I agree, unless it's Wigan of course

Wow didn't see that one coming!

Bet Wakefield are relieved and thanking their lucky stars that Crusaders withdrew their application!

Will this be the end of Crusaders?

Fire sale expected.
I hear they have an international left centre that might be worth a punt.
Do Wakey have to guarantee they get a new ground or doesn`t that matter anymore?

What's Keith Senior gonna do now, must sign for Wakey surely?

Gutted for Keith, however, this does make his contract void aswell as Michael Witts, Elliott Kear, ETC.

Makes his contract void, so i wouldnt be surprised mate.

Keith is not a happy bunny from his tweets can't blame him either! twitter.com/#!/KeithSenior4

Keith is not a happy bunny from his tweets can't blame him either! twitter.com/#!/KeithSenior4

Widnes? If he's already sorted out where he will live in the North Wales area, it wouldn't be that far to travell?

Editted to probably reflect the true situation.

I very much doubt they will form a team for the Championship TBH!

On the ground front, it is very likley that the public inquiry on Newmarket will be positive and either way, the result will be known by March next year. If it is bad news then Wakefield are up the creek big time and will probably be out in three years, but it is very likley to be good news.

Cas are also under the same pressure and to be honest, they would have been with Wakey out as well, so they need to deliver or they both could be out on their ears!

Pinched from the Wakey board:

The licence grades awarded for 2012 to 2014 are as follows (current licence grading in brackets):
B - Bradford Bulls (B)
C - Castleford Tigers (C)
B - Catalan Dragons (C)
C - Harlequins RL (C)
B - Huddersfield Giants (C)
A - Hull FC (A)
B - Hull Kingston Rovers (C)
A - Leeds Rhinos (A)
B - St Helens (B)
C - Salford City Reds (C)
A - Warrington Wolves (A)
C - Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (C)
C - Widnes Vikings (-)
A - Wigan Warriors (B)

Alleged improvements made by Catalans, Hudds, HKR and Pies. Bit surprised Sts' rating hasn't changed, given they're getting a new ground.

I look forward to three more years of promises and excuses coming out of Wakefield.

They'd better hope the backside doesn't drop out of the double glazing and conservatory market in that period.

It would seem Harris might be looking for a new job...

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Can't be any worse....surely!!

glad to see Wakey stay, if they get there new ground out of the decision it is good for both the game and the club, if they dont, Hello Halifax!

halifax were fuming on sky. according to them they were told they, like wakey, had to sort there ground out. they did, wakey didn't but wakey got the golden tivcket

Completely the opposite opinion here - Wakefield have had three years to deliver something more than a set of drawings that don't even have final planning permission. They've failed to do so. They didn't deserve a stay of execution on the basis of empty promises.

You need to add Cas along with Wakey though mate... but point made!

The reality is that if, in three years time, fax & wakey are battling it out over a franchise then the game won't have progressed in any great way. And if the game isn't making advances then the argument in favour of franchising isn't a particularly convincing one.

And Cas?

Come on Andy, Wakefield and Cas both look likley to be in new grounds by the start of the next round of Franchises and if either one isn't, then they are done for. What would be your opinion if that turned out to be Cas?

I seem to remember that very same line being trotted out around this time in 2008.

The difference between the two clubs is that Cas are currently playing at a stadium which is acceptable. Wakefield aren't.

Add in the other criteria on which franchise applications are judged (youth development, attendances, on field performance, financial management etc) and IMO Cas are head and shoulders clear of Wakefield if it comes down to a straight fight between the two.

Even if Wakefield were in a shiny new stadium (at Newmarket or wherever else) in 2014, they would still have to improve in all of these other areas to make them a more viable SL prospect than Castleford.

But they've had 3 years to sort it out, and haven't

Look Andy, you are being a little biased here.

The situation is clear, by March/April next year Wakefield will either be given the green-light to build a new stadium or they won't. If not, they are screwed.

Cas currently don't know when or even if they will get planning for a Tesco on WR, even though I think they will, I don't think it will be before the middle of next year at the earliest. That is still ok and puts them in a new ground before the next round of franchises.

Also, if you see my post earlier you need to be careful about academy and youth development. The rumour is only four clubs where given a 'green' for their youth set up after the recent audits and two of them were allegedly Wakefield and Cas... Leeds, our club, allegedly got an amber!

They also score well on Community and probably have the best community set-up in SL. Now, do I think Cas's application was stronger than Wakefield, without question but head and shoulders? not sure about that!

As for stadiums, well they both don't meet the criteria, yes Cas has more covered standing, but less seats I think? They both fall short, probably Belle Vue shorter than WR, but still short!

Agreed. In some ways I'm pleased for Wakey, or more accurately their fans, but their accomplishments in the last 3 years have been:

Off-field: Jack poop
On-field: Jack poop

Cas have a lot more to offer.Wheldon Road surely isn't that far short of the required standard, and could probably be updated a bit if the new ground proposed falls through. I haven't been to Belle Vue for a few years, but unless it's improved a lot it's a total poop-hole (well typed "poop" there to avoid it getting changed for me didn't I?) - if you see it on a non-match day it actually looks like it's derelict.