Difficult to build and keep a team because:

1/ You could win everything and still be refused entry by a backroom licensing decision, which couuld well boil down purely to a clubs geography. This uncertainty puts fans, players and coaches off and is a reason why crowds will never be big in NL1 as it stands.

2/ The long period to wait means you'll probably have your manager and best players nicked by SL clubs

I disagree as it is about peaking at t right time.No distraction of t northern rail and Betts is getting settled into the job.

Except if the champions were promoted then there's a chance he could have remained with his current club in a set up that suits him to play in Super League rather than having to move away to achieve that, to the detriment of his current club.

Have to be carefull here I shared a few pints with OFF THE CUFF last weekend so I will limit myself to this.

Lets say Widnes do up their game for the remainder of the season and play Leigh in the Grand Final (they do have some decent players) and what I have suggested happens. What would Sky viewers 'who support other sports' think of our game then?

You do not need to be a genius to answer it you just have to admit that I am always right hence my starting this thread.(Please keep personal insults to a minimum as I am a worrier.)

They have a nice ground and a rich owner, which trumps ability in RL land

And there's an even higher chance that the players would have already left as soon as offers came in from bigger clubs, since Leigh > St Helens is a good career move whichever way you look at it. This idea of 'taking a team to Super League' is romanticised garbage. Players are always going to sign for the best clubs and licensing makes no difference to that at all.