@JohnHodgson1986 @SteveMascord That’s not necessarily true. Following Championship football costs the paying fan more than Premier League football.
English
Tom
1.1K posts
@SteveMascord RL fans talk about wanting the game to grow, but they don't seem to realise any growth in revenue and profile will also correlate with an increase in cost to the paying fan.
English
The thing is: if they can earn back the production cost and maybe make a bit on top, they’re happy. If you personally don’t watch nobody is worried. It’s your choice!
Will Dawson@Dawson_WA
@Baynesi83 @SteveMascord @Forty20LIVE I pay enough subscriptions (including one specifically for RL). Hard swerve.
English
@PaulBec22280558 @AaronBower Agree. However, i don’t really know if that’s money helps anyway. What benefit is gained from it?
The SL door has been open for decades, people have thrown money at journeymen players, and the clubs are training in parks, playing in decrepit grounds, and producing fewer kids.
English
@tbm_bfd @AaronBower The problem is that its not an attractive prospect pumping money into a championship club especially when there's little support from fans who aren't going to games, no TV deals as viewing figures are low and on top of all that the door is firmly shut on promotion.
English
Louder for those at the back - there is not enough money in professional rugby league to sustain this many teams.
James Gordon@jdgsport
Been red flags about North Wales Crusaders for nearly a year now - not a surprise. A shame, because that Colwyn Bay location is a vastly underrated rugby league away day.
English
@NoHelmetsReq @TheRFL @SuperLeague A rugby union heartland, that can barely sustain professional union clubs, and showed no interest in its SL club. Cardiff was a nice day out but no sign of significant Welsh support attending games.
One of the most ill-advised expansion ideas the game has had.
English
Agreed. It’s bizarre how @TheRFL & @SuperLeague has abandoned south Wales.
Alex Clarkson@Alex_Clarkson1
Gotta say, working in Cardiff, RFL could do a hell of a lot worse than getting magic weekend back in here for a couple of years, proper city, stadium at the heart and surrounded by bars & live music etc, would love to see it given another go here….
English
@PaulBec22280558 @AaronBower The SL (or equivalent) dream has never interested fans.
P&R has never provided that level of interest. Look at any given year and Championship/2nd division crowds now are no different to any time over the last 40 years.
English
@AaronBower The vast majority of the championship and even some of the SL teams dont have the fans coming through the gate to fund the money spent. The championship is as good as dead because no one will invest and fans aren't going through the gates because there's no SL dream anymore.
English
@gavin_laing @AaronBower Scrap reserves and give the Championship clubs free players, to act as a quasi-reserve league?
To then prop up the failing clubs who are deliberately obstructing growth of the sport.
Clubs who believe they are so historically important, but can’t survive without such handouts.
English
Under the current model there isn’t.
If you scrap the reserves and loan unused SL players to championship clubs on Sundays the champ clubs will have access to better quality players and not have to pay for them.
If we lower the championship salary cap to £1m (plus exemptions) there is
English
@SuperLeague Bradford Bulls 1997 was actually better than their 2003 team.
Because it was in the pre-Grand Final era it gets forgotten.
English
Who is the Greatest #SuperLeague Team? 🏆
Head to the #OURLEAGUE app to cast your vote 📲
Or vote on our website 👉 bit.ly/4t0gxFF 💻
#SL30
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@VinnyP_MOT @SuperLeague Bulls used every other fuckers money & went bump.
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@TonyPeet69 @CamDonDuncan 100% agree. I’d also like to see variable central funding linked to player development. Similar to how Other sports do it based on table positions, we say those who have most academy grads get a higher % of the annual distribution.
English
@CamDonDuncan The only way to do that is more exemptions from cap for players through your youth system. A youth system scoring more IMG points and a comp that can allow you to pay for all that without breaking the bank or having a rich backer.
English
What the competition really needs is all these teams having really strong teams again.
Imagine all these sides alongside…
Wire 2011-2012
Hull 2006
Cas 2017
Huddersfield 2013
Catalans 2021
London 2004
We’d have one hell of a comp
The only way is a higher quality player pool
Betfred Super League@SuperLeague
Who is the Greatest #SuperLeague Team? 🏆 Head to the #OURLEAGUE app to cast your vote 📲 Or vote on our website 👉 bit.ly/4t0gxFF 💻 #SL30
English
@Jambrit82 @SteveMascord Rugby League is not a first-past-the-post sport. There was only an odd 20-year experiment with that from mid 70s to mid 90s and we reverted back to the normal format which is a playoff Final deciding the champions. As it has been for over 100 years.
That is RL Heritage.
English
@SteveMascord Exactly challenge cup final was best in 80s early 90s when the league was first past the post , first past post would make challenge cup more important
English
It makes money, nonetheless. You take it out of the TV offering and the value nosedives further. And it's one of the only events each year Rugby League Commercial can be guaranteed to make money on from the gate. Challenge Cup final has become a hard sell.
Frank Spencer@Jambrit82
@SteveMascord Nobody outside league fans cares about grand final , the grand final is boring if it’s supposed to be big event it doesn’t work I get my friends who don’t like league to watch it and they say how boring
English
@hmoke13 @Duke2517 @johnnyddavidson After current expansion AFL will operates in 6 cities outside of its Vic base. NRL will be in 9.
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@Duke2517 @johnnyddavidson 💯. One thing about the afl they will look at expansion into new areas before expanding into areas where it’s congested. Plus they help their new clubs . The nrl need to do the same
English
I’m sure Queensland could handle another team. But a second club in NZ would be much better from the international point of view:
sportsindustry@footyindustryAU
NewsCrp: The Ipswich Jets will table a monster $60 million expansion bid to win the NRL’s 20th licence as the ARL Commission ramps-up plans for a fifth Queensland franchise. Overseas investors with ownership tentacles in the NBA, NFL, baseball and the English Premier League are now turning their attention to the NRL and want to buy into rugby league via a 20th team in Brisbane’s western corridor. couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/pete…
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@DannyJamieson Mostly comes from fans who watch on TV and haven’t really followed a team go down the leagues.
Going down and up the leagues is really not that bad.
Also we’re talking West Ham, Leeds etc going down with parachute payments… they’re not going to disappear to League 2.
English
Sky Sports News *and* Talksport getting this wrong AGAIN today already. Just ask a single Wigan fan and see what they say. Just one. #wafc
Danny Jamieson@DannyJamieson
I’ve seen my team do both and I wouldn’t swap the FA Cup win for anything and nor would a single other Wigan fan I know #wafc
English
@CamDonDuncan @quevega The additional NRL sides needing non-NRL rostered players is helpful.
It would be nice to be at a point where there could be 20+ English-produced players (eg 1 per club) starting in the NRL rather than the current 4-5.
I think it would be great for our National team.
English
Is there anything so scary in these theories that the game doesn’t already face without NRL intervention?
The Tryline 🏉@TrylineUK
✍️ 'What does an NRL Europe future look like?' New rules? Venue changes? Scrapping the Challenge Cup? A fairer deal for French clubs? With noise of an NRL takeover getting louder, I look at what this may mean practically for the UK game. READ: thetryline.blogspot.com/2026/04/what-d…
English
@quevega @CamDonDuncan Let’s be honest, if the NRLE level raises enough for it to be a feeder league for the NRL, it’ll be in a good place.
It already should be a feeder league - any decent player wants to play NRL - but the quality is so far off.
English
@CamDonDuncan The UK sport is already struggling somewhat - every chance it NRLE just becomes a feeder league for the NRL.
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@FBLowdown @HNMZY16 Which suggests the top two should go up and scrap the playoffs, because clearly the rest of the league is awful.
English
@HNMZY16 The team which has won the National League has finished on over 100 points in three of the last four seasons. Second placed have also done the same in two of the past four seasons (if we include Rochdale, who are currently on 99 points with four games remaining).
English
Lincoln’s rise from the National League to the Championship over the past nine years has rightly been in the spotlight this week. Here’s a fun fact though. They won the National League in 2017 with 99 points. This season, that would have seen them finish third. It’s time for #3up.
English
@Varexor @AndNapoleon Well, as that would include Belgium and parts of the German states..
and as the 6th coalition (above) only formed because Napoleon invaded Russia unprovoked..
the answer is Napoleon and the French.
English
@AndNapoleon Napoléon voulais une paix ou la France serait sécurisé par le Rhin ceux que le royaume uni n'as jamais accepté demandé vous qui était les tyrans sanguinaires ?
Français
#OTD April 6, 1814 - Napoleon abdicates his throne. Napoleon’s abdication effectively ends the War of the Sixth Coalition.⚔️
Coalition powers (Russia, Prussia, Austria, Britain) achieve victory 🏆
France is occupied💂♂️
Napoleon’s empire collapses across Europe😕
This map shows the futility of Napoleon's desire to continue the fight. He is surrounded by the Allies on all sides. #abdication #paris #napoleon #allies #france
English
@BradWalterSport @SteveMascord People in Brisbane don’t go out of their way to watch a Bunnies/Roosters game if they don’t follow NRL.
And even if they do follow NRL, there’d be more interest in say a Storm-Roosters game.
English
@SteveMascord Good point. We need people in London to be thinking Wigan are playing Saints tonight, I can't miss that - like people do with Souths v Chooks, regardless of who they support and even if they don't follow the NRL.
English
It's bigger because it's smaller ... and I'm not saying that sarcastically. Because it only has relevance within a small area, it's more intense
Cameron Don-Duncan@CamDonDuncan
@BradWalterSport @SteveMascord @neilc5017 @RedVeeDotNet @NRL No. But the Wigan V Saints rivalry is unique. Packed with players who grew up in those towns and supported those clubs growing up. The two most succesful clubs by far. Working class fan bases. Incredible atmosphere. It’s just not the same.
English
@TrylineUK @SteveMascord I think Sky no longer influence or control SL, or any sport, the way the did in the 90s/00s. There’ll be a view eg “our tv deal only covers X games” or “we’d possibly pay more for X structure” but the days of them dictating to a sport are well gone. It’s not their strategy now.
English
@SteveMascord I don't know. I expect there has to be an element of give and take in a negotiation.
The negotiating positions between NRL and Super League are stark. But not so between NRL and Sky Sports.
English
In amongst the talk of NRL takeover, there seems to be an assumption they could dictate everything from clubs, to structure, to kick off times. I don't think that's right.
Sky Sports' influence is still massive. They don't want something, I can't see it happening.
English
@TrylineUK @timcaulfield Qld/NSW Cups are well funded and are competitive. They feature reserve teams from NRL, traditional clubs eg Newtown Jets and ambitious clubs eg PNG or Redcliffe.
Theres a strong community game too.
Non-pro RL in England can only dream of this kind of stability and growth
English
@timcaulfield If this does go through, I'm interested to see what the NRL do. I expect it will be radical. I fear for clubs below Super League level.
English
Tricky call for Super League clubs. That kind of finance will be very difficult to turn down. But to cede control of the entire domestic game is a heavy price to pay. In some cases, turkeys voting for Christmas.
When clubs survive hand to mouth, they may be left with no choice.
ᴀᴀʀᴏɴ ʙᴏᴡᴇʀ@AaronBower
The NRL will likely cover the cost of Super League clubs' salary cap outlay if a deal is struck in the coming weeks, a possible game-changer - but that's going to come at a price: namely clubs relinquishing a high degree of governance and control. loverugbyleague.com/post/nrl-clubs…
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@johnnyddavidson Which is crazy when they have one of the biggest rosters across their two clubs and they’re running two quotas worth of overseas players
English
Huddersfield vs York today, kick off in six minutes. York haven’t named an 18th man
English
God I love posts like this.
Literally translates as: "my team is dogshit and I'm annoyed they can't even finish above the less fancied sides so I'll say that everyone else is just as bad to cope."
We fully deserve play-offs again. #bcafc
Jack@JNatt1311
I'm genuinely being serious, just cancel the play-offs this year. Not a single team here deserves to be promoted.
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