I heard on the radio yesterday that Widnes RL have gone into administration, they have obviously ploughed so much into the pot to try and gain promotion to super league that it has sent them over the edge. If a team such as Widnes are in danger of folding what does this say for the chances of other traditional clubs like doncaster, batley, featherstone and the like. I know from bitter experience how hard it is to battle back from the brink as Rovers did it but it took a bloody long time. The difference then was that we still had the dream of once again getting to the top table of rugby, but even this has just about been taken away from teams now with the franchise system coming in after this season. I have always said i don't particularly like Rovers being in Super league.........don't get me wrong, its good to play against the best, but I'm very worried that if SKY find another more lucrative product we will be dropped to fend for ourselves, they have already proved they are not bothered about the lower league sides, to them it is just a business and super league is the be all and end all of it. OK you may say they did put cash into the lower leagues this season and screened games, but really, one game a week on a bloody Thursday, who bothered to turn on for this except fans of the featured teams. So i really do fear for the game that i love so much and god help us when SKY pull out cos we will all be knackered.
They are trying to expand the game but it is expanding at the expense of where it has thrived for the past 100 and odd years, i dont see this as progress. Lets see how many of the new clubs are still around in 20 years time
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I was surprised when widnes went into administration as I had just heard that they would have to go back to being semi-professional. I hope they can bounce back.
Sky have a lot of power over sport in this country and it's a double edged sword. Up to now I think it has helped RL get better. But we can all see what it's done to football with the prima donna players and that. BTW Sky didn't pay a penny to the lower team clubs for showing the Thursday night games. Mind you, in a funny way the crowds seem to have been bigger because it WAS on TV!
I'm not at all comfortable about this franchising thing. It seems to me that if your face doesn't fit you could be in bother. I'm all for spreading the game but lets see sense, in Wales for instance a team would have a chance as the culture is rugby oriented. Why they persist with a London club is beyond me. Either they should really give em a publicity blitz and give them one last chance to up their crowds or close em down.
On the other hand the French thing seems to be working. But they do have a Rugby League base in that part of the world, so there's something to build on.
france maybe, but really...........barcelona, whats all that about?
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