The end of an era (and start of a new one)

[Puja]

On March 1st 2026, Hammy will be taking a well-earned retirement, which will include stepping down from running RugbyRebels. This was originally going to be a much sadder post about the board shutting after 10 years, but thankfully for my continued lack of workplace productivity, he's very kindly allowing me to take it off his hands and continue the board in pretty much the same format.

For most of you, it will be a case of "Meet the new boss; same as the old boss," as I don't intend to make much in the way of dramatic changes. However, this is a new venture for me, so I will be actively seeking three things from anyone here who is willing to volunteer:

• New volunteers to be mod. Sandydragon is also taking the opportunity to step down/flee screaming into the night from their role, so anyone who is willing to step up and help will be gratefully received.

• £££. Running the board has been a labour of love for Hammy and I will be following his fine example in putting my hand in my pocket to keep this place running. It isn't cheap, however, and if any of y'all would like to share the load, it would be gratefully accepted. I will likely be setting up a KoFi with subscriptions tiers of between £3-£10 per month, so that anyone who wants to contribute can do so. Note - this will be very unlikely to be a paywall of any kind or any restriction of the board, so there will be no effect if you don't want to/can't chip in, but if I find this place important enough to spend £80 per month to keep alive, I'd imagine there's probably a couple of others of you out here who would also be so foolish. Plus, it will drastically increase your chances of seeing regular m-b-ms, if that's your thing!

• Technical expertise. I know enough to be dangerous and have contacts who are helping me out, but I'd be a fool to not ask if anyone here has knowledge and experience at running this kind of phpboard (especially swatting the bots who eat up so much bandwidth).

If you are able to step up on any of those fronts (or anything else that you think you can help with) please do let me know. Otherwise, can we please give a huge round of thanks to Hammy for having set up this space in the first place, paid for it all these years, and provided us with such a wonderful place to talk absolute shit about rugby.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Happy to put my hand in my pocket but can’t bring any technical knowledge, I’m afraid.

Enjoy your well earned retirement, Hammy, and thank you for keeping this place going for so long.

[Danno]

So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, Hammy.

I'm happy to mod. I've done it elsewhere (gaming and Warhammer forums) and lord knows I'm on here often enough, so as long there's a handbook of sorts I'll get the banhammer out of the loft.

[twitchy]

It's funny isn't it. I think message boards have come full circle. From seeming to be outdated in the era of social media and then coming out the other side as people see where that has ended up with twitter etc.

Having a message board is like a pub with a landlord where you know what to expect and how to behave. Some pubs are more rowdy than others but you get to pick where you go. Twitter is like a load of people shouting at each other at 2am on a sunday morning at a taxi rank.

[septic 9]

It's funny isn't it. I think message boards have come full circle. From seeming to be outdated in the era of social media and then coming out the other side as people see where that has ended up with twitter etc.

Having a message board is like a pub with a landlord where you know what to expect and how to behave. Some pubs are more rowdy than others but you get to pick where you go. Twitter is like a load of people shouting at each other at 2am on a sunday morning at a taxi rank.

didn't there used to be "like" button? that post deserves one!

Will also put my thanks to those who have set up, run and moderated, and to those who will

[p/d]

Happy to put my hand in my pocket but can’t bring any technical knowledge, I’m afraid.

Enjoy your well earned retirement, Hammy, and thank you for keeping this place going for so long.

This.

And bravo to Danno for taking on the minute-by-minute role!!!

[Danno]

Happy to put my hand in my pocket but can’t bring any technical knowledge, I’m afraid.

Enjoy your well earned retirement, Hammy, and thank you for keeping this place going for so long.

This.

And bravo to Danno for taking on the minute-by-minute role!!!

They're about to get really boring

[UKHamlet]

It's funny isn't it. I think message boards have come full circle. From seeming to be outdated in the era of social media and then coming out the other side as people see where that has ended up with twitter etc.

Having a message board is like a pub with a landlord where you know what to expect and how to behave. Some pubs are more rowdy than others but you get to pick where you go. Twitter is like a load of people shouting at each other at 2am on a sunday morning at a taxi rank.

didn't there used to be "like" button? that post deserves one!

Will also put my thanks to those who have set up, run and moderated, and to those who will

I got rid of it because it had a serious processor overhead.

[Stom]

Firstly, Merry Christmas to everyone involved.

Thank you Hammy, what you've done with this board, and the way it has evolved over time has been incredible. Yes, we've lost some big personalities over the years, but there's not been one place like it. Thank you.

And thank you, Puja for taking it over and allowing us all to stay.

Here's to an incredible 2026.

[Which Tyler]

Big news.
Thank you Martyn for everything you've done here over the last 25-ish years, and good luck Peter on the new phase.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Well done and many thanks for running this little madhouse, Hammy!

I'm happy to contribute a bit of cash and some modding time .

[paddy no 11]

I better contribute a few euro dollars

Cheers hammy and good luck to Puja, any chance of the like button returning if some server space has been cleared up?

[Oakboy]

I'm afraid my lack of technical expertise is highlighted by failing to notice 'announcements' at the top of the page for 6 days! Many thanks to Hammy and Puja - 'The King is dead, long live the King' - comes to mind. Both of you are braver than me! I am ashamed to admit that I have never contributed financially but I will in future if somebody points me to some sort of instruction manual on how to do so. I have enjoyed the forum for 19 years (My first handle was Dorset06). I am delighted that it will continue.

[Cameo]

Thanks both.

I'm happy to mod the SMB, though reserve my right to quit if it suddenly becomes a hotbed of controversy.