51 mins

FANS FORUM SUMMARY 27/08/26

Following tonight's fans forum event at The OneBore Stadium, we'd like to provide a brief summary of the topics that were discussed on the night.

The evening began with Martin Jepson outlining the structure for the night. He encouraged questions covering three main points, although it was an open forum with fans able to propose any topic they wished.

The three points were:
The Club - the current state of affairs, including IMG and off field performance
The Team - how we've been performing on the field and the coaching situation
Rugby League In General - any questions they had about the current state of the game

The floor was then opened to questions.

Q1. How is Danny Wilson?

Martin confirmed Danny is doing ok at the moment, although he is still in hospital and awaiting surgery. He's buoyed by the well wishes he has received, although he is going to be off for quite a while but remains in good spirits. Martin thanked the fans for their messages to Danny.

Q2. With Ryan leaving the club, does that change our 3 year plan or affect the recruits from the NRL?

MJ believes the three year plan is a little overplayed. The reality is we have to improve year on year. However, despite Ryan's departure he confirmed that the plan stays the same. It was disruptive losing the head coach but the players that we have signed up already have been spoken to so shouldn't affect things on the field too much, there will just be different coaching methods when we get a new head coach. The squad has had significant investment for 2027, and MJ doesn't rule out further recruits.

He reiterated that the coaches job is to select team, and the director of rugby's job is to find the players to strengthen the squad.

Q3. What is the situation with Tyrell Sloan?

MJ confirmed he spoke to him last week alongside Chris Chester, and that he spent most of the conversation making sure Sloan can bring his dogs over here so shows his willingness and that he is planning to come.

Although, he is a realist. Tyrell Sloan is close to Ryan Carr, he mentored him in Australia so obviously there are going to be some strong feelings there with Ryan no longer being involved at the club.

Confirmed that if he wants to go and get another contract, he will have to speak to us first. MJ confirmed he has seen nothing to suggest that Sloan won't come over this off season.

Q4. What is your personal opinion on local players and clubs approach to local talent?

MJ said that it is not a long time since we lost academy license, so it's a big positive to see the current crop doing well.

You can see in the performances of the scholarship and academy this year, the academy made play offs placing us in the top 4 teams in the country, so quality of youngsters is there. It's important to blood youngsters in the right way, as with Tylor Sharpe and Daniel Sarbah, and previously Jenson Windley and Fletcher Rooney, they've had a taste of first team but you don't want to over expose them too much too soon.

We signed 12 of the under 14s from Lock Lane last year and they've done well in our scholarship system, MJ believes the club can only survive if we get back to the tradition of signing local talent supplemented with signings from overseas and other SL teams' systems.

He's a strong believer in it, perhaps we've fallen behind in recent times but we're getting back into the pattern of it. It's important that the coaching staff here are out scouting and forging stronger links with community clubs in our area, and we're starting that process to get people back in.

Q5. We've seen a problem with the way events are promoted this year, with several being cancelled. Would it be better to have another club page dedicated solely to events only as these can get lost during promotion pushes?

MJ took responsibility for the events side of things. In terms of finances, the club lost £1.8 million last year, and will probably lose over £1 million this year. That is the harsh reality of Rugby League.

He has challenged the staff and team at the club to utilise our facilities better and maximise every opportunity to bring income in, our 3G pitch was installed to save £40k/£50k per year in facilities costs but also to rent out to the community. He's pushing the club to make ourselves as self sufficient as possible, as don't want to rely on handouts to make us viable.

We previously hired somebody to do our events but didn't deliver what they promised. MJ confirmed we need to have an event calendar at the start of the year and stick to it.

Reiterated that The Centenary Lounge is now open 4 nights a week for fans to come and watch sport and have a drink, making the most of our facilities and putting income into the club which drives against those losses. Our only way to cover losses is through our events and facilities, season ticket sales, and boosting crowds.

We're trying to engage our fanbase more with fan zone activities, we've had positive feedback from away fans visiting the ground, and we're now starting to see other clubs copy our set up, but we need our fans to buy in and move away from it all being only about what happens on the field for those 13 home games a year.

We're hosting BARLA Finals and community games, we need to open ourselves up to other ideas and opportunities. We need to find more ways of monetise our facilities on a consistent basis, but we also need to hire the right person to run our events moving forward.

Q6. A coach needs 2 or 3 recruitment cycles to build their own team. With ours set on the recruitment front, will that influence our coaching recruitment?

We're looking at getting a coach that suits the style of play that we want to play with the players we've recruited. We also need somebody that commands the respect of players we've recruited and has stature in the game. MJ confirmed we need to make sure we do our homework correctly, and that the new coach has the ability to manage the quality of player we're bringing in.

MJ confirmed Simon Grix will join us in the off season, bolstering our back room staff, as we've lacked assistant coaches this year. With Robinson and Grix on board, MJ confirmed it's been said in Rugby League circles that our backroom staff in 2027 will be up there with the best in the league.

We've been pushing for additional assistance all season, which is why we brought Luke Robinson in early to support the players and offer relief to our current backroom staff for season's conclusion.

Q7. Has the current social media content output affected our IMG rating? We saw Chris Chester's comments on recruits last year not being good enough, was it wise to release those comments when there is discontent with the fans with the Carr situation?

MJ confirmed our media department has basically been a revolving door in recent years, we've had 1 member of staff doing everything for the last few months. We have now hired new staff so have additional man power in place in that department moving forward.

He confirmed that the club is actually in a very healthy position in regards to social media and IMG, potentially set for our biggest social media IMG score in the clubs history.

MJ confirmed what will affect our IMG score heading to submission in the Autumn will be our final league position on the Super League table, & our crowds. The club needs 9000 against Catalans on Friday to reach next IMG pillar target, and we're confident of achieving it. Taking all these factors into account should get us to the 15 point mark and beyond.

Regarding Chris Chester's comments, MJ believes we need to be more savvy in the media and the way we approach it. CC has been fronting up for the media, we've been lacking somebody to cover this so Chris stepped up. The questions he has faced have been repetitive week after week so it's understandable if people think he could've handled it differently but he's been in a difficult position.

Q8. After having 5 coaches in 5 years, do you think we'll struggle attracting an experienced coach?

MJ would hope not. Confirmed he will have frank and honest discussions with all candidates, we're not looking to hire and fire, but it's just the way it's happened. The circumstances transpired against us with Ryan Carr, otherwise he'd still be here. There's always somebody with the quality we need looking for a head coaching role, we're an attractive proposition for people with the squad we've built for next year. Why wouldn't we attract a top coach? 2027 squad is a big step up from this year. Confident of attracting the right level of candidate.

Q9. Has the criteria for a coach changed in the last 12 months since we hired RC?

CC confirmed he prefers to have a British head coach, however MJ thinks we should be more open minded and see who's available. There are more challenges with an Australian based coach in terms of logistics. We've already received applications despite not yet advertising the role so MJ will speak with CC regarding the candidates and our next steps.

Q10. There's a lot of negativity at the club at the moment, some of our fans can't remember how it was before. What have you learned about the club during your time here so far?

That it's a tough gig! (laughs) It's crazy how we can beat Leeds then ship 100 points in the next 2 games then have fans singing for the coach. It just doesn't seem right.

MJ believes we're hampered by the state of Rugby League at the moment, TV deal worth less money than previously. We're operating in a world with half the income, so have to work twice as hard to be in same place we were ten years ago. We have to be realistic and see where we are. He confirmed that when he arrived, the club was in the process of cutting costs and stripping back on recruitment which hasn't worked. We have to take a chance and spend more money on wages to get a better team, we punted more money this year but a quarter of our salary cap is sitting on sideline injured.

Learned you have to block out the outside noise, but that it's better to be available and honest and explain what we're trying to do. Providing a better match day experience, better facilities - which we'll be doing more work on in the off season. He's learned a lot, we've filled the board of directors with good businessmen who all put so much into the club, making us more stable club as a result. We're trying to be better for longevity of the club.

Q11. Having issues with the Princess Street Stand and reserved seats being sat in. any plans to police it?

We've talked to the stewards about it, we don't think they've got it right. Nobody challenges it, we will work on it in off season structure wise to make improvements.

Q12. What is the situation with the new stand?

No update. We're reliant upon developers at junction 32 to start their work, conditions for development not at the stage where viable, but could change in the next 12 months, depending on market conditions. MJ talks regularly with the owners. Believes it will one day come, but we can't sit back and not improve what we already have.

Q13. We have no visibility in the town centre. Are there plans to change this?

MJ agrees, we did more advertising at the start of the year but perhaps this has dropped off. Dependant on ROI, but agrees we need to do more. Perhaps we take it for granted being a Rugby League town as have been short staffed recently, but always looking to improve.

Q14. With regards the Women's team, are there plans to put a talent pathway in place?

MJ confirmed we're looking at improving the women's team. A talent pathway is now in place, focusing on youth development that can come through the ranks together and represent Cas rather than throwing the odd player at the open age team and hoping for instant results. Needs to be a long term strategy which is currently being worked on.

Also looking at improving matchday experience for women's team and other sides, MJ confirmed if get better changing facilities we can do double headers, something we're looking into. The trade off is between what we provide on a game day to how many people turn up, it needs to be viable. Need to look at optimal use for stadium to encourage people to come down.

Q15. How many players will leave this off season?

MJ doesn't know, some decisions haven't been made yet. New contracts have been issued to all out of contract players that are staying, performance based for the rest. They need to prove they deserve to be here.

Q16. Who's covering Danny Wilson's work while he is incapacitated?

MJ trying to stop Danny working but he's still in communication with us all and doing bits and pieces despite being in hospital. All staff have picked up parts of his role to cover including Martin Jepson, Rob Nickolay, Chris Chester and Craig Jeffels. We'll do it all between us, a lot of our IMG is already done ready for submission. Stressed a big emphasis on the need for a big crowd against Catalans and a strong league finish.

Q17. What are your thoughts on the proposed NRL deal?

MJ on record as in favour of NRL coming on board. However, thinks if they do come in and the offer right, we need to look at it very closely and utilise their expertise.

MJ thinks the current offer undersells the game, and at the moment it won't get much traction. Some other club owners are against it, MJ believes it needs to get to a level where it eats significantly into current losses clubs are making. We're caught between the offer not being good enough and a long way to go to get to an acceptable offer.

People might mock our ground, but we own it and can monetise it. MJ don't think get enough credit for owning our stadium in IMG rating.

In summary, he's in favour of the NRL coming on board, but unless offer gets to level that cuts into the losses clubs are making, he doesn't think it will get through.

Q18. Matt Ellis talked of Mergers from the NRL deal, any thoughts?

MJ not seen anything to suggest that's what is being proposed. He thinks mergers would be difficult.

Q19. With rumours Betfred are pulling out. How does it affect the league?

MJ hasn't had any update with regards to the headline sponsor.

Q20. Any thoughts on getting Eddie Hearn involved?

MJ doesn't know him, but said from speaking to others that he understands he's not interested in RL, he's more interested in individual sports. Would love to have a conversation with him and see what his thoughts are but believes he's got little interest from previous conversations with other owners.

Q21. Has Joe Westerman played his last game for the club?

JW is off sick at the moment. He has been medically signed off for most of the season, but whether he plays again or not would be up to the coaching staff. Would potentially need conditioning to get back into the team, and as he's out of playing contract this season, it would be sad to see his time come to an end like this but could be the case.

Q22. With regards the director of rugby, are his signings cleared by the head coach as well?

CC will consult with head coach, MJ believes we need to do our background research better when signing overseas players, as we've perhaps been burned a little bit recently. We expect players to be coachable no matter who signs them or coaches them, they're all professional players at the end of day.

In terms of this year, some of the players need a proper pre season with us. Conditioning is different for every player and what we want from them.

When asked about moving players on considered 'deadwood' to create space on cap, MJ said definitions always differ from person to person. Confirmed that discussions are always ongoing, and it all depends on circumstances and contracts.

Q23. Can we announce any more recruits tonight?

MJ believes a couple of additions in the pack are still needed, plus we have some other signings still to be announced in due course.

Q24. What is your stance on the reserve grade system?

We're keeping our options open. The issue is it has to be a competition worth competing in, it's something we're looking into whether we better having a link with championship club rather than running reserves like the York/Newcastle model.

The issue is consistency with the quality of opposition we face on a week to week basis. We're keeping our options open, academy players playing men's rugby will only benefit them in long run. It's all about the pathway, we need to have something in place to keep them interested all the way to senior level.

Q25. Are we interested in taking part in the Dublin game, Vegas?

Three contributing factors, we'd need to know cost, cost is an issue. We'd need to have team that competes, and we need to be able to take certain numbers of fans over there.

If those 3 are met, it's viable to take games on the road. We've got a strong travelling fan base when we're playing well but have to take cost into account, can people afford to go? Are we better travelling to Catalans or something like that as one big fan base?

We know money is tight. One of the reasons we launched Season Tickets early this year was we got a finance company to offer the 10 month spread option, people were cancelling the previous scheme after 1 month so we had to change this.

It's great to have a headline game but we don't want to price out our average fan, we don't rule it out but we're focus on getting other things right first.

Q26. Would any new recruits be left until we get a new coach in place?

MJ confirmed it would depend who is available. DOR job to put squad together, HC job to coach them. Makes sense for them to work together, but if somebody head turning became available we'd have to look at them.

Q27. Do we have a timeline for appointing a new coach?

We're not going to rush it, but HC needs to be in place ahead of pre season. MJ needs to catch up with CC tomorrow, as we've had applications and need to review. We will keep everyone advised when we can.

The event closed with Martin thanking everybody for their attendance. Confirmed the board are always available to answer questions when posed respectfully, and we are always working in the best interests of the club.

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