Re: Whitehaven : Sat Sep 11, 2021 6:22 pm  

Ohmetoe wrote:

Just read an article on the envisaged central funding reductions for next year. Maybe our last ceo who worked for free saw the writing on the wall? Just how does the clubs finances paying near on 5k a month rent and no club bar work with reduced central funding . Is it mission impossible ? The numbers coming through the gates just wont pay the Bill's these days . To be fair the team has played on the whole better than I expected . The rebranding was only ever going to work with constant development to capture the audience ie like the bulls way back

Where can I find this article?

Re: Whitehaven : Sun Sep 12, 2021 7:45 am  

I guess the hope will be a lot of it will be covered by sponsorship, afterall Fax's sponsorship levels have been notably high for many years which has allowed us to compete near the top of the table despite the problems with not owning our own ground. I also remember Ian Croad had said that the cuts were expected and most teams in the Championship already had plans in place for worst case scenarios. As far as I know the cuts are not as servere as people were thinking they were going to be and it also might explain some of the playing decisions this season in getting rid of players and saving money on replacements.

The chances of us beating both Fev and Toulouse to gain promotion would be nearly none and we have finished higher than a number of teams who will have spent more than us although anyone who knows rugby could see we had put together a team that should be capable of 3rd or 4th although losing a number of players has now made that a lot closer than it should have been. It may be the same again next season but by the sounds of it we will have a team that will be competing near the top which is needed if any split happens but again we will be up against it with likely Fev and Leigh both spending a lot of money to try and get to the promised land which again might not happen if there is a drop to 10 teams. After that we will probably have Bradford over spending again for a year or two before the inevitable happens again and York won't be as bad as they have been this year. Add to that the teams that have "over achieved" this year in Haven and batley and then a number of other teams and next year is going to be a really good division despite the cuts which are due to the failings of the people at the top table anyway.

Re: Whitehaven : Sun Sep 12, 2021 8:45 am  

Greg Florimos Boots wrote:

I guess the hope will be a lot of it will be covered by sponsorship, afterall Fax's sponsorship levels have been notably high for many years which has allowed us to compete near the top of the table despite the problems with not owning our own ground. I also remember Ian Croad had said that the cuts were expected and most teams in the Championship already had plans in place for worst case scenarios. As far as I know the cuts are not as servere as people were thinking they were going to be and it also might explain some of the playing decisions this season in getting rid of players and saving money on replacements.

The chances of us beating both Fev and Toulouse to gain promotion would be nearly none and we have finished higher than a number of teams who will have spent more than us although anyone who knows rugby could see we had put together a team that should be capable of 3rd or 4th although losing a number of players has now made that a lot closer than it should have been. It may be the same again next season but by the sounds of it we will have a team that will be competing near the top which is needed if any split happens but again we will be up against it with likely Fev and Leigh both spending a lot of money to try and get to the promised land which again might not happen if there is a drop to 10 teams. After that we will probably have Bradford over spending again for a year or two before the inevitable happens again and York won't be as bad as they have been this year. Add to that the teams that have "over achieved" this year in Haven and batley and then a number of other teams and next year is going to be a really good division despite the cuts which are due to the failings of the people at the top table anyway.

Re: Whitehaven : Sun Sep 12, 2021 6:09 pm  

Wasn't there so can't comment on the performance- several have mentioned strange selections- while we don't know due to lack of info from the club I'd guess to a large extent its down to injuries/ fitness. Unfortunately now only 2 teams really have any interest in the playoffs - for the rest next week will merely determine wether we have 1 or 2 games left this season before an embarrassing tonking at Toulouse or Fev. Pity that it looks unlikely we'll be unlikely to meet up with the Bulls again as this would have at least given the chance to play for local bragging rights and more importantly bring in much needed revenue from a big gate. As has been said before main focus now for the club will be doing everything it can to ensure they earn a place in "superleague 2" if this goes ahead as I suspect it will.

Re: Whitehaven : Sun Sep 12, 2021 7:40 pm  

Didn't go but it's getting embarrassing now. At least bullies lost.

Re: Whitehaven : Sun Sep 12, 2021 7:51 pm  

Listened to it on BBC radio Cumbria and we were never in it.
With Bulls and Batley both losing damage limitation is down to the points difference gap closing.
All down to Fax v Batley and Bulls v Whitehaven next week to see who finishes where.

Re: Whitehaven : Sun Sep 12, 2021 8:53 pm  

It's all irrelevant now to be frank . End of season .

Re: Whitehaven : Sun Sep 12, 2021 10:34 pm  

Ohmetoe wrote:

I suppose the fact of the likes of london going part time it suddenly causes you to reflect on just where the sport is heading . They have tried their best with london over many years , had a successful financier but still the club as a business concept just hasn't cracked it . I just dont feel anyone in the sport has a direction for professional clubs to aspire to .

London's fiscal management is diabolical. They are losing some central funding but are almost certainly spending more than the loss on increased rent.... One can only assume that Hughes' wealth was achieved by luck rather than financial acumen.

Re: Whitehaven : Sun Sep 12, 2021 11:52 pm  

Disappointing to go down without really firing a shot - We knew the circumstances but couldn't do anything about it.

Robinson coming on with 20 mins left @ hooker? Why does he persist with his brother at scrum-half is baffling, unless Robinson was injured. Speaking on injuries, getting a little miffed about the lack of communication AGAIN about where some players have been for several weeks, namely Rawsthorne and Jones and you can add Harris to that list now. If we can finish third, had a really good season. It seems like a coin toss as both Bulls and Batley have also lost their last two.

In terms of who needs to be replaced or need better:

Grix (Should retire)
Kavanagh (Maybe one more season at a push)
Garside (Not good enough)
Not sold on the Davies boys

Need at least 4-5 new forwards, ideally, two-second rowers and two new props, assuming we keep Tangata, Larroyer, Calcott, Murray, Morris

Also, an out and out centre - Barber is not a centre

And please no loan signings to start the season.

Re: Whitehaven : Mon Sep 13, 2021 7:38 am  

Just a totally flat performance really and we got totally out muscled by Haven which really comes as no surprise to anyone who has watched us since Springer and Bourough left. We now have to hope that Haven don't get in the top 6 if we beat Batley as our season will end there. Im sure the players would prefer the trip to France but the reality is if Batley beat us this week then they would probably beat us the week after in the play offs as well. Luckily for us it looks like Batley are in similar form to us so beating them should give us a win against London. Player wise yesterday just nobody stood out or stood up. I saw someone say Scott Grix has had a great season. If he has I really need to stop watching Rugby League because this really is a season too much for him. He was awful again yesterday poor kick selection, poor pass selection, numerous mistakes, but all forgotton because he broke the line for about the first time this season. Why Woody has been moved to centre when his tackling is the weakest part of his game is beyond me, he has to be at full back as he really is the only player we have with a bit of flair and quality in attack.

The good thing is we have a nucleus of a squad that should be near the top end of the table come next season. The question is what are we aiaming for. If it were top 2 then we would probably need 8 or 9 players who are improvements on the current squad so thats probably unrealistic so we are probably aiming for top 6 again in which case we probably still have to move a few on if we want to make top and be competitive come the end of the season.

Of the current squad I would say get rid of the following:-
Grix - a season too far. Davies twins - they try hard but they would not stand out in league 2. Sion Jones - Won't be on a lot of money but same as Davies twins. Robinson and Harris - Both not good enough for a team that wants to compete at the top of the table.

This just about leaves the following:-
Woody - Has to play fullback but clearly not a Grix type player. Salty, Worthington, McComb, Rawsthorne - Basis of a good back line but really need to add another quality centre. Add a centre it means McGrath could probably go. Fairbank, Barber, Kavanagh, Murray, Morris, Larroyer and Tangata - They are all ok but we really need someone who can break the line, we could keep all these if we added a nasty prop or two with some size.Calcott I think has easily been our best squad player and has shown promise, not sure why he hasn't played more. Add a couple of props and you end up with Garside as a squad player which is fine, that is the standard of squad player we need to aim for to be a good team. Having players who are not as good as some amateur players as squad players leads to the position we find ourselves in now with the season finishing with a whisper.