Re: Vs Sheffield : Wed Sep 06, 2017 2:40 pm  

I don't think any restructuring of Championship and D1 is just for the Bulls.
I expect SL will be changed in a couple of years possibly adding two more and they need the Championship to be as strong as possible to feed that plan.
I believe they want D1 to be a development league possibly losing some and merging others. I listened on the radio last weekend and they said one game got 65 fans. Does the RFL want the Bulls and its supporters in with that.
if I were the RFL I would also look at increasing the second tier by 2 or even 4 and losing Blackpool to allow it.
The championship could be a very good league with 6-8 teams that could be aiming for promotion. It could be a league worth watching - if only they would then televise it. Keighley back in would be good for a few teams.

In conclusion, I would increase SL by 2 and the Championship by 4 (3 extra games) to bring in more revenue. That means over the two leagues we need to take 6 clubs from division 1 into the Championship. That would leave a smaller development league and the 6 more established clubs move up.
That's why I won't be surprised if the RFL comes out with a statement in a couple of weeks starting with "We have been thinking about some changes for next season...............".

Re: Vs Sheffield : Wed Sep 06, 2017 6:26 pm  

I'm not seeing the argument about not being able to assemble a decent squad for next season should we stay up.

The current squad is one that was "thrown" together at two weeks notice. It is also what was left of the previous squad once all the better players had been picked off. What makes you think that we could not assemble a better squad with 3 months notice?

Plus, the hybrid system in the Championship should have been one we embraced every since we got relegated. Anyone who has played lower league or amateur stuff knows there are far better players turning out in the Yorkshire Leagues than are currently on full time contracts in some Championship clubs and even lower end SL teams. Natural skill levels are far more important than how much you can lift or how long you spend at the training ground.

I'd happily take a place in the second tier after a restructure. I have no problems at all. The RFL and SL have shat on us enough times to say it would be payback.

SL money taken and "redistributed", minus 12pt deduction, Hull KR three times, no centralised funding, generous "donation" to Rugby League Cares fund???

Rest of the clubs could go whistle for me. If i believed we could survive L2 and have a shot at making it back to the top i'd say to go down just to make others suffer, but i'm not convinced.

Every club for themselves I say... roll on the re-structure!!!

Re: Vs Sheffield : Wed Sep 06, 2017 6:47 pm  

If we're kept in the championship its a scandal. The RFL are the ones running the sport not the bloody clubs (otherwise you get the ridiculous situation of SL clubs not having acadmies and reserves) as others have said just because some clubs want a bit extra money, the rules everyone signed up for at the beginning of the season should be adhered. By the way the RFL really don't help repel the conspiracy theorists. Remember Johnny Campbell's red card for his dangerous tackle. Well my anger was because ive seen much worse than that, that weren't punished. Low and be hold an absolute shocker of a spear tackle occurs (Greg Bird) and the referee sends them to the sin bin!!! Simply not good enough! Its in the below video (1 min 26 i believe) http://www.catalansdragons.com/articles ... talans-s8/ Also remember Johnny Campbell was sent off so effectively missed one game, also had and EGP and got a 2 game ban. Bird didn't get sent off, wasn't able to take an EGP due to his poor record and only got 3. Johnny was sent off he technically missed 3 games. So the RFL think that Campbells and Birds are the same seriousness. I'll let you make your own minds up.

If we're kept in the championship its a scandal. The RFL are the ones running the sport not the bloody clubs (otherwise you get the ridiculous situation of SL clubs not having acadmies and reserves) as others have said just because some clubs want a bit extra money, the rules everyone signed up for at the beginning of the season should be adhered. By the way the RFL really don't help repel the conspiracy theorists. Remember Johnny Campbell's red card for his dangerous tackle. Well my anger was because ive seen much worse than that, that weren't punished. Low and be hold an absolute shocker of a spear tackle occurs (Greg Bird) and the referee sends them to the sin bin!!! Simply not good enough! Its in the below video (1 min 26 i believe) http://www.catalansdragons.com/articles ... talans-s8/ Also remember Johnny Campbell was sent off so effectively missed one game, also had and EGP and got a 2 game ban. Bird didn't get sent off, wasn't able to take an EGP due to his poor record and only got 3. Johnny was sent off he technically missed 3 games. So the RFL think that Campbells and Birds are the same seriousness. I'll let you make your own minds up.

Re: Vs Sheffield : Thu Sep 07, 2017 6:46 am  

bullinenemyland wrote:

...What makes you think that we could not assemble a better squad with 3 months notice?...

Will we have 3 months notice though? I think people are seriously underestimating the implications of the impending employment tribunal in January...

If the costs involved are anything like FA suggested, then I don't see how we can possibly plan properly until after the outcome of that tribunal has been determined - that leaves us barely a month at best to know where we truly stand for next season in terms of available finances. I can't help but feel we're in for another headache of a Christmas and New Year again as we will be in limbo.

Re: Vs Sheffield : Thu Sep 07, 2017 6:57 am  

Bullmans Parade wrote:

Will we have 3 months notice though? I think people are seriously underestimating the implications of the impending employment tribunal in January...

If the costs involved are anything like FA suggested, then I don't see how we can possibly plan properly until after the outcome of that tribunal has been determined - that leaves us barely a month at best to know where we truly stand for next season in terms of available finances. I can't help but feel we're in for another headache of a Christmas and New Year again as we will be in limbo.

Agreed.
And theres no way I'm putting my nearest & dearest through the downs and lows of last Christmas - I spent more time trying to find out what was happening to the Bulls than I did talking to the family all through the festive break - and thats just wrong.

Re: Vs Sheffield : Thu Sep 07, 2017 8:02 am  

Smack him Jimmy wrote:

Agreed.
And theres no way I'm putting my nearest & dearest through the downs and lows of last Christmas - I spent more time trying to find out what was happening to the Bulls than I did talking to the family all through the festive break - and thats just wrong.

But......but.......if the Bulls don't go through some off field problems that will mean I actually have to talk to mine during the festive period for the first time since 2010!!! Roll on the off season shenanigans!!

[Bullseye]

Re: Vs Sheffield : Thu Sep 07, 2017 8:03 am  

Smack him Jimmy wrote:

Agreed.
And theres no way I'm putting my nearest & dearest through the downs and lows of last Christmas - I spent more time trying to find out what was happening to the Bulls than I did talking to the family all through the festive break - and thats just wrong.

I was the same. I'm not doing that again. Certainly not getting a season ticket until thst situation has been resolved. We've been burnt before.

Re: Vs Sheffield : Thu Sep 07, 2017 10:51 am  

Smack him Jimmy wrote:

Agreed.
And theres no way I'm putting my nearest & dearest through the downs and lows of last Christmas - I spent more time trying to find out what was happening to the Bulls than I did talking to the family all through the festive break - and thats just wrong.

If that was genuinely the case, I think it probably says more about you than the current situation at Odsal

Re: Vs Sheffield : Thu Sep 07, 2017 12:11 pm  

bullinenemyland wrote:

I'm not seeing the argument about not being able to assemble a decent squad for next season should we stay up.

The current squad is one that was "thrown" together at two weeks notice. It is also what was left of the previous squad once all the better players had been picked off. What makes you think that we could not assemble a better squad with 3 months notice?

Plus, the hybrid system in the Championship should have been one we embraced every since we got relegated. Anyone who has played lower league or amateur stuff knows there are far better players turning out in the Yorkshire Leagues than are currently on full time contracts in some Championship clubs and even lower end SL teams. Natural skill levels are far more important than how much you can lift or how long you spend at the training ground.

I'd happily take a place in the second tier after a restructure. I have no problems at all. The RFL and SL have shat on us enough times to say it would be payback.

SL money taken and "redistributed", minus 12pt deduction, Hull KR three times, no centralised funding, generous "donation" to Rugby League Cares fund???

Rest of the clubs could go whistle for me. If i believed we could survive L2 and have a shot at making it back to the top i'd say to go down just to make others suffer, but i'm not convinced.

Every club for themselves I say... roll on the re-structure!!!

This has become my view! Yes we should be in L1 but we should have been there last year. Everyone from the RFL to Green back to Hood Moore et al have used the club and fans for personal gain. It's about time the fans had reason to want to carry on, that starts for me with investing in a squad capable of competing in whichever competition we are in. My major gripe is If the money spent on Smith Gibson Chisholm Tonga etc had been done at the start of the season I really believe we would have had a better chance of surviving. Including the shield 15 wins from 30 games for a full time side if that money was spent would have been achieveable

Re: Vs Sheffield : Thu Sep 07, 2017 12:22 pm  

Bull Mania wrote: If we're kept in the championship its a scandal. The RFL are the ones running the sport not the bloody clubs (otherwise you get the ridiculous situation of SL clubs not having acadmies and reserves) as others have said just because some clubs want a bit extra money, the rules everyone signed up for at the beginning of the season should be adhered. By the way the RFL really don't help repel the conspiracy theorists. Remember Johnny Campbell's red card for his dangerous tackle. Well my anger was because ive seen much worse than that, that weren't punished. Low and be hold an absolute shocker of a spear tackle occurs (Greg Bird) and the referee sends them to the sin bin!!! Simply not good enough! Its in the below video (1 min 26 i believe) http://www.catalansdragons.com/articles ... talans-s8/ Also remember Johnny Campbell was sent off so effectively missed one game, also had and EGP and got a 2 game ban. Bird didn't get sent off, wasn't able to take an EGP due to his poor record and only got 3. Johnny was sent off he technically missed 3 games. So the RFL think that Campbells and Birds are the same seriousness. I'll let you make your own minds up. I suspect they probably had the ban reduced because of Sam Moa's influence in the tackle. If you watch it again you can see that Moa grabs the fax player around his shoulders while Greg is around his waist lifting. If Sam didn't pull the fax player towards the ground it probably wouldn't have ended up as a dangerous tackle. Campbell couldnt really use the same argument because he was the only one involved in the tackle. I can see why the conspiracy theorists will be going crazy though, that one game reduction means he can now play in the mpg if Catalans end up in it

Bull Mania wrote: If we're kept in the championship its a scandal. The RFL are the ones running the sport not the bloody clubs (otherwise you get the ridiculous situation of SL clubs not having acadmies and reserves) as others have said just because some clubs want a bit extra money, the rules everyone signed up for at the beginning of the season should be adhered. By the way the RFL really don't help repel the conspiracy theorists. Remember Johnny Campbell's red card for his dangerous tackle. Well my anger was because ive seen much worse than that, that weren't punished. Low and be hold an absolute shocker of a spear tackle occurs (Greg Bird) and the referee sends them to the sin bin!!! Simply not good enough! Its in the below video (1 min 26 i believe) http://www.catalansdragons.com/articles ... talans-s8/ Also remember Johnny Campbell was sent off so effectively missed one game, also had and EGP and got a 2 game ban. Bird didn't get sent off, wasn't able to take an EGP due to his poor record and only got 3. Johnny was sent off he technically missed 3 games. So the RFL think that Campbells and Birds are the same seriousness. I'll let you make your own minds up. I suspect they probably had the ban reduced because of Sam Moa's influence in the tackle. If you watch it again you can see that Moa grabs the fax player around his shoulders while Greg is around his waist lifting. If Sam didn't pull the fax player towards the ground it probably wouldn't have ended up as a dangerous tackle. Campbell couldnt really use the same argument because he was the only one involved in the tackle. I can see why the conspiracy theorists will be going crazy though, that one game reduction means he can now play in the mpg if Catalans end up in it