SL is simply too big !!

[cpwigan]

I wonder how exciting it would be to watch us play saints,Leeds,Warrington etc 5 times each season and then possibly again in the cc and play offs? Cronulla,Canberra and Souths have been underachievers for a good few years but they will not be ditched even though they have had some thrashings.Wakey,Cas ,Salford have all been poor in SL and there are calls to get them out ,make SL smaller. But would anyone on here say the same thing if We were down there.We need to expand RL,but in the hotbeds of the game. Get rid of Quins,Crusaders and bring in Widnes,Leigh and a Cumbrian team.There are reasons why we are behind The Aussies but not because we do not produce players, We do not have the training/coaching methods and do not develop our young players

Who said anything about playing teams more than home/away. A bigger share of the pot = less need to play so many games, it means proper marketing of fixtures which creates bigger attendances (we have seen this work already), we will see a better standard of RL which increases the marketability of the game nationwide. Fans need to look beyond RL being their own club/town's gravy train and think of the whole sport vision. We need a sport that sells to the whole nation based on televised games and occasions be they cup finals or international games.

I/nobody has talked about getting rid of clubs etc whereas you have a very negative attitude towards expansion wanting rid of Harlequins and Crusaders but wanting Leigh Cumbria (unrealistic) You actually totally misunderstand the talent pool IMO with your attacks upon expansion, let us concentrate on the M62 Corridor. First, ALL children need to want to play your sport. RL has never achieved that. Second, there will always be a limit to how many 'special' athletes a particular place can produce. You can maximise the number but genetics etc mean 95-99% of us are doomed from our first breadth. We can be excellent? very good? good? but the special once in a lifetime athletes are born and guess what WE (Wigan) are littered with examples of where we had to go out and find these once in a lifetime players from non RL heartland areas. Jim Sullivan? Billy Boston? et al et al. We can even import them. I happen to think Evans at Wire is the most naturally talented outside back produced in years. If you had your way we would never have seen him. Why have you not written off Catalans?

We outclassed Australia for the first time in my lifetime last year AT ACADEMY level. I can tell you that IMO those beatwen destroyed Aussies will now be progressing faster than our lads. Yes, in part coaching but actually because they play in a more intense competition and week in week out have to execute skills/decisions under far greater pressure. You can be coached perfectly but if you play in a weak competition your development is hindered and you learn bad habits that get found out when you have to play under intense pressure.

Australia will IMO move to a 2 division structure if it expands further. The NRL would love to drop a couple of existing clubs but it will not happen after the Souths furore. Financially, NSW clubs unless they have a Tinkler struggle to compete v Queensland etc now.

If we moved first to a small elite competition, a real Championship then we could steal a march on Aus/NZ. If we stay as we are, RL in Britain stays the same and we carry on losing internationally.

[cpwigan]

I remember a discussion on Radio 5 Sports (about 12 years ago as it was then), about the future of sport in the UK and the problem that EVERY sport had in producing and ultimately retaining said juniors interest in their respective sports, capable of standing up on the World Stage upon their progression into the senior team against peers from other countries.

The discussion revolved around both codes of Rugby, Cricket, Athletics and Football. Without hesitation the main crux argued was that Premier League football "dominated" the mindset of youngsters and their parents to such an extent that even players seen as only "average" within the sport could enjoy a very comfortable lifestyle as opposed to those who played other sports. That attitude saw parents push their siblings and the youngsters themselves leap at the opportunity to live the pop-star culture and high living that football offered.

Since then, the wage/media hype comparison has extenuated to the point that if every other single sport in the country simply put just "packed in", then the t.v. sports stations and newspaper columns would be filled with even more football news. Of course their would be an outcry for those that would miss their sports, but not to the extent a monetary bankrupt, foreign owned and relegated football club threatened with closure would receive (ala Portsmouth last season).

Intensity/quality/quantity only comes from progression. Not from reduction and a simplistic expectation that that would result in "better" performances. If you reduced the SL in size it is far too presumptuous to assume all those players left would remain in the sport or even that youngsters would be enticed enough to play to a professional level in the first place with such a low chance to make the grade.

Your first 2 Paras were very pertinent BM. The media sells football. It even briefly sold American Football and such odditiees. The media will sell or not sell RL to youngsters. I grew up in an era when Wigan Athletic entered the football league, when RL in Wigan was cnfined to the centre and largely Catholic based. 1985 + sold RL to more Wigan youngsters than any coaching clinic. At 15, I suddenly imagined being Brett Kenny rather than a footballer. It continued and continued. Standish and Shevington suddenly wanted to play RL. Wiganers wanted to watch/play RL. Everybody knows even vaguely Wigan as a RL town because the media put that message out to the world.

The next stage never achieved was to sell RL, the sport. Barry from Bristol, Domonique from Dover, Norman from Newcastle are not interested in whether it is Wakefield, Salford or Wigan on the TV as long as the media presentation is so awesome it captures them.

Caveat; As a nation children need to be driven more towards physical activity (if only pragmatically to cut down NHS bills & Offending Costs) Competition and lots of exercise/activity is a great thing for any nation.

[old hooker]

I wonder how exciting it would be to watch us play saints,Leeds,Warrington etc 5 times each season and then possibly again in the cc and play offs? Cronulla,Canberra and Souths have been underachievers for a good few years but they will not be ditched even though they have had some thrashings.Wakey,Cas ,Salford have all been poor in SL and there are calls to get them out ,make SL smaller. But would anyone on here say the same thing if We were down there.We need to expand RL,but in the hotbeds of the game. Get rid of Quins,Crusaders and bring in Widnes,Leigh and a Cumbrian team.There are reasons why we are behind The Aussies but not because we do not produce players, We do not have the training/coaching methods and do not develop our young players

What a load of crap.

Who said anything about playing teams more than home/away. A bigger share of the pot = less need to play so many games, it means proper marketing of fixtures which creates bigger attendances (we have seen this work already), we will see a better standard of RL which increases the marketability of the game nationwide. Fans need to look beyond RL being their own club/town's gravy train and think of the whole sport vision. We need a sport that sells to the whole nation based on televised games and occasions be they cup finals or international games.

I/nobody has talked about getting rid of clubs etc whereas you have a very negative attitude towards expansion wanting rid of Harlequins and Crusaders but wanting Leigh Cumbria (unrealistic) You actually totally misunderstand the talent pool IMO with your attacks upon expansion, let us concentrate on the M62 Corridor. First, ALL children need to want to play your sport. RL has never achieved that. Second, there will always be a limit to how many 'special' athletes a particular place can produce. You can maximise the number but genetics etc mean 95-99% of us are doomed from our first breadth. We can be excellent? very good? good? but the special once in a lifetime athletes are born and guess what WE (Wigan) are littered with examples of where we had to go out and find these once in a lifetime players from non RL heartland areas. Jim Sullivan? Billy Boston? et al et al. We can even import them. I happen to think Evans at Wire is the most naturally talented outside back produced in years. If you had your way we would never have seen him. Why have you not written off Catalans?

We outclassed Australia for the first time in my lifetime last year AT ACADEMY level. I can tell you that IMO those beatwen destroyed Aussies will now be progressing faster than our lads. Yes, in part coaching but actually because they play in a more intense competition and week in week out have to execute skills/decisions under far greater pressure. You can be coached perfectly but if you play in a weak competition your development is hindered and you learn bad habits that get found out when you have to play under intense pressure.

Australia will IMO move to a 2 division structure if it expands further. The NRL would love to drop a couple of existing clubs but it will not happen after the Souths furore. Financially, NSW clubs unless they have a Tinkler struggle to compete v Queensland etc now.

If we moved first to a small elite competition, a real Championship then we could steal a march on Aus/NZ. If we stay as we are, RL in Britain stays the same and we carry on losing internationally.

[old hooker]

I wonder how exciting it would be to watch us play saints,Leeds,Warrington etc 5 times each season and then possibly again in the cc and play offs? Cronulla,Canberra and Souths have been underachievers for a good few years but they will not be ditched even though they have had some thrashings.Wakey,Cas ,Salford have all been poor in SL and there are calls to get them out ,make SL smaller. But would anyone on here say the same thing if We were down there.We need to expand RL,but in the hotbeds of the game. Get rid of Quins,Crusaders and bring in Widnes,Leigh and a Cumbrian team.There are reasons why we are behind The Aussies but not because we do not produce players, We do not have the training/coaching methods and do not develop our young players

What a load of crap.

Who said anything about playing teams more than home/away. A bigger share of the pot = less need to play so many games, it means proper marketing of fixtures which creates bigger attendances (we have seen this work already), we will see a better standard of RL which increases the marketability of the game nationwide. Fans need to look beyond RL being their own club/town's gravy train and think of the whole sport vision. We need a sport that sells to the whole nation based on televised games and occasions be they cup finals or international games.

I/nobody has talked about getting rid of clubs etc whereas you have a very negative attitude towards expansion wanting rid of Harlequins and Crusaders but wanting Leigh Cumbria (unrealistic) You actually totally misunderstand the talent pool IMO with your attacks upon expansion, let us concentrate on the M62 Corridor. First, ALL children need to want to play your sport. RL has never achieved that. Second, there will always be a limit to how many 'special' athletes a particular place can produce. You can maximise the number but genetics etc mean 95-99% of us are doomed from our first breadth. We can be excellent? very good? good? but the special once in a lifetime athletes are born and guess what WE (Wigan) are littered with examples of where we had to go out and find these once in a lifetime players from non RL heartland areas. Jim Sullivan? Billy Boston? et al et al. We can even import them. I happen to think Evans at Wire is the most naturally talented outside back produced in years. If you had your way we would never have seen him. Why have you not written off Catalans?

We outclassed Australia for the first time in my lifetime last year AT ACADEMY level. I can tell you that IMO those beatwen destroyed Aussies will now be progressing faster than our lads. Yes, in part coaching but actually because they play in a more intense competition and week in week out have to execute skills/decisions under far greater pressure. You can be coached perfectly but if you play in a weak competition your development is hindered and you learn bad habits that get found out when you have to play under intense pressure.

Australia will IMO move to a 2 division structure if it expands further. The NRL would love to drop a couple of existing clubs but it will not happen after the Souths furore. Financially, NSW clubs unless they have a Tinkler struggle to compete v Queensland etc now.

If we moved first to a small elite competition, a real Championship then we could steal a march on Aus/NZ. If we stay as we are, RL in Britain stays the same and we carry on losing internationally.

I wonder how exciting it would be to watch us play saints,Leeds,Warrington etc 5 times each season and then possibly again in the cc and play offs? Cronulla,Canberra and Souths have been underachievers for a good few years but they will not be ditched even though they have had some thrashings.Wakey,Cas ,Salford have all been poor in SL and there are calls to get them out ,make SL smaller. But would anyone on here say the same thing if We were down there.We need to expand RL,but in the hotbeds of the game. Get rid of Quins,Crusaders and bring in Widnes,Leigh and a Cumbrian team.There are reasons why we are behind The Aussies but not because we do not produce players, We do not have the training/coaching methods and do not develop our young players

Who said anything about playing teams more than home/away. A bigger share of the pot = less need to play so many games, it means proper marketing of fixtures which creates bigger attendances (we have seen this work already), we will see a better standard of RL which increases the marketability of the game nationwide. Fans need to look beyond RL being their own club/town's gravy train and think of the whole sport vision. We need a sport that sells to the whole nation based on televised games and occasions be they cup finals or international games.

I/nobody has talked about getting rid of clubs etc whereas you have a very negative attitude towards expansion wanting rid of Harlequins and Crusaders but wanting Leigh Cumbria (unrealistic) You actually totally misunderstand the talent pool IMO with your attacks upon expansion, let us concentrate on the M62 Corridor. First, ALL children need to want to play your sport. RL has never achieved that. Second, there will always be a limit to how many 'special' athletes a particular place can produce. You can maximise the number but genetics etc mean 95-99% of us are doomed from our first breadth. We can be excellent? very good? good? but the special once in a lifetime athletes are born and guess what WE (Wigan) are littered with examples of where we had to go out and find these once in a lifetime players from non RL heartland areas. Jim Sullivan? Billy Boston? et al et al. We can even import them. I happen to think Evans at Wire is the most naturally talented outside back produced in years. If you had your way we would never have seen him. Why have you not written off Catalans?

We outclassed Australia for the first time in my lifetime last year AT ACADEMY level. I can tell you that IMO those beatwen destroyed Aussies will now be progressing faster than our lads. Yes, in part coaching but actually because they play in a more intense competition and week in week out have to execute skills/decisions under far greater pressure. You can be coached perfectly but if you play in a weak competition your development is hindered and you learn bad habits that get found out when you have to play under intense pressure.

Australia will IMO move to a 2 division structure if it expands further. The NRL would love to drop a couple of existing clubs but it will not happen after the Souths furore. Financially, NSW clubs unless they have a Tinkler struggle to compete v Queensland etc now.

If we moved first to a small elite competition, a real Championship then we could steal a march on Aus/NZ. If we stay as we are, RL in Britain stays the same and we carry on losing internationally.

[old hooker]

What a load of crap.

Who said anything about playing teams more than home/away. A bigger share of the pot = less need to play so many games, it means proper marketing of fixtures which creates bigger attendances (we have seen this work already), we will see a better standard of RL which increases the marketability of the game nationwide. Fans need to look beyond RL being their own club/town's gravy train and think of the whole sport vision. We need a sport that sells to the whole nation based on televised games and occasions be they cup finals or international games.

I/nobody has talked about getting rid of clubs etc whereas you have a very negative attitude towards expansion wanting rid of Harlequins and Crusaders but wanting Leigh Cumbria (unrealistic) You actually totally misunderstand the talent pool IMO with your attacks upon expansion, let us concentrate on the M62 Corridor. First, ALL children need to want to play your sport. RL has never achieved that. Second, there will always be a limit to how many 'special' athletes a particular place can produce. You can maximise the number but genetics etc mean 95-99% of us are doomed from our first breadth. We can be excellent? very good? good? but the special once in a lifetime athletes are born and guess what WE (Wigan) are littered with examples of where we had to go out and find these once in a lifetime players from non RL heartland areas. Jim Sullivan? Billy Boston? et al et al. We can even import them. I happen to think Evans at Wire is the most naturally talented outside back produced in years. If you had your way we would never have seen him. Why have you not written off Catalans?

We outclassed Australia for the first time in my lifetime last year AT ACADEMY level. I can tell you that IMO those beatwen destroyed Aussies will now be progressing faster than our lads. Yes, in part coaching but actually because they play in a more intense competition and week in week out have to execute skills/decisions under far greater pressure. You can be coached perfectly but if you play in a weak competition your development is hindered and you learn bad habits that get found out when you have to play under intense pressure.

Australia will IMO move to a 2 division structure if it expands further. The NRL would love to drop a couple of existing clubs but it will not happen after the Souths furore. Financially, NSW clubs unless they have a Tinkler struggle to compete v Queensland etc now.

If we moved first to a small elite competition, a real Championship then we could steal a march on Aus/NZ. If we stay as we are, RL in Britain stays the same and we carry on losing internationally.

I wonder how exciting it would be to watch us play saints,Leeds,Warrington etc 5 times each season and then possibly again in the cc and play offs? Cronulla,Canberra and Souths have been underachievers for a good few years but they will not be ditched even though they have had some thrashings.Wakey,Cas ,Salford have all been poor in SL and there are calls to get them out ,make SL smaller. But would anyone on here say the same thing if We were down there.We need to expand RL,but in the hotbeds of the game. Get rid of Quins,Crusaders and bring in Widnes,Leigh and a Cumbrian team.There are reasons why we are behind The Aussies but not because we do not produce players, We do not have the training/coaching methods and do not develop our young players

Who said anything about playing teams more than home/away. A bigger share of the pot = less need to play so many games, it means proper marketing of fixtures which creates bigger attendances (we have seen this work already), we will see a better standard of RL which increases the marketability of the game nationwide. Fans need to look beyond RL being their own club/town's gravy train and think of the whole sport vision. We need a sport that sells to the whole nation based on televised games and occasions be they cup finals or international games.

I/nobody has talked about getting rid of clubs etc whereas you have a very negative attitude towards expansion wanting rid of Harlequins and Crusaders but wanting Leigh Cumbria (unrealistic) You actually totally misunderstand the talent pool IMO with your attacks upon expansion, let us concentrate on the M62 Corridor. First, ALL children need to want to play your sport. RL has never achieved that. Second, there will always be a limit to how many 'special' athletes a particular place can produce. You can maximise the number but genetics etc mean 95-99% of us are doomed from our first breadth. We can be excellent? very good? good? but the special once in a lifetime athletes are born and guess what WE (Wigan) are littered with examples of where we had to go out and find these once in a lifetime players from non RL heartland areas. Jim Sullivan? Billy Boston? et al et al. We can even import them. I happen to think Evans at Wire is the most naturally talented outside back produced in years. If you had your way we would never have seen him. Why have you not written off Catalans?

We outclassed Australia for the first time in my lifetime last year AT ACADEMY level. I can tell you that IMO those beatwen destroyed Aussies will now be progressing faster than our lads. Yes, in part coaching but actually because they play in a more intense competition and week in week out have to execute skills/decisions under far greater pressure. You can be coached perfectly but if you play in a weak competition your development is hindered and you learn bad habits that get found out when you have to play under intense pressure.

Australia will IMO move to a 2 division structure if it expands further. The NRL would love to drop a couple of existing clubs but it will not happen after the Souths furore. Financially, NSW clubs unless they have a Tinkler struggle to compete v Queensland etc now.

If we moved first to a small elite competition, a real Championship then we could steal a march on Aus/NZ. If we stay as we are, RL in Britain stays the same and we carry on losing internationally.

Do you seriously believe that crap?

[cpwigan]

Well argued OH, you might want to learn how to use quote next time. I argue my point. I would be deligfhted for you to argue otherwise re my points

[jaws1]

Is the time right to bring back the "A" teams keep the under 20s and have an open age reserve team playing rugby at a higher level .
Advantages for the clubs they would not have to offload players because of salary cap restrictions .
A team would have a salary cap to pay the players .
Squad players in first team squad could play in "A" team already in salary cap so would not count.Fringe players would benifit tremendously.Players playing at a higher level so no need for dual registration.
No disruption to the clubs playing dual registration players as they would have to improve their playing staff.
Bigger gates at Orrell.
Clubs will be forced to have a good youth policy set up.