Re: Adam Pearson interview in the Guardian : Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:06 pm
the artist wrote:
since nigel wood has been forced out of the superleague board, it is the chairmen of the 12 clubs who are now running the game. i can see AP rising to lead this group in the not too distant future
AFAIK he already has the job lined up with the IRLF hence why he's resigned and in line with the tenure period, he's not going to miss out on his fat cat gravy train doncha know.
As for AP, he and the other chairmen want to increase revenue/profit, that for the most part (except maybe Ken Davy) is the reason they own a business in RL, it's not because they wanted to be loved in a community or to do it out of a love for the game at personal expense/loss.
AP and other chairmen rightly have been concerned with the way the sport has been run and rightly so, sponsors are low level both in terms of branding recognition and actual amounts of money -again not surprising given the average demographic of your average RL supporter and how little media coverage the game gets.
Will control of RL fall back to chairmen as it once was BITD, I don't think so though this might make the RFL think long and hard where they and the sport are going over the next 20-30 years and how they have to be more proactive and become a professional outfit (which they currently aren't, not by a long chalk)/
Chairmen were a part of the problem for RL BITD (And has had ramifications over the last 50 years) because they didn't see any benefit from promoting the game further than their own back yard, entrepreneurs like Eddie Waring willing to push the boat out really haven't come up in RL except maybe for Mo Lindsey at Wigan.
To move forward fans are going to have to accept change because we've lagged so far behind in the last 30-40 years in pushing the sport into other areas nationally and internationally that we are playing catchup with a lot of handicaps against us. Clubs could well fold, old names fall by the way-side never to grace the top echelons ever again or for many years.
If that means RL as a whole spreads further not just in the national conscience/popularity but also internationally and grows bigger then that's the sacrifice that will have to be made for the greater good of the game. It might take 20 years, maybe even longer but RL can move forward and be a far bigger player than it is but it'll take foresight, a fair bit of financial risk and some actual professionalism within the organisation/marketing of the sport, something we don't have nor ever have had.
Consider how RU have manged to become a global sport despite it being average/tedious, their top brass have managed to polish a turd, if we'd have had their pull/professionalism RL would be massive.
I hope AP and the rest can expand the game properly as well as taking care of their own personal interests and see that they are symbiotic.
