Great article.
One point of note. The RFL staff reductions are because the development department is entirely funded by Sport England, who have cut funding based in part on their own rather odd development criteria (don't fund junior programmes, don't believe RL can expand despite the existence of new clubs across the UK, and only use a weird telephone survey that ignores things like player registrations and league team sheets to work out how many people play); and in part because there are lots of successful Olympic sports but less funding than there was before to go around.
But just read the start of that sentence again. RFL staff reductions are because the development department is entirely funded by Sport England. The (SL) clubs, who perceive that they generate all the broadcast revenues, central match ticket sales, and sponsorship, won't let ANY of that money go on development. The game lacks strategic direction for a long term development (expansion) plan, not because the RFL don't have the will, but because the clubs won't let them spend money on it.
We should be looking at a 15-year programme. Players coming into the SL comp in 2027 are now aged 3,4,5. So, if there was a will, a structured long term plan now could create a generation of home-grown players in Newcastle, Coventry, Gillingham, Bristol, Hemel, Derby, Nottingham, Ipswich, Birmingham, Cardiff.
But do you think Castleford want a SL that includes those big city clubs? Because, bet your bottom dollar, Castleford wouldn't be in a top division that inclided Bristol and Coventry. Just look at soccer - what division are Castleford in??
The RFL has done an outstanding job in bringing the game under one body, from SL Europe Ltd to BARLA. Compare and contrast soccer - the Premier League, the FA, the Football League; or Union - where different organisations sell the same tv rights because the can't agree who owns them. We don't, though, have a big international game, don't sell many England shirts, and don't own our own stadium, so don't make much money outside the SL. The price is that we also don't develop our game from within its own limited resources, because the clubs don't want rivals and, frankly, care more about paying next week's wages than about where the game will be in 15 years.
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PS no offence to Cas - one of my favourite clubs, and very much in the same boat as my club, Leigh.
By STEVE MASCORD
