Firing off in all directions after Sundays performance is not going to get Whitehaven RLFC moving forward as we all want it to.
Calm down and take in a dose of reality.
Lets start with an analysis of the financial position. Any organization needs funds and profitable turnover to be able to improve it's position.
Whitehaven RLFC have some sponsorship deals (no worse than most other clubs outside Super League), a hard core of around 2000 paying supporters (better than most outside of Super League), and other fund raising events (on a similar or more profitable basis than most other clubs outside of Super League).
If we are to aspire to (and gain) Super League status, ALL of the above funding routes would need to change dramatically, because at this point in time they do not, (and will not) generate the extra money to pay for both the team improvements (at least seven new players), and ground improvement (the two new stands being talked about) which will be necessary to match the present Super League aspirations of the board and supporters.
With the money the club has, (or is trying to raise), there is now a 'chicken and egg' situation ....... spend money on the stands but then we don't have a good enough team to get into Super League ....OR ... spend the money on the team ........ but then we don't have the quality of ground required by Super League.
Geographically, we are not in a good position to attract good quality players, and at the moment I believe we are lucky to have the quality of 'travelers' which we have. Without them we would be in a mess. Things are not going to change as we scramble for SL status.
My advice is ... forget Super League..... we could never attain and sustain a Super League status..... it would be the ruination of the club we all love. I say, make ground improvements, improve the team through development and what new players we can get in, and have the realism within the club and minds of supporters that we aim to be 'The best of the rest' in the league we are in at present.
If we could compete (not capitulate as we did on Sunday) with the Widnes's, Castlefords, Hull KR's and Salford's as they Yo-Yo up and down from Super League, .......and pull off the occasional 'shock result' against them ....then that's excitement enough for me. (What's the point of being in SL and getting trounced every week as we were on Sunday ?)
If we focus on ground improvements and being 'the best of the rest', then when Super League pulls the plug on promotion and relegation (as they will), then we stand a realistic chance of being the best team outside of Super League , and with a nice little ground that we could be proud of....... a big fish in the 'right sized pond' and with the team and facilities to match.
As for Sunday and all of this DR talk... like the rest of you I have little or no idea what's going on politically inside the club, but the one thing I will say is ..... Widnes were a far far far better team, and we made them look even better because of our poor showing.
If players didn't perform to their potential (however limited) because of team and club disunity, then they should be ashamed of themselves. The fact that it was a show piece final and 3000+ supporters had dug deep into their pockets to be there should have been motivation enough to perform. However, DB's sin binning did 'put us behind the black ball' early on and we never recovered.
Sitting behind the Whitehaven try line in the second half, you could clearly see DB trying to hammer home the above 'motivation' message to the team, but it never seemed to sink in.
I say 'get off Rotherham's back' ....and everyone (team and supporters) give him our full support until the season end. All pull together, make the best we can of the rest of the season and then take on a new direction for the club as detailed above.
Dave Rotherham (and the present batch of players) may or may not be part of the the new direction, but if he / they are then it's a more realistic and attainable vision than the present 'must be in Super League' one is.
