Ian Lenagan : Thu Oct 06, 2016 8:40 am  

Mr Lenagan in an interview with Wigan Today, states that the Middle 8s system as it stands is " Dumbing down " Super League. The top Championship club receiving £ 750 000 is too much and denying Super League clubs monies.
The old scheme, he says, where each club received £ 90 000 was much better. His evidence is that Championship teams are now beating Super League teams. ( That is us ).This is due to the distribution of money into lower leagues. Thus diluting the quality in Super League.
Mr Lenegan has not thought that, perhaps the Championship teams quality may have improved thanks to this increase in money. That could be behind these results.
I must put my hand up to say. I cannot stand Wigan. They are arrogant. I remember being at The JJB one Easter when we beat them. We were Harlequins then. A lady came up to us as we celebrated and told us. " Your team are all cheats, they have to be, because that is the only way you can ever beat Wigan. " Happy days.
The truth behind this is I believe, Lenagan is all smoke and mirrors. Perhaps his pockets are not as deep as he would have you believe. Seeing monies going to
lower clubs that he knows a few years ago, would have been destined for his own coffers. Is too much for him, so he is starting a campaign to get things reversed.
At one time I thought Ian Lenegan was going to be good for our club, then he cleared off to Wigan and left us in the lurch. So I have no time for him either.
It will be interesting to see how things develop with him at Wigan. Could be interesting, the next couple of years.

Re: Ian Lenagan : Thu Oct 06, 2016 10:32 am  

I would be very surprised if Ian has any financial issues. He made plenty of money and is believed to have invested well in his serious investments i.e away from sport and theatre.

You both seem to agree on one thing, the extra money has allowed top Championship teams to improve. Given the limited player pool this has to have been at the expense of Superleague, hence the dumbing down comment.

Clearly whether this is a good thing depends on whether you are in Superleague or the Championship.

A truly competitive Championship providing true promotion and relegation to Superleague would be fantastic for the sport. Until we reach that point people will always argue their part if the game deserves more.

Championship One teams regularly make that case as well. The northern amateur game in turn then raises questions about why so much is spent on C1 teams they often beat in the Challenge Cup.

The blunt truth is that Superleague brings the money in and the sport can't afford to damage that revenue stream as such the rest of the sport has to dance to their tune to an unhealthy degree.

If only we had a vibrant international culture to raise money.

Re: Ian Lenagan : Thu Oct 06, 2016 6:27 pm  

Couldn't access the article to see whatever his actual words were. However how exactly is it dumbing down SL. The TV money covers the entire cap so a SL club still has the pick of the players given its budget. I am not aware that Wigan or other SL teams have struggled to sign players they wanted. Isn't there some onus on each club to raise some money themselves rather than expect hand outs.

Indeed Leigh have only achieved it by the owner being prepared to pay money to match the SL cap. If the arguement is that Leigh being promoted and not having an academy then that might be a different discussion. But let's face it KR only run half of an acadamey in what is meant to be a major RL city.

Re: Ian Lenagan : Fri Oct 07, 2016 9:36 am  

Halfdan of t'wide embrace wrote:

I would be very surprised if Ian has any financial issues. He made plenty of money and is believed to have invested well in his serious investments i.e away from sport and theatre.

You both seem to agree on one thing, the extra money has allowed top Championship teams to improve. Given the limited player pool this has to have been at the expense of Superleague, hence the dumbing down comment.

Clearly whether this is a good thing depends on whether you are in Superleague or the Championship.

A truly competitive Championship providing true promotion and relegation to Superleague would be fantastic for the sport. Until we reach that point people will always argue their part if the game deserves more.

Championship One teams regularly make that case as well. The northern amateur game in turn then raises questions about why so much is spent on C1 teams they often beat in the Challenge Cup.

The blunt truth is that Superleague brings the money in and the sport can't afford to damage that revenue stream as such the rest of the sport has to dance to their tune to an unhealthy degree.

If only we had a vibrant international culture to raise money.

So much money spent on Champ1 teams? It is a pittance. Do you wonder why so many below Sl are on the verge of bankruptcy?

Re: Ian Lenagan : Fri Oct 07, 2016 11:06 am  

As someone who regularly watches Oxford and was a long standing Skolars season ticket holder when living in London I am well aware of how much/little the central payments to Championship One teams was this season and in previous seasons.

The comments they are paid too much from central funding comes from the top northern amateur teams not me. Numerous examples can be found in the week after this seasons Challenge Cup 3rd Round for obvious reasons