Hi
Ok I don’t post on here a lot but summits seemed to have stumped over the last few interviews that’s come out of the club and I just wanted to hear everybody’s opinions on it to see if they are the same as mine.
over the last few interviews with Phil finney he has been asked about super League and why we haven’t made a effort to submit a application for it. Fair enough I understand we haven’t got the money and the team at the minute which I understand. But then I thought say for instance this year we win the championship (hopefully) does the club have the write to say no to promotion if we do?.
Hi Jaws123, can't honestly see us turning a promotion down tbh but PF and the board are dealing with the here and now.
PF's comments and regarding the way the game is managed are very illuminating in that they explain the different views on academies for example. We have never had that sort of transparency 'from the top' and it gives us a clue as to how careful the smaller clubs need to be. The 'promotion' of Leigh, with a ridiculous gap in their funding allocation is typical of the disjointed way in which the game is manipulated.
I honestly think that we are in a much better position than we have been in in recent history because we have honesty at the top. That might sound stupid but we have been shafted once and need to be careful of falling again and the board are aware of that.
The SL is so much of a 'boys club' that you have to be careful not to get caught out. Promotion would need to be thought through and a financial support system set out before we made a decision. The will is there, have no doubt, but any decision has to be thought through before you can just grab the goodies.
We have made good ground since Administration and we will make more I'm sure.
I think the ambition needs to be to go and watch our team live and to watch them play attractive, open football. If we can do that then that’s enough for the time being.
The way the game, in general, is at the moment I would see it as more like a death wish for the club rather than an ambition to be in SL.
A bit severe RV but I take your point! Ad many have said on here the game is teetering on the edge and it could go either way!
Truth is nobody has any faith in the present hierarchy, and I include SL club managers in that. They all want 'expansion' but paid for by someone else.
I found the analysis by PF regarding the academy structure and purpose very interesting and it explained a lot of what has happened in that area. The league and the SL are more than happy for clubs like ours, and others even poorer financially, to fund their feeder system but don't want to contribute.
As you say play great flowing rugby to start with and that will sell itself in Halton.
In the meantime the well paid powers that be can hopefully sort themselves out. I would think that a serious look at just how many staff SL clubs need would be a good start if they are desperate for funds!
I don't think Finney showed lack of ambition in not applying for SL, albeit I thought we should have applied with no chance actually being given the promotion spot (or poison chalice). His explanation was that it was too soon after administration and they would prefer to get promoted to SL on the back of winning games, which does make sense. I am sure that if we manage to get promoted this year - and SL actually continue promotion and relegation in 2021 - we would welcome the opportunity.
I am not sure anyone, including those running the game, knows where the game is heading post-covid and anticipated reduction in Sky funding and following the TWP and Elstone fiascoes.
As has been said, the ambition of most clubs this year will be to get on the pitch in front of crowds and see where we go from there.
Those managing the game need to think about the future of the game rather than their own self interest. The first thing they need to do is to pay off Elstone and bring the management of the game under one structure, led by a Chief Executive and Board with the best interests of the game in mind, rather than selfish self interest. They need to make a decision to end the NA dream by telling Ottawa and NY that there is no place for them in the UK game, that is if they have not realised that already. They then need to have a wide ranging consultation within the game and develop a future coherent and realistic strategy.
There was no point in us applying this time anyway, we would have had a reduced TV allocation and basically no time to put a squad together. Even if we had of got it, we would have lost maybe all but 1 or 2 games and gone down again. Would have made 2018 look like a reasonable effort.
We should have the ambition to be in the Play-Offs, all that being said, and I would expect over the next 2-3 years a team to be built capable of winning this league.