Matt King comments on SL

[Big Sam]

Matt King was on Sydney radio tonight and was asked about his time at Warrington and if England could soon match it with the Kangaroos.

His answer was interesting. He said England had the players to match it but unless the structure and nature of the Super League changed, they never would. He felt that SL only had enough quality players to support 8 teams and that clubs needed to be merged or cut. He cited Wakefield and Castleford as an example of two clubs that should merge for financial and quality reasons but don't want to.

Once they put up the podcast I'll post it but what are people's thoughts on his comments?

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

SL is fine. England aren't that bad. A more even playing field for the clubs would help but they would lose too much if they did.

 

[Evil Homer]

Warrington ran up a lot of big scores and were a pretty dominant team while King was there, so his comments are understandable. If you took all the best talent at the moment and condensed it then yeah, there would probably be about 8 clubs of top NRL standard. What King probably doesn't realise is that Warrington were in pretty much the same position as Wakefield are now about 10 years ago. Merging clubs is a none-starter, it was tried in the early days of Super League and almost killed the game over here. I still think a lot of the lower clubs are struggling to stabilise following the removal of P&R, a lot of clubs were treading water for so long that it will take a while until they can get the appropriate business and management structures in place to be able to properly compete.

 

[deluded pom?]

I still think a lot of the lower clubs are struggling to stabilise following the removal of P&R, a lot of clubs were treading water for so long that it will take a while until they can get the appropriate business and management structures in place to be able to properly compete.

I think a lot of the "lower" clubs are destined to be "lower" clubs for ever more unless a fairy Godmother/Godfather comes along with money to burn and a love of RL. They may have a season or two where they exceed expectations but then it'll be back to the basement. As it stands the bar is too high for anything more than an eight (and that's pushing it) team SL and I'm talking finance wise not player distribution wise. The weak are becoming the cannon fodder for the strong and this just ensures the cycle continues and the same handful of teams win the trophies. I'll leave it there as there's already a similar thread on this in this forum.

 

[The Eagle]

Menzies will play til a few weeks before forty years of age

He is still a prolific try scorer

Super league is a sick joke

 

[LeagueXIII]

Rubbish, considering the resources and popularity of the sport in each country England do well. How would Australia go if we had to compete with the EPL in our backyard?

Also the English have to compete with a very strong rugby union?

 

[East Coast Tiger]

The difference is union was weak 10 years ago, especially at club level. Now it it's main comp has overtaken SL and it has a bigger and more diverse structure below the top tier. SL and RL in general has gone nowhere in the UK, save for an increase in pub teams and juniors in a few areas. And that growth has not translated into anything more substantial at the pro level. Over here we are about the only country on the planet that has four big football codes in a relatively small nation and RL is as strong as it has ever been. And we really do have another code or two actively seeking to kill us, even more so than any perceived threat by RU over there.

 

[LeedsStorm]

Matt King was on Sydney radio tonight and was asked about his time at Warrington and if England could soon match it with the Kangaroos.

His answer was interesting. He said England had the players to match it but unless the structure and nature of the Super League changed, they never would. He felt that SL only had enough quality players to support 8 teams and that clubs needed to be merged or cut. He cited Wakefield and Castleford as an example of two clubs that should merge for financial and quality reasons but don't want to.

Once they put up the podcast I'll post it but what are people's thoughts on his comments?

I would have to agree. Mergers were proposed at the beginning of Superleague and they never happened and probably never will as there is so much clinging to tradition in the game. ESL is fine as it is, but the international scene wont improve unless there is a drastic overhaul IMO

 

[Patorick]

Be interesting too see how many people who besmirch English Rugby League have watched more than say five ESL games this year...

 

[Indelible]

I've been watching alot of the games on Eurosport and I have to say I enjoyed the league better a few years back. I was enjoying ESL over the NRL when the wrestling was at it's worst, before the two referee's where brought in. Still get some good games but too many blowout's and lack of uncertainty in clashes. Hope they sort it out, because I agree with what Matt King stated, England have the players, but do not have the training, club structures etc.

 

[roughyedspud]

theres too many teams in super league...i'd cut it don't to 10..

wigan
st helens
warrington
huddersfield
leeds
bradford
hull
hull kr
london
catalan


as for the england team........believe it or not we're probably in our stongest position player wise since the early 90's...

we can lay claim to having 6 genuine world class players...practically half the starting 13
sam tomkins
ryan hall
james graham
james roby
sam burgess
gareth ellis

we now have,or will have,7 or 8 englishmen in the NRL next season compared to none 3 or 4 years ago..


our biggest issue is...........steve macnamara...he should'nt be coaching a park team let alone a national team

 

[JasonE]

we now have,or will have,7 or 8 englishmen in the NRL next season compared to none 3 or 4 years ago..


our biggest issue is...........steve macnamara...he should'nt be coaching a park team let alone a national team

Scott Moore said on twitter he is just waiting for his visa so i guess the rumours of him going to North Queensland Cowboys could be true.
I think he will go well too, if he knuckles down he will excel in the NRL.

 

[roughyedspud]

if he knuckles down and gets fit he'll go really well........but i've been to townsville...and been drinking down flinders st....it's like the wild west lol.....thats bad for scott lmao

 

[WireMan]

The difference is union was weak 10 years ago, especially at club level. Now it it's main comp has overtaken SL and it has a bigger and more diverse structure below the top tier. SL and RL in general has gone nowhere in the UK, save for an increase in pub teams and juniors in a few areas. And that growth has not translated into anything more substantial at the pro level. Over here we are about the only country on the planet that has four big football codes in a relatively small nation and RL is as strong as it has ever been. And we really do have another code or two actively seeking to kill us, even more so than any perceived threat by RU over there.

Actually seeking to kill you eh?

You mean they send men round with big guns or are they putting something in your water to poison you?

If you put a tin foil hat on, you should be alright though.

I think a lot of the "lower" clubs are destined to be "lower" clubs for ever more unless a fairy Godmother/Godfather comes along with money to burn and a love of RL. They may have a season or two where they exceed expectations but then it'll be back to the basement. As it stands the bar is too high for anything more than an eight (and that's pushing it) team SL and I'm talking finance wise not player distribution wise. The weak are becoming the cannon fodder for the strong and this just ensures the cycle continues and the same handful of teams win the trophies. I'll leave it there as there's already a similar thread on this in this forum.

I'm glad the bar is high.

Reach for the stars and you may get to the moon.
Reach for Wigan and you may get to Salford or something...


----

On Merging, it will never happen. Groundshares could and should happen, but talk of mergers is pointless.

As EH said, they wanted to merge Warrington and Widnes not so long ago. It was never going to happen then, and won't now.


The top teams are starting to play a more NRL style of game, with mobile forward packs instead of just big guys running straight.
This coupled with the top players we have or are coming through which are as good as Aussies should hopefully give us a chance.

We need to lose the coach though.

 

[RedVee]

theres too many teams in super league...i'd cut it don't to 10..

wigan
st helens
warrington
huddersfield
leeds
bradford
hull
hull kr
london
catalan


as for the england team........believe it or not we're probably in our stongest position player wise since the early 90's...

we can lay claim to having 6 genuine world class players...practically half the starting 13
sam tomkins
ryan hall
james graham
james roby
sam burgess
gareth ellis

we now have,or will have,7 or 8 englishmen in the NRL next season compared to none 3 or 4 years ago..


our biggest issue is...........steve macnamara...he should'nt be coaching a park team let alone a national team

Interested to hear why you keep London safe???
Do they bring $ to the table at TV negotiation time ala Melb in NRL? Or, just as a hope for the future?

 

[roughyedspud]

i doubt they bring much moneywise tbh .but we need a presence in london....i can't pinpoint why?...we just do..


and do melbourne bring big money to the NRL?? they lose millions every year and you'll struggle to see a live RL game on tv in victoria...so whats the value?


so yeah we need london like the NRL needs melbourne....we can't fathom why it just has to be lol

 

[RedVee]

i doubt they bring much moneywise tbh .but we need a presence in london....i can't pinpoint why?...we just do..


and do melbourne bring big money to the NRL?? they lose millions every year and you'll struggle to see a live RL game on tv in victoria...so whats the value?


so yeah we need london like the NRL needs melbourne....we can't fathom why it just has to be lol

Supposedly the TV price is higher due to Melbourne being in the comp. tbh I don't know if that is true or spin from News apologists, but there you go.

 

[LeagueXIII]

Another thing is that not many union players switch codes anymore in the UK, and of the few who do not any international union players. I think this has affected the national team particularly in the backs.

 

[Big Sam]

Like I promised here's a link to the podcast to hear what King said directly:
http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/shows/rush-hour/podcasts

Show was the 20/9 and the comments are halfway through.

 

[Kurt Angle]

i doubt they bring much moneywise tbh .but we need a presence in london....i can't pinpoint why?...we just do..


and do melbourne bring big money to the NRL?? they lose millions every year and you'll struggle to see a live RL game on tv in victoria...so whats the value?


so yeah we need london like the NRL needs melbourne....we can't fathom why it just has to be lol

The thing about the Melbourne Storm losing big money is a misnomer. They are about 5th-8th in terms of generating revenue now, and they add value to the overall TV deal beyond 1/16th. IIRC their jersey is the 3rd most valuable of all team sports in Australia after Collingwood and Broncos, so there is some degree of brand awareness.

When they lose money, it is because they are underwritten by News Ltd, so they spend well in excess of their revenue for the sole reason of ... they can.

If they gets privatised, they will drop back to about Wests Tigers spending.