Here's a piece McGuire wrote on July 24 2008, just after the first round of licences were given out. Prescient I think:

THE choice of the 14 clubs to have three-year licences for Super League is damning evidence of the hubris of the sport's bosses and their inability to either act as competent administrators or far-sighted, strategic planners.
It is the first time that a UK sporting body has determined the membership of its elite competition on the basis of an application for a licence rather than on-field performance.
The 12 existing Super League clubs all got a licence, and from the seven other applicants, Salford and Celtic Crusaders were chosen to enter the competition.
It was a genuine shock, to me and thousands of Widnes fans, when it was announced that Celtic Crusaders had been admitted ahead of the Cheshire club.
Widnes Vikings were, by some distance, the best-placed club outside Super League (and ahead of some clubs playing in the top division) to meet the criteria and join the newly-enlarged Super League.
The Rugby Football League judged the suitability of the 19 applicants against a number of published criteria; these included pretty obvious things like playing strength, junior development, financial stability, marketing and stadium facilities.
I feel deeply sorry for Widnes.
They have a superb stadium, a great heritage, a famous conveyor belt of good young players, a strong management, a committed and wealthy owner and an established fan base which could be grown.
Celtic Crusaders play in a very poor quality stadium, they are only three years old, their team is full of Aussies and Kiwis, their fan base is small and, I suspect, pretty fickle, and their owner was once a committed rugby union man, who switched his allegiance after a row with the WRU.
How that set-up can better Widnes simply baffles me.
And of course it doesn't, but the explanation for why the Bridgend-based club are in and Widnes are out lies in the history of rugby league in England.
Since it was established in 1895 rugby league has been locked into its original territories in Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire.
It is the holy grail of rugby league to expand to have a genuinely national competition and in the pursuit of that ambition a founding club of the northern union, Widnes, will just have to lump it and wait another three years while the untried, untested Celtic Crusaders waltz into Super League after three years playing in the lower levels of the game.
The correct strategy for the future of the great game of rugby league was to grant Widnes a licence, and to compliment the Crusaders on their progress and to encourage them to continue to grow over the next three years and then apply again for the next three-year licences for 2012-14.
I just hope that one of the grand old clubs of the game can survive and prosper in the next three years in the national leagues before assuming its rightful place once again amongst the rugby league elite, which it graced for so long with such distinction.
The decision to take a gamble on a team in Wales - a gamble that has been tried without success several times before - is more inexplicable in the light of the very severe problems in the economy.
But I doubt very much whether the RFL altered their criteria for membership of the Super League to adapt to the changing conditions.
Any business manager will say that in tough times investments should be made in strong areas and you seek to sustain your business where you have established, loyal customers who value your brand.
Since the new owner (with very significant resources) rescued Widnes from administration, the general view was that the final barrier to their membership of the Super League had been removed, and the RFL would have the opportunity to reinforce and rebuild its valuable Widnes franchise under a new and strong management team.
To spurn that in favour of a speculative foray into south Wales is a very risky strategy in good times but in these much more difficult times it could prove to be astonishingly unwise and based on a false premise.

Here's a piece McGuire wrote on July 24 2008, just after the first round of licences were given out. Prescient I think:

THE choice of the 14 clubs to have three-year licences for Super League is damning evidence of the hubris of the sport's bosses and their inability to either act as competent administrators or far-sighted, strategic planners.
It is the first time that a UK sporting body has determined the membership of its elite competition on the basis of an application for a licence rather than on-field performance.
The 12 existing Super League clubs all got a licence, and from the seven other applicants, Salford and Celtic Crusaders were chosen to enter the competition.
It was a genuine shock, to me and thousands of Widnes fans, when it was announced that Celtic Crusaders had been admitted ahead of the Cheshire club.
Widnes Vikings were, by some distance, the best-placed club outside Super League (and ahead of some clubs playing in the top division) to meet the criteria and join the newly-enlarged Super League.
The Rugby Football League judged the suitability of the 19 applicants against a number of published criteria; these included pretty obvious things like playing strength, junior development, financial stability, marketing and stadium facilities.
I feel deeply sorry for Widnes.
They have a superb stadium, a great heritage, a famous conveyor belt of good young players, a strong management, a committed and wealthy owner and an established fan base which could be grown.
Celtic Crusaders play in a very poor quality stadium, they are only three years old, their team is full of Aussies and Kiwis, their fan base is small and, I suspect, pretty fickle, and their owner was once a committed rugby union man, who switched his allegiance after a row with the WRU.
How that set-up can better Widnes simply baffles me.
And of course it doesn't, but the explanation for why the Bridgend-based club are in and Widnes are out lies in the history of rugby league in England.
Since it was established in 1895 rugby league has been locked into its original territories in Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire.
It is the holy grail of rugby league to expand to have a genuinely national competition and in the pursuit of that ambition a founding club of the northern union, Widnes, will just have to lump it and wait another three years while the untried, untested Celtic Crusaders waltz into Super League after three years playing in the lower levels of the game.
The correct strategy for the future of the great game of rugby league was to grant Widnes a licence, and to compliment the Crusaders on their progress and to encourage them to continue to grow over the next three years and then apply again for the next three-year licences for 2012-14.
I just hope that one of the grand old clubs of the game can survive and prosper in the next three years in the national leagues before assuming its rightful place once again amongst the rugby league elite, which it graced for so long with such distinction.
The decision to take a gamble on a team in Wales - a gamble that has been tried without success several times before - is more inexplicable in the light of the very severe problems in the economy.
But I doubt very much whether the RFL altered their criteria for membership of the Super League to adapt to the changing conditions.
Any business manager will say that in tough times investments should be made in strong areas and you seek to sustain your business where you have established, loyal customers who value your brand.
Since the new owner (with very significant resources) rescued Widnes from administration, the general view was that the final barrier to their membership of the Super League had been removed, and the RFL would have the opportunity to reinforce and rebuild its valuable Widnes franchise under a new and strong management team.
To spurn that in favour of a speculative foray into south Wales is a very risky strategy in good times but in these much more difficult times it could prove to be astonishingly unwise and based on a false premise.