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.

Oh the irony.

We all know your views on Wakefield IA and your attachment to the Newmarket project. It's a little rich for you to start throwing the "biased" tag at others.

Is it possible for the OP to have gotten it anymore wrong than this?

Except for Widnes coming in (old news and already officially announced) it appears to be a hat-trick of fail.

Spectacular.

If there's one thing worse than a troll TVOC, it's a troll who falls on his !!

If I was Halifax I'd be kicking up merry hell. The decision on who was in/out was made last week, and it was only yesterday that Crusaders let the RFL know about their intentions.

So, as the guy said in a lunchtime tv report, IF, as widely accepted, Wakey were out last week, what magical improvements in their bid have been made over the past 7 days that gets them the nod over Halifax? Or were the RFL simply shocked at the turn of events and bottled it?

Perhaps the Halifax Chairman should consider halting all maintenance on the Shay for a few seasons....get a couple of winding up orders.....maybe a short spell in Administration? Should work a treat for the next round of Licenses.

The words Brewery, Piss up and Organisation could easily apply to the RFL.

Firstly, do you think that Crusaders made that call? I suspect that KMPG's report told the RFL all they needed to know and that lots of meetings have taken place over the last few weeks to try and sort things out. When it became clear that things were financially untenable, the RFL 'asked' the Crusaders to withdraw their bid.

The second thing is, is this point of view assumes that Halifax were coming in in place of either Wakey or Crusaders and I think that it was only ever between Wakey and Crusaders (in the eyes of the RFL). So, I think Halifax were never coming up because Wakefield application was better than Halifax and of course Crusaders were staying were staying in place of Wakefield, if possible, either way.

funnily enough i had a text earlier from someone in the game who said it was a game run by amateurs

There's a perfectly logical explanation as to why Wakefield are in and Halifax aren't - their application was stronger than Halifax's.

Say the clubs are listed in order of the strength of their application, we could have:

Wigan
Leeds
Hull
Warrington
Saints
Bradford
Hull KR
Huddersfield
Catalans
Castleford
Salford
Crusaders
Widnes
Harlequins
Wakefield
Halifax

Widnes were in so a club below them had to be kicked out. BUT - Crusaders withdraw their application so as it now, no current SL club applying for a licence had to be turned away. Had Halifax's application been stronger than Wakefield's (a contrast to the situation which we are lead to believe) then they would have also been promoted, at the expense of Wakefield. Judging by the decision, Wakefield's application is stronger than Halifax's. Had Crusaders not pulled out, and their application been stronger than Wakefield's then Wakefield would have got the boot. Simple

I KNOW I am biased towards Wakey, so more than happy to throw it in against you, but lets not forget, I have never wavered from my point and the argument that both Cas and Wakey should stay and Crusaders should go because I had grave doubts over both their short and long term financial stability. I am and never have been anti-Cas and never wished to see them go down... unlike you and Wakey!

You have argued that Crusaders should stay and Wakefield should go, so basically, I have been proved correct (and for the reasons I always stated) and you have been proved wrong. Is that why you are upset?

It does seem a little bit hard to imagine which boxes Wakey actually ticked, to be fair.

commerce and marketing - ??? (hard to judge from down here, as I don't think I'm in a target area)
facilities - =#FF0000FAIL
finance - =#FF0000FAIL
governance - (not actually sure what this means, if not finance-related)
playing strength and player performance - =#FF0000FAIL

I think it probably looked more like this, but of course Quins are a protected species. You also can't put Widnes in the mix, they were not judged, unlike Halifax against the SL clubs.

Salford (they only got a C licence and their new stadium DOES count as it will be ready for next season, without this they would have been under real threat to Halifax coming in their place)
Castleford
Wakefield
Harlequins
Halifax
Crusaders

My list was for illustrative purposes

Try putting Salford in that matrix and of course, lets also take away the media hype around Wakefield, which has robbed them any chance of improving their squad. Not that clear now eh?

As for Wakefield, they score well in the academy/youth set up, Community department and do ok on Commercial/Marketing (I understand the RFL were very happy with the adverts during Corrie!) and badly in the other areas.

What matrix? I asked how many boxes Wakey ticked. The answer seems to be 'not many.' Salford offering Jack Poop does not equate to Wakey offering more than Jack Poop. Salford at least have some tangible evidence of some improvement in facilities.

Wakey are unable to improve their playing squad largely due to having gone into administration (see 'Finance' adn 'Governance' sections).

I'm not saying I wanted Wakey kicked out, just that I could see why Fax might be a little perplexed.