They'll have saved on the hotel bill this year too.

And as with all SL decisions, the clubs have to ok it.

Having met Richard Lewis on several occasions I came to the conclusion that he is an extremely intelligent, affable and professional man whose business and administrative attributes are a world record leap beyond the standard, sub-standard dross the sport has been forced to put up with in the thirty years prior to his arrival at Red Hall.



Whilst the sport of RL has struggled to realise the achievements he planned from the beginning (although not for lack of effort on his part) I think it's fair to say he raised the profile of the sport considerably and went a long way toward vanquishing many of the popular negative stereotypes bandied about among the southern media. Part of me thinks that if a guy like Richard Lewis can't steer RL onto a successful and sustainable course there isn't much chance for anyone. But where there's life there's hope, I guess.



The big problem facing all clubs is the looming threat of falling attendances. Savage Tory taxation of the core working-class supporter base is leading fans to increasingly question the affordability of expensive season and match tickets. Unfortunately these decisions are being made even more difficult. Since its inception playing standards in SL have risen steadily and the pace of today's game bears little resemblance to the glacial movement fans were treated to thirty years ago. However, there is at least some observable evidence that playing standards in SL have peaked (perhaps two or three seasons ago) and we are now on the downslope. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the NRL, a competition which for decades has been a wellspring of talent, has grown to the point where the flow has been reversed and our best players are being leeched away. What imports do come our way seem mostly third tier quality and it's debatable whether they offer any greater value than the academy lads they are usurping. Meanwhile RU continues to pose a significant threat in terms of asset stripping. England's pedestrian World Cup exit will undoubtedly result in exorbitant inducements to SL's premier players. Up until a couple of years ago we were lucky that they foolishly thought it wiser to go after veteran internationals but post-Farrell they have sensibly sought to attract the brightest young talents.



Throw into the mix ever present financial woes which threaten extinction to a worryingly large number of SL clubs, rising fuel costs - not to mention the danger posed by demonstrably incompetent administrators such as Nigel Wood and it's safe to say our sport faces enormous challenges over the next five years and there is a good chance things are going to get a hell of a lot worse before getting better.

Rugby League UK is very fragmented in more ways than one, someting which McManus hit on about restructuring our game.

RFL hq, superleague, championships, youth service areas are all single entities with no transition either way to integrate the sport the right way.



The RFL should be the flagship of our sport providing strong marketing, media prescence, sponsor stream. The RFL are abysmal in all these areas, so its wrong to expect the clubs to create revenue when the environment in our sport is distinctevly lacking.



Something needs to be done before the game starts to implode on itself with poor quality players, lack of intensity in games, poor match official standards, lack of sponsors.

You can look at our game 2 ways, if you see the RFL making profit and Sky audiences are up we are doing really well. If you see clubs losing money due to lack of sporting stature then we are not. McManus could be right when he wants restructure of the game.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/18895913

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/18895913