Rach wrote:
Me too ..love my trips over to Fylde..and the Panthers lot are a great bunch of supporters.
Yep, always enjoyed our trips to Blackpool but having said that I also enjoyed Chorley, a small but passionate group of supporters.
Rach wrote:
Was having a long (and remarkably intelligent conversation for us) with Barry 'Bazza' Turnbull (Jamie Stephensons Grandpa) whilst stood in the pouring rain waiting for the u18s to kick off at Whitehaven last week and one of the things we agreed on was there will reach a time in a year /eighteen months when the economic crisis will really hit the game at the lower levels . And that one of the major upshots of this will be that the wage expectations of players at our level will have to fall and the clubs will have to rely on more locally produced players and those that have ben brought up in an enviroment when they know the financial rewards will not be great . Going back to the old days of 'local lads turning out for local teams '
When this happens we think Keighley will be in a fairly strong position compared to other clubs of our stature with 7 years scholarship experience and now the 'Elite Academy' in place . Most others at our level are not even running reserve sides ...
Thoughts ???
I was thinking along the same lines after being told recently what the wage expectations of a "top earner" at a club like Keighley might be. I have to say it surprised me. If you assume that better players in more successful clubs are on even more then we have some high earners in the lower divisions.
This is emphasised by what Barry said at one of the fans forums "a super league club tried to sign a couple of ex SL players from the Championship last season and was turned down because they could not match the wage package!"
I think that some players (and agents) expectations are way too high. It's a tough sport, and players deserve a fair wage but it's deciding what is fair and sustainable for the sport that's important. When one or two clubs start splashing the cash it drags others in.
It will be interesting to see how Hunslet and York cope in the higher division.