IMG...

I do wonder where this leaves clubs like Widnes Vikings. What a surprise - all of the big clubs will be totally safe from any jeopardy should these proposals be voted in. Never expected that. What a shock. I'm honestly beginning to wonder what the point is for smaller clubs if these plans are voted in. RL is dying on it's arse and the recent attendance at the SL GF of about 61,000 speaks volumes to me. 

I wonder if they plan any more expansion clubs ? And what a success that's been over the years. They said they must have a strong presence in London. Do they not realise it's been tried for decades and bar a few hundred people, nobody is interested. 

Anyways, leave them to it. I've honestly had enough of this game of RL. 

Widnes are where we are, because that's where we deserve to be ultimately. We have spent almost 30 years lurching from disaster to disaster, with small high points thrown in there, but they have been few and far between. 

We can sulk about this decision, or as a club and a support base we can start to build what we need. Without knee jerk decisions based on short term goals. We are Still, outside of SL, with the possible exception of Bradford, the strongest contender for a potential SL club.

Leigh could win SL and still only get sub 5k attendances, much like Salford. What we have to do is set a target, and then work towards that goal. And what we do have is a great fanbase that if managed well, could grow and give us a basis to achieve our targets.

To think that a Well run Widnes would not be a better option than Wakefield, Salford, Leigh or even Huddersfield is something i would struggle to understand.

Something had to change with the sport, and the RFL and SL have proven over and over again that they are not the right organisations to make those decisions. Lets give IMG a chance, things could hardly get much worse than they are now.

Difficult to really assess this until the detail comes out, but it seems some clubs in the top flight ,whatever it may be called, will be exempt from relegation, meaning that another B rated or below could finish mid table above exempt teams and be relegated ?
now that’s a level playing field !

@ditton-donkey I agree that there are a lot of questions to be answered about how the system will work to the benefit of all clubs, not just those few who seem to run the game at present.

There needs to be a fair, transparent and independent assessment to determine what category clubs will fall into; and when and how those categories will be reviewed. I presume that some existing SL clubs will be in category B and some    Championship clubs may fall into category A, which will mean that some SL clubs will be relegated to the Championship in 2024, wherever they finish in the league in 2023. That will be interesting. In the same way, I would guess that there will be some clubs in league 1 and even the Championship, who cannot achieve the category C standard. What incentive will they have to seek investment to achieve category C standard?

What incentive will a club like Widnes have to invest, in order to achieve category A status, if promotion to the top league is not certain? This is where a fairer distribution of central funding is required and not just the favoured 14 SL teams retaining the bulk of funding, leaving the rest to struggle along on the crumbs.

I would hope that the long-term aim is to encourage the maximum number of teams to reach category A standard and maybe then having two leagues, with promotion and relegation, without relegated clubs going to the wall and promoted clubs struggling to compete, due to the funding structure.

I welcome the initial IMG proposals, but there are still a lot of questions to be answered about implementation and what are the long-term aims. If the proposals are hijacked to meet the short-term whims of McManus, Lenegan etc, then many clubs and fans will be lost to the game.

There is no real difference between Salford, Wakey, Leigh, Widnes, Fax, Bulls except the Sky cash.

RL 'journos' like Shaw and others are sucking up unfailingly to the IMG mantra because they are careerists.

We are involved in a sport, not a Dragons Den contest.

To quote Dua Lipa, IDGAF, if us, Batley, Bradford, or Oldham were in SL, as long as we won the final to qualify.

We are finished because of the arrogance of IMG, the failure of JR and SOC and the pathetic RFL media who sycophant to the RFL/SL

All I hope is IMG SL is a complete failure.

Also that Widnes gloriously rage against the dying of the light.

Posted by: @cj91

There is no real difference between Salford, Wakey, Leigh, Widnes, Fax, Bulls except the Sky cash.

RL 'journos' like Shaw and others are sucking up unfailingly to the IMG mantra because they are careerists.

We are involved in a sport, not a Dragons Den contest.

To quote Dua Lipa, IDGAF, if us, Batley, Bradford, or Oldham were in SL, as long as we won the final to qualify.

We are finished because of the arrogance of IMG, the failure of JR and SOC and the pathetic RFL media who sycophant to the RFL/SL

All I hope is IMG SL is a complete failure.

Also that Widnes gloriously rage against the dying of the light.

Are you a Dylan Thomas fan?

@sunny 

As much as I am an officer and a gentlemen, I am primarily a widnes fan.

I just despise the fact we aren't focussed on the rugby but more entranced by corporate behemoth's and no mark journos from Halifax.

We are soooo forgetting that sport is sport, not the CBI.

Up the Chemics,  screw anything else because I am a Widnes fan first and a RL fan a Fiiiiing distance 2nd.

@cj91 

Well said indeed.

My question was following your "raging against the dying of the light" comment - taken from a Dylan Thomas poem used at my late wife's funeral and very apt in this current situation of a "dying" sport.

So according to the press, Keighley were the ONLY club to vote against the new proposals for the IMG proposal.

Well done Keighley and shame upon every other club who has obviously taken their 30 pieces of silver. A competition isn’t a competition if it isn’t fair.

Frankly, I’m getting fed up of all these grand RFL plans to do this or that when ultimately they blow the funds for the sport on consultants and ill-advised change. What exactly is it that they want? A national sport? World domination? Seriously, what is their aim? 

There are few other sports where the staff of the governing body are in the papers more than the coaches of the teams. Does the sport need the RFL, or SL Europe? They are not governing, they are milking their cash cow.

Posted by: @steve

So according to the press, Keighley were the ONLY club to vote against the new proposals for the IMG proposal.

Well done Keighley and shame upon every other club who has obviously taken their 30 pieces of silver. A competition isn’t a competition if it isn’t fair?

Wholeheartedly agree with you Steve. And before it’s mentioned, I’d hold the same opinion even if our club was in SL.

It seems, if Love RL is correct, that Widnes Vikings voted for the IMG proposals. Apparently only Keighley voted against it with Batley & Dewsbury abstaining.

IMG have announced that they're looking to re-brand SL with a new, fresh identity(wow, can't wait for that)and a new branding to avoid confusion with other sports that have hijacked the name. They are also looking to introduce a grading and licencing system to replace P and R(haven't we been there before ?), a more comprehensive international schedule and they intend to shitcan the Magic Weekend. 

Another major priority is to awaken the "sleeping giant" of London RL(who knew ?). An IMG VP Matt Dwyer firmly believes that the smoke, "ranks better than traditional rugby league cities in areas such as participation and interest". 

So there we have it. Would agree that SL probably does need a re-brand, but the rest of it ?

One definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. 

Well the plot thickens now, you need a SL a ladies team for A licence - only 8 teams guarenteed that for next season - possibly shudder and Leigh !

The game is 127 years old and has never been a national sport nor never will. Why are we allowing idiot's after idiot's to change structures and rules all the time?. The joke is that we pay people to do this,the money should be put into the infrastructure to help protect and aid the clubs to keep as many afloat as we can. Won't be long til Sky pull the plug and dump RL in favour of Blind folded darts or bog snorkeling the sooner the better.

When I started watching Widnes circa 1958 I well remember then there was talk of RL dying within 10 years as gates had dropped drastically since the immediate post war years. 65 years on & we are still here with approximately the same number of clubs albeit with 2 of them now being French/ Catalan. Some have gone  like Bramley & Liverpool City( in all its guises) but new clubs have replaced them eg. Sheffield, Newcastle. Things are rarely as bad in reality as they are perceived to be.