Re: Jamie Peacock article : Thu Apr 18, 2013 8:41 am  

The Penguin wrote:

Surely this wouldn't happen?

The top tier would demand more money. They're the bigger clubs people actually want to watch. I don't see how sky / AN other broadcaster would pay more than a nominal amount to screen matches between the likes of Broncos and Fev.

By reasonable share I mean about a 3:1 ratio of TV £££ rather than a 10:1 ratio. This might go some way towards the salary caps of £2m and £1m that Peacock speaks of.

I think the second tier could be much bigger than it is if we had some biggish names in there and if we reintroduced P+R. The second tier grand final used to be a big event watched by 20k in the ground and 200k on TV.

Re: Jamie Peacock article : Thu Apr 18, 2013 8:44 am  

Under the sticks wrote:

Let`s not be fooled though by this `it would be good for the game` proposal......it`s no more than a player from a top club wanting to preserve their position at the top of the league and as an individual earn more money.......would he be holding those same opinions if he were a London player?

Not really fair.

JP is 35 or 36 so he won't benefit from something that might happen in 2015.

Re: Jamie Peacock article : Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:06 am  

Completely agree with him, the top clubs are being held back by the weaker ones, which in turn is holding the game back.

Re: Jamie Peacock article : Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:10 am  

Colly2 wrote:

Not really fair.

Nor is it fair that LB have to operate at a financial disadvantage to everyone else (but let`s ignore that and just have them demoted to another division, much easier than addressing what has been a long term problem).

The top clubs want to preserve their place at the top of the table, end of.

Why not even out the competition by investigating how some teams can afford and retain a squad full of international players, allegedly for the for the same money, yet teams in the lower half of the division can only attract also-rans, has beens and youngsters.

Why not improve the attraction of our `summer` game by front loading the season with the Challenge Cup competition in the ridiculous February start to the season, so the bulk of the league games are actually played in the summer.

Why not drop the white elephant that is the magic weekend from the fixture list, which is a complete waste of time and only adds to the player fatigue issue.

Why not end the farce of the compounded Easter fixture list, which most of the time effects the quality of the fixtures both before and after and just produces 2 out of 3 poor games to watch and does nothing to improve RL`s standing as a sport or attract new supporters.

Perhaps there are more ills (and poor management) with the game that need to be considered ahead of just getting rid of lower teams for the preservation and financial gain of the elite.

Re: Jamie Peacock article : Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:32 am  

The idea of a second tier SL, where we could regroup and prepare properly for the higher level has its appeal (who knows, they might prove me wrong about there not being sufficient demand for RL in London to support a top level team!), but would that happen or would we just keep staggering on in our usual incompetent way?

Re: Jamie Peacock article : Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:46 am  

I forgot to add......they should also review the `play-off` arrangements and reduce it to only the top 4 teams (that would have pleased JP/Leeds in recent times), having 8 teams in the play-offs is just daft and detracts from the competition. Also ditch the stupid `Club Call` element which is a farce.

No doubt the Broncos supporters who agree with JP will be happy to bask in the knowledge that our demise was for the `good of the game` when we are left with no team to follow. The truth is that getting rid of the Broncos will not make one jot of difference to the quality of the Rugby League played in this country, or the standing of the game or the numbers of supporters. If the RFL are afraid to deal with expansion in a fair and business like manner then let the game retreat to the North as this is clearly where it belongs......forever a minority sport played at weekends against people in the next village.

Re: Jamie Peacock article : Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:50 am  

There is merit is discussing a two tier system that is licence based and includes promotion and relegation. In my view the team with have at the moment is not competitive enough on a consistent basis to challenge for the top eight and I cannot see this happening next year. This year will see a lot of players off contract and is going to be expensive to replace with quality players and is assuming there are any genuine quality players who would want to come to London. To me the future looks like building using home grown London players and there are a few starting to come through the ranks, but will they be good enough to compete at the higher level? Who knows but looking at U19 results we are starting to get wins against the so called bigger clubs. I personally would rather see a team that is competitive rather than the model we have at the moment which is no better than previous ones struggling at the foot of the table. Maybe a two system will give us an opportunity.

Re: Jamie Peacock article : Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:53 am  

If the RFL are afraid to deal with expansion in a fair and business like manner then let the game retreat to the North as this is clearly where it belongs......forever a minority sport played at weekends against people in the next village.[/quote]

You have a point with regard to fairness and the issue of London weighting and maybe the whole of the financial package that surrounds the super league. However you cannot ignore the growth of league in the south and is no longer stuck in the north.

Re: Jamie Peacock article : Thu Apr 18, 2013 10:05 am  

Even if (or when) the Broncos go t+ts up I don't think the game will die down south. I went to Oxford last week and they look to be setting up well, ditto Hemel.
The Skolars will still fly the flag. It may be hard for some to watch anything other than SL, but it has its pleasures, certainly more than watching a team lose every week. It may take longer but RL will still flourish over time. SL is not the be-all and end-all.

Re: Jamie Peacock article : Thu Apr 18, 2013 10:16 am  

The future........London Broncos = SL feeder club