We recently held our annual fans forum, and our panel of guests were Luke Robinson, Tom Burgess, Jas Athwal and Dave Woods, all our panel were happy to answer all the questions put to them, there were many discussion points, and many topics covered.
Here is a brief rundown on some of the discussion points from the evening:
- LR/TB discussed the injuries to players in pre-season, LR updated the injury situation and confirmed there is a truth to the rumour about Jacob Miller, stating Clune hasn’t trained at all yet due to injury and we are down on troops a bit, but TB said that due to the nature of the game there will always be niggles and injuries in pre-season.
- DW mentioned a meeting with SKY/RFL about the disciplinary points system, JA doesn’t agree with the new disciplinary points system and on field misdemeanours should be driven by the referee, LR/TB agreed that the points should be reset every year, and it could penalise young and inexperienced players.
- There was a discussion around moving to The Shay in Halifax as a temporary measure, LR disappointed the fact that the stadium is now blue and white doesn’t feel like a home and thinks the Shay would be a more suitable option, JA-the board are all fully behind the plans, the JSS is too costly and not sustainable in the long term, DW said the JSS has long been a hindrance to the Giants and TV companies are reluctant to show matches from the stadium as it’s a bad look for the sport, DW also suggested that RL could do more to increase attendances and publicise the game and suggested they look at how darts had become so popular, TB– the players are fully behind a move to Halifax and cited games in NRL where there are 10,000 fans in a 80,000 stadium saying it looks bad for the game.
- The question regarding Jake Connor moving to Leeds was raised and asked if there was a financial reason for it and did, we receive a transfer fee for him, JA, said a player was free to move and clubs can’t force players to stay, confirmed no transfer fee to his knowledge, LR– Jake didn’t really fit into the team, other things went on but the deal was done before he became head coach.
- Regarding IMG’s role in RL, TB said he understands what they’re trying to do and players, clubs and fans should get on board with it to help grow the game and make players the stars, DW agreed, we need players, clubs and coaches to help grow the game and make stars out of the players to promote the sport, said some clubs and coaches are holding the sport back by not making players available for promotions etc, suggested more mini video clips to get people interested in the sport, players could do try celebrations to appeal to audiences TB– disappointed that clubs aren’t buying into it as it needs everyone to pull together, but would be happy to do try celebrations!, JA agreed and said the clubs need to do more to raise the profile and finances of the sport.
- The question was raised about who at the club manages the salary cap, JA confirmed Andy Kelly and Rebecca Jackson work together and that it’s not something that can be done overnight, it takes time, recruitment is already underway for 2026 and beyond, LR emphasised that recruitment doesn’t happen overnight and for that season, it can take a cycle of 3 years to get some players in and out.
- Regarding new recruits, TB spoke very highly of Gagai and Milne, he said “gags” has been training at full back and is a good runner, a late developer who has a very supportive family network, Milne, is one his best friends, hard to handle, strong runner out of backfield and hard worker, went back home recently for the birth of his child and both committed .
- On the IMG grading score, JA stated that we need to concentrate on finishing as high as we can as that’s something we can control, LR concurred, his sole concern is what happens on the field under his command.
- Goalkickers to come from either Sutcliffe, Lolohea, Rush, Milne or Halsall, they have all been practising.
- Confirmed that Tom Burgess and Adam Clune are marquee players, but TB £100k on cap due to being federation trained.
- Salford’s financial situation is a sign of the times as there’s not enough money in the game and most clubs are struggling, LR hopes they can survive as he wants all clubs to flourish.
- LR not concerned about friendly results or performances as it’s all about getting the players conditioned to match conditions and body contact again.
- The panel agreed that we need to market the sport and the games better to create excitement and public, it was suggested that the Giants’ opening game against Warrington, coached by Tom’s brother Sam, could be marketed as “battle of the brothers”