Its at Odsal so he will be there. I know it will ne easy to let rip with the arroagnce of the SL chairman, but i just hope he's calm and measured in his repsonse.

Agree. I love the elite argument the SL clubs are spouting. There are only about 4/5 elite clubs (Leeds,Wigan,Saints and Hull/Warrington) the rest are no better than the lower keague clubs they're all belittling. They just so happen to be in SL at this moment in time. You could replace the rest with lower league clubs and they'd be no difference.

If the RFL had any balls instead of the absolute lemon we have running the sport now, i"d let the SL clubs go on their own. Invite Leeds to join the above comp. Any player that joins the rival SL can't participate in the CC or play for England. The players would be up in arms. The SKY contract is currently with the RFL not SL. The clubs are irrelevant. SKY don't give 2 stuffs about Kr/Wakey/Salford. If the best players are go to a halifax, Leigh, York,- thats the one SKY will pay for rights.

Sky won't pay to cover a match such as Hemel v North Wales in a local park. The situation rugby league finds itself is now precarious. I hate to use a cliche but these meetings look like turkeys and geese voting over which bird should be eaten over Christmas.

The RFL are to blame for this entire debacle. Internal arguments are pointless.

The way forward is simple. We need to get rid of the RFL hierarchy. Yes, we need a governing body, but not these clowns.

The Sky money is not sufficient.

Our sport needs a new backer.

I'll try and simplify my question then as my heads gone, will this vote tomorrow determine whether 2nd place in Champ 1 goes up automatically? Sorry for only appearing to care about Bradford but I'm confused now.

Must admit, I'm totally lost with it all now.

Like you I've no idea, but i would presume so as that was the one being pushed by the RFL along with SL. But i saw that as a way to buy votes. With the bitter war of words this week, it wouldn't surprise me if they kept the championship as 12 clubs and forced them to have loop fixtures as well.

The answer is that nobody knows for sure

What time is the vote?

Would imagine some point this afternoon.

This chopping and changing of the format/entry criteria has done nothing for the game. If we want a traditional format with promotion and relelgation then there's only one way to do it successfully imo.(10 FT teams per division(1&2))

If we don't want P/R then it has to be on franchising with 16+ teams(NRL Style)

We need at least 2 divisions of full time sides for promotion/relegation to work consistently.

To be honest, I suspect that licensing, in some format or other, is what the SL clubs are really chasing, Along with having a bigger share of, whatever everyone seems to agree will be a smaller pot, in the next TV deal. As you say, two divisions of full time sides are really necessary to have a workable P&R system

Personally I don't think 12 clubs is sufficient to run a 'proper' league anyway, not even with the 'loop' games and even then without the play-offs it becomes a pretty season bare, imo. in fact, as soon as you introduce 'loop' fixtures it ceases to be a proper league anyway, imo. Whether they believe there are lots of overseas clubs busting a gut to enter SL or there are lots of big investors hiding in the bushes ready to jump into existing British clubs when the new deal is announced is anoyone's guess. All in all, it doesn't seem very well reasearched.

So the vote is underway. Secret ballot, so to me that means its going to pass the way the SL clubs want it as the clubs that have been bullied/warned/threatened can vote as their masters wish in private and not have to own up to it publically.

We could be promoted within the hour....but I'm unhappy about it...very odd, bloody rugby league.

Do you class the NRL as a proper season then because in Australia not all teams play each other home and away.

Changes voted through. Have to see if we are now promoted along with it.

'Bloody RFL's pets! You watch, they'll get promoted form second place!! Don't deserve it....and my grans gardner who once walked past Odsal says he know's a man on the inside of the ground who heard from the man next to him in the toilet that they are breaking the salary cap, not paying employees and forcing sudanese children to cut the pitch with rusty nail scissors... as usual... one rule for them.....'

What a deeply disappointing decision...

That's a very puerile response. Its not the clubs fault that the league structure may change. If it does and it benefits some clubs then that's what happens. I think you should be venting your disgust towards the RFL and the SL clubs

To be right the NFL works very well, but it's their traditional system, not ours.

The general British league system, in most major sports, is home and away when possible and top is champion. RL has deviated from that many times in the past but invariably due to the numbers not adding up. I'm certainly under no illusion that some sort of similar league will apply, in one league or another, any new set-up for exactly the same reason - the numbers don't stack up.

As I suggested earlier in the piece:

Faxlore says above .... "[iI think you should be venting your disgust towards the RFL and the SL clubs[/i"

Two points:

a) If the Bulls were in SLE then Chalmers would have also acted with self interest.

b) In any case Faxlore is very right to say that he thinks we should be venting our disgust towards the RFL. They have for years, and still are, ruining the sport. Today's vote is another step towards bringing the three main people to account who have (it is commonly believed) been, and still are, bad for the sport, namely Wood, Rimmer and Moorhouse. Let's hope that they are gone as soon as possible. We need a fit and proper governing body that is subject to fair and proper independent audit. Until that happens the sport will remain in the doldrums and not attract the investment and TV deals etc it deserves.

So what's the structure beyond SL next season? And further more, what's the structure for the remainder of this season?

...as he did by voting against automatic promotion for the club you mean?

Technically Chalmers hasn't voted against automatic promotion. Looking at Twitter right now, how the Championship and League 1 is structured was removed from the earlier vote. There is a separate Championship and L1 meeting to discuss that, which could include us going up. I'd be surprised if Chalmers, now he has been "lumped" with the major vote going his way, voted against any proposal that saw us promoted this year

Tweey from Gareth Walker:
"Championship and League One clubs now on a break from discussing their future structures. No agreement yet, and the decision will be made by the RFL board, rather than the clubs, hopefully today"

Considering the RFL were the ones who proposed 14 team championship, looks like we'll be promoted in a few hours. Doesn't feel right does it.

No, which is why I fully expect it to go against us!