Indifference?
Most of us are pretty happy with how the sport is moving.....there a just a few compulsive moaners.

Thats because the games are cherry picked
You would find the attendances for the televised games were a lot less than they would have been if they had been played on Sunday.

The Thursday night tv exposure is nothing more than a sweetner.

P and R is right and thats that, the fact the most people who dont want it are all in the top tier says it all.

This has got nothing to do with being anti expansion, or luddite heartland emotions, this is about the sports history and dignity, lets see how some of you anti P and R gang feel in another few years.
The do do will hit the fan when some of todays SL clubs start getting locked out. Then people might realise nothing is sacred in SL, its all about money and marketting and less about Sport.

P&R is still here, and always has been.
The change, to what you are used to between the pro leagues (but no others) is that it is not solely dependant on the onfield results of a single year.
I'm far from top tier, about as far as possible BTW.

As to money, well yes, that's why it's called "professional"

The same Bill Fallowfield who also managed to drive the amateur game into virtual oblivion?

Are you aware of the background to why BARLA came into existence?

Yes!

My point was about something else, but you realise though that Bill Fallowfiedl got the amatuer game shown regularly on the box and even did the commentary.

There was a great opportunity then.

It was probably not understood but even now it isn't by most.

Two days away and a lot to catch up on. Well, I'll give it a go!...


Is that the same guy that was in charge when the amateur game split from the professional game? Yeah, he really looked after the game from top to bottom!

The post you have quoted of me was also me talking to maurice.
If you're referring to my other post, then can you explain which part of my viewpoint is blinkered? What's blinkered is the way you think the line of work you personally are in has anything to do with administration in rugby league at national level!


The amateur scene is better than it has ever been, with more funding than ever and more clubs in more places than ever.
The game has spread across Europe more than ever before thanks mainly to Richard Lewis and his role on the RLEF.

So when you say "everything else withers", what is it specifically you are referring to? Because it seems to me that everything is going just fine at the top and the bottom? Or are you one of these hypocrites that have a pop at people for thinking that SL is the "be all and end all" and then refer to the Championships as being "everything else" outside of SL, blatantly ignoring the amateur game?

What you really want to do is sod the amateur game and put that money into the semi-pro game. Isn't that how BARLA started?


You shouldn't always judge people on one past job. If you did, Sir Alex Ferguson wouldn't have had his legacy.

So the winners of the SL GF are not necessarily the Champions. Maybe just have the game as one of the criteria as to whether the actually go through to the next round. So if the likes of Wakey, Cas, Salford are in the play offs they actually have to win by 100 points to offset their failings off the pitch.

The whole of rugby league? Or just the Championships? Because I'm pretty sure there is a lot he is ignoring outside the pro game!


So we're changing the argument now because the last one wasn't working. OK. Well at least you've acknowledged that Lewis has made decisions that affect the pro game in order to vastly benefit the amateur game (to the sum of nearly £30m). So that kind of goes against your "he only looks after the top and sods the rest".

So let's take apart your new argument...
Super League is a European competition. Let's not forget this. It was not founded as an English competition, and the idea behind it was never for it to be an English competition, so you cannot complain that non-English teams are entering. Even so, there are more English clubs in SL now than there was when it was first founded in 1996. You forget that there are still 12 English clubs (the same as before Catalans entered in 2006). So when you talk about shrinkage, what exactly are you referring to? And there have always been overseas players, so don't blame Lewis for that. He's doing his best to get around the legal system so we have to produce more (something that is finally happening). It's not something that you can implement over night, and it's quite ignorant if you think it could be done.
So the whole "vastly reduces the number of English players available" argument is just something you've made up on the spot for the sake of being against him. Not that it matters, because more English players doesn't necessarily mean better selection possibilities. If there are less English players to select but they're playing in a stronger competition, then chances are they will be better positioned to play at a higher level for England. Of course, there needs to be a balance.

Oh, and a nice kicker at the end there as well. "Possible lower attendances". Catalans are doing pretty good for attendances, aren't they? Yeah, they've had less this year but only because they're having their ground redone (and they've been poor). Crusaders attendances have stood up well in their first year. The only reason their average is down so far is because of the two games at the Gnoll. Not to mention they have barely sold any season passes because of the move, so they don't have much of a core crowd yet. You wait until next season.
Unless of course you just mean they don't bring many away fans? Which is a pretty poor argument if they're bringing in considerably more home fans than the smaller English clubs.

Would they?
Are Saints solvent? Yes.
Do they turn over more than £4m a year? Yes.

Where in the criteria does it say they need to make a profit?

Oh wait, it doesn't. Hopefully that has cleared things up for you and you don't need to whinge about things being unfair in this regard now...