Many seasons ago I used to contribute a regular page to the Rams matchday programme under the above title.
For this week, I will return to that mode.
Basically we are in a situation where many forms of employment and sport in its entirety has been closed down.
Even going back to the very early days of March, nobody would have predicted the current situation.
Indeed, as Rams fans, we were on the crest of a wave with a start to our Championship season that stunned much more vaunted rivals in our league.
Challenge Cup progress in the soggy wilds of Whitehaven added to the feel good factor!
The suspension of the season has obviously been a major blow for all departments of our club and is made all the more difficult by the fact that nobody knows when we will resume action.
Football at Premier League level and our own sport at Super League level are desperate to play, even if it means performing behind closed doors.
Whilst playing in an empty stadium seems like one hell of a damp squib, both competitions are heavily reliant on the finance accrued from their broadcasting deals and the fear is that the broadcasters will not pay up unless the product is supplied.
For clubs in the Betfred Championship and League One the scenario is somewhat different.
We need the match day revenue generated by season ticket holders and match day walk-up fans.
Many of the clubs that visit The Tetley’s Stadium bring big numbers of fans with them.
At Dewsbury we need home and away fans in our impressive stadium bars – we need people in our superb hospitality boxes.
This season our club has introduced equally superb pre-match dining options .
We need people like Janet Roper cajoling everyone to buy a half-time draw ticket!
It seems to me that playing behind closed doors is not a realistic option for Dewsbury Rams and other clubs at our level.
Initially I thought that clubs below Super League would have more flexibility to extend the months of our season, due to not being under the same pressure from broadcasters.
However, listening to the Leigh Centurions owner Derek Beaumont on Rugby League Backchat programme recently. it is obvious that the promotion aspect is a problem.
If the Championship season is extended to the winter months, the issue is that the club promoted to Super League would have virtually no time to prepare for the following season either on or off the field.
It was quite uplifting to read this week’s issue of League Express and see that Rams conditioner Adam Mitchell is concentrating on the positives of the situation.
He sees it as a unique opportunity for the Rams players who are currently furloughed from their employment to actually fill their unexpected spare time by training as full-time players.
He believes the extra hours can be used to do gym work and running – without having to fit it all in after a full day at work.
Personally I found the recent media output from some Super League clubs less palatable in terms of the money secured by RFL supremo Ralph Rimmer from the Government.
This funding has been loaned in an effort to secure the future of our sport, and the fact that it was secured by the RFL and not the Super League organisation has not gone unnoticed in many quarters.
Not too long ago the RFL was a much maligned organisation in the eyes of many Super League club owners.
Indeed, only Leeds voted against setting up a separate body to best serve the interests of super league clubs.
Surprise, Surprise.
Opinions now seem to have changed, with Ralph Rimmer and the RFL being lauded as the game’s saviours.
I know this is a mischievous comment from myself, but just imagine the fur that would fly if the RFL passed on the entirety of this funding to non-Super League clubs!
As a mere fan of the game, all the above are my own observations and thoughts based on what I am seeing and reading.
Life and sport thrives on passionate opinions, and you only have a passionate opinion if you love something. I hope all clubs at all levels survive the current crisis.
I have certainly every confidence that the fine people who have run Dewsbury Rams so well for so long will continue to do so.
