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Batley have never been in the top division at any time that we’ve had multiple divisions. Not once. I doubt it’s been their goal for a very long time, if it ever was. So what does IMG’s role in Super League have to do with them? Anything they’ve done in the past to build their club, and its connection with its community, has never relied upon the promise of some sort of sunlit uplands in another league. It’s been about the enjoyment of today, and the building of local roots for tomorrow. It’s been about being part of the area they’re in, and doing what they do for many other positive reasons that don’t rely on some nebulous idea of needing the “benefits” of promotion. Basically Batley are the living, breathing embodiment of how there’s a genuine, sustainable, enriching, rewarding life in rugby league without doing that. They’re a standard bearer of the future model, not a critique of it. Hopefully Featherstone and others can learn the right lesson from Batley’s excellence.

England being a curtain raiser for Fev would be absolutely peak rugby league.

In response to many comments on here, I feel it's now time to comment. Firstly, I'd like to congratulate our coach, our DOR and the staff who work within our set up who have steered us through the tough first 1/4 of the season. Today was a good performance and I feel a stronger win than the score suggests. We have been challenged, come up short on occasion and also excelled too. There is much to be very positive about this season as it develops. As a club, we strive to involve the whole local community. Someone asked on this thread, Is this the type of club we've become? We have become one that has opened it's arms to the community, and one that wants all people connected to be part of sustainable change and improvement. At the home fixture v Oldham, a long standing supporter was asked to move his flag to an area over the popular side perimeter fencing that does not obscure the view of a sponsors boards. For me a very reasonable request, and a request that I'd expect to be met with a reasonable response. These requests have been met with uncooperative responses and even when club Ground safety officers have approached said 'supporter' we have been met with a completely unacceptable response. Factually I'd like to make all aware that since my involvement with the club (6yrs) that this has happened each year. Directors have asked directly for him to not do this. A supporter, who I'm aware has been a huge supporter and done many things to help over the years simply has chosen to not comply with requests. I have spoken and had private messaged the person in question, and must say, I have enjoyed good dialogue, so for this to keep recurring is frustrating and disappointing in each equal measure. I compare this simply with this: If I go into a pub and consistently refuse to adhere to the landlords requests I would expect to be asked to leave or be asked not to return. What is the difference? I am involved directly with attaining and retaining sponsors and now as Chairman, I'm responsible for leading this club forward, to evolve and develop. Hindering this progress does not sit well with me, it is a very challenging time, trust me I know how hard it is to get new sponsors and also how important it is to retain our current ones. I also know how difficult it is to find ground safety officers, trust me this essential role is absolutely vital to any game going ahead at any sports ground, so to have a very unhappy GSO puts some clarity on the response and respect given to our staff member. If any of the posters on this thread would like to discuss the issue, please don't hide behind your forum name, contact me and we will discuss this and any other point you'd like to talk about. I think I'm approachable, fair and listen to our fans. So my email is graemepeerstownrlfc@gmail.com I look forward to hearing from you. The decision by our board wasn't made easily, but as for every decision made, we make it with the best overall interests of Workington Town RLFC at the top of that decision making process. Please enjoy the win, we deserved it and any comments / discussion you can contact me. Graeme Chairman Workington Town RLFC UTT

It's almost as if years and years of fans hurling abuse and calling into question the integrity of referees wasn't a good way of enticing people into the roles.

"Five reasons why the RL media is dead"

Agree with this, Super League is not the be all and end all of Rugby League, some club are more than happy to be a success in their local community and are, and do well off the field rather than like professional football where everything revolves around getting as high as you can to make as much money as you can. I've never in 36 years of following RL ever thought of Batley as a club who desperately want to get into Super League, i'm sure they wouldn't turn it down if they thought their club were ready for it on and off the field, but they seem to be a great club who's supporters and townspeople are bloody proud of what they are and what they continue to do for them. Batley is a proper rugby league day out these days, a great atmopshere inside and around the ground and the ground has been developed into a smashing place to watch and enjoy the great game, they seem perfectly happy up there that that's what they want to be and fair play to them. It would be wrong for the media and people to presume that IMG/SL are holding clubs like Batley back, unless of of course clubs like Batley come out and say otherwise.

The user flaggymcflagface has been banned and their posts removed. It's not appropriate to use our forums on TotalRL.com in that way.

The story is about Fev not paying their way, why would he report on the match? Do you expect those reporting on knife crime in London to also say what a great cup of coffee you can get down there and how nice the Shard looks at night just to balance things out? it’s his story as well, he’s interviewing players and those affected, there’s another today. It’s great journalism in my opinion, far better than just regurgitating press releases or transfer rumours. It’s also in the public interest to know what’s going on behind the scenes.

It’s higher than Halifax’s average if memory serves me right, and an 1,800 all-pay gate obviously turns over much more than a 1,500 gate with season tickets. If that’s grounds for it being a waste of time then I must be lost as I had a cracking afternoon despite the fairly one-sided scoreline.

I don't feel like it all can be put down at my doorstep, cut me some slack.

You should have got yourselves relegated years ago.

If you are gonna come on to the forum and personally attack someone you should grow a pair and reveal yourself. I myself have witnessed the hard work Graeme puts in to ensure we have a club to continue to follow. He is an approachable guy and will happily discuss any issues you may have. What makes you think the club are going to be in financial turmoil again? If you think you can do a better job than Graeme and the current people running the club you should go down and offer your expertise. If anyone is holding the club back it’s people who spout ###### like you.

Dave Naylor.No one better in my eyes. He dragged the previous administration kicking and screaming into today's world. The club website improved dramatically as soon as Dave started to work his magic. He's a massively important part of the club.

2,041 today for Oldham vs Rochdale. And yesterday at the same venue, roughly the same for Rochdale Mayfield vs Waterhead.

Dave Naylor. . Well deserved. https://roughyeds.co.uk/2024/04/dave-naylor-our-techy-guru-wins-club-award/

No complaints. Great game. Catalan were superb. Well done to them.

Thanks a lot Johnny I was going to watch that later. I won’t bother now.

Especially for Cas in recent years

Wonder why the sport is having trouble with numbers of match officials available.

Completely inaccurate, contract is signed and process for Visa on track. Kind regards. Graeme Workington Town RLFC

Plenty of threads on here about poor spectator facilities, poor development, poor administration, poor ground maintenance, poor marketing. I'm not going to single out clubs but the fact is that there's more to running a club than winning games. You can sneer about the importance of decent toilet facilities but, eventually, having your customers paddle about will have an effect on your club's income.

Ive looked on the forum Today for the first time in ages , wow what a meltdown , re the Rochdale Topic. The one thing i will say is ..if i have anything to say i will use my own name. Lets just leave it at that..relax ,enjoy your rugby All the best.

Wheldon Road isn't up to SL standards .

The tragedy is that there is an easy fix to make everyone happy. A grade clubs protected; B grade clubs can go up or down via P&R. Clubs can still aim for A and get precisely the same reward, no short-term tinkering/gaming required by B clubs, no appeals holding the system up in October, excitement and at the bottom of SL and top of Champ. Win-win.

Hull, its not you, Leeds its not you, Castleford it could be you.

I just had a quick peek at the disciplinary thread when Morgan Knowles was cleared of twisting the arm of Chris Atkin to see if you posted that Knowles had been completly vindicated on appeal. No, instead you typed "I honestly would not mind if some newshound actually reported and screened on national TV the ongoings of the last week with the manipulation of the Bateman ban and this total abhorrent saga concerning Knowles, and show the country just what a complete shambles this game is in". Well, colour me surprised.

At Hull?!

Looking like another big crowd for Trinity v Toulouse over 6000 tickets sold so far could be a full house with 10 or so days to go

How it started: How it's going: Seriously impressive from the Trin!

That's sadly a very common view. I remember a time when the RL family used to sell out Wembley and you'd see every professional club's shirts. The disenfranchising of RL fans outside the top flight has led to this decline. We almost feel like we are not really part of the game anymore.

Can’t tell you how much Graeme has done for me and our family . Top guy , works his socks off there and deserves more than that

What a disgusting and unneeded personal attack that is, at least have the guts to put your name to it.

England RU, cant bring myself to cheer for them no matter what!

Think this is worth sharing. It's not easy to do this, but it can be done. You need a patient investor and a good front-office team, but it can be done.

New TV deal Basically, all the next home matches will be on viàOccitanie Grâce à cet accord avec Le groupe La Dépêche du Midi, viàOccitanie et la société de production Fulls Prod, les supporters du TO XIII, pourront, et ce dès le 20 avril prochain avec la rencontre TO XIII – Whitehaven, voir tous les matchs en direct d’Ernest Wallon sur viàOccitanie. Les 12 prochains matchs de la phase régulière du Toulouse Olympique seront donc diffusés sur la chaîne régionale ainsi que sur les sites internet des éditeurs du Groupe : Midi Libre, L’indépendant et La Dépêche du Midi.

Sorry but people need to get over tee,theirs no conspiracy,no shafting,as in many many cases a SL club has cherry picked out the championship,paid a fairly hefty fee, I don't get the xfiles syndrome people have,he's a saints player,their DR with Swinton , and I'm going to be controversial maybe here but even if he came back theirs no guarantee he'd score shed loads as for me alot of his success was massively helped by having miloudi inside him ,who's of course at London,stop babbling about it and back those in the wing jerseys,all about the now,not the then

That was never a strip in a month of Sundays. Minchella can’t actively strip the ball with his shoulder, the ball carrier was responsible for holding onto it or not. Absolutely incompetent.

As a Bulls fan, I think Rohan Smith is a fantastic coach and deserves a 5-year contract-extension.

This year has been fantastic for brands advertising at SL matches Optty/Mastercard /Bulldog Skincare/Wendys Restaurants/Duracell to name but a few. Over 40 new clients for us to RL this year + RL commercial have done a fantastic job attacting the german beer company and retaining Betfred who have been a fantastic sponsor. I would add that having an exclusive betting partner also stops the game being infested (Like football) with betting companies. France v England in Toulouse totally sold out with sponsors. Clubs doing a great job to with local sponsors. All in all a great year so far.

I think both lots of fans need to learn how to handle their beer. We are not Football/Soccer but Rugby League where banter and shaking hands afterwards should be the norm.

So, does anyone think we've missed the boat on Samoa?

True, but he is 53 now.

I think some fans need to be careful before celebrating a victory here. We have seen Saints win certain appeals which may be a victory on technical grounds but reasonable people don't agree with them. These are unorthodox tackles, genuinely nobody else in SL seems to be tackling regularly like this, they are often reckless and whilst he may win the odd case because of a disagreement about point of contact being a few centimetres here and there, these are risky tackles. I think phiggins is right, the focus here should be about him improving his tackle technique rather than celebrating techonal 'wins'.

Funny you should say that, I wandered past the ground this morning and took this photo, we're just doing a little light irrigation to promote normal grass growth.

Because IMG's involvement is with professional Rugby League as a whole not just with Super League. Batley and the other Championship clubs fall within their remit and most of what we've seen so far suggests that IMG don't really care much about what happens to clubs like them.

If we hadn't have gone again this year I don't think we would've gone next year to be honest. We have to keep backing the team, we knew it would be difficult and it is.