Rugby League is more than just recreation for corporates and needs nursing back to health - Yorkshire Post Letters

I read with interest Simon Foster's comments (Letters, March 23) regarding the appointment of Tony Sutton as the chief executive of the Rugby Football League.

While wishing Mr Sutton well in his new role I fail to see how he can influence the sport in the way Simon desires when the RFL has ceded control of its sport to the IMG group for 12 years.

I know of no other sport that would sanction such a state of affairs and it represents a damning indictment on how the sport has been administered for over 25 years.

Far from respecting the heritage and traditions of Rugby League the IMG group refers to the sport, which is part of working class culture in many communities where it is played, as a 'product'.

A product is something you find in a pantry. MBA seminar-speak and the introduction of tick box criteria based on arbitrary decisions to determine the status of clubs rather than performance on the field is in total contradiction to the traditions of the sport.

Licensing, a few years ago, removed jeopardy for a number of Super League clubs and had to be abandoned as the overwhelming number of supporters outside the chosen few opposed the system as it left clubs outside the elite with little meaningful to play for.

The IMG draft proposals have not sufficiently addressed the problems of the sport at grassroots level (schools and community clubs), the rules of the game and the 50 years of failure at international level whether in the form of Great Britain or England.

Many former supporters of the game have become disillusioned over the recent past as a result of the formulaic manner in which it is played. More fundamental analysis was needed rather than just elaborate modelling of what constitutes competent corporate governance.

A Rugby League culture takes time to develop and is usually found outside the big cities where football tends to dominate Leeds and Hull being the major exceptions.

Top down initiatives are rarely successful without planting some seeds first in the form of community (amateur) clubs and school teams. Whitehaven and Workington after World War two were the templates for this course of action.

The crisis in the game has come about through reductions in central funding as TV monies (Sky mainly) have been significantly reduced and there is a dearth of new benefactors willing to invest in Rugby League clubs as other forms of investment appear to be more attractive.

Some argue a unified code of rugby would be the answer as the coming together of elite clubs of both codes Rugby Union and Rugby League would attract outside investment to ameliorate the financial problems faced by clubs in both sports.

The macroeconomic situation may have the last word and what few fail to contemplate or do so with horror may have to be considered.

For many of my generation Rugby League as a part time professional sport provided much enjoyment and true legends of the game emerged.

Rugby League is more than just recreation for corporates and needs a more holistic nursing back to health.