:6qrobbbm

I guess he's refering to the help Hull got in 1999, rightly or wrongly;

[url:6qrobbbmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/rugby_league/news/459986.stm[/url:6qrobbbm

Hull Sharks and Gateshead Thunder have announced their intention to join forces for next year's Super League season.
The announcement from Hull owner David Lloyd came four hours after Sheffield Eagles and Huddersfield Giants proposed a similar plan.
It also arrived shortly before a Super League cash sweetener for merging clubs is reduced by £250,000 at midnight on Thursday.
Until then a £1.25m bonus from television money is available.
The Sharks are deeply in debt, and after the merger a club with Hull's name is likely to play in the division from which they escaped relegation, the Northern Ford Premiership.


[url:6qrobbbmhttp://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/gateshead-fold-as-league--agrees-merger-741473.html[/url:6qrobbbm

Andrew Whitelam, a Super League spokesman, said: "The clubs recognised this was an extremely important matter, and the final decision was not taken lightly. They gave unanimous support to the merger after considering every possible option to keep Super League in the north-east and to keep the Hull club alive.
"It was decided the merger is in the best interests of rugby league in all parts of the country."

[url:6qrobbbmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateshead_Thunder[/url and so the new club would be called Hull and play all its home games in Hull. This was widely seen as a takeover simply to allow Hull to remain in Super League.

Halifax may have had larger crowds (though never as big as Bradford's) when they were successful, but that success was built on spending money they didn't have (sounds familiar) and the receivers were called in.

Would Halifax be able to grow sustainably? Their fans might say so but I fear that without a wealthy backer they would be just heading for trouble in the long run.

I think that you'll find that clubs like Leeds and Wire, at least, have managed their finances to a point where the 'sugar daddy' does not contribute at all. Simon Moran only acquired the club after several years when John Smith, a tough accountant who was CEO of Wire at their lowest ebb, cut every cost under the sun to stop the club losing money. The cuts were so ruthless that we ran no 'A' team for several years, with the result that we had no youth policy ( something other fans taunt us with to this day ) effectively before we moved to the HJ.

Do you honestly believe that Moran is not contributing at all to Wire? Really?

TBF dont think morans contributes much towards day to day running costs anymore. Where his money comes into play is wires ability to pay transfer fees.

And large bills. Like ones to the taxman