N2022

To you maybe, but that's not the intention. We could go all in with 'we've got the 4 best club sides in the world and we're ready for the Aussies', and then lose on a fine margin, half the squad go down with a bug, or they don't even bother running RLWC or the Ashes, deciding instead to take various NRL or Pacific fixtures in a circus somewhere lucrative. And in the meantime, every SL club below that 4 club league has sacrificed it's beat players into the project, nobody wants TV rights, the fans are disillusioned because they don't get to see the stars come to their ground anymore. You get the idea.

I get that's an ideal on one level, but those games come round every few years and sometimes come down to moments and mindset. I'm not sure building a whole domestic structure with that in mind is (a) advisable or (b) likely to be effective. Because the optimal for nwating Aus might be to have a highly selective SL with just maybe 6 or even 4 teams and a hyperconcentration of talent in them, but this risks (1) generating too much gap for others to get into that elite (2) becoming repetitive for spectators and (3) damaging visibility of the wider game. To beat Aus you'd maybe say the elite don't have to spend time visiting schools, hospitals, signing shirts etc but what does that do for game image and future recruitment. I'm going on now, but you see my thinking, it's complex.

If you have a 5% abv beer sponsor, but play zero games, is that OK?

Catalans now UWCC, meaning Huddersfield get the chance next weekend to prove they are the world's top club XIII.

Catalans are now Unofficial World Club Champions. See other thread on this forum for how that works. Interesting to see if Huddersfield or Hull KR can take that crown from them in the games ahead.

Going back to the undermarketing of this game on BBC. I follow union as well as league, but putting the live text and radio coverage of European RU game above live TV coverage of this is just really unfair. Ridiculous.

But Saints haven't put it out of reach.

So, with minutes left, still not clear who the unofficial world club champions will be at the end of this.

Which is great for those people watching BBC at 10 last night, but I'd have thought having some promotion and a link through BBC sport website today would be a better way of reaching sports fans.

Not sure if this is a reference to my post. If so, I am grateful for the coverage but don't think it's unreasonable to be dismayed at the virtually non-existent signposting of it, especially given the missed opportunity this represents to bring an entertaining sport to a wider public.

Get Derek B to tweet them...

I understand where the money comes from. Doesn't seem any fairer.

News to me. Helpful to know.

7.58pm, BBC sport homepage, I can click links to text and radio coverage of RU, televised swimming, articles on cycling, snooker and German football, but only one RL story, despite it being a sport I have chosen to follow with them. Nothing for SL TV game.

Would have expected the BBC RL page to have some sign of the live coverage for this by now but it's still pretty much hidden unless you happen to read yesterday's match preview article. In my opinion that is so poor. Think I predicted 25 mins before KO for something prominent to appear or live feed to start but we're basically at that now with nothing. How is that going to catch people getting back from their own sports and looking for something to watch tonight?

It does grate, in a way that rugby and cricket salaries don't, because it just seems immoral that someone can earn in a week what a nurse might earn in a decade.

Well, from a few posts here I'm getting the sense that you could run another job alongside Championship training and playing load, so fair enough. However, I am not sure that 'Most young people who play sport will train 20 hrs a week'? Think you're talking about a different level here to just 'playing sport', pretty elite like uni 1sts or a big club academy, because I find it hard to see 3 to 4 hrs a day 6 days a week as the average in work / term time for someone who turns out for a local football team or is a member of a local tennis or cricket club.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, George, and strength and comfort to family, friends and teammates.

Absolutely.

Inclined to agree. My post was more tongue-in-cheek rather than a telling off or attempt to take the moral high ground.

I like the fact we call him out very publicly, and some of us in quite an insulting tone, for calling people out publicly and in an insulting tone. Kudos to anyone who has DMed or e-mailed him today with this feedback. I had a letter ready to send but think I might give the club a call tomorrow. I don't live close enough to drop by in person...

I am an occasional spectator, no expert, but I feel like league should be able to run a 12 team SL with the 3 x 8 model at the end of the season a decent opportunity for the bottom SL sides to pick up some wins and the top championship sides to spring a surprise and go up. This or 2 team P&R adds some interest, otherwise you likely have a lot of games with little riding on them a couple of months into the season. I get the desire and IMG mission to have a more professional look / feel and reward corporate clout but LB essentially being relegated regardless of how they play this season is starting to look like a bad thing for the sport. Repetitive calendar is another reason I'd oppose dropping to 10. 8s gives a bit of that to the top teams, but spares a further one-sided St H v LB.

A massively underrated band, 5 Star, and big fans of RL judging by the titles of some of their hits ... Silk and (man of) steel The slightest touch (sees tackled player holding his head looking to ref for a card for his opponent) Their shoulder pads were a bit more NFL than NRL, though.

Yes, quite. The BBC coverage is a nice idea but execution is not reaching people who aren't in the know.

BBC3? Very cool.