what are peoples thoughts on the latest idea's from Mr Koukash? www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... 2xcdq.html Mr Hetherington would wobble at the knees at the thought of expanding the game to a global level rather than keeping it in the M62 corridor!

what are peoples thoughts on the latest idea's from Mr Koukash? www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... 2xcdq.html Mr Hetherington would wobble at the knees at the thought of expanding the game to a global level rather than keeping it in the M62 corridor!

Well, one thing is undeniable. We have to do something. The RFL have proved they have neither the ability nor the will to run a top quality sports competition in the 21st century. If we keep losing players at this rate, and continually fail or refuse to generate sufficient income to make these top players think twice before going elsewhere, we will eventually cease to exist as a professional game. On the international front, as things are we get next to no oxygen of publicity. Too many meaningless fixtures and the occasional drubbing at the hands of Australia don't do us much good in terms of our reputation and offer minimal excitement to the players who are inevitably looking for some kind of world stage.

That said, while I like the basic jist of Koukash's proposals, I'm not sure they're entirely practical. I can see half the British clubs, at least, opposing it. And why would the Aussies agree? They already have an awesome competition and are getting the best of most of the world's best players.

The Aussies would never be interested, even in the unlikely event that other ESL clubs were.

And whatever the failure of the game's administrators, both here in in Oz, I'm not overly concerned about the health of our sport right now. I remember when RU went (officially) professional, wise-guy pundits were queuing up on TV and the press to predict the rapid demise of rugby league. It didn't happen then, and it's not going to happen now.

Will be interesting to see how many games are sold out on week 1 after all the internal hype. No one outside of the game is interested in the new era. The fact is that we only have koukash with any kind of ambition and as a result ru and nrl now lght years ahead leaving rl in their wake. The wasp franchise has exploded in Coventry with 20k crowds whereas our attempts to expand fail.

Pretty soon It looks like RL could have a new threat....NFL.

Talk of an NFL Team in London could become a reality on the back of NFL games being hosted at Wembley in the last few years.

I like his ambition.

Totally agree and rl are only thinking now of holding a marquee game in London but it can't be at a big stadium just in case no one turns up! To had a bigger profilebefore the sky deal when crowds of between 30 - 70 k turned up for rl international without any major promotion. Hetherington has taken the game back 20 years with the new structure and I can't see the game recovering due to the lack of the kind of vision Mr koukash proposes.

NFL won't have a London team for at least 10 years.

From reading a few articles (Im not much of an NFL fan!) it seems like they are looking to also host games in different UK stadiums around the country.

Be interested to know what sort fo attendances they get.

And what happens to SL? I know British players are being stolen from our league now, but a team dedicated to British players on top of the talent already over there?

It would be exciting but it would just kill off our premier competition.

The only bloke on the planet who has self-funded an expansion team which went, under his coaching/management/ownership, to become financially viable and soon after won major silverware? You don't think that individual more than any other knows more about the importance of expanding the game?

I wouldnt be so sure about that although i cant see it being too much of a threat when it does it happen

The guy is crazy. What a pathetic idea and it will never ever happen.

He sold because he'd made it a profitable, commercial and playing success with no debt and was given an opportunity to run and part own the biggest club in the league, which he used to play for.

The inability of the subsequent owners of Sheffield to capitalise on the solid foundations created from nothing was all of their own doing - the biggest problem was probably that their operation bore no relation to the characteristically very tight ship Hetherington ran.

More self-publicity from Dr Koukash, another ill-thought out high profile scheme with zero chance of ever happening but hey he gets his name in the papers once again, same old I'm afraid.

why doesnt Koucash invest some of his cash in trying to promote his present UK club and get more than 3K watching the great game in a city that gets 120K football fans without any trouble? He craves publicity and has come up with this absolute nonsense.

Why has the new structure set the game back 20 years? We now have a clear pathway for any club to get to the OT GF.

Dont confuse the disastrous TV deals and all other commercial and marketing activity with this structure. They are 2 completely seperate avenues one of which has had no strategy for around 110 years!!!

Quote ="lemonhead"what are peoples thoughts on the latest idea's from Mr Koukash? www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... 2xcdq.html Mr Hetherington would wobble at the knees at the thought of expanding the game to a global level rather than keeping it in the M62 corridor!'" I, for one, admire his vision and his ambition. It is men like him that change the world... ...of course, it'll never work!

Quote ="lemonhead"what are peoples thoughts on the latest idea's from Mr Koukash? www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... 2xcdq.html Mr Hetherington would wobble at the knees at the thought of expanding the game to a global level rather than keeping it in the M62 corridor!'" I, for one, admire his vision and his ambition. It is men like him that change the world... ...of course, it'll never work!

I suspect he might be slowly realising that he's bought a pup, then compounded the error by moving to Barton & getting into bed with Peel. The stadium itself is haemorrhaging cash by all accounts, Salford council are owed a couple of million by the club & there's 20million outstanding on the buildings (don't you love Wikipedia

).
Mad Marwan is looking more like Mike Ashley by the day - it might come good eventually, but I'd not be surprised if he cuts his losses sooner than later.

They were already at Barton when he was persuaded to take over the club. You have to feel a bit sorry for him. They can't get more than 4,500 crowds in to the place and it's never more than half full. Despite investing heavily in the team, nothing seems to have worked. They can't win and the fans aren't interested in attending. I must admit I preferred the Willows, which always had a decent atmosphere.

Without him Salford would have died as a club. So I think the Rugby League community should be grateful instead of knocking him.

I suspect he would have been better off investing in the Bulls. There is way more potential in Bradford.

Agree about the Bulls point. This seems to have been dragging for an eternity & as a bear with very little brain, I get confused with timings sometimes (although I've just found an article on the BBC website from December 2000:
)
Don't know about feeling sorry for MK though, it's the fans who I think have been conned. I wonder whether it was just the bright-lights of the Trafford Centre that bamboozled them into thinking it was a good idea 15 years ago. With the thought that the glitz & cash would somehow skate over the sewerage-works & under the bridge.

The doctor's keeping the headline writers busy, but the Oz press have poured cold water on his latest & I can't find anyone who thinks it's a goer. The Knights deal appears to have fallen through so he's now casting round with one daft idea after another - who's advising him? Where is this all coming from?

I've never heard a guy talk so much rubbish in my life. I do think he bought the wrong club as the fans just don't there and I dread to think of the money that club is losing

You're right he does talk rubbish. But he's not from a Rugby League background. So he has no Sacred Cows. To him, all ideas are possible. Furthermore, he generates interest in the game. He is proof, if proof were needed, that intelligent men can talk rubbish!

The game needs outside investment and he is a very wealthy man. Personally I don't think Salford fans deserve him. I'm not sure that they would have seen the likes of Kevin Locke, Rangi Chase, Harrison Hansen, Gareth Hock, Ben Jones Bishop and Taylor (he's only been gone a few months and I can't remember his Christian name!!) under their previous regimes.

I am surprised that he is still around at Salford - I hope that they can get to Wembley this year, I think Marwan deserves some kind of pay back.

Much as some people hated Maurice Lindsay he had vision and dragged the game forward kicking and screaming. We need someone to do that again and Koukash might be the man to do it because it sure as hell won't be Nigel Wood.

Bought the wrong club and he knows it. Barton is an inaccessable hole next to a sewage works, you'll never get people there. He'll be looking for an out this year if the team and the supporters numbers dont improve massively.