Now we're not that far off the franchise decisions what does everyone think are the likely 14 for 2012? My 14 would be,

LEEDS
WIGAN
HULL
WARRINGTON
HUDDERSFIELD
BRADFORD
CATALANS
HULL KR
HARLEQUINS
SAINTS
BRADFORD
SALFORD
WIDNES
CASTLEFORD

Wakefield for the drop for me, To little to late for them in my opinion
What's everyone elses opinions?

Two teams in Bradford? Do you mean Halifax?

LEEDS
WIGAN
HULL
WARRINGTON
HUDDERSFIELD
BRADFORD
CATALANS
HULL KR
HARLEQUINS
SAINTS
CRUSADERS
TOULOUSE
WIDNES
CASTLEFORD

LEEDS
WIGAN
HULL
WARRINGTON
HUDDERSFIELD
CELTIC
CATALANS
HULL KR
HARLEQUINS
SAINTS
BRADFORD
HALIFAX
WIDNES
TOULOUSE

RFL will want to show that they mean business with the licences etc - 3 teams out, 3 in.

Its already been stated one team will drop, that will be wakefield imo, Halifax arn't ready for super league yet maybe 2015?,
And do you really think after the cock up they made with celtic wrexham wales rl crusaiders or who ever they are now? they will fast track another union dominated french team that have nothing in place i.e fans who will bother with league, upto standard stadium and finance in place? Another french team in super league is at least 6 years off imo?

Fax are as ready as Wakey, Cas and Salford for SL. Who knows that they will do with the French teams, they brought Toulouse into the CC for a reason.

The RFL to miraculously find another 2.4 million down the back of the couch and SL expands to 16 , Widnes and Toulouse in , nobody out

And all is well with the world

As i said before only one team is going to exit super league and one will be promoted, imo wakefield are in the worst position out of all the sl teams and widnes are in the best position out of the championship clubs, so as i said before widnes for wakey.

At least one, they havent limited it to one have they?

Toulouse haven't applied. Only 3 teams have: Barrow, Halifax and Widnes.

For me, the order of preference to go up would be: 1. Widnes; 2. Halifax, 3. Barrow.

Those in danger would probably be (in this order): 1. Wakefield; 2. Castleford; 3. Salford; 4. Crusaders; 5. Harlequins.

Widnes and Wakefield to swap is pretty much nailed on IMO. They would be well above all 5 of those teams. I think the real question is whether they think Halifax would be worth a punt over one of the rest of the four. Do they have a better bid than Castleford? Personally, I'd give them a punt if nothing is sorted with Castleford's stadium by July.

Harlequins too you're forgetting...oh and Catalan ?

Mine would be in no particular order

1.Wigan
2.Saints
3.Leeds
4.Warrington
5.Hull FC
6.Hull KR
7.Castleford
8.Widnes
9.Halifax
10.Bradford
11.Salford
12.Huddersfield
13.Wakefield
14.Harlequins

The rfl publicly stated that one team WILL exit SL not at least one definately one.

They may want to conclude the negotiations with Sky before they decide how much money they had.

That post is possibly one of the most stupid things I have ever read on here and that's saying something.

Why are we (cas) in more danger than Crusaders who have litrally no fans (apart from the ones with free tickets) no stadium that is based in Wales (which is where they are supposed to play btw) and have gone into Administration in the last month. Then you have Harlequins who also have no fans and the game clearly isn't growing in the capital at all despite them being a SL club for years.

to state a club from outside the UK can apply without having to pass any criteria whatsoever

who have literally no fans (apart from the ones with free tickets) - funny that I can name quite a few, unless you have proof to show more free tickets issued than other clubs?

no stadium that is based in Wales (which is where they are supposed to play btw) - where's Wrexham to?

Then you have Harlequins who also have no fans and the game clearly isn't growing - funny that the evidence doesn't add up to that, attendance yes but are you seriously saying that the game has not developed in London at all?

I can understand fans of established clubs frustration but posting crap is hardly the way forward is it?

This is taken from the SL website

"Will a club from the Championship definitely be awarded a licence?

=#0000FFYes, at least one Championship club will be awarded a Super League licence, provided it meets the minimum criteria"

[urlhttp://www.superleague.co.uk/page.php?id=375[/url

To say my post is stupid and then say that (in bold) in the same post is hilarious!



Last time I checked, the Racecourse Ground is in Wrexham, North Wales. Check a map. It is a vastly superior ground to Castleford's. So there is one reason.
Another reason is because they are an expansion side, and are underpinning development of the international game with the work they are doing in getting Wales up to scratch (look at the interest Wales getting into the 4N has gotten off the back of Crusaders good year in SL). And also, if rumours are to be believed, Sky want them in, which means more money from our biggest backer. Something that few of the smaller traditional clubs would ever be able to achieve.

Again, Harlequins are another expansion club that Sky want and are underpinning the development of the game there. If they went, we lose everything there. If Cas/Wakey/Salford went, it'd be picked up by one of the many SL clubs in those areas.

And not to mention anyone that thinks Catalans don't bring much to SL shouldn't really be taken seriously! How can you have a whinge about people's grounds and fans compared to Castleford when they beat them on both counts (even with a reduced capacity due to ground redevelopment work this year).

But yeah, my post is stupid...

I know they had a rule to allow overseas bids, but I thought they had to apply at the same time as the Championship clubs?
Do we know if this is the case or not? Any links anywhere?

Plus he called me stupid. Not happy!

, and seem to change almost daily at the moment

I thought I'd read that championship clubs who met the criteria could apply and one of them would be selected at the start of April. Then all of the SL clubs plus anyone else who fancies it (including the aforesaid championship clubs who didn't make it first time round) could then apply in April and the decisions of that round would be announced in July.

Can't find any links to back this up, though. And in any case, they make it up as they go along.

There's been newspaper interviews with Toulouse officials in the past few weeks stating that they expect to know what's happening in 2012 in July - so they are certainly intending to apply. And they are using it as leverage to get the city council to commit to ground improvements.

The RFL Operational Rules state


[urlhttp://www.therfl.co.uk/~rflmedia/docs/Part%201_Articles%20etc_Section%20A.pdf[/url

No detailed timetable though.

EDIT : actually, there is this, in the Licensing FAQs document [urlhttp://www.therfl.co.uk/licensing/licensing_faqs[/url

I do recall this actually.

So basically, you are always in with a shot, but for the best chance to get in you need to win the NRC or reach a GF to be able to apply in the "guaranteed" window? So could say Sheffield and Leigh theoretically apply in April?

If that's the case, then to be fair it isn't actually that bad a system. In fact it's a pretty good idea in that it rewards the clubs that have performed well by giving them a far greater chance of a license (which people argued for) whilst still giving hope to those clubs that have built a good business but didn't quite make it on the pitch and also expansion sides (which is something that people were arguing was a flaw of the "NRC/GFinalist" route to a license"icon_wink.gif. Licenses should prioritise those who have achieved targets on the field first, and then look for clubs with "potential" in addition to, not in replace of. Seems a good idea (which probably means I've got it totally wrong!).

Alrightie then;

1. Wigan
2. Saints
3. Warrington
4. Leeds
5. Huddersfield
6. Hull FC
7. Hull KR - although I would suggest a possible ground share with FC (sorry)
8. Crusaders
9. Castleford - if they can get a stadium, I would suggest allowing Wakefield back in if they groundshare.
10. Bradford
11. Widnes
12. Salford
13. Harlequins
14. Catalans
15. Toulouse - if Mimmes can get upgraded a bit, go for it.

1. There is only 14 places. You can't just put 15 in. You're going to have to kick one out, don't be indecisive


2. Hull KR won't be sharing the KC. They had their chance at the start, but I very much doubt FC and City would allow it now (they have voting power on decisions like this).
3. Where's Mimmes?!