Today is the day when clubs can start formally talking to players out of contract at season end.

Who do we have out of contract at season end ?

Who should we retain ?

Elliot Kear
James Cunningham
Matt Davis
Sadiq Adebiyi
Robert Butler
Jacob Ogden
Eddie Battye
Daniel Harrison
Tom Spencer
Jay Pitts
Michael Channing
Jarrod Sammut
Kieran Dixon
Api Pewhairangi
Kameron Pearce-Paul
Ben Evans
Matt Davies
Will Lovell
James Meadows

All these I believe.
Lots in that list I'd like to keep.

Well I know for a fact that apart from Jay Pitts no one else has been offered anything by the club, also regardless of 1st May a number of these players already have offers from other clubs, defiantly the top 3 in your list and Dixonis looking at swapping codes,

That is worrying!

Business review into the future going ahead due to the end of the groundshare deal blocking contract offers at the moment perhaps?

Interesting times may lie ahead. Fingers crossed it turns out to be a big nothing.

Agree terribly worrying. You can’t blame players for looking to secure their futures but we must retain a core of players or it signals a decline and that ther isn’t a plan?

Did I miss the bit where we were anything but tenants? A ground share is teams sharing a ground...WE PAY RENT as we did at TW2

I'm well aware of that strangely enough. That's why it's called a groundshare, you pay to use someone elses ground.

The end of the current deal would be a very obvious time to do a full business review. Recent history suggests that David commits his funding for x years at a time. A 3 year commitment was mentioned at Barnet from memory, presumably extended when we moved to Ealing.

My money is on any commitment to fund the club expiring this season and David asking the club for a business review covering the likes of: -

1. Is Ealing the right ground?
2. What are the options if Ealing don't want us?
3. How much money do they think he will need to invest year on year for the next X years?
4. What would the ramifications of promotion be?
5. Is a part full time part semi pro model viable?
6. Is a fully semi pro model viable?
7. What is the plan if David leaves?

If it is true only one player in nineteen has received a received a re-engagement offer something is clearly going on and the above is my guess.

Ive been worried for a while that the club is winding down. No investment in the playing squad before the season started. We lost two important players at the end of the season and never replaced them (Ackers/Barthau). Squad is short in some vital areas and that has an effect elsewhere. Squad is too small, Hooker/HB and Prop lacking. We have no real depth and as a result cannot rest/rotate which will cost us should me make the 8s (I think that is still very much in the balance).

I am (unfortunately) expecting a P/T Broncos next season and with that no hope of SL rugby. Really hope I am wrong

Not forgetting the RFL proposed/possible changes to the structure. Maybe DH is waiting on that

EDS You have probably hit the nail on the head. If SL teams push the RFL on closing the door on promotion, deregulation of NL1 and don’t do anything about the funding then this could be the point where DH goes enough is enough.
Where the funding comes from then and if we could sustain FT status is anyone’s guess.

A little birdie tells me no substantial changes to the top two tiers format next season. The clubs wanted it but Sky weren't happy. Obviously negotiations may be ongoing.

I'd suggest the question isn't whether we can sustain full time without David but whether or not we could sustain a part time team?

Part of the sky deal in my understanding was there had to be some opportunity for promotion and demotion.
As for funding reality is at the moment like it or not DH is our finance source, we all know we need other investment. Without one or the other probably the club is no more, let’s hope it does not come to that. Hopefully contracts will start to get sorted.

My birdie suggested Sky insisted on a million pound game whereas the clubs want it gone. Not sure on whether the clubs wanted automatic promotion/relegation or a ring fenced top tier.

Million pound game concept is in some folks opinion good in others bad. As we know an awful lot of discussion is around players contracts being null and void if a SL team get relegated, this will still happen be it via 2 up 2 down, super 8s, million pound game. Only difference will be when it’s decided.
So whichever they go with is going to cause heartache unless the central funding issue is sorted.
Be interesting to hear what Eddie Hearn thinks about it.
In my view you need the opportunity to climb the ladder, and you should drop down if yr not good enough. As for sky, can see there point, they want to keep subscribers so having a comp that has drama/excitement till the last game is what they are forcing.

Whats it got to do with him?

Well there was talk about Hearn getting involved with rugby league and promoting it! Not sure how far it has got, but if he can fill a stadium with people watching darts then bring it on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/ ... ague-talks

Well there was talk about Hearn getting involved with rugby league and promoting it! Not sure how far it has got, but if he can fill a stadium with people watching darts then bring it on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/ ... ague-talks

Quote ="northernbloke"Well there was talk about Hearn getting involved with rugby league and promoting it! Not sure how far it has got, but if he can fill a stadium with people watching darts then bring it on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/ ... ague-talks'" Matchroom Sports are best known for promoting individual sports where personalities can be marketed. Where they have been involved in team sports (netball, basketball) it is for short format variations of the game. Perhaps their plan is is to have the Magic Weekend reduced to a one day, 7's format.

Quote ="northernbloke"Well there was talk about Hearn getting involved with rugby league and promoting it! Not sure how far it has got, but if he can fill a stadium with people watching darts then bring it on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/ ... ague-talks'" Matchroom Sports are best known for promoting individual sports where personalities can be marketed. Where they have been involved in team sports (netball, basketball) it is for short format variations of the game. Perhaps their plan is is to have the Magic Weekend reduced to a one day, 7's format.

Don't let sense get in the way of massive panic!!

That is exactly what is happening. Why would DH pump money into the club when the RFL meeting on Monday pretty much clarified that there will not be any promotion this year and it is likely to be a reduction in SL clubs and a new format?

The club are sitting tight and waiting for some firm direction before deciding to sign players and extend contracts.

People seem to also be forgetting that the production line is as strong as ever. Players in the side that nearly beat Wigan on Saturday are soon going to be replacing some of the expensive squad players in that list of OOC.

Your Birdie needs to fly in a different direction.

SKY are not bothered in the slightest on how the format is as long as there is some jeopardy scenario at the season's end which could be Promotion/Relegation or Play Off's either at the top end or between divisions.

The Clubs in SL pretty much all spoke of 10/10/10 and either another 10 or to merge the likes of Oldham/Swinton/Rochdale/Salford and keep only 3 divisions (basically don't care as long as they are in the SL) and the clubs outside of SL spent a lot of the time moaning about central funding and what will happen at the lower end of the Championship and League 1. That is fair enough considering most of them reside in that area of the structure.

Promotion/Relegation (one up one down) was offered for 2019 and was roundly rejected by most clubs.

One up one down does not satisfy the sky requirement though! It has happened in the past 4/5/6 weeks to go to the end of the season you know what’s happening already, there is no excitement in that.
Not a lot we can do about it though.

Of course it does. They want jeopardy and get that with the Top end play offs as well as the relegation battle and promotion race. If the RFL had any brains it would be doing two up two down from a 12 team league with one automatic promotion and then a 4 team play off like the Championship do. That is your Million pound game given the amount of funding given in Super League.

As I said the main feeling was against one up, one down in 2019 but SKY are taking the exact same risk now of Soccer or Union seasons all being wrapped up early in some aspects so would not have an issue with that format.

1 up 1 down 2 up 2 down would have to be through a play off situation, Sky would not accept it without that way of doing it. Straight league position would not work.
But like I say we can’t change it

SKY couldn't give a toss about the MPG. 6,900 Is the average attendance...50,000 people tuned in to watch it, fewer than watched South Africa v Australia in Union on the same platform......50,000????

The only question that matters is when will he stop feeling gilty about his catastrophic dummy spit in 2013 and cut us loose?

Sky don’t care about attendance, but sky do care about the MPG it is TV! A season that’s decided with 3/4 rounds to go is of no interest, so they want the mpg to generate interest.