possibly your best yet.

Actually points A and B account for all of it. most other clubs attendances are very similar to last year

Oh come on now Crusaders were kicked out of super league to allow a club able to get bigger attendances to take their place. Saint Helens getting a new stadium near their old one was entirely the RFL's doing - part of their development plan to increase attendances. Also its handy that the side replacing crusaders are supported by a company able to grant us such a fantastic sponsorship deal.

Theres nothing to see here, move on

I know,

Putting in place a franchise system that promoted the best prepared rather than the winners of the GF meant we promoted Widnes rather than a club who was totally unprepared in Featherstone had nothing to do with increasing attendances. That they put so much emphasis on getting new stadiums was just to annoy Cas and Wakefield fans, they never actually expected anyone to get them, its just coincidence that both Salford and St Helens have got them and both saw a massive increase in attendance. And they moved the Magic Weekend to Manchester out of laziness really, not to get more people to go, so we cant include that.

If we remove the results of the things the game did to improve attendances, you will see attendances haven’t improved at all. Its all spin spin spin.

Why cant the RFL just give us the facts? Why cant they just tell us if more people are attending? If more are watching on TV? If the game is able to give more money to its member clubs? If outside bodies are recognising the good work the RFL are doing?

Well done , but the ' recent years ' isnt very specific , has it continued upt to last year and is it going to continue , or have they hit a wall , as the Stobart deal would suggest , also interesting that the Championship Clubs money reduced this year , so who's got the extra then ?

So this just balanced out what they did in 2008 , which was to promote a club that was totally unprepared , a fact born out by the ensuing shambles we have witnessed , did they ever do the investigation into ' VISAgate ' ? , nah , unlikely to either

Why hasn't Lewis been replaced,yet ?
Why is a non-executive director making 2 statements which are released to the public ?
With a putatively family-friendly sport,which no longer approaches alcohol,nicotine or gambling related sponsors,
why does he name-drop soccer players who have made press reports for all the wrong reasons ?
What plans are there for the future when it seems supporters of the International game,Super League and Championship all have reasons to complain ?
Will p+r return for 2013 ? Will play-offs continue ? Has there been any interviews with people inside the sport to replace Lewis ? Is there a shortlist ?
Is there any significance in the timing of this statement ?
Was the decision to grant Bradford a one year probationary license approved by SLE ?

I am all for spin but don't expect everyone to be fooled, keep admiring those robes. FWIW if Fax replaced London then 2013 would go up as well, but neither that nor Widnes replacing Wales is good for our sport despite the crowd increases.

This is a RL website populated by RL fans, like any sports website we will be more critical due to knowledge. The piece probably did a great job enhancing the perception of a successful sport to the uneducated of Greater Manchester but it is a bit like having 10% inflation and 3% interest on your savings whilst singing the praises of how much more money you have in the bank.

:3i06tnunWere you under the impression that the emphasis on new facilities was for a different reason other than to increase attendances? Were you under the impression, even though it was explicitly stated as part of the process, that Widnes' attendences werent part of the consideration for promoting them?

:3i06tnun
Yes, it seems the RFL are doing a very good job then doesnt it.

Yes it continued to this year. If you read Mr Lyndsays report you would know that. If you actually bothered to do the research to see what state the game is in, rather than hoping and praying it fails so you don’t need to admit you were wrong you would know where the money went,.

Rugby League, with friends like these…………

Can somebody explain exactly what this bit means ?

Yet only franchising would have allowed them to do so, something you are still throwing a hissy fit about. Yes, you know they did. I know you know they did because i told you. Maybe you should look at what the UKBA found. Then probably retract your insinuations.

Can you post a link to the RFL investigation , not the UKBA one

The UKBA found them not guilty of any infractions bar a very minor paperwork issue.

Were you expecting the RFL to find Crusaders guilty of breaking UKBA regulations, when the UKBA themselves had found them not guilty?

Of course they did , they just blamed the players , who obviously are experts on British VISA regulations

Troll.

That’s the UKBA, the UKBA who blamed the players, The UKBA who said that the players didn’t meet their responsibilities as laid down by the British Government.

Not the RFL.

Though Barnabus has been a little more succint in his explanation.

Yes , the ' they ' I was reffering to was the UKBA , the RFL just ' Slinked ' off into the night hoping everybody would forget about it

Yes, its just important that we are clear that the RFL and the club met their responsibilities and shouldered no (in the case of the RFL) or very very very little (in the case of the club) of the responsibility.

Though im sure the RFL never believed the ‘vested interests’ would forget about it, after all, it is an opportunity for you to be negative and do the game down.

I agree with much of what Smokey is saying, but he'd make it much easier if he didn't keep referring to Maurice Lyndsay.

Add Castleford to the list of:

=#0000FF "sports clubs, like all businesses, will ultimately stand or fall on the quality of their own management and, while the RFL and its policies cannot always mitigate against some of the decisions taken in club boardrooms"

Smokey, you're running out of clubs lad. Phone Lyndsey

27 rounds of super league watched by 1.8million people is just propaganda even if you include the play offs and the final itself this gives an average gate of 50k.

You are son of Smokey and I claim my £5

Maths isn't your strong point is it?

Psst, it doesn't necessarily mean [idifferent[/i people, if I only went to home games I'd be counted 13 times.