Why PRL are so desperate to ring fence

Gerg  all Championship clubs receive the figures for all Championship matches. A work colleague is closely involved with one of the clubs.

Camquin wrote: PRL are not a cartel. If they were it would be illegal. I believe this has been decided in court, when challenged by Rotherham and Londn Welsh.

marigold wrote: Dumbape I applaud your support for your club. However my interpretation of a grass roots club 'in the finest tradition of the game' is one built from the ground up rather than reliant on a multi millionaire buying in a 1st XV squad -with almost 50% changes each season- to buy league table success. Without doubt since establishing themselves as by some way the second best team in the Championship they have now started to develop an Academy and Women's section which the cynic in me could suggest box ticking for Premiership entry. If not why not do this previously? The number of young players who have played at the club is admirable and is repeated in many similar size clubs -but has no link to the current success of the 1st XV. Despite beating Saracens twice in the Trailfinders Cup in pre season, less than 300 people paid to watch the first home Championship match of the season. It may be possible to buy a team to play in the Premiership but it does not seem possible to buy hearts and minds of supporters. I really hope they gain promotion for all the money , effort and passion Mr Gooley has invested. But to suggest this is an example of a community club come good I am afraid is rewriting too much history.

You could not be more wrong... ETFC have been pioneers at the junior club leveller decades and it has nothing to do with promotion. Girls Rugby was developed at the club nearly 20 years and I doubt if many clubs have put so many volunteers through coaching and refereeing badges at Mini and Junior level in order to manage safety and the quality of play. The Academy has certainly been around for more than a decade as part of our player pathway. The club was a pioneer in Child Protection and in the early days of the government scheme ran its' CRB programme directly with the folks in Liverpool before it was more widely adopted by clubs . The club has had community programmes in place again for 20 years with trained volunteers working in schools across the area over the past 10 years this has been extended as the club grew.

Ask Ben Ward how long he has been with club... you might be surprised. He was an outstanding player for us as a young man and now is our Director of Rugby... I see that as home grown talent and clear demonstration of the clubs spirit. Sure there is player rotation and very many players have come to us and been developed going onto to other clubs at all levels including the premiership why is this a bad thing? Some won't meet the clubs requirements or find the competition for shirts too challenging and move on. Others thrive and the results of this can be seen in results. There are hordes of rugby clubs in the area and this undoubtedly dilutes attendances as do all the other distractions like football etc. Remember too that three other much high profile clubs have been our competition during our journey - Richmond, Rosslyn Park and London Scottish who all played at the highest level back when we were running in the mud of Horsenden Hill.

I'm am being a little defensive here, but it is all to easy to misjudge situations when you don't have the information. Another point to make is that MG is no mans fool. If he had wanted a premiership team 20 odd years ago there were plenty of clubs that would have been far better options! What has happened is down to sweat, effort and ambition, with a lot of careful planning and a commitment to be the best we can be.

HTH              

Bedfordian wrote: I find it laughable when people use the most recent set of post results to suit their own narrative

Mark W-J wrote: So how would you describe a group of entities who own a dominant share of the market, and who collude to prevent free entry into that market?

So how would you describe a group of entities who own a dominant share of the market, and who collude to prevent free entry into that market?

I find it laughable when people use the most recent set of post results to suit their own narrative 

I find it laughable when people use the most recent set of results to suit their own narrative. Six months ago England were lifting the trophy but now they are in a dire state.

I have always held that at all levels of sport every one has to play what is in front of them and do the best they can. The PRL and the RFU have consistently undermined any concept of fairness through what is little more than cynical manipulation of the game at the higher tiers.
The best thing I can imagine is for a club to come up through the leagues to reach the highest levels. Many of you support clubs that have done just this. 25 years ago Ealing were playing at Horsenden Hill in Perivale struggling to survive. This is a club founded in 1871. It very nearly folded a couple of times, but it didn’t.
A not so small group of members loved it and worked flippin hard to make it better and season after season that commitment showed in the dedication to the game and its community spirit. Many of you guys know what that is - you see it your clubs. If you have been around Ealing Rugby for any period of time you have seen that spirit lift the club up through ALL the national leagues. A key part of its success was its unwavering commitment to young players. I would contend that this was amongst the best in country. A quick thumbnail calculation suggests over 15,000 kids got to experience mini and youth rugby through the club and its volunteers. It is a grass roots rugby club in the finest tradition of the game.
Some of you know that a key part to the 1st team success is down to Trailfinders and Mike Gooley and their generous support of the whole club, but the players, coaches and club members all played their part too. I believe the support came not from the success of the first team, but from appreciating the clubs spirit and desire to be better.

I cannot express anywhere near enough just how much I would love to see Ealing Trailfinders win this league. It would be two fingers up to those who want to ring fence and seal the deal on a PRL rugby cartel and show every club in the leagues what is possible if you work for your dreams.
To do it they have to beat one of the strongest sides in Europe. Our friends in Cornwall have already done this, Donnie might, but Ealing have to... Fire and Flare boys

Edited by dumbape - 16 Apr 2021 at 12:54

Guinness John wrote: So, assuming Saracens and Ealing go up that would leave 9 of this year's Championship clubs for next season. Assuming London Scottish return that's 10. Do we think 2 more will be promoted to get back to 12, or, hold on tight, how about 4 to make 14.  Also, I guess though not as big, could the top 4 cope with the step up into Championship level finance. I am not looking forward to next season,  I fear for the Championship in the coming years. Premiership 2nd division with not required Premiership youngsters is my guess. The true identity of clubs will disappear, with lots of team changes every week. Hope I am proved wrong though.