: Tue Mar 31, 2009 9:22 pm
Alan wrote:
Paul,
Can't really argue with anything you say - we have a nucleus of good/promising/keen youngsters, the LSV is a fabulous venue, and the relationship with the Club will be ironed out in time. Neil Kelly has been successful at this level, although his future success will inevitably be restricted by the funds made available to him. (and it's worth mentioning that he still has some 'experienced' players who are on pre-Kelly contracts, that he probably wouldn't have signed!)
I guess where I do identify with the 'success now' camp, is because we only have two seasons, (i.e. two NRC finals, or two GF wins) to be in a position to apply for a SL licence. There are some clubs (including our modest opponents last week) who will be busting a gut to win those key games. So, should a club 'speculate to accumulate' now? That's the question.
My answer to that question would be no. In my opinion there seem to be a lot of clubs 'speculating' at the moment. Widnes, as usual, have put together a talented group of players; Halifax's key players are a match for anyone in this division and I doubt they're on peanuts; Barrow, Featherstone, Sheffield and Gateshead all look to have recruited some decent players in the close season with the latter two recruiting quite a bit from overseas. My point is, I'd say there's going to be a maximum of 2 teams from this division that will be handed a franchise in 2011. I think Toulouse are a good bet for one (no matter what the qualification rules are) and Widnes (fan base) or Halifax (league perfomance) are leading the way if there's another one.
Can we realistically match Widnes in the transfer market over the next two years? I guess not. Can we get our squad to the level of Halifax? I'd say it's acheivable, but do we want to gamble on signing quality, experienced players in the hope that we can win that one cup final?
Realistically, I'd say our best shot at winning a franchise might come 3 years later in 2015. It might take Mr Kelly 2/3 years to achieve the squad that he wants. As time goes by, some players that don't make the standard will move on, as will, as you say, all of the pre-Kelly players that he may not have wanted. In will come more talented youngsters, as well as hopefully a few shrewd experienced/creative players to mix with the better bulk of the squad that we have already. I'm confident that Neil Kelly can turn this team into a top team at this level, something like he built at Dewsbury, given time.
In reference to VM and Maurice, I'm not sure I buy into this whole thing that clubs are going too die at this level, now that franchising has been introduced. This is exactly one of the things franchising was supposed to put a stop to. Widnes, Barrow, Featherstone, Sheffield and Gateshead have all recruited heavily this time around. That doesn't say to me that clubs are going to the wall. Are they all bullish enough to think they're going to get a franchise? I doubt it. Are the clubs that fail to get a franchise going to go bust in 2011? I doubt that aswell. The RFL aren't going to sit idly by while a number of founding members go to the wall due to the franchising system that they proposed and implemented.
As for Leigh, I'm not convinced that Championship rugby at the LSV is going to be the death of the club. We've moved to a brand new stadium, where costs are expectedly higher than at HP, and we've cut our cloth accordingly. This season especially we can't buy in the players like we did in the Terzis-Benson days. Instead we've had to lay the foundations down for something more sustainable (something the RFL might look favourable upon in a franchise application). Costs may be pretty high at the moment, but does anyone think that the SMC would drive their number one source of revenue out of business because they want more money now? What else, currently and potentially, can bring in more money for the SMC? Genesis? Wigan wouldn't play there permanently and their fans would be p'd off. Saints could use it for a season while their stadium is being built. Then what's left to recoup the massive cost of building the thing? A Leigh RLC. If the SMC have any sense, prices would come down abit in a year or two, as will the prices of refreshments, and more will be done to entice people down on matchdays, but I can understand why it is like it is right now.
