Really? I'll admit I was going largely on my understanding of the process rather than detailed research but having checked, the RFL themselves say:



I'm not aware that any of the side members on the rota are employed by the RFL, they seem to me to be former Referees, players and coaches with no direct link to either clubs or the RFL. Can you expand on why you feel they are not independent of the RFL.

Bear in mind also the context of my remarks, I was responding to Ferocious Aardvark's suggestion that all decisions must be made by the governing body as they are the only one we have. I could gone with examples equally from other sports to make the same point. e.g. The FA's independent disciplinary panel that looked into the Suarez/Evra incident or perhaps the RFU's independent panel looking into London Welsh's promotion/ground issues. I'm sure I could google others but I trust you get my drift. The suggestion that a sport's governing body is the only avenue for decision making/resolving disputes within that sport simply doesn't stand scrutiny.



Well yes, independent of club affiliation but hardly independent of the RFL and that, in this case, is exactly the point.

Or, alternatively, a measure to ensure that a club does not gain an unfair advantage by wiping off its debt ? Seems to me that the amount taken from the Bulls roughly equates to the amount of debt written off. You say the Bulls' new owners are being punished but, equally, why should they be allowed to gain an unfair advantage ? This seems to balance things out.

If the cash withheld equates to the amount advanced to the administrator then the new owners have benefited by inheriting a largely intact squad, which would most likely not have been the case had those monies not been advanced. Seems fair enough to me.

That article is all a bit flaky though.

OK, it mentions to £240k to the administrator, but also talks of a sizable chunk, don’t get me wrong that’s a fair few quid, but over two years is not big money in the scheme of things.

So, where has/is the cash the cash gone/going?

Putting my cynical hat on I would guess at the lease buy back, so come the next licence everything is hunky-dory.

whats more interesting is whats going to happen to the withheld funding. If its used to pay the creditors or goes into central rfl coffers then fair enough. If its given to the other SL clubs as extra funding then thats another matter. Could do with RFL clarifying situation.

I agree with the sentiment but the cold hard fact of the matter is that SLE can vote to distribute its revenue in whatever way it sees fit. The Sky money belongs to SLE not the RFL so if there was a majority vote by SLE shareholders to redistribute money among members then there wouldn't be much the RFL could do about it. It shouldn't happen, but it probably will just as in 1997 when Keighley, Hull KR, Workington and Prescot were all stripped of central funding due to being in administration and the money redistributed among SL clubs (guess which club proposed that motion by the way ?).