: Sat Apr 04, 2009 10:25 pm  

Alexs Dad wrote:

Having visitied BV for the first time in about 20 years last night, I must admit to thinking it hadn't changed much and if this is what the RFL are wanting to get rid of then I can see their reasoning.

And then, stood up on a terrace with a pint surrounded by Wakefield fans creating a half decent friendly atmosphere watching good rugby, I thought 'why the hell should this lot be potentially kicked out for anyone just because the ground isn't a charachterless concrete lump?' Its nonsense.

Give me a raw BV over the JJB or Galpharm anyday of the week. Access to the topflight should be on merit, same rules for all of us, not on how many baby changing facilites you have.

I've seen Leigh win at pretty much every top flight club over the years and the thing that pi55es me off the most though is patronising SL fans looking down their noses from their lofty perches at clubs who have more tradition and success than their own, and waxing lyrical about how wonderful they are and how we should run non SL clubs. Thats very easy to say when theres a juicy cheque from Sky sat on the boardroom table.

Good post mate. I was stood near bottle bar and saw stewards running to behind sticks, don't know what was going on though but your fans were making some good noise and some funny chants

: Sat Apr 04, 2009 10:37 pm  

Alexs Dad wrote:

Having visitied BV for the first time in about 20 years last night, I must admit to thinking it hadn't changed much and if this is what the RFL are wanting to get rid of then I can see their reasoning.

And then, stood up on a terrace with a pint surrounded by Wakefield fans creating a half decent friendly atmosphere watching good rugby, I thought 'why the hell should this lot be potentially kicked out for anyone just because the ground isn't a charachterless concrete lump?' Its nonsense.

Give me a raw BV over the JJB or Galpharm anyday of the week. Access to the topflight should be on merit, same rules for all of us, not on how many baby changing facilites you have.

I've seen Leigh win at pretty much every top flight club over the years and the thing that pi55es me off the most though is patronising SL fans looking down their noses from their lofty perches at clubs who have more tradition and success than their own, and waxing lyrical about how wonderful they are and how we should run non SL clubs. Thats very easy to say when theres a juicy cheque from Sky sat on the boardroom table.

That's absolutely right. The thing with Wakey and us, the fans, is that we know how close we came to not being here and how lucky we are to be here right now.

That luck stems from a lot of hard work from a lot of people - but we are not in a position to take anything for granted.

However, we have already seen the advantages that a 3-year licence can offer (which is good for those who have one) and that this allows clubs to concentrate on matters off the pitch and not just on it.

Still haven't fully decided whether this will ultimately be a good or a bad thing - but I do believe that we will shortly be in a much improved position for when the next round of licences comes around!

widnes fans : Sun Apr 05, 2009 10:46 am  

Just had to say that a lot of widnes fans are as bitter as a chunk of lemon. As a crusader fan we have had to put up with their absurd reasoning on the franchise system and the fact that we were a club at all right from the start. You will never stop the bleating as they are a bunch of moaning scousers. They think they are better than everyone. Celtic beat them 3 times last year and they still moan that we got a franchise before them.

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:19 am  

jonh wrote:

I fully expect within 2 more franshice "picks" a closed shop at the top with NL clubs becoming feeder clubs, it is the only way to go for me, but only once we have the top division settled.

I take it you'd be happy for your proud Wakefield club to be a feeder club for Bradford?

I wouldn't. And I wouldn't be happy for a glorious team like widnes to be a feeder team for some other chumps down the road either. It would kill us. Seriously.

Why should SL teams take precedence? Why should they benefit from the championship clubs like that? It's selfish, greedy arrogance from people looking at an opportunity from others misfortune and its rugby league 2009.

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:07 am  

Chris Dalton wrote:

I take it you'd be happy for your proud Wakefield club to be a feeder club for Bradford?

Try, "I take it you'd be happy for your proud Wigan club to be a feeder club for St Helens?"

Feeder clubs my @rse!!
I've supported Trinity for 45 years but that it would be the end for me if we became anybody's feeder club

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:35 am  

Kevs Head wrote:

Try, "I take it you'd be happy for your proud Wigan club to be a feeder club for St Helens?"

Feeder clubs my @rse!!
I've supported Trinity for 45 years but that it would be the end for me if we became anybody's feeder club

Perhaps "feeder clubs" is the wrong phrase, but the notion is the right one. How many bona fide Super League clubs are there outside of the Super League? Widnes and Leigh are the only two in reality, and Leigh only really because of the stadium. Halifax may get close, but that is it. So if you go with the premise that all the rest will always be outside of the Super League, how is best way for them to survive? By clubs operating under the same umbrella is how.

Let's say Leeds, Fev and York were all linked organisations. The two lower league sides could benefit from having access to the facilities and expertise of the Super League side, and the Super League side would have somewhere to play players not making the nineteen for whatever reason, and the lower league players would have an increased chance of making the big time. You would just have to have rules to make sure that the movement is not so fluid that there is no stability in the lower league clubs, that, for example, a Fev side remains recognisable throughout the year.

They wouldn't be feeder clubs, they would just be clubs with an organisational umbrella and fluid loan arrangements. It is how it works in US sport, and it may work here. Or the lower clubs can just keep on spending money they don't have to chase the dream.

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:17 am  

Suppose Wakey chose the last 2 or 3 years to be less than average instead of odd periods during the 80's / 90's, and found themselves shut outside of SL in the wrong year.

No Sky money, an old ground, and not the biggest regular fanbase in the world. Within 5 years you would be no different to Fax, Widnes or Leigh. Support would fall off, interest in the town diluted, sponsors would be taking their money somewhere else.

So, would you then be content with being told to sit quietly, and for SL to say 'sorry lads, the Toulouse thing looks interesting and we're giving Celtic another 3 years because they're down to just 15 Aussies and have a decent 18 year old with a Welsh sounding name coming through the ranks, so what we've done is arrange for Cas to send their reserves down to your place for the next 3 years. They will wear your colours, so you dont mind paying £15 to watch it do you?'

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:26 am  

Alexs Dad wrote:

Suppose Wakey chose the last 2 or 3 years to be less than average instead of odd periods during the 80's / 90's, and found themselves shut outside of SL in the wrong year.

No Sky money, an old ground, and not the biggest regular fanbase in the world. Within 5 years you would be no different to Fax, Widnes or Leigh. Support would fall off, interest in the town diluted, sponsors would be taking their money somewhere else.

So, would you then be content with being told to sit quietly, and for SL to say 'sorry lads, the Toulouse thing looks interesting and we're giving Celtic another 3 years because they're down to just 15 Aussies and have a decent 18 year old with a Welsh sounding name coming through the ranks, so what we've done is arrange for Cas to send their reserves down to your place for the next 3 years. They will wear your colours, so you dont mind paying £15 to watch it do you?'

Ehh??

That is exactly what happened!!!!!!!!!

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:30 am  

Alexs Dad wrote:

So, would you then be content with being told to sit quietly, and for SL to say 'sorry lads, the Toulouse thing looks interesting and we're giving Celtic another 3 years because they're down to just 15 Aussies and have a decent 18 year old with a Welsh sounding name coming through the ranks, so what we've done is arrange for Cas to send their reserves down to your place for the next 3 years. They will wear your colours, so you dont mind paying £15 to watch it do you?'

Not on your stupid scenario, but if 14 other clubs came along with better facilities/finances/squads/performances/academies than us, then so be it.

Slugger McBatt's theory on 'feeder clubs' is spot on - if we had a system where 'big clubs' looked after the 'smaller clubs' really, what is wrong with that? Loss of identity and a path to the top which isn't really there?

Chris Dalton wrote:

Why should SL teams take precedence? Why should they benefit from the championship clubs like that? It's selfish, greedy arrogance from people looking at an opportunity from others misfortune and its rugby league 2009.

Not 'rugby league 2009' but sport in 2009 has come to this. Unless there is spectacularly bad management at the top, you are going to see the same clubs challenge at the top, not just in rugby league, but in football, union, cricket - where money is managed well, there should be no drop-off and very few teams breaking into the cartel. This may be 'wrong', but it's where sport has landed itself.

Gone are the days of a Nottingham Forest being European Champions or Dewsbury winning the Championship. Sad this may be, but it's the way things are.

So, why should SL teams take the precidence? They are the elite teams in the elite division - why would it be any other way?

: Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:22 am  

SimonBarrett wrote:

Ehh??

That is exactly what happened!!!!!!!!!

Did it?

I'm sure you are in SL. And deservedly so, I might add.

t-r-i-n-i-t-y wrote:

Not on your stupid scenario, but if 14 other clubs came along with better facilities/finances/squads/performances/academies than us, then so be it.

Slugger McBatt's theory on 'feeder clubs' is spot on - if we had a system where 'big clubs' looked after the 'smaller clubs' really, what is wrong with that? Loss of identity and a path to the top which isn't really there?

You will pay £15 to watch Cas reserves play at BV in a Wakey kit?

I'll hazard a guess not many of the good folk I spoke to in the BV Tory Club on Friday would be alongside you.