Worse than no-rules licensing, really?!

I'm not sure why Fax support the 3x8 unless they see it as the least worst option on the table. Realisticly no Championship club has a hope of promotion under the 3x8 system. It might see a few bigger gates for championship clubs but that's it.

If I were at a championship club I'd want straight P&R, 1 up 1 down.

The worst part of the 3x8s idea was that the RFL were to allow teams to spend the same SC as the SL clubs if they could prove they could afford it. Which would mean we had a team paying SL wages competing in the championship, it would absolutely destroy the lower leagues, with 3 or 4 clubs pretending to be SL clubs and paying full time SL wages, and clubs nearer the bottom getting less than a £100k in funding and being no better than they are now. The disparity in that league would be massive.

I'm with you on this

Solution?

The fans should hold off from renewing season tickets until the structural changes are all sorted and agreed upon. That would speed up the process.

It certainly would,

5 team SL, anyone?





, you have to laugh, or

I have told you my solution, the SL to copy the NFL almost lock stock and barrel, with the vast majority of income (sponsorship, merchandise sales, tv, everything pretty much bar ticket sales and corporates) is shared equally from a pot which the clubs own. If they want to expand then the ‘expansion club’ needs to prove to the existing members its worth and they are voted in. With the championships and lower leagues acting in a youth development role where the best youngsters in the seasons they are 18 and 19 are allocated to a lower league club before entering SL in a draft. That player is then tied to that club for dual reg purposes, meaning lower league clubs keep their identity as their dual reg agreement is with individual players rather than a club, additional funding for this is paid for out of what the SL clubs no longer need to spend on youth development. It wont happen because it is an actual ‘whole sport plan’ which links SL to the grass roots via the lower leagues and it involves the game working together for the actual common good rather than just each individual clubs good.

If they are just desperate to tinker with the league structure, two franchised leagues of 10, SLA and SLB, SLA gets current funding, SL B gets half. Play each team in your league twice, each in the other once, 4 from SL A and 2 from SL B in to Play-offs, bottom 2 from SL A relegated, Top 2 SL B promoted, 3 and 4 SL B play 7 and 8 SL A in promotion play-off.

Bromley I don't think its a case of companies not interested in our sports demographics, after all the Sun has plenty of adverts! RL fans buy mobile phone plans, drink alcohol, like a bet, buy cars, buy electric goods etc etc just as much as any other sports fans. Problem is lac of exposure, lack of credibility and lack of "buzz" around the game at the moment. The number one priority for the RFL should be either getting another ten mill out of sky to cover the actual costs of running SL clubs OR getting the game on free to air TV to massively increase the games exposure.

Little details like marking pitches up professionally and displaying the game in the best possible way with modern full stadia would also help.

That's the reality unfortunately. I'm afraid the outlook for all clubs (apart from 5 or 6 SL clubs) is a return to semi-professionalism whether they like it or not. The sport is in no position to sustain a full-time professional competition beyond those numbers.

Who would own the Championship clubs?

Nonsense, there are eight clubs that are either heading to sustainability or have financial backing that is keeping them sustainable. We've got Bradford who we know can be sustainable if they can get over this hump and get good management in place. We have London who are screwed now or in near future, wakey hard to say how dire it is for them and cas who face big long term challenges.

Nothing an extra 500k a club wouldn't sort out if the rfl can get its act together and bring more money in.

Whoever wanted to.

Probably nobody

Yep - one of those two, basically. They both have the virtue of 'biting the bullet', which is what we desperately need.

The fans?

people own them now, the vast majority have no interest in or ability to be SL clubs

True, but being ' Complete ' reserve teams, they would generate reserve team incomes

As regards plan B, as you have allouded to before, TV would only be interested in SLA

We really are bolloxed this time, I have to say, ' We ' did all say it would end in tears, and ' we ' were right

The current business model and salary cap level is financially crippling over half of the current SL clubs. Even at the current salary cap level the competition has still lost it's best players to the NRL and Union and will continue to do so. There are no longer any star players in Super League. A meagre £500k extra per SL club isn't going to solve any of those issues and that doesn't even address the problem of where the extra £500K per club is coming from. I'm afraid you reside in fantasy land.

They wouldn’t be complete reserve sides, they would be entirely independent sides with access to the best youngsters between the ages of 18 and 20, who would be tied to them and able to play for them when no playing in SL. They would have their own players, and own squads be able to make their own decisions on players, wouldn’t be beholden to any SL club but have access to the best players not playing SL.

Its SLA and SLB rather than SL1 and SL2 for a reason, 2 Conferences of the same 20 team competition with double the amount of games we have now meaning we could sell more games to TV, increasing not only our TV rights value, but our visibility as well. we arent, and you werent.

Sky pay £18m a year for SL thats an SC of £1.8m for 10 clubs right there. It is you residing in fantasy land, its just wierd your fantasy land is hovis advert where everything is worse.

I'd disagree on your 1 st point but hey ho, who cares

You suggested SLA gets twice as much funding as SLB, doesnt sound like 2 conferences to me

no different in principle from having a sliding scale of dependent on finishing positions. If it helps you just think about it is a reward for a top 10 finish.

Admit it, you changed the idea, didnt you?

Oh... you're down to fantasising about a 10 team SL competition now?

Those full-time SL numbers are becoming less and less as time goes by.

Gimme a shout when they are down to 5.

what?