His anti-RFL rants are in abundance. Or rather they were before his club got the nod yesterday

Does winning the league below SL mean a team is better than mediocre? Not really. So why do you want to reward them?

Why so much focus on the team, rather than the club?

Because people are short-sighted and dumb.

the team that came up went straight down every time right? well, no they didnt and proper planning meant a promoted club could compete - it would be made easier still if they moved the championship grand final to before the contract talks embargo date and increased the salary cap for championship clubs who could afford it etc

if the aim of licensing is to allow teams to write off their first season then just ask huddersfield fans how finishing bottom and not being relegated helps a club, and how being relegated and then promoted helps a club

Because the team is the club!!

When do you cheer louder? When do the hairs stand up on the back of your neck? When do you hug the fan next to you in sheer and utter delight? When do you barely remember getting home because a quick beer turned into several?

I'll tell you when. It's when the team does something magical. It's when the roar from the stadium is immense. It's when you pop over a drop goal in the final seconds of the game. It's when your team wins the league or the challenge cup.

It's not, nay never ever when your chief exec releases the operational profit for the last quarter. It's most certainly not when a sponsorship deal is announced.

I'm old and set in my ways - I just liked our game a lot more when the link between success and failure was far less blurred than it is right now.

yeah just ask Cas, Catalans and Crusaders how you finishing bottom in their first season didnt lead to improvement and growth from their on which wouldnt have been available had they been relegated.

Interesting.
Leeds' annual turnover is in excess of £10m. £1.6m of that is spent on "the team". Presumably the other £7/8m don't count?

Where does that go? I havent seen balance figures in a couple of years, how are Leeds doing profit wise. I heard some sale artificially boosted a figure not so long ago but I cant recall what it was

How much of the £7/8m is spent on image rights?

but really, what do toulouse offer? nothing against them, but ive been there twice at the height of summer when everyone has other holidays to pay for and the traveling support have still outnumbered them significantly on both occasions. besides them being in france i fail to see the attraction. and no, simply being in france is not really enough.

Never you mind that!

That was a couple of years ago, the club sold the cricket stadium to Yorkshire cricket for about £10m. Some of that was used to build the Carnegie stand, some will be used to rebuild the southstand. The rhinos still turn over between £10 and £11m and make a couple of hundred grand profit

What do Widnes have to offer? If we use their Championship attendances, their championship turnover, Championship squad etc, etc. the answer is exactly the same as Toulouse, sod all.

Like Widnes, Toulouse's admission to SL would be based on their potential to grow whilst in SL. The attendances at Toulouse arent that different to UTC's attendances before Les Catalans admission. They have plenty to offer when they are ready to step up.

Sorry - that doesn't answer my point at all.

Oh and by the way, success in business in measured in profit, not turnover.

I wasn't on about success, although a £3m profit is pretty good. You suggested that "the team" is all that a club is. I was pointing out that under 20% of Leeds' income is spent on the team, so if that's all that a club is what is the other 80% spent on?

The first team? So the U20s, U18s, U16s, scholarship players etc … they just don't count?

or coaches, back room staff, front office staff, owners, physios, CEO's or strangely the fans.

This is the strongest commodity in Rugby League. London has sheet loads of it. So does a club in Wales. We've got potential coming out of our ears. I'm literally coming over the potential our game has got.

I give up.

Not one of you have any soul left about you. Why do you all support your team? What lit the spark which said that 'Insert Team name here' was yours? What keeps the fire burning in your belly? Was it your CEO, physio, admin assistant, ground staff or U20's?

Be honest for a change.

Was it chuff!!!

But these are in place to ultimately feed into and improve the first team.

, have you noticed how quickly the Widnes fans have grown their ' SL goggles ' ?

In my case, it's more U20s, and the players that I've coached that are now playing U20s.
For you, it's the first team.
I'm not claiming teams should be picked for SL solely on the basis of their U20s team results, why are you claiming it's solely on the first team results?

They're mutants - they mutate - it's what they do best. They're simply adapting to their new environment and to be honest out of all the fans in the game they are best equipped to handle this change

Do they make 3 eyed goggles ?