clubs are losing money through various reasons

stupid super 8's- fans like to know when they are playing games well in advance not the week before to make arrangements for holidays/time off work

sky tv- fixture changes at short notice

officials!- the biggest one we should be concerned about! how officials on the pitch and off it run the game, we have lost a lot of rugby league fans who have become disenchanted with on and off field decisions as they are seen as one of the main reasons for ruining games

I have to agree with him.

A lot of questions need to be asked. Attendances are going down further, particularly in the challenge cup. The profile of the game is at an all time low, you have to scour the press for any RL related news.
The marketing and promotion appears to be a complete shambles; the recent delayed launch of the 4 nations is a classic example.
Some do not like Koucash, he can be brash and outspoken, but he his putting his money where is mouth is. He seems very good with fans of all clubs and will pose for any photo etc.
I wonder where Salford would be without him, I wish he had invested millions into my club.

We do seem to be a failing sport, not only with dwindling attendances, but in the amateur game as well. Sport England are continually lowering grant payments due to the increasing lower levels of participation.

As I said, questions need to be asked. Nigel Wood earns a quarter of a million pounds per year. I have no problem with that, but where is the evidence the game is going forward and his salary is justified.

Surely when it comes to a vote of no confidence in the Board of the governing body then all 30+ members should have a say on a one club one vote basis. I know that SL clubs have more say over structures and funding etc but in this incidence surely it has to involve all RFL member clubs.

I do not like the guy but what he says is good, take the stupid super 8s at the moment we have 2 teams who could be in the bottom 4 threw no fault of their own ie injuries and one might go down to my mind scrap it now and has a one of the 2 top teams in the championship bring up and lets have 14 teams again and after that 1 up 1 down

There are way more than 30 rl clubs. I always enjoy seeing the hypocrisy of lower league clubs fans who are always in a tizzy when their clubs voices aren't put front and centre by the big boys but then forget that most of the game actually exists outside their tiny fiefdom.

Why would you expect us to completely ignore the RFLs structure to exaggerate the voice of a minority of clubs in the middle.

well koukash got the marquee rule he wanted but failed to use this?

hope this latest attempt is more well thought through...

though he does have valid points, such as the super league becoming a feeder comp.

but im afraid we dont have enough money men to sustain a bigger salary cap for the majority of teams

Will be interesting to see who's got the stomach for the fight. I imagine a lot of the owners are not happy with the RFL but I suppose it comes down to what the alternative is. If it was a PDC type breakaway then it will need a good business head to carry it out and clubs being prepared (and financially viable) enough to tough it out for a year or two. Reckon it'll come to nought but maybe will cause a ripple or two.

I love how Mr Superior gets a cob on when a fan of a 'lower league club' posts something. There are between 30 and 40 FULL members of the RFL and they are who this vote is about. The RFL, The Governing Body. It doesn't matter what league you are in when it comes to a vote concerning the makeup of the RFL board. Smokey you are still funny after all these years, but not funny haha sadly.

Is this another ploy to bump up Salfords profile? Surely this kind of innuendo and name calling is going about things in a most unprofessional manner. Which is ironic given Koukash is calling the RFL. He's like a kid having a tantrum after he's been grounded for being naughty. He may well have a (several) point, but I think he'd be taken a lot more seriously if he went about things in a different way.

Salford seem to think that there's this massive conspiracy against the club, there's even a Salford fan making libellous statements about backhanded payments to fix matches on their board.

you are completely and utterly wrong in every aspect.

Maybe he'll get his way and the real power behind the throne will step out of the shadows to run the RFL; enter Gary Hetherington, the King of the North - cue much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Well find me the list of FULL RFL member clubs please as I understood full membership only included SL, Championship and Championship 1 clubs. Instead of just looking down your nose and saying 'your wrong' show me why. In other words, link please

Changing goalposts aside we have a structure which divides power between the different areas of the game. There is no need to change that, especially in the way you propose which would serve no purpose other than exaggerating the voice of a minority of clubs in the middle.

If we want a better RFL we have to pay for it. That means clubs getting less tv money. But the big issues are:
Lack of geographical spread (domestically & internationally)
Lack of marketing and expansion of the sport
Lack of marketing and expansion of existing clubs.

Now 2 out of those 3 issues are the responsibility of the RFL yet they get peanuts in terms of revenue with which to do anything.

And sadly the issue that's in the control of the clubs, they're doing very little.

We need more money going to the RFL. Both for a truly professional leadership AND for funds for consistent, long term, targeted development areas.

Having the teams (Coventry etc) in League 1 is a great step forward, and they'll bear fruit in the future, but they're also likely to need help if they're ever to truly compete at the top. It's time we stopped listening to parochial interests of the existing clubs because their interests are only ever for short term gain.
We have to financially and materially assist certain clubs if we're ever to expand as a sport. The only other way is when the odd millionaire pops up but as we've seen they're very much hit and miss.

Long term development means long term assistance and sod any other club that complains.

We HAVE to stop looking for short term fixes and look at long term development. This sport is still very weak, it can't stand on its own feet as a viable, national, professional sport. So we can't treat it the same as the Premier League. We have to pick and choose what is best for the sport.

the rfl will take about £32m out of this TV deal.

Good post.

If the chairmen ran the sport, we would have an 8 club SL with no promotion or relegation, with the big clubs having their own cartel.

Yes, there have been some dumb decisions made over the last few years and certainly something needs to be done to allow "over age" players to play, when they are not selected for the first team.
The dual reg system was an utter joke and abolishing the senior academies (with no viable alternative) was wrong.

The current 8/8/8 system appears an unlikely vehicle to actually allow Championship clubs to gain promotion, on the basis that Wakefield were as weak as any SL club either has been or will be and yet they came through the system unscathed (and future SL clubs in the same position are likely to be stronger than Trinity were).

We have new clubs coming into the game from France and Canada, which on the face of it is great but, is there any medium or long term plan here or, is the idea just to wait and see what happens.

Having done away with "franchising", the probability of these new clubs getting into SL and staying there looks quite remote. Whereas, under the old system, a new club could have been accommodated far more easily, so the change now appears very short sighted indeed.

The salary cap should definitely have increased year on year, if only to allow for inflation but, instead, it has remained stagnant, with the "tweak" on the Marquee player.

Since the move to the Grand Final, the Challenge Cup (with the exception of the final) is on it's knees and the top clubs now only need 3 wins to get to Wembley plus, it has become harder/impossible for any lower league club to ever get there.

The list goes on..................

I personally don't like koukash however if he was to get the support he needs for a vote of no confidence then I can understand it. There is absolutely no ambition from the rfl, a lot of us fans hold that view if think and there certainly does need to be a shakeup but as others have said, who will replace them?

I agree in principal in what the Doc is saying along with his objectives but the RFL has got a stranglehold on our poorly set up short term future. The problem is the Doc and his gang would have to come out with viable alternatives and people in place to take over parameters in the game to attract more money sponsors in the game and social media presence to lift its profile against other sports.

Nigel Wood looks a non moveable object both physically and administratively and I still don't know after all these years don't know what Brian Barwick has brought to the table, whatever happens it won't be a short term fix and just get the feeling its a little too late, its not a matter of tinkering with the running of the game its very much a complete overhaul from top to bottom.

If the word spreading about is true, the no confidence vote is not just about a bunch of unhappy Chairmen airing their grievances, but something much more serious.

I feel the same way - I find Koukash to be brash, impulsive and arrogant, and I don't see what value he's brought to RL other than his net worth.

That aside - there is certainly room for improvement at the RFL; the leadership is parochial, short-sighted and amateurish. I disagree however that Koukash and whomever (if anyone) supports his motion, have to have a readymade alternative. Surely all they would need to do is unseat the incumbent, participate in a selection process for a temporary CEO, then go out to recruitment. The key would be replacing him with someone with genuine pedigree and a track record in a strategic leadership position in sport - it's a decent enough salary, and if we cast the net outside of the extremely small world of RL, I'm sure there would be lots of interest.

Yawn.

Sorry but the man is publicity mad , he speaks before thinking and when he breaks rules and gets in trouble he plays the hard done by card . He comes across as childish on his twitter account . First and foremost he needs to grow up otherwise any good ideas he may have will be lost in his childish tantrum outbursts when he thinks the powers that be are against him .

I do genuinely believe that Koukash wants the sport to succeed and in his defence, he is one of the few people who actually speaks positively about the sport. As abrasive as he may be, I'd much rather listen to someone like Marwan than I would someone like Hudgell.

The problem I have is that he, many other chairman and many supporters see the RFL as something of a lightning rod for all of the games ills, when the problems actually lie at club level. The marketing of the clubs, investment in facilities, player development, recruitment and retention, and reducing reliance on central funding - the clubs carry the can on that front.

I don't think that there is any dispute that Red Hall has its problems, but I genuinely think that the priority at present needs to be getting the clubs to actually pull their weight and drag themselves up to standard. They've had long enough.

I thought and still think koukash is a prick of the highest order.

But Nigel Wood and the rest need disposing, and fast. Time to bring the RFL down.

There will be a reckoning and I for one can't wait.

To be fair to the RFL, it has produced/sanctioned some great additions to the game, such as the Magic Weekend, the 40/20 Rule etc.

There is just no strong leadership, they seem to mean well but their interventions and processes are clumsy and usually ineffective. Solly was a big loss, he must be replaced with quality + get some fresh faces in there, who know about sports management and aren't just there by default like Nige.