Im in. I'll bring the plastic cutlery & some tuna pasta. We can discuss new Black/White/Red kit designs.

Mrs b makes a good point about the world changing. Some of The traditional divisions between RL and RU have diminished, though others remain quite profound admittedly. They'd love more of a foothold in the north, we seem to feel we need a presence in the south. We'd like a higher profile international game, they'd like international games with the odd try in them. Match made in Heaven. Possibly.



The last time a merger was seriously considered was during the birth of super league. It'd take something on a similar scale of upheaval to get it back on the agenda. I don't think a Rugby Super Premiership is anything like imminent, but one day, you never know. It'd probably even have a title sponsor.

The tapas crew. Like it.

Nothing should be off the agenda. Life is constantly evolving & RL will need to evolve with it. It's never been afraid to change in the past, & I think RL is going to need some radical changes in order for it to survive at a high level.

Yeah, I think the sport is at a real crossroads.

It's all about in-seat artisan dining in the new world with the rugby a sideshow. We might need real knives and forks though. Sandra the Terrorist would be good at brainstorming this, he's out of town too.

McDonnell

Briscoe

Welham

Yeaman

Lineham

Holdsworth

Dobson

Paea

Hodgson

Lynch

Paterson

Ellis

Tickle



Not too bad.

Your itching to say it. A joined Hull club would in my opinion wipe the floor of opposition within five years. Crowds would be 20,000 at the kc.

there is no such thing as a merger one club takes over the other and then the weakest one which would be us reforms in the lower leagues like the Hull/Gateshead or the Hudds/Sheffield and then it all starts again the merged club would just be Hull really after a couple of seasons

Boo dont spoil the fun.

The question is whether the current situation is short term driven by the economic slump or more fundamental issues. I think both, but the stranglehold of Leeds and Wigan creates lack of hope and ultimately disengagement of other teams and their supporters. Of course only recently Bradford and Saints have been seemingly unassailable, but the teams with biggest fanbases, best academies, and deep pockets are Leeds and Wigan which makes them seem unreachable. Chuck in the inability to get basic sponsorship, the self interest of individual club owners (understandably) and the drain of quality to Aus, and it's a total bag of spanners. Radical thinking needed.

Ooh yeah, I reckon a team of that quality could very well challenge for 8th/9th in SL. Oh, hang on..