Isn’t it extraordinary that part time has enabled us to attract our strongest 13 in years?
Great news. Sheens is certainly building a decent squad for next year and putting his stamp on the team.
The spine of the team must be one of the best in the Division and with experienced props, our pack will stand up to the bigger packs in this Division. Looking forward to further signings soon, with a squad more than capable of challenging for a play-off position and potentially promotion.
Well it has taken us a while to assemble a competitive squad, but we are well on the way. We are hanging on to our key players and strengthening with new additions. The voided season was a bit depressing, in that, you knew we weren't really in contention, a number of very decent players, but too many weaknesses. Starting to think we will make a much better fist of it in 2021! Keep up the good work!
Not a lot of news about surplus SL forwards looking for a partime berth yet. Probably feelers are out though. The employment situation could complicate the issue for ex SL players looking for work.
A lot will also depend on Toronto. They'll have 20 players coming to market if they don't play in 2021, which may force some players out of their current clubs.
True, and some will be between FT and PT, looking carefully at offers of FT if they get any, maybe deciding that a 'job +' is a better option.
Given the economic uncertainty and general state of the game, it would not surprise me if some players, particularly older ones, looked at part time contracts as a positive. If you're able to work a full time regular job and then supplement that with the part time playing contract, that's a lot more security than playing full time with the risk that the club/sport could go under.
There's obviously a few full time teams at the top of the Championship, we could position ourselves as being the best of the part time teams picking up players of a higher quality than a lot of those full time players. I know full time gives you an edge but at the end of the day you only need to make the play offs, and in a handful of 80 minute games part time teams do beat full time teams, it happens.
The game, so far as Championship teams go, needs sorting to be less reliant on Sky, but that is another story! As you say, the fragility of the FT option might just nudge players who are not quite in the top rank of SL to reconsider the option of a regular job supplemented by RL.
What the 1895 founders feared is coming to pass, that is why they maintained that no player should earn a living playing RL. Players in the Golden era could double their manual workers pay, and that was good.
These days pay is different of course, but expecting SL earnings to finance the rest of your life is asking too much imo.
Think we could benefit from the reserve league being scrapped next year.
Either through players being released or season long loan deals. I think we’ll see a couple of really good young Super League players drop down to Championship.
So long as they drop down to us!!!!!
TS is a pretty powerful magnet!
Think we could benefit from the reserve league being scrapped next year. Either through players being released or season long loan deals. I think we’ll see a couple of really good young Super League players drop down to Championship.
I think it has already been scrapped.
Think we could benefit from the reserve league being scrapped next year.
I am pretty sure I read a few months ago that the RL had scrapped reserve football for next season.
They see themselves as equivalent to soccer, but without the financial clout that doesn't work. For my money RL is far superior but we have to accept that it is a minority sport.
Again, RU is inferior in skill levels etc but always has been better financially managed, hence its position. Australia is less class orientated and RL fits their national character, toughness and mateship, and again, is better managed.
Can't see a way out of our self-made mess, other than clubs uniting and re-drawing the game on their own terms. Our example, VIQI etc, could form a guide in that if the clubs can't draw enough support from their locality maybe their cycle is finished.
In itself that might revive interest!
Sadly the 'SL v the rest' conflict looks like dragging on until Sky pull out, which might be sooner rather than later.
Sorry this has strayed from OP.
RL phoney expansion strategy was based on lies, they believed RU expanded and RL tried to follow suit. However, what they didn’t realise was that RU is played in virtually every town in the UK for the past 100 years whereas RL is played by a small minority of the country.
RL cannot compete with Union, it never has and never will. RL should focus on trying to improve the engagement with its core fan base. A Saints vs Wire Challenge cup backed up by 6,000 Widnes fans, struggled to pull 60,000 at Wembley. That’s where the game is struggling in the heartlands.
Listened to Tim Sheens on the radio, he said the Reserves are scrapped and he anticipates some SL players to become available as costs are cut.
Also made a thinly veiled reference to Ottawa targeting our players, but he sounded very enthusiastic and clear about the job to be done.
All good stuff at the minute.