www.loverugbyleague.com/news_220 ... n-rfl.html I don't agree with a lot of things he says but he's absolutely spot on, can't believe it's taken someone so long to stand up to the grubs who do not care about the game or the heartland clubs, just their position and the ride on the gravy train. They are killing it at every level. Stand down you self absorbed pricks and leave our game to the ones that truly love it. In my opinion he is only saying what supporters have been saying for years, but has the balls to say it publicly, unlike most Super League yes boys. Lower leagues need more recognition, PR needs to be as good as union, international game, quality of refereeing, growth of the game, compete with the NRL, salary cap etc. The issues aren't new, have just been ignored or brushed under the carpet for as long as possible!

www.loverugbyleague.com/news_220 ... n-rfl.html I don't agree with a lot of things he says but he's absolutely spot on, can't believe it's taken someone so long to stand up to the grubs who do not care about the game or the heartland clubs, just their position and the ride on the gravy train. They are killing it at every level. Stand down you self absorbed pricks and leave our game to the ones that truly love it. In my opinion he is only saying what supporters have been saying for years, but has the balls to say it publicly, unlike most Super League yes boys. Lower leagues need more recognition, PR needs to be as good as union, international game, quality of refereeing, growth of the game, compete with the NRL, salary cap etc. The issues aren't new, have just been ignored or brushed under the carpet for as long as possible!

What a load of absolute tosh.

Marwan lives in cloud cuckoo land, where the solution to everything is throwing money the game hasn't got at things. He might want to concentrate on getting his own ship in order first, rather than trying to circumvent the rules because that's the only way he can win.

He's full of problems, but no solutions. The ultimate self-publicist.

We all complain about the RFL and how useless they are. This guy is standing up to them yet is still getting slated. How long can we go with all of the issues! We have 3 different set of rules for a match for gods sake! Im not saying overthrow the rfl or anything like that, but a discussion to be had amongst all club chairmen about what the rfl have to improve and need to be held accountable
At the beginning of every season, their should be a meeting with a representative of each club and the rfl and the rfl state their objectives for the season and at the end of the season, a performance review. Seems very logical to me, just like any other business.

But reviews and structure and working for the interest of the game as a whole don't appear to be a big part of Koukash's agenda.

Marwan is really interested in two things: generating more cash within the game and increasing the game's profile.

On either of these two scores do you think the RFL is fit for purpose?

Rugby League has been around for 120 or so years and has hardly expanded out of it's heartlands. OK I'll concede that there are many amateur clubs scattered across the UK but at its elite level the RFL have repeatedly failed to expand the sport much out of the M62 corridor.

In that aspect they are certainly "not fit for purpose"

the main man not fit for purpose is the Doc himself

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/36322212 More from him today. Wants all SL clubs to split from the RFL and govern their own competition.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/36322212 More from him today. Wants all SL clubs to split from the RFL and govern their own competition.

I think you're being naive here. I'd believe you if Marwan's outbursts were entirely unconnected to him not getting his way at Salford. Any interest in SL or RL is surely secondary to his interest in Salford.

The same applies to GH, of course, although there was a time before his stint at Headingley when he did seem to put the bigger interests of the game at heart, being a big player in engineering a move to summer rugby and the creation of the salary cap etc.

Marwan is losing money at Salford in part because the centrally distributed monies are not what they should be - especially if you compare them to club RU - it is the job of the central body to negotiate them.

Splitting from the RFL would preserve more monies for the clubs in SL - which is exactly what Marwan needs.

Spot on. Whilst the RFL isn't exactly doing a great job so his idea of the clubs breaking away from the RFL sounds interesting, it could very well be a case of the grass isn't always greener and we end up having guys out just trying to look after themselves and their own club and it being a mess.

So Koukash wants the SL chairmen to trust his judgement and split from the RFL yet in his next breath he slags off one of the few commercially viable clubs and questions their worth? Not getting his negotiations off to the best start...

Koukash admits that Salford were over the salary cap by £51,000 in 2014 (although the RFL are saying it was more)

....and then a few lines later he says "If I've made a mistake, I'll accept the punishment. But for sure I did not do anything wrong."

Erm...you just admitted you did do something wrong and made a mistake by being at least £51k over the Salary Cap and you aren't accepting the punishment.

Does someone want to point out to Marwan that SL is already run by the SL clubs through Super League Europe?

The clubs alone are responsible for agreeing the broadcast rights, title sponsorship, format of the competition and the allocation/distribution of broadcast income and prize money. If he's not happy with any of those, he needs to be talking to his fellow chairmen, not taking pot shots at the RFL.

The likes of Koukash and Hudgell basically want to turn SL into "richest chairman wins". They have no interest in growing the game as a whole, just in their own personal glory.

If SL split from the RFL, it would have to build itself a whole new infrastructure in terms of marketing, administration etc. Who is going to pay for that, the club chairmen out of their own deep pockets? Don't make me laugh.

I disagree with koukash regarding splitting from the rfl, but for far too long they have been very complacent. By promoting the discussion, and attempting to get other club representatives involved, the rfl must surely look at themselves and realise the issues far more seriously than ever before now their is a spotlight on them.

Hasn't done the premier league any harm splitting away from the FA - it could be argued the best thing the bigger clubs ever did. It has certainly improved their cash flow.

RL is a a very closed narrow-minded community at the top end - everyone knows everyone look at its two leading officials: Ralf Rimmer couldn't deliver at Huddersfield yet has the 2nd most prestigious job in the game and fat boy slim was an accountant at Halifax RL!!

This organisation is crying out for some fresh blood and a cultural kick up the bum.

How much of the SL deal pays for the marketing etc? most likely it would be self funding and some.

But a separate SL would need to fund its own infrastructure rather than piggybacking off the RFL one in many instances.

Where does that money come from? It would have to come back into the centre from the clubs, either in terms of a levy or being deducted from their distribution. So unless the clubs can grow their income significantly, they'd be financially worse off by having to pay for a duplicated set of services.

The RFL runs the Challenge Cup. What happens to a separated SL and its member clubs there? Similarly the RFL is in charge of administering the international game, involving players from these SL clubs.

As with much of what Marwan says, he's opened his mouth to get some MEN column inches before engaging his brain to consider the ramifications of what he proposes.

Koukash is a charlatan but Wood is an incompetent. I'm not sure which is worse, but neither are good.

Koukash hasn't shown himself capable of running his own club well, god forbid running the game. His whole outburst makes little sense when put under scrutiny.

However, if he wants out of RL after 4 short years of failure at Salford, it makes sense as a strategy. Lose a salary cap case and then fail to "revolutionise" the game with a breakaway .... followed by walking away because "the game is holding him back".

That's my view on this nonsense.

Without the SL clubs what is the CC worth? The FA cup still prospers even with the top clubs being separated in the PL?

How do the FA get on with the international game when all the players play for PL clubs?

The RFL would have to stop piggybacking off the SL clubs and generate its own income? Why should the SL clubs pay to run an organisation that isn't fit for purpose.

There are plenty of changes id like to see at the RFL & indeed in SL but id vote for Bob the Builder before backing Koukash.
He's a whining "woa is us" gobsh*#$ he should concentrate on sorting his own club out & IF he has the evidence prove the RFL wrong.

that just isnt true. By virtue of the articles of association the holders of the top jobs of the RFL are the holders of those roles at SL. When SL demanded an independent SL CEO Blake Solly was parachuted in by the RFL without the job even being advertised, much to the chagrin of SL chairmen.

The RFL also decide the format of the competition and the mechanism for adding/removing clubs. SL clubs only have the decision on the number of clubs.

Regards allocation of broadcast income, there isnt really a decision to be made, the clubs own SL(europe) ltd equally so it is paid equally. With regards to the broadcast rights, the RFL negotiated the broadcast deal (and charged about £32m to the SL clubs for doing so) then presented it to SL chairmen giving them about an hour to decide whether to accept or not.

There is a reason no major sport has the governance structure we have.

Whilst the doc's motives are purely out of self interest and nothing to do with the good of the game, the rfl have not been fit for purpose for many years! I would like to know how much the employees are getting paid to do what seems relatively little

Frankly that the RFL is even solvent given most of its member clubs struggle to be so is an achievement. People really need to have more realistic expectations of what the sport can achieve.