... will Nigel "Blue Sox" Wood send RL hurtling back into the Dark Ages?

Unfortunately I couldn't fit "Gawd bless is soul!" after "Richard Lewis" in the thread title.

Not if he carries on the work Lewis started. The full impact of what Nigel Wood does or doesn't do will take about 18-24 months to appear IMO. Nothing announced or done today will send us back 14 years immedietly.

Lewis has set RL on a spiral to extinction and Wood is just an apologist who will carry the can. Watching him trying to spin the latest (Murrayfield) blunder into a success merely confirmed this. Last year they crowed about "record crowds in the Championship" on the back of an artificially created atmosphere of confrontation. Where are the press releases about Championship Rugby this year? Two great clubs playing the best Rugby they've seen in years (and a decently competetive competition close behind!) and yet they struggle to get 2,000 through the gates. Could it be because they've got nothing to play for? ... Obviously not. Its their own fault for not promoting themselves! Where are the press releases about the "fantastic" progress of Franchisees Capital projects, (lets not forget, one of the criteria on which the Franchises were awarded). It's good to see Ian Lenighan has raced down under to resolve his team's problems, whilst 2 young Englishman bust a gut for their home town to no avail. Meanwhile their near neighbours spray out promising youngsters on loan to Championship and no hoper SL strugglers whilst signing a Kiwi to take their place. (I was told "Franchising" would stop this, was I naive?!!). Oh and our own Champion club, double up Grand Final winners and former WORLD CLUB CHAMPIONS, jeopardise their own competetiveness by persisting to flog another overated, injury stricken, pension fund Aussie hooker to death ('cos the youngster's too young!). Of course the 2k+ turning up in South Wales and the continuing "MASSIVE NATIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE ENSURED BY OUR PRESENCE IN THE CAPITAL", make it all worthwhile.

Good Luck Nige. I shall doff my flat-cap to you as you parade past me on your way to your (assistant) finance director position at Sport England (Ltd).

Without Richard Lewis the game would still be scratching around in the debris like a Mumbai street urchin.

Sure, he's been party to the odd mistake, but the guy's only human. When you consider that RL was not far from being a basket case when he took over it's amazing he hasn't made more. Richard is professional, media-savvy, has great contacts outside the sport, and best of all he has a talent for cutting through the bullshite and self-interest to get straight to the heart of whatever problem he's been set.

It's a minor miracle that we've managed to hang on to him for this long, IMO.

As for Wood - I just can't make up my mind about this guy. Given his mundane record prior to the RFL I'm amazed he's risen to such lofty heights. What does he DO? Maybe I've got him all wrong. Maybe he's a good guy with a lot of great ideas that are about to propel RL into the stratosphere any beyond. I hope so. Because the last thing the sport needs post-Lewis is a ladder-climbing-I'll-scratch-your-back-if-you-scratch-mine-bullshitter who promises the wealth of Croesus in pretty PowerPoint presentations and delivers successive steaming piles of turd.

Oh dear, lewis is bad, Wood is worse.Lewis to hols the final nail as Wood bangs it in

Richard Lewis; no vested interest in any club, his first and last concern is the game overall.

His predecessors and succesor; the opposite.

If Big Nige Wood took off his suit jacket & held it up to the sun, it would put half of Yorkshire into the Dark Ages!

Look out for him to come up with a great new name for the RFL as he did with us in the 90's (after disregarding everyone elses's opinions!)

Rugby Football League Brownpants?

I dread to think what gimmicks Wood will come up with next. He's already come up with teams choosing who they want to play and the bonus points system for the National Leagues which are both stupid, and whether the magic weekend has had any success is open to debate. If he takes over from Lewis who knows what he will come up.

Ive got a lot of time for Lewis, but Wood makes me v nervous. Doesnt seem anywhere near as tuned in or respectful to the sport as Lewis.