I can sell you massive prawns: £65.00 for a 2 kilo box (8-10 prawns)

Because it adds excitement to maybe 4 games at the end of the season between the worst sides in SL and almost guarantees massive financial problems to both the promoted and relegated teams the following year?

As you say, it doesn't work in RU - it was only the threat of legal action which allowed London Welsh to be promoted this season at the expense of Newcastle. This year LW have virtually imploded whilst Newcastle could have taken half the season off and still won promotion.

The funny thing is, whilst the RU cap has increased, they have some problems which are familiar to RL - financial problems at some clubs, far too many imports etc.

Yeh, snorkelling on Saturdyas, taking the boat out on Sundays, swimming with the dog down the beach before I go to work, being able to plan outdoor parties weeks in advance and not worry about the weather, no de icer, not worrying about my car being nicked, 4 bedroom house with a swimming pool, movie room and gym. Geez life has got no better since I moved to Oz from Hull!!

In all fairness moving from Hull to Lebanon would be a massive improvement.

But Smokey's "Get on with selling tickets" is pretty much the ultimate 'silver bullet' statement. It implies that clubs are run by people who haven't actually thought of 'selling tickets'. If only they'd just 'get on with it', hey?

What determines whether or not you go to watch a game? Does advertising make a difference to you? The reason clubs don't spend fortunes advertising tickets is that, in the main, *it doesn't work*. People go to games when the game 'matters'. If you're an absolute hardcore fan, then every game probably matters to you, and that's great. From a cynical business point of view, in that sense, nobody needs to worry about you, you'll turn up whatever.

But then, we have the idiots who 'blame the fans' for not *all* being hardcore and turning up to every game. Fine, they can feel like that, but its a totally useless attitude. People more in touch with the real world will realise that the challenge is to make each game 'matter' to as many people as possible. This is a many-faceted challenge - for example, for a few people, a game can matter simply because the opponent has a player that winds you up ( I guarantee you that Sam Tomkins and Ryan Bailey put bums on seats at away fixtures, just as the likes of Sean Long did ), or because its a historical derby, but generally, the biggest factor in whether or not a game is important is the structure of the competition. It's entirely reasonable to look at that issue. "Get on with making as many games as possible relevant" is a better contribution to a debate than "get on with selling tickets".

The Myth of a guarantees 'better lifestyle' is just that - a myth.

Sure for some its paradise and good luck to them but I found it Expensive, insular, very remote, a bit behind the times and lacking in culture, but as I say each to there own. I am however looking forward to my next holiday there.

For balance, I've gone from a $3000 a month mortgage to owning a beautiful Victorian house, being able to visit some of the best cities in the world by a short plane ride, got all my friends around me, being able to go see decent gigs and also have a wide choice of theatre productions all close by. Don't have to worry about the horrible heat in the summer, I have a proper insulated double glazed centrally heated house for the winter (I've never been as cold as I was in Sydney in the winter) I don't have big spiders crawling round my house, etc etc..

Interesting points Chris.
Expensive in relation to the Wages that are paid?
Insular in what way?
Where is it remote from? Its a long way from Europe but its not that far to Asia. Many people never leave their own town or city never mind country.
Behind the times? what does that mean? in technology, education, something else?

How do you define Culture? is it going to the West End to see a play? is it having a long colourful history? Or just a local old fashioned Pub.
Most Australians I know if asked about their culture would reply something like this..
There is a modern outdoors Culture, Beaches and BBQ's outdoor living, a population that embraces sport in general.
Australia is made up of emigrants from all over the World and each one of those "Aussies" bring something to the mix, whether that is in outlook or ideas or the diverse range of cuisine that is available, its a melting Pot.

You have lived in Australia Chris, what part did not suit you? I believe there is a "Love it or leave it" attitude but that is a good thing, without that you would have 100 different cultures that move to Australia and want to change it to be like where they are from and have no respect for the way of life they have chosen to move to.

Interested to hear what made you come back to the UK after moving to Oz.

Big Spiders crawling around your House? did you live in a Tent?
Were they Daddy Long Legs?
Sydney never gets much below 8C (at night) in Winter, you get some frosts on winter morning out past Parramatta.

You were in a Tent ?

That post contains the most bollox of any of yours yet. Well done, you have set the bar pretty high.

You should go back to complaining that an interview with Nigel Wood about the World Cup is, in what im sure is a shock to everyone, and completely unexplainable, headlined with a picture of Nigel Wood and the World Cup.

I lived in a 800,000 dollar house which had no insulation and no double glazing and was cold in winter, I lived in Abbotsford in the inner west (a lovely suburb which I miss by the way) 8c without heating is quite cold.

Huntsmen spiders were regularly roaming round my house, not dangerous but not pleasant either.

Australia especially Sydney is a very expensive place to live, my wages are actually around 3 times higher in the UK than they were in Australia, I realise this will not be the case for everyone. Grocery shopping is ridiculously expensive over there and the choice is nowhere near as good as the UK (I live within 3 miles of around 4 farm shops selling great produce)

It is isolated from everywhere, where I live I can be in 10 different cities in just a relatively short car journey, In sydney you need to get (a quite expensive) internal flight to get to the next city of any merit, this would be even worse living in the West of Australia ( I got married in Western Australia, Ive no need to return)

By Culture I mean the arts, history, Architecture, Design etc etc, I agree Australias 'culture' is a far more modern one, I donot care for the beach and if your classing a BBQ as culture this is where we disagree.

Australia is indeed a melting pot but not one without its problems, casual racism is rife as is a sexist attitude which permeates through the media as well, the TV is just shocking, ABC is just about passable but the 'Aussie is the best in the world' stuff that comes out from the other networks is nauseating.

I moved back for many reasons, including Financial we are far far better off over here rather than having to worry about money this helps a great deal. I also just didn't see myself living there long term (which was the original plan) it wasn't for me, IMHO Australia has done a very good job in selling itself (as seen by posts on here by people that think its paradise without ever having been!) but in reality its just another first world country with all the problems associated with that. As for the weather I prefer the british climate, I hated the summer in Sydney and it never seemed to stop raining in the winter (it has more rainfall per year than Manchester), I also missed my friends and family which is something that people thinking of emigrating shouldn't underestimate. ATEOTD it wasnt for me but that is just my observations and whats right for me isn't right for another.

I absolutely love the UK, and moving away made me realise this a lot more and ir avnnoys me when people slag the place off having never lived somewhere else, the grass isn't always greener, sometimes its a weird shad of brown because the heat

I'd rather be in Blackpool!

Your intelligence fails you again. I didn't complain that an interview with Nigel Wood had a picture of Nigel Wood in it. I complained that an image of Nigel Wood is not the first thing one should be seeing on the RLWC website. Your love for the man clouds your thinking.

I used to live with a girl whose friend and husband were strongly considering moving to Australia.
"I think we should do it." She said "We should move to Australia."
"Why?" I asked
"It would be amazing"
"Why?"
"Errrrrrr."
I do not live with her anymore.

As much as I'm glad I live in the UK now, that is pushing it, if i never go to Blackpool again it will be too soon.

You are wrong.

It wasnt put as a landing page on the RLWC website

It was the latest article on the website. It was an interview with Nigel Wood, about the world cup. It just happened to be the last one uploaded when you happened to go on to the website. But your tery managed to exceed your usual level of asshattery and you decided to whine and moan about it.

Surely you cannot be as stupid as you first appear?

No worries Chris.
Thanks for the honest reply.
You know when you complained about your mortgage payments? you did not have to borrow $800k that was your call.
You know Sydney gets most of its rain in Summer?
I mentioned outdoor living which included BBQ's
I am glad there is no racism in the UK
If 8C is cool in winter why did you not invest in a $20 fan heater? is that hard to do.
I have lived in several places and I believe you have to settle with an open mind, many English people do not work out in Australia because they complain how different it is, there are flies and its hot and its not the same as the Fox & Hounds in Oldham.
That is the reason they move isn't it?

Just out of interest what do you do for a Job that pays three times as much in the UK?

I didnt borrow $800,000 the house was worth that, I borrowed half that, you have a look and see if you can get a nice 2 bedroomed house (not apartment) in a nice suburb for anything less than $500k housing is extremely expensive, not that Im complaining I did OK out of the Australian property bubble.

I never said there isn't racism in the UK, great strawman argument there. However casual racism (in the workplace and in the media) seemed far more prevalent in Australia to me, E.G the term WOG being used for some european people quite openly in conversation and on TV.

I dont know you, but you seem to be the typical 'pom' that cant quite understand why people don't just love Australia because it worked for them. The attitude of some Australians and English migrants for that matter when I said I was moving back to the UK was as if i'd sh@t on there door step, they just couldn't believe that anywhere was better than Australia to live, I find that strange but I liken Australia to a teenager (which it is in country terms) it seems to want to shout about how great it is whilst sticking its fingers in its ears and not listening, again this is just how I found it, I didn't want it to be like the UK and I didn't expect it to be, I went with an open mind but it wasn't the place for me.

Also I did have a fan heater and an electric blanket, it was cold in Winter as i said. I know its rains in the Summer, a lot!


As for work I am a Graphic Designer, but I now own my own business and as such my income has trippled to that of what I earned in Australia. If Im being fair I would say the average wage in Sydney is roughly around the same as it is here in my profession, but obviously in Sydney you have the more expensive living costs.

Australia is a wonderful country, and I may consider retiring out there one day, but I am just giving an honest opinion of what I found when living there, some people are very blinkered when it comes to Australia.

Good stuff Chris.
Will they let you back in when you want to?
I hope they do not allow whining pommies to pick and choose when they can just arrive in a Country, too cold, too hot, too e.

English immigrants were once highly regarded, nowadays they would be near the bottom of the list, whining, unhappy, not like England.
The ones that stay and stop whinging are like the Gypsies of Australia, selling car stereos at traffic lights,
So I am told.

That might that casual racism he was talking about

Im a permanent resident, so I can go back when I want if thats alright with you?

As for the rest of your post - I can see why you've integrated well with the Australians.

As for whining there is a real sense of irony when any Australian accuses an English person of whinging, they are the world leaders in it.

He is kind of proving my point for me

I find myself in the uncomfortable position of agreeing with pretty much all of that.

What I would add however, is that whilst franchising does indeed provide the framework within which clubs [ishould[/i be able to grow and prosper, to do so they are still required to be managed and run by competent people. Moreover, those competent people need to be overseen by an extremely robust governing body. As it stands, too many clubs are poorly run and the governing body appears to lack the courage of its convictions in terms of enforcing the franchising framework in a consistent way. Organisationally, there is a rather immature feel to the RFL, in that it lacks honesty about the things it gets wrong whilst making overblown claims about the things it gets right. I'm not advocating BBC style naval gazing and public flagellation, just honesty, a willingness to learn from mistakes and a bit of tough love in terms of allowing those clubs who insist on failing, to do so.

As for JP - I have terrific respect for him as a player; as a RL futurist - less so.

I don't care if it was 'put as a landing page'. For a significant period of time, it was the first image people saw when they landed on the site. I couldn't give a flying whatever why it was like that. It just was. And embarrassing. Thankfully it seems to have gone now. Good. I hope you downloaded the picture to add to the little shrine you have behind that curtain.

Yes, we should all be embarrassed because you don’t like Nigel Woods suit.



I know you like a whinge, but Christ almighty, it’s a mans suit ffs,.

Its quite funny that you have spent your time over the past few days whining about a problem you made up and admit you have no idea whether or not it exists or is even a realistic possibility, and the fact you didn’t like Nigel Woods suit in a picture headlining an interview with him. That’s not normal. Its quite funny, but it isn’t normal.