Much will come down to how much we can afford to offer. Covid will have seen most clubs losing walk up supporters cash and that will influence how much we have ‘spare’. VIQI should help out though we can’t really afford to spend everything we have. Of course our Academy used to provide prospects for us, but no more!!! Some SL clubs may have to trim squads to meet their reduced Sky allocation and that might encourage some older players to look for a job and a PT berth. That is where sponsor support can help, by offering jobs if possible. Reductions in SL cash might make them hold back on ridiculous contract offers to young players. Saints coach suggested that even they are being outbid by clubs offering double what Saints can afford! If that is the case we are dead meat.
<p style="text-align: left;">Agreed with all you say but WHY do other clubs continually out spend us on players. We have more season ticket holders than any other team in this league even without walk up payers but sign only four players and again depend upon kids to make up the belly of the team. Our committee even said SL clubs would be trimming so expect more signings but alas nothing to date, except loanees and more kids</p>
Outside of Toulouse, Featherstone, London and York - and not too sure how many players London have signed this year - which other clubs in the Championship have outspent us on players. It also depends on what players have become available and whether they wanted to come to a team on this side of the Pennines.
Outside of Toulouse, Featherstone, London and York – and not too sure how many players London have signed this year – which other clubs in the Championship have outspent us on players. It also depends on what players have become available and whether they wanted to come to a team on this side of the Pennines.
Newcastle, Bradford, Halifax at a guess.
Outside of Toulouse, Featherstone, London and York – and not too sure how many players London have signed this year – which other clubs in the Championship have outspent us on players. It also depends on what players have become available and whether they wanted to come to a team on this side of the Pennines.
Newcastle, Bradford, Halifax at a guess.
Outside of Toulouse, Featherstone, London and York – and not too sure how many players London have signed this year – which other clubs in the Championship have outspent us on players. It also depends on what players have become available and whether they wanted to come to a team on this side of the Pennines.
Newcastle, Bradford, Halifax at a guess.
Agreed - but I think the players Bradford and Halifax have signed were mostly if not all from Yorkshire clubs and some at Bradford possibly full-time . Are Newcastle full-time? They do seem to have a wealthy backer too.
Having said that, Finney did say that the club had money to sign players if they became available. Maybe they have decided to muddle through this season with a small squad and be reliant on loans; and look to strengthen the squad in 2022 for a good crack at the play-offs.
I'm thinking that this year, particularly with COVID and the uncertainty that has brought, together with previous administrations, we might be taking the very cautious approach for now - very understandable. There is no money men to dip their hands in their pockets to bail us out of cash flow problems, X amount of VIQI money is not guaranteed, attendances weren't guaranteed and so we are probably just spending within our means in terms of guaranteed income streams. Maybe, when we know we will have a much more secure season in terms of income, we might see more investment.
The thing is, there's probably just one promotion spot available and that is not guaranteed. It would be nice to see a much stronger squad but clubs like Featherstone, Toulouse, Bradford and York have invested heavily - at least 3 of those clubs are going to finish the season massively underperforming and with real disappointment in a season where their income streams have been damaged immensely. Eggs in 1 basket?
With the likes of Batley, Halifax and Dewsbury : I think we all know that our squad should be competing better than those teams who I think have been coached well. I'm not sure Finnegan will be allowed to let what happened at the start of 2021 to happen again. But then again, hopefully he will have more say on what the squad looks like for 2022.
Agree with your assessment Ma. The way the favourite teams have spent and performed make the task of getting from 7th to winning the playoffs highly unlikely and there is some sense in staying competitive and mid table atm. Finances throughout the game look shaky and there is the Davy/Rimmer chat to have yet to decide how much will get passed down to Championship level.
Having said that I hope that we are watching player availability for next year and getting some chatted up and maybe signed up if possible. A good looking start will encourage others.
There are some of our lads who might be approached I guess and it will depend on what they are offered I suppose. Those who have been loaned out before will have a good idea how other clubs stand and decide accordingly. As they get older the likelihood of a big payout reduces with the years they have left. I hope that Lawton stays with us tbh, his promise has been about for years and being back amongst his mates seems to suit him, and them. I get the impression that others see him simply as an underused battering ram, but that was never his game.
Clough and Smithy have stood imo and the youngsters must have learned a lot. Hopefully they will hang on next year.
Weird how Yorkshire produces loads of heavy lumps though.
To Frang, Newcastle are owned by the same group that own the Newcastle Falcons RU club.
there is a bit of money ( and long term planning) behind them.
London have parted company with Danny Ward and look to be going part time next year, not sure how that will affect their future recruitment.
Negatively I would have thought. No pool of part time players to dip into in that part of the country.
I think London could be in trouble unless they can get a wealthy backer behind them in 2022. It has never really taken off in London since they first tried with Fulham in 1980, even when they were in SL. One of their problems has been that they have never really had permanent home ground, What happened to their proposed move to Plough Lane on a ground share with Wimbledon? Shame really because there seems to have been a growing interest at community level in and around London, with a few players coming through to play for London and other clubs.
Newcastle seem to have the right approach in sticking to a long-term plan to grow the game in the North East, albeit with some investment from a local backer (thanks RV).. My guess is that in the next couple of seasons, they will be seriously challenging for a play-off spot and potential promotion to SL.
It is interesting that the Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, is calling for an independent review of the rugby league game in the UK. Perhaps the RFL could call on him to Chair the a Review Commission, notwithstanding that he is a Warrington fan!
The Newcastle connection with RU leaves the way open for cross code interplay that could see the RU team benefitting from RL talent.
I think the Wimbledon ground is still waiting for a safety certificate and London wanted Wimbledon to play there first. Suspect Wimbledon will be having a pre season game after July 19th so London May move after that ?