Surprise,surprise,the people who can't,criticise those who do - Richard Lewisis now probably the leading Sports Administrator in the U K,which is why he is also now Chairman of Sports England.For the idiot above,who clearly doesn't even know how to use google,he didn't administrate in tennis,he played it.

Suggest you go for google lessons speccy! Might need to take the old blinkers first though eh? Oh, and remove the fingers from your ears!

Speccy is right, Lewis only played tennis, he's never had any other role in that sport, and clearly he's earned enough kudos to now be at Sport England as well. Wouldn't you rather have your own sport represented at the top table of the national body for sport?



You could equally ask each club or business how their managers got to be where they are now ... there's no set route to getting to the top, but they've done it and you and I haven't, so get over it.



To add to Wellsy13: modern stadia, players welfare support, an improved international game, maybe even better/some integration with the amateur game (???)

c/o Wikipedia



"After finishing his playing career, Lewis moved into sports administration joining the U.K. Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) in 1987, rising to become the its director of tennis, but agreeing to leave his position in the wake of a 2000 loss to Ecuador that led to reduction of British tennis's status from "World" to "Euro-African Zone".

You reckon tennis has a lower national profile than rl?

isnt tennis one of the biggest sports by participation? and has one of the biggest annual sporting events in the world in the UK each year?

As rugby league fans it’s natural to be very critical indeed. Even if our sport was the most popular in the world, we’ll still be pondering whenever there’s a sport doing much better out they in the universe. However what I think super league has done (from my awareness and articles I’ve seen) is stopped the rot of the game in the top flight. The game was on a downward spiral before Rupert Murdoch stepped in. However I think the thing that frustrates most fans is where to go from here.



We just seem to be standing still!

How many people in Britain or around the world know who Andy Murray is? How many people in Britain know who the England Rugby League captain is?



I'd take Tennis' profile over RL's any day.



Anyone who suggests Lewis has done poorly in his job at the RFL clearly hasnt got a clue.

That Richard Lewis is a right to[is[/iser after all, what's he done for the game apart from:



Taking over a game that had just managed to pi[is[/is £2 millions away on the 2000 RLWC and turning it back to profit?



Making the Aussies realise the importance of International RL in order to maintain a world presence?



Healing the divisive and acrimonious rifts between SL, RFL & BARLA?



Introducing the Tri- Nations concept?



Negotiating increased deals from Sky & BBC, against all expectations?



Persuading the other SL chairmen to back the re-branding of London Broncos, rather than suffer the embarassment of the London club simply folding mid-season?



Pushing for the inclusion of Catalans Dragons in SL?



Getting RL included in The Commonwealth Games?



What a prat eh?

RFL revenue in 2001 = £7.5m, RFL revenue in 2010 = £22.8m



I agree, he's been rubbish.







still getting there on that one - but progress being made. but what we do have the largest amount of public funding flowing into the sport ever!

Not impressed with Richard Lewis and Nigel wood at all, these two have fragmented the sport, lowered the game profile in world sport, reduced media coverage, reduced major sponsor support, and gone on an expansion program with little thought.



True we have more profit margin, but this was at the expense of dismantling great Britain so that funding could procurred from Sport England, the only thing Richard Lewis/Nigel Wood did was sign up to the deal to allow the monies to come in.



They have devalued the Challenge Cup and dumbed it down to a competition that hides between the superleague programme.



They have devalued the international scene by bedding into the SKY controllers, we are no further on in the reduction of overseas players to give home grown players a chance, you can still field half your team with overseas players.



Harlequins, Gateshead, Toulouse, Crusaders are car crashes and will never ever reach the heights of Wigan, Leeds etc. Yet the RFL still found funds to bankroll role them until most of them go into administration etc.



Marketing and Media Relations are very poor, Lottery funding is abysmal, I think Rugby Union has 60 times more lottery funding than Rugby League.



Other than that Lewis and Wood (The Care Takers) are doing a very good job...........

Lewis has done a brilliant job-The game is worlds apart from what it was 10 years ago.



The license system is great for the game and will only improve it-New stadiums, more UK players........



Maybe we could bring back Maureen from Wigan!! You would soon realise what a bent sport he presided over