Koukash has had enough with the RFL... www.sportinglife.com/rugby-leagu ... hip-to-rfl Interesting. He's a bit of a fruitcake, but could cause issues.

Koukash has had enough with the RFL... www.sportinglife.com/rugby-leagu ... hip-to-rfl Interesting. He's a bit of a fruitcake, but could cause issues.

Could get tasty. Press conference tomorrow detailing his plans?!

Would be interested to see who Pearson sided with. Can see Hudge and Carter backing Koukash as they both have previous. Hetherington and Cats chairman will side with RFL, so 3 v 2 in Koukashs favour as it stands IMO.

i dont think Pearson is in favour of raising the cap but i think i remember him saying the tv deal was short sighted and he didnt want the 888s' format when it was first muted

so i reckon he'll side with koukash

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.

Interesting times ahead. Wonder how much they'll (try and) fine the respective owners who agree with him?

The TV deal was ridiculous.

BT is finally providing genuine competition for Sky in this country, driving up prices for Rugby Union and Football in particular but also forcing Sky to try and grab onto whatever golf, tennis and F1 it can to maintain the amount of live sport it carries for its increasing subscription. Ideal chance to play companies off on each other. Instead we commit to a multi-year deal for what was a pittance at the time and by the time the deal gets to its final year will look even worse.

I don't think anyone has actually said the tv deal was decent have they, just the kind of negativity towards them that you would think the rfl would have noticed...

I don't think there will be much doubt that Pearson will have sympathy with Koukash and the case he makes, Adam's a clever bloke and although green when he came in, he'll have things sussed now, I'm sure, he's has been around a while seen how the centre of the organisation works and how a couple of Clubs think they run the game and the RL and how the actions of the governing body have affected his investment, but whether he will lead the charge I'm not so sure . Stuff has been simmering between the clubs for weeks and meetings between some Clubs have taken place on a regular basis . Koukash is a bit f a D*ck at times but he's a business man and the whole pedantic way some things work frustrate him. The TV deal is a massive bone of contention and so it should be, but the disciplinary set up, underplaying of the once great Challenge Cup competition, lack of support for the under 23's, some poor sponsorship options, and the standard of refereeing have been real issues for some clubs of late as well. I think the RL realise there are problems but its their refusal to admit they exist and their lack of action that is getting a lot of owners down.

Redhall has certainly seemed to have built itself into a position where at times they seem dictatorial and pretty untouchable of late, so change might just be for the good but as was said above I doubt it will happen.

I agree to a point but there has been a lot of negatives come out of the BT deal for the champions league, viewing figures are well down and UEFA are losing sponsors due to it. There is a train of thought that although BT was financially the best option, in the long run it has damaged the competition.

The TV deal does on face value seem low but was there a better deal on the table?, can't imagine the broadcasters were queuing with sacks full of cash.

The RFL get a roasting but its a very difficult job I would imagine, errors were made in the distant past that allowed RU to take the mantel as being 'Rugby' and that made us the cousin in the north.

I'll be honest I don't think there is a solution to the problem, raising the cap would make us theoretically able to compete with the NRL but in practice only a couple would be able to afford it and it would go back to the Wigan of the 90's and no one wants that.

Anyone know what time the press conference is?

A guy who is used to buying success, he isn't good for the game. Toys and Prams.

Anyone on twitter who follows Gareth Walker, he is relaying his press conference now. Koukash not a happy man and having digs at Catalan and claiming another club were also over the SC. Saying Catalan are the RFL's baby and questioning why Toulouse are getting more money than other clubs in League1. He's taking no prisoners here!!

He hasn't done his homework as somebody tweeted toulouse are backed by a millionaire and aren't being paid by the rfl to travel or any extra funding


To me it's another foot stomping episode from koukash, even more so if he isn't prepared to name the club that was over the cap

Are people forgetting just how badly he cheated the salary cap ? A separate, secret contract for Tony Puletua with another one of Koukash's companies.

Sorry but he has no credibility.

I think we'd all be surprised how many Clubs are with him on the break away and just waiting for the right time. Whether they will all come out in public and stand with him this time around is another thing, there are a lot of unhappy administrators out there at present and the RL are a bit of a pedantic and archaic bunch. However who knows perhaps this will be the catalyst for change, personally I don't think it will be myself, that said I'm pretty confidant one day there will be a break away by the Clubs. As far as the administration of Super League is concerned we have a fine game with some fine business men as administrators at Club level however the game itself is performing well short of its potential as far as it's exposure and it's standing is concerned and I think some of those guys are getting mighty frustrated.

I'd be interested to know what his opinions are on the way the NRL is run. I'd imagine, he holds them in reasonably high regard, and looks at their set up as a bit if a blue print. Therefore, I wonder what his take on the Eels having points deducted this year for salary cap breaches in the past are?

IF what he has said regarding the RFL not deregistering Mullaney when asked is found to be true, then I'm sure the points will be reinstated for this year.

As above, this is the crux of the whole problem that Rugby League has got. After the success of the 2013 World Cup and the viewing figures the game was commanding on Sky, we should have been far more hard-nosed in negotiations and not snapped off the first maggot that was cast on the line which is exactly what the RFL did. It was shown in only a matter of months the kind of money that could have been had by an inferior under-watched similar sport. If we had got anything like that kind of money then there would have been no question about financing the grade levels required to run the sport at each and every club. Instead the game is wide open to poaching of talent by the NRL and Rugby Union worldwide whilst currently we have 20 year old kids with nowhere to play. Hopefully the day of reckoning is nigh!

Well this will cheer him up...

Widnes fined £2,500 for fielding 14 players on two separate occasions against us this season (thought it looked like they had more players than us that night

). Salford were previously fined £5,000 and docked two points for doing it once in a match v Cas.

widnes are cosy with the rfl though

they sided with the rfl for the last breakaway attempt and super 8s

IIRC, that Salford player made 3 tackles right on the line which in the end won the game for them. Taking the points off them essentially just made the game a void result.

if we side with the doctor, what's the betting that we get a few players up on 'dangerous contact' charges on various monday mornings?

I don't agree with everything Koucash says and does, but I back him on his comments about the RFL.

They struggle to get even the basics right. Refereeing is inconsistent, promotion of the game mediocre (only releasing international fixtures months before whereas in Union and Football you know when and where the big games will be years in advance) as others have pointed out it was ridiculous to commit to such a long SKY deal just at a time when sports rights prices are on the up due to competition from BT and others.

While Super League has become more competitive over the last few years, it's been more of a case of teams becoming more average with a lot less quality overseas imports coming over and some big name England players going to Australia or Union. The mentality seems to be keep costs low, play it safe and make small profits, but that only works for so long before the fans get bored and the kids don't take up the sport.

That said it is still generally a good watch, but the game badly needs more national exposure, the RFL need to convince SKY to allow a handful of games each year to be made available on free to air TV or free online, surely there is a benefit to SKY in getting a free advert for one of their main sports on free to air tv. Just look at the increased level of interest in England games since they've been back on the BBC.

As for expansion itself, putting teams in Oxford, Toronto and all the rest is all well and good, but there are major cities right on the doorstep of the heartlands such as Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield were the game is nothing more than a minority sport where time, money and effort could and should be spent. Instead we just take a magic weekend or international to these places once a year and hope that does the business.

Don't get comments regarding refereeing. You will always have discrepancies between various people and their take on an incident. It happens in all sports, anyone watching the Europa League final tonight will have seen that. Some calls that can go either way.

Not sure there's much the RFL can do about that. Not until we get a robot who is capable of officiating every game, anyway.

But what they should do is make the linesmen more responsible for the calls on forward passes.They should be in line with play and in a better position most times than the referee to make that call.
At the moment they take very little responsibility for anything on the field of play.

That's a fair point.