Good luck to Cornwall. I don't think anyone could question the enthusiasm of Eric Perez for the game of rugby league.
My issue with this development is that it has been allowed to go ahead without it appears, any consultation with other clubs; or any suggestion that the RFL actually gave any thought to the position of Ottawa following the collapse of TWP, or gave any consideration to the impact on other L1 clubs of allowing Ottawa to re-locate to Cornwall.
No part time player can afford to commute that distance twice a week and i doubt any local players could afford to spend 10 plus hours travelling every other week, another clueless pathetic effort by the RFL.
It's all a bit like we're living in a RL 'wonderland' like Alice.
Rimmer is just so far out of his depth its not true. But we are stuck with him because nobody can sack him! 'Eric in Rimmerland' could be a best seller for Christmas!
The matter of travel to Cornwall is just so stupid they might as well be in Canada! Has anyone in the management group looked at it yet?
And still no decisions regarding funding made public yet?
The reason why there are so few fans is because the sport has been mis-managed for more than a generation.
And, quite understandably, those fans have long since deserted the game.
Why would anyone bother when Clubs have been overlooked and ignored with all hope and ambition being taken away because of senseless and pointless short term decisions such as this.
And to what end? For who's benefit is this expansionist agenda being driven?
The sad thing is, that the product is being diluted in front of our very eyes, yet nobody in Authority can see it.
First one i found when searching.
1976-77 Average Attendances (league position in brackets)
Division 2
1. Hull (1) 3860
2. York (5) 3475
3. Dewsbury (2) 1960
4. Keighley (6)1848
5. Bramley (3) 1709
6. Huddersfield (7) 1520
7. Halifax (10) 1429
8. Swinton (11) 1215
9. New Hunslet (4) 1208
10. Batley (12) 917
11. Whitehaven (8) 615
12. Doncaster (14) 488
13. Blackpool (13) 393
14. Huyton (9) 326
This was taken from another forum. Hardly booming attendances, even in the old days.
Div 1 isn't much better from back in the day
The game is managed badly, but the talk that yesteryear was amazing and had no problems is pie in the sky.
2019 Champ attendances;
List of Championship average attendances:
Toronto Wolfpack – 6,521
Bradford Bulls – 4,339
Widnes Vikings – 4,321
Leigh Centurions – 3,259
Toulouse Olympique – 2,488
Featherstone Rovers – 2,235
York City Knights – 2,125
Halifax RLFC – 1,761
Barrow Raiders – 1,389
Batley Bulldogs – 1,347
Dewsbury Rams – 1,231
Swinton Lions – 1,078
Sheffield Eagles – 944
Rochdale Hornets – 795
It's hardly night and day.
We have a great, but small time sport. Yes it could be better, and we all wish it was, but people need to stop talking as if it used to be huge when it wasn't (Cup finals aside).
See they are having trials in December with 10 Cornish or Cornish based players being offered contracts
not sure how many takers they will get from RU as they will still be training and playing RU until May and league 1 starts in March I think
This point!! I started to a thread a while back asking why people who believed the game was dying and what their justification was.
in 1977/78 I believe Widnes had the second highest attendance with 7000 fans in the first division, imagine the melt down if that happened today?
I see your former coach, a certain Mr Kelly, has landed the Cornwall job.
Spelly.
I see they've appointed Neil Kelly as their coach.
Neil Kelly: Cornwall RLFC appoint Kelly for inaugural season
I'd rather have their coach than ours...
Why? Where has he been for the last ten years?
Having said that, he did a decent job here and wish him well with the Cornish venture.
Agree somewhat with that , but we now have established clubs in London, wales, Sheffield and Newcastle, so expansion has happened
we have lost members of the 30 clubs circa 1970 - Blackpool,huyton,bramley and gained a few, even though 2 are French !
There is no surprise with Anthony Mullally signing for them. I believe he spends a lot of time in cornwall and loves his life there. A good match all round for the player and the club.
It is hard to see them making a big impact in the attraction of spectators, but I hope they do make that breakthrough and Eric Perez does not seem to be afraid of backing the sport in what might be looked upon as difficult areas.
I am lucky, I am retired and my time is my own, we take a trip up to Whitehaven (my home town) to take a couple of games in every season and if the country is looking to be in a better position, I can see us taking a trip to Cornwall this summer.
With some good marketing and the promise of some fun activities and good food and drink, they might be able to attract some tourist interest.
I'd rather have their coach than ours...
Why? Where has he been for the last ten years?
Having said that, he did a decent job here and wish him well with the Cornish venture.
Kept Dewsbury up with little or no money.
Just my personal opinion that on balance Kelly is a better coach than Finnigan but hopefully Finnigan does well for us this season.
Very good coach with lots of experience and I’m sure he won a personal award for his coaching (many years ago).
However, it’d be a mistake to bring him back now as there will be many people (including me) comparing his current performance with his past success here.