Quote ="hooligan27"the middle 8s needs to stay. teams may disagree but look at the championship now.
the league is stronger and more competative.
halifax used the money to set up the reserves which is a huge sucsess
would rasthorne be playing sl without are reserves setup
would jwh morris etc be playing championship rugby
this is all down to us making the 8s'"
All of that is not down to you making the 8s. It is down to you finishing third in the table once all games had been played and the dust had settled.
There's no reason why a restructure would have any effect on the central funding currently allocated to this division. This will obviously be the main concern for every chairman that attends the meeting on the 5th and if the plans do indicate reduced funding for this league, the majority - if not all - of the chairmen will vote no and it won't pass.
But if the funding stays the same then you will still be able to finish third and receive exactly the same funding you did a couple of years ago.
Everybody cited this current structure as ludicrous when the details first emerged. Chairmen were convinced to vote for it under the promise that the new league structure would bring intensity throughout the whole season and increased attendances as a result. Remember the whole 'every minute matters' catchphrase?
Well it didn't quite turn out that way, did it?
The middle 8s have produced some great matches between champ and SL clubs, I will admit that much. But they've thrown up some stinkers too and up in SL the super 8s are nothing short of a disaster in terms of gates. Teams finishing in 8th, 7th and 6th will pretty much have 7 dead rubber games to finish off their season with. Fans know this and stay away as a result.
You can't have one without the other and supposedly several SL chairmen - led by Lenegan - want things changing. Ultimately it seems like the money men call the shots.
