How much faith have you in the RFL's Strategic Planning Commission coming up with the right answers for the game?

Personally, I cannot see how a group of people, selected by the very people who have poorly administered our game for years, can come up with something different. The people involved have all been selected for the Commission because of positions that they hold in the game, positions they have achieved under the present regime.

Their interim report indicates their way of thinking, by suggesting a five division system, including amateurs, playing from March to October, to fall nicely in line with Super League. Just how that would work with a majority of the amateur clubs within BARLA voting against summer rugby has me baffled.

In my eyes this Commission was cobbled together with indecent haste and will probably fail to address the issues that are strangling our game. The main subjects to be addressed are finance, club versus country, central contracts for players, and I don't see this commission being capable of coming up with the right answers for the game, as a whole.

Soccer is our national game and there are predictions being made that in the not too distant future one of the Premierships clubs will go bust. Clubs have increased their turn-over by 10% and their players salaries have gone up by 20-25%. Now you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that a 15% loss every year can only bring financial ruin but yet it is happening.

It is also happening in our game where we continue to bring over from the Antipodes, ageing players looking for easy money, before they retire, and paying them the earth for the privilege.

The legendary French soccer player Michel Platini, who is special adviser to soccer's FIFA president, Sepp Blatter has highlighted that our soccer administration is 20 years behind the likes of France with very little prospect of catching up. He also highlights the fact that too many foreign players are being brought into the game to the detriment of young English players to the extent that some clubs are even importing young French players.

Back in 1973, French football had five centres of excellence to bring on their young players and now they boast 13. Surely, the administrators from our game can learn from the experience of such a man.

Instead of allowing the likes of Wigan to overstep the salary cap to bring over yet more Antipodeans, shouldn't they be setting up a system whereby a percentage of all clubs income goes into a development fund for the future.

The Strategic Planning Commission have not yet finished their deliberations and we have already seen the RFL allow central funds to be used to keep Keiron Cunningham in rugby league. I understand that in order to prevent Cunningham going to rugby union the RFL are paying £19,000 per year for the next four years towards his salary.

Keiron Cunningham stated that he stayed in rugby league because that is where his heart is, etc, etc, so why did the RFL need to pay him this extra money? Surely, he wouldn't have gone to rugby union if they hadn't offered to pay the extra £19,000 would he?

In my book central contracts are the thin end of the wedge and should be abolished, now, before we get drawn into a financial battle with rugby union that will see no winners, just very rich players and their agents. If a player feels the need to better himself and he believes that he can only do so in rugby union, then let him go. The kids coming through from a future development system would surely more than compensate.

You may not agree with my comments. Let me know via the Town.Net message board.
Keith Tomlinson