Re: What happens if performances crash this year? : Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:54 am  

I know it is off topic but also what happens IF as McManus is calling for Super League reduce to 12 clubs, do they seriously think Sky will pay the same monies for a smaller league? who will take the cut then players in their wages?

Performances crashing, how do Warrington get beat so easily in France, what has happened to Leeds as well, though I never rated there coach when in London, good assistant coach but a leader?

Now Richard Lewis has gone, will Nigel Wood follow? Stobart Truck to take him away, of course a sponsored truck. Was Hetherington making reference to McManus asking why some chairman go public but do not attend Super League meetings regularly? The game needs some serious looking at but until the parochial attitude goes will we ever stop the decline?

Re: What happens if performances crash this year? : Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:41 am  

jaybs wrote:

I know it is off topic but also what happens IF as McManus is calling for Super League reduce to 12 clubs, do they seriously think Sky will pay the same monies for a smaller league? who will take the cut then players in their wages?

Sky pay for games, not team numbers. I would imagine if we lost (for example) Salford and Wakefield and Sky instead got a third televised Saints v Wire game (for example) - they would be quite happy with that as bigger games = bigger viewing figures = more advertising cash for them.

The question is not how many TEAMS, but how many GAMES.

jaybs wrote:

Was Hetherington making reference to McManus asking why some chairman go public but do not attend Super League meetings regularly?

Nope, Neil Hudgell of Hull KR.

jaybs wrote:

The game needs some serious looking at but until the parochial attitude goes will we ever stop the decline?

The answer to that is a firm "no", but then I'm not sure we are seeing a decline - RL has gone from being a poor sport where all clubs lose money to a poor sport where most clubs lose money with increased crowds and increased viewing figures.

Re: What happens if performances crash this year? : Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:52 am  

FearTheVee wrote:

The question is not how many TEAMS, but how many GAMES.

Yup, less teams means less rounds.
Unless we can find something to fill the extra couple of weeks created (Internationals?), they're not going to go for it. Plus, they wont won't to reduce the number of playoff games and 8 teams out of 12 qualifying is even more ridiculous than 8 from 14 (imo).

Re: What happens if performances crash this year? : Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:23 am  

FearTheVee wrote:

Sky pay for games, not team numbers.
The question is not how many TEAMS, but how many GAMES.

Nope, Neil Hudgell of Hull KR.

The answer to that is a firm "no", but then I'm not sure we are seeing a decline - RL has gone from being a poor sport where all clubs lose money to a poor sport where most clubs lose money with increased crowds and increased viewing figures.

But players want to reduce the number of teams to cut the number of games they play, the complaint in the past with playing each other more than twice in the league was boring, so we would be going backwards.

Only Hull KR? I am not convinced through reports from my contacts

No? so it is fine then losing money, just sweep it under the carpet! many of our clubs are Propped up by millionaires, who I don't think have bottomless pockets, we had the influx of the Sky money with Super League were did it all go, not on grounds then when it should have been.

I just hope all round performances improve in Super League but some of the score lines we get make is look a joke!

Re: What happens if performances crash this year? : Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:24 am  

jaybs wrote:

No? so it is fine then losing money, just sweep it under the carpet!

I think you must have forgotten the question that you asked.

Re: What happens if performances crash this year? : Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:15 pm  

jaybs wrote:

I know it is off topic but also what happens IF as McManus is calling for Super League reduce to 12 clubs, do they seriously think Sky will pay the same monies for a smaller league? who will take the cut then players in their wages?

Yes because it is the overall product they are paying for and not individual teams. However, whether they would be happy if the number of teams was reduced mid contract I don't know as this might affect their scheduling? Not sure whether that would have an impact or not though.

Performances crashing, how do Warrington get beat so easily in France, what has happened to Leeds as well, though I never rated there coach when in London, good assistant coach but a leader?

I don't know what's happened to Warrington as they don't look the team they did last season. Maybe they peaked last season and now need some new, younger recruits to freshen them up? Or perhaps they are just taking their time to get their act together this season. As for Leeds, I keep hoping they will slide to the bottom of the league but as last season suggested, their league form invariably builds a false impression as they always seem to raise their game when it comes to the knock out matches.

Now Richard Lewis has gone, will Nigel Wood follow?

I don't see any reason why he would.

Was Hetherington making reference to McManus asking why some chairman go public but do not attend Super League meetings regularly?

Probably not. I would imagine Hetherington just didn't like the limelight being taken away from him.

The game needs some serious looking at but until the parochial attitude goes will we ever stop the decline?

I don't think there is a decline. We don't get the media space that we deserve (and that will impact attendances as well as sponsorship money) but at the amateur and junior levels the game has never been played in more places and we do seem to get consistently good figures on Sky when compared to every other sport bar soccer (which you would expect given this country's baffling obsession with the most boring game).

Re: What happens if performances crash this year? : Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:19 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

I don't think there is a decline. We don't get the media space that we deserve (and that will impact attendances as well as sponsorship money) but at the amateur and junior levels the game has never been played in more places and we do seem to get consistently good figures on Sky when compared to every other sport bar soccer (which you would expect given this country's baffling obsession with the most boring game).

Over the last 15 years, wages for professional footballers and RU players have spiralled upwards frighteningly (especially for footie), as has their media coverage. Wages (in real terms) and media coverage for RL in the UK have both decreased significantly in the same period with no realistic possibility of any reversal in the trend. Attendances may be up and lots of kids may (or may not) be playing the game in Northampton or Newcastle or Reading or wherever that never would have done so once upon a time, and lots of kids may be playing in the core areas still. But, as a top level, elite, highly regarded and aspirational sport in this country RL is dying. The sport may survive and even, in a way, thrive in the long-term, but it will be at a much lower level than presently as far as the top-level professional game is concerned. A return to pre-'90s part-time professionalism is sadly all but inevitable.

I see British RL ending up in a similar situation to footie in the US - more people actively play it there than any other sport apparently, but the media completely ignores it, very few go to watch professional games, the (non-token imported star) players earn nothing compared to stars in other sports, and hardly anyone grows up aspiring to play for their local footie team instead of the Yankees or Steelers or Lakers.

People can slag me off for telling this uncomfortable truth all they want, but it still stands as truth.

Re: What happens if performances crash this year? : Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:57 pm  

Northampton_Saint wrote:

Over the last 15 years, wages for professional footballers and RU players have spiralled upwards frighteningly (especially for footie), as has their media coverage. Wages (in real terms) and media coverage for RL in the UK have both decreased significantly in the same period with no realistic possibility of any reversal in the trend. Attendances may be up and lots of kids may (or may not) be playing the game in Northampton or Newcastle or Reading or wherever that never would have done so once upon a time, and lots of kids may be playing in the core areas still. But, as a top level, elite, highly regarded and aspirational sport in this country RL is dying. The sport may survive and even, in a way, thrive in the long-term, but it will be at a much lower level than presently as far as the top-level professional game is concerned. A return to pre-'90s part-time professionalism is sadly all but inevitable.

I see British RL ending up in a similar situation to footie in the US - more people actively play it there than any other sport apparently, but the media completely ignores it, very few go to watch professional games, the (non-token imported star) players earn nothing compared to stars in other sports, and hardly anyone grows up aspiring to play for their local footie team instead of the Yankees or Steelers or Lakers.

People can slag me off for telling this uncomfortable truth all they want, but it still stands as truth.

Are you the Pope???????



Truth is a 3 edged sword.