sergeant pepper wrote:
I wonder when it will happen to SL. I look at some clubs, with no real fan base or marketability, who continue to pay overs for signings. All propped up by a single owner. How long can that business model work?
We've already lost key clubs in a way.
Widnes, Bradford and Halifax are all still functioning, but their glory days are long behind them with no hope of returning.
There's no doubt that RL is also under threat. At domestic level, neither code seems capable of regularly pulling in the sort of crowds they need to pay massive wages etc. But I think it's safe to say that RU went much further than RL when it came to putting big bucks on the table.
The likes of Faz, Jason Robinson, Henry Paul and Sam Burgess would never have gone over if some of the most successful clubs in RL hadn't been easily outbid. The fact there've been very few (if any) high-level defections from Union to League in the last 25 years surely proves it too.
I just hope the IMG deal helps us get our act together in time. There is certainly no time for faffing about.