Quote ="Leon Ashton"I am not a fan of the whole franchise thing..... but they seem to manage OK in Australia without promotion and relegation
'" Different circumstances though, there aren't dozens of teams from the country's traditional heartlands outside of the NRL that are no longer able to get promotion to a league that they have previously spent lengthy spells in.
They also don't run a franchise system whereby existing teams get relegated for off field record rather than performances on the field. Or one that the main broadcaster decides who will take part.
Neither do the likes of Canberra, Melbourne, Gold Coast etc get preferential treatment with player's origin or are allowed to go bust several times over without ever getting booted out. Over here the governing body do all they can to help wipe out debts...providing you are not within 30 miles of the M62 or play outside of Super League.
Least when the Aussies set up the mergers with clubs within same city like Wests/Balmain and St George/Illawarra they have proven to be legit rather than our shambles attempt to merge Gateshull and Shuddersfield.
Our system is a complete crock of ****.