grows. If it doesn't, replace one or some of the venues with new 3-year deals elsewhere.

    Year One
    Sat
    1pm - Saints v Castleford at Barrow
    3:30pm - Wigan v Hull at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
    6pm - Catalans v Huddersfield at Twickenham Stoop
    Sun
    12pm - Leeds v Hull KR at Kingston Park, Newcastle
    2:30pm - Salford v Warrington at Workington
    5pm - Wakefield v Leigh at Bescott Stadium, Walsall
    Sticking pins in maps and nothing more.
    St Helens Rugby League Football Club

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dos Cervezas View Post
    Sticking pins in maps and nothing more.
    Without a strategy, or put simply, a cogent reason why Wakefield would play a fixture in Walsall then I'd agree. It just showcases RL as a regional sport.

    Be that as it may that is where we are. For that to change there needs to be a proper blueprint to grow the sport. Does that growth equate to taking the game to new audiences? Does it equate to reconnecting and buttressing traditional ones? What is the priority?

    Then there needs to be a business case for any growth - why for example would say, Llanelli be a possible growth area? What data backs it up? What would a credible strategy look like to translate that interest into growth: what support would be needed.

    Too often it seems we are the monkey that SKY has told to perform and its not helped the sport because it just does things without asking the questions that keep itself honest. We've too many 'newsagent,' 'working mans club committee members' and 'Handforth parish councillors' involved in the sport who seem incapable of executing the above and would be lost in the work that many people on here are employed in but are drawing vast sums in charge at the RFL/SLE. Not that they'd ever realise it because they seem to thing the whole of the fanbase are some sort of Northern caricature bingo loving, mild drinking, whippet following epsilons.

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    Quote Originally Posted by eddiewaringsflatcap View Post
    Without a strategy, or put simply, a cogent reason why Wakefield would play a fixture in Walsall then I'd agree. It just showcases RL as a regional sport.

    Be that as it may that is where we are. For that to change there needs to be a proper blueprint to grow the sport. Does that growth equate to taking the game to new audiences? Does it equate to reconnecting and buttressing traditional ones? What is the priority?

    Then there needs to be a business case for any growth - why for example would say, Llanelli be a possible growth area? What data backs it up? What would a credible strategy look like to translate that interest into growth: what support would be needed.

    Too often it seems we are the monkey that SKY has told to perform and its not helped the sport because it just does things without asking the questions that keep itself honest. We've too many 'newsagent,' 'working mans club committee members' and 'Handforth parish councillors' involved in the sport who seem incapable of executing the above and would be lost in the work that many people on here are employed in but are drawing vast sums in charge at the RFL/SLE. Not that they'd ever realise it because they seem to thing the whole of the fanbase are some sort of Northern caricature bingo loving, mild drinking, whippet following epsilons.
    Will Wakefield, most likely a side that will struggle in Super League, playing in Walsall grow the game? Would Saints v Warrington at Walsall do much to grow the game? What’s the purpose of it? With all due respect, domestic games will do very little to grow the game and yes, I know London plays host to one of the poorest NFL sides annually but that is part of a wider approach and plan from the club itself and the NFL that encompasses other things.

    As you say, we need a proper strategic plan for growth. If that’s Ireland, Scotland, France or wherever, so be it. Without a proper plan, it’s merely sticking pins in maps and hoping that some people in those cities or towns take enough interest in the game that they, off their own back, continue with the sport in one form or another. It’s essentially been the games approach with expansion over the years and the “on the road” games have been done before and looking back, the destinations read as such. Toronto, Ottawa and New York read much the same. These are the visions of others and not part of any sort of credible business plan from International Rugby League, The RFL, Super League or the American/Canadian RL organisations.
    St Helens Rugby League Football Club

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dos Cervezas View Post
    Sticking pins in maps and nothing more.
    That's all it was, a 5 minute post on a forum, I didn't give it alot of thought at all. I was explaining a process of how we could use the ideas of taking the game elsewhere in a better fashion than MW, that is all.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    That's all it was, a 5 minute post on a forum, I didn't give it alot of thought at all. I was explaining a process of how we could use the ideas of taking the game elsewhere in a better fashion than MW, that is all.
    Understood mate I know you were. The reason its being critiqued is because its exactly what you’d expect the RFL/SLE to do probably under SKY durress.

    As DC has correctly inferred from my post there needs to a way people in ‘new’ areas can continue their connection to the sport after the likes of say Saints or Leeds are hosted there. This is easy in Barrow but more of a challenge the further you go from the heartlands and Ive never seen a convincing strategy to achieve this. Remember when Wood’s flirtation was Coventry? Its not really done a great deal since then has it?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    That's all it was, a 5 minute post on a forum, I didn't give it alot of thought at all. I was explaining a process of how we could use the ideas of taking the game elsewhere in a better fashion than MW, that is all.
    I think Magic, the premise of it anyway, is very good. Like most Rugby League things, it’s execution is either half hearted or non-existent. Magic could and should be so much more, instead rather than it being an event, it feels like six games plonked in a stadium and nothing more. The “fan zone” feels half hearted and it’s pretty dismal, even for the most ardent Rugby League fan. The entertainment between (and during) games is weak to non-existent and there’s nothing different on offer to the fans or players than playing it at a different venue and maybe wearing a one-off shirt.

    If Magic is part of a plan for Newcastle and the North East, I haven’t seen anything to suggest it is, that’s fine but it could still be better and if it is, as fans, it would be nice to know what that plan was. If Rugby League, and I say that as all of the governing bodies, ever puts together a strategic plan for growth then Magic as a whole should be part of it, not as some sort of broken down thing played out at fourth division football grounds.
    St Helens Rugby League Football Club

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dos Cervezas View Post
    I think Magic, the premise of it anyway, is very good. Like most Rugby League things, it’s execution is either half hearted or non-existent. Magic could and should be so much more, instead rather than it being an event, it feels like six games plonked in a stadium and nothing more. The “fan zone” feels half hearted and it’s pretty dismal, even for the most ardent Rugby League fan. The entertainment between (and during) games is weak to non-existent and there’s nothing different on offer to the fans or players than playing it at a different venue and maybe wearing a one-off shirt.

    If Magic is part of a plan for Newcastle and the North East, I haven’t seen anything to suggest it is, that’s fine but it could still be better and if it is, as fans, it would be nice to know what that plan was. If Rugby League, and I say that as all of the governing bodies, ever puts together a strategic plan for growth then Magic as a whole should be part of it, not as some sort of broken down thing played out at fourth division football grounds.
    And this is my point regarding MW, why do we need an "event" with crappy entertainment, a fan zone and all the rest of the half arsed shite? It's just another round of games. It's cringeworthy, gimmicky nonsense that we should trying to get away from not encourage. And you can guarantee every year someone has a winge because another group of fans gets ••••ed and a bit lairy. It's hardly ••••ing surprising when fans are encouraged to drink all day and mix together.

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    IIRC the Magic Weekend started life as Millennium Weekend, named after the Cardiff Stadium. The strap line was that fans had enjoyed the CC finals in Cardiff so much, that the authorities wanted to continue with something there to further promote the sport in development areas. The Cardiff authorities were quite happy too, and certainly money changed hands in the RL favour. That bit went a little pear shaped, so the event was moved to Edinburgh, which was OK, but not as popular given the location of the stadium...So we moved again. Back to Cardiff, then to Manchester, where the development angle went out of the window in favour of a 'festival' of RL. An OK location, but not 'Cardiff' enough.
    Newcastle came along, which ticked all the Cardiff boxes, but went pear shaped again ending in a low point (IMO) with Anfield.
    Unlike some of you on here, I've always enjoyed MW, and have been to all of them...But, in typical RFL/SL fashion, the event has been tinkered around with and doesn't seem to have a real direction anymore.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Angry Dave View Post
    And this is my point regarding MW, why do we need an "event" with crappy entertainment, a fan zone and all the rest of the half arsed shite? It's just another round of games. It's cringeworthy, gimmicky nonsense that we should trying to get away from not encourage. And you can guarantee every year someone has a winge because another group of fans gets ••••ed and a bit lairy. It's hardly ••••ing surprising when fans are encouraged to drink all day and mix together.
    The first few sentences pierce the heart of the matter because ultimately all that shite detracts from the product. It makes the game look like it’s actually not that entertaining if such tripe is needed. Again does Eamon and the RFL seriously buy such nonsense? Could you imagine airing that concept at an Everton supporters meeting or to the FA? Football commands gravitas and sees such gimmicks beneath it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cyprus View Post
    Trouble is Rimmer. He threw an awful lot at Oxford and Gloucester in particular and is still in a job.
    When Rimmer was basically no 2 to Wood he went on a crusade to open and very much initially fund a number of expansion clubs. Oxford and Gloucester had "owners" very much from the traditional RL stable, Tony Colquitt ex Saints as one. No foundations in place at all, just money pits and both now gone. Hemel was a touch different in that they had established themselves as an amateur club and a useful one at that, but the step up was always going to find them out, one open air temporary stand and a 150 paying supporters it was a disaster waiting to happen and did. That was Rimmers folly and they are no more. I may be wrong but the talk was Hemel sold their licence to Toronto.

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