Roughyed Rats

Moving up from a B grade to an A grade club. Essentially guaranteed SL. It would make little sense to stay at Salford.

We play Keighley 3 times. Very much doubt it will come down to points difference. If we come out on top against them, I'd suggest we will be difficult to catch.

Is it a closed training session with Salford? Is it just me or has the message changed from the forum where we were told it was a practice game and we were encouraged to come and watch?

Winger or fullback I’d suggest. Wardle is a second rower. I'm not suggesting we don't have people that can cover. Just that we have only one recognised centre fit.

Exactly what they did in basketball. Started off with grading then moved to a franchise closed shop model.

If JT is our for a few weeks and O'Keefe not fit to return, that leaves only Morgan as a recognised centre.

Overall, I thought she had great of control of the game. If she had any nerves, they certainly didn’t show.

A win’s a win but I’m pretty sure Long won’t be happy with what was a lacklustre performance. Completion rate and discipline (what was the penalty count?) was very poor. Play like that against better opposition and we’ll get punished. Still, another 2 points.

Suspected Paga might get a full run out as he was left out of the 18 at Hunslet. Good to see ET back in. With Ellis rested, it will be interesting to see what he does at halfback.

Great thanks. Hats off to whoever came up with the idea of moving them around the amateur clubs. Genius.

Thanks for the update. Couldn’t make it due to the short notice. Was it videoed like previous ones?

No they didn't. That's a complete fabrication.

Thankfully it didn't make them stop. No details of the 'standards/licensing' were issued until following their acquisition. Their position on IMG has been made very clear as part of their very open and transparent communication with supporters.

Can you imagine if they got relegated to L1 and then put into Spreadsheet League? The game would be even more of a laughing stock.

The purchase of Oldham started well before IMG came in. This was publicly discussed at a fans forum.

Tara is a good ref. Better than many others we get at this level. I'm all for giving good refs a chance.

Until the clubs realise they have to split the cash 14 ways

I like the analogy Harry. In any relationship, there comes a point where both sides have to make a real concerted effort to reconcile. If that's one sided, I'd suggest it's never going to work and sometimes happiness lies elsewhere. As a divorcee, I can certainly testify to that on a personal level. If I truly believed there was a will on both sides, I'd be all in for marriage guidance. Perhaps the game needs to decide whether to go all in or it's separate ways. Certainly not buying the façade of sleeping in separate bedrooms.

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.

I don't disagree with this Harry. Licensing was a disaster last time when we even saw crowds diminish in the top flight. It won't take long for people to realise they can't get into SL (Spreadsheet League as my football mates laughingly call it) and the history repeats itself. The only other viable option for RL without P&R is to completely separate the game into Summer and Winter competitions as per my earlier posts. What simply won't work is a fudged halfway house like we currently have. As it was during licensing, our sport is sadly a laughing stock.

Which is absolutely my concern for the game as a whole outside the top flight. I could of course take a selfish view and be happy that we are in a positive place for the first time in 25 years. However, we've experienced just how bad things are and I can only see us losing more clubs if things continue as at present.

I think it's fair to say they expressed concerns (particularly about the longevity) and were supportive of P&R but understand that the game needs to do something different. I know for a fact that Oldham's shirt sponsorship dwarfs that amount this season.

£12,000 is nothing in terms of the overall cost of running a club. If Oldham are playing, I watch them. If they are not and I wanted to see a game, I might be tempted to go and watch (or stream) a SL game. On free weekends (we had plenty last season), I did exactly that. Similarly, if SL fans wanted to watch some RL in their off season, they may be tempted to go to a game of winter RL. We had quite a few Wigan and St Helens fans at BP for our earlier games this season before SL started.

Of course there might not but we've literally nothing to lose. The situation is dire. The game is suffering a slow death outside the top flight, so do we just slip away gradually and watch the game shrink slowly and painfully or do we try something else? Would some SL fans would go to games in the Winter? I might even be tempted to watch a SL game.

If this was a restructure under the RFL what would need to change? Had to laugh when you said marketing