SIMON JOHNSON / AN EXCITING TIME

[josie andrews]

I am incredibly proud to have been asked by the RFL Board to serve this great game as Interim Chair, to follow on from the inspired leadership of my friend Brian Barwick, whilst we undertake the process to recruit a Permanent Chair. I am also honoured to begin my term at the same time as our appointments of Tony Adams as President and Carl Hall as Vice President.

My term as Interim Chair will cover a very exciting period for the game of Rugby League - starting this weekend, with the Coral Challenge Cups Triple Header in Bolton.

Last year's innovation of a double-header for the Challenge Cup produced a high-profile occasion and a capacity attendance. This year, we have added the Coral Women's Challenge Cup Final between Leeds Rhinos and Castleford Tigers, providing a suitable stage to reflect the growing stature and importance of the women's game - with significant national coverage of all three matches across the BBC's various platforms.

Next month, on the day before the Coral Challenge Cup Final at Wembley, I will lead a little-known tradition, but one which encapsulates the magnificent heritage of our game and how Rugby League is woven into the fabric of its communities and into the history of the North.

I will lay a wreath at the Cenotaph, as will the Coach and Captain of the two competing teams and the Armed Forces Rugby League, in memory of those from the Rugby League community who lost their lives in the service of the country during the two World Wars and subsequent conflicts. I find it incredibly moving that the game of Rugby League can honour its sacrifice in the heart of the nation's capital. Many people come to watch this solemn ceremony in their club colours.

The Coral Challenge Cup has this season provided a thrilling showcase for our great game, with live matches on BBC Sport outlets.

Bradford Bulls' sixth-round victory over Leeds Rhinos at Odsal was shown live on BBC1 on a Saturday afternoon, and secured a peak audience of more than 1m, which compared favourably with other sports coverage that weekend, even including the Premier League.

That was also a significant result for the Betfred Championship, and that theme will be maintained by the presence of Halifax in this weekend's semi finals - the first non-Super League team to reach this stage of the competition since Hull Kingston Rovers 13 years ago.

As we move into the autumn, the Betfred Super League will reach its climax and the season so far is full of intrigue, with a thrilling battle for the end of season play off places, and an equally tense scrap at the bottom to avoid relegation. The battle for promotion in both the Betfred Championship and League One is also producing great tension and excitement.

After the agreement to a new relationship between the RFL and the Super League, the Board has made good on its commitment to give a greater focus to the Betfred Championship. Toronto Wolfpack's fixtures, in Canada and England, have been a regular focus on Sky Sports.

The RFL's innovative Our League app has allowed further live coverage, highlights and magazine programmes featuring the Betfred Championship and League One. And we have introduced the 1895 Cup, which will culminate with a Final at Wembley immediately after the Challenge Cup Final.

Our streaming of live Rugby League on Our League is giving the game valuable data and intelligence on the appetite for live Rugby League action in the digital environment.

In addition to the increased interest in the women's game and especially the Women’s Super League, there has been a growing focus on Physical Disability and Learning Disability Rugby League. The PDRL and LDRL games at the Dacia Magic Weekend were an uplifting celebration of the growth of this part of the game.

As we build towards the Rugby League World Cup in 2021, which is a thrilling opportunity for our game to take centre stage in the UK's sporting offer, I will be following the GB Lions on their tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. This will be a first Rugby League Lions tour since 2006, and although our players will be wearing Great Britain shirts, it will form another crucial opportunity for Wayne Bennett to continue his planning for England’s World Cup campaign in two years’ time.

As Interim Chair, along with my fellow Directors, I look forward to implementing the Recommendations from the Independent Evaluation of the Board which Brian Barwick set in motion.

The results were presented to our Council today. We were encouraged to build on the finding that the RFL is "fit for purpose" - and to move towards making it "fit for the future."

Two particular areas will be my initial focus. The first is to make the strategic leadership of the Board more visible to the game. The second will be to reboot the relationship between the Board, the Council and the different elements of the game.

It will be an honour for me to serve this great game, even for a short time as Chair, and I hope that we will all be able to enjoy an exciting end to the season.

https://www.rugby-league.com/england/ar ... iting-time

[josie andrews]

I'm just glad to see the back of the fat blood sucking, freebie seeking leech that was Brian Barwick!

[josie andrews]

RUGBY FOOTBALL LEAGUE AGM

Brian Barwick officially stood down as Chairman of the Rugby Football League at today's Annual General Meeting in Doncaster, and has been succeeded as Interim Chair by Simon Johnson, the RFL's Senior Non-Executive Director.

The AGM also approved the reappointment of Chris Brindley MBE as a Non-Executive Director for a second three-year term, and the appointment of the former Arsenal and England footballer Tony Adams MBE to the honorary, ceremonial role of President for the next 12 months - in recognition of the contribution he has already made to the sport through his Sporting Chance charity, with which the RFL entered an official partnership in 2011.

Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium was an appropriate venue for Carl Hall, a New Zealander who signed for the Dons in 1988 after his first trip to England with the Junior Kiwis, to be appointed as Vice President, also for a 12-month period.

Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, handed his chains of office to Adams after serving as President for the last 12 months; and Pat Crawshaw, who became the RFL's first female vice president in July 2018 after decades of stalwart service to the community and women's game, handed the Vice-Presidential chains to Hall.

Brian Barwick, who took over as the RFL Chairman in February 2013, had announced in April that he would not be standing for a third three-year term. He was thanked for his service to the game by the St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus on behalf of the clubs, and presented with a framed print of the England wing Tommy Makinson completing a hat-trick in front of the Kop in last autumn's home Test against New Zealand.

Simon Johnson joined the RFL Board as a Non-Executive Director in July 2014, having previously worked in sport as senior lawyer at the Premier League, and as Director of Corporate Affairs at the Football Association.

"I am incredibly proud to have been asked by the RFL Board to serve this great game as Interim Chair," he said.

"I am also honoured to begin my term at the same time as our appointments of Tony Adams as President and Carl Hall as Vice President.

"My term as Interim Chair will cover a very exciting period for the game of Rugby League - starting this weekend, with the Coral Challenge Cups Triple Header in Bolton."

The AGM also approved the RFL's consolidated accounts for the year ending December 31 2018 which show a loss of £327,000 - attributed to an historically low attendance at the 2018 Challenge Cup Final. The adopted budget for 2019 generates a profit of £207,000 to increase cash and reserves, ahead of further projected profits in 2020 and 2021.

https://www.rugby-league.com/england/ar ... eague-agm-