So a club in an area 100 miles away from any other SL club with a benefactor willing to put money into that club would have been bad for the British game ?

You ignored this one , so I'll give you another go




Away you go

its not just about expansion, but yes, protecting expansion clubs from relegation is important.

its also about getting clubs like cas, wakey and salford new grounds

its about clubs improving their marketing and crowds

clubs investing in juniors

most english clubs have failed so the RFL is basically forcing them, and the ones that cant lose their SL spots

it also means that if championship clubs want to get into SL they have do more than just win the grand final. they also have to think about juniors, marketing etc.

franchising gives clubs 3 years to prove they are worth a spot or they get booted out.

why wouldnt the RFL keep changing teams every 3 years? thats what keeps clubs honest.

barrow in their current state are not fit for SL.

their ground is a dump.
their finances are poor.

indeed i seriously doubt they ever will be fit for SL.

barrow in SL is taking the game backwards.

once widnes had satisfied the criteria re winning the champ. / NR cup they didnt need to waste any more money on players which is essentially wasted

having ticked that box they concentrated on the other areas of their franchise like the juniors and their crowds.

Because the RFL are not ' honest ' , do you seriously think they want all this crap every three years , having to choose a club to drop out , how exactly do you ' prove ' your worth ?

you prove your worth by looking at the franchise criteria and trying to maximise all areas of your application.

why are wakey after 15 years of making false promises trying their best for a new ground? cause they know they are gone without it.

SL should be for the elite clubs, clubs who are strong and contribute to the strength of the game. it should be because a club got lucky on grand final day

So having good 1 st team is wasting money , better tell Melbourne and W1g4n



Their juniors were already in place well before franchising , those kids will have been with Widnes 6/7 years by now

Their crowds have gone down

Away you go try again

They let Celtic in with a dump , Cas twice ,

Finances better than Wakey ,Quins and Celtic

yeah what about their profits / finances?

only an idiot would compare an expansion team to a heartland team.

Like What , improve your crowds ? , to what ? , how big a crowd do you have to have ? , as big as Quins maybe ?

Juniors ? , so how many juniors , and why do Championship clubs have to produce juniors ? , is that going to improve the England/British team ? , do you know the rules the RFL use to accept an academy team are actually illeagal ?

So St George , W1g4n and Halifax , ' just got Lucky ' ?

So you admit that the heartland clubs outside SL might as well pack in , they will never get a Franchise

the only way club can ' maximise ' its application , is to move , around 150 miles is the ideal , it worked for the Crusaders

Once again , try again




So having good 1 st team is wasting money , better tell Melbourne and W1g4n

Their juniors were already in place well before franchising , those kids will have been with Widnes 6/7 years by now

Their crowds have gone down

Away you go try again

So we have a SL of 2/3 clubs ?

That sounds exciting

id say wigan, hull are pretty much perfect.
st helens in their new ground join them

leeds have money, crowds, just fix up headingly.

thats 4 fantastic clubs

hudds, warrington, hull kr and les catalans are getting better.

bradford could do with a new ground but are a big club.

so basically its quins and Wrexham who are expansion clubs and allowed lesser crowds.

leaving just salford, cas and wakey as clubs that need to improve or be replaced.

widnes will take one of those clubs out

i see widnes in SL as another warrington

i also think in 5 years time there wont be a poor heartland club in SL, and the lowest one will be at 8000 / 9000 crowds.

having a strong first team in the championship is mainly a waste of funds cause its going to get replaced by new players in SL

what about widnes profits dear?

So you suggest that all the clubs in the Championship that have ambition to get into SL , dont actually bother trying to assemble a decent team to win the Championship ?

That will help them build up their crowds and their sponsorship

How exactly will that help them achieve the on field criteria ?

You do realise that you can be relegated from 9th in an 11 team competition in the Championship , but if you do get relegated you cannot apply for SL



, you really havent thought this through , have you ?

thats not what i said.

in the end of the day if leigh were in SL im sure youd be arguing differently.

why arent you responding to my point on how widnes finances are better now?

franchising is good for the english game. it will end up with an elite competition similar to the nrl

So saints dont yet have a decent ground , and are losing over half a million a year

Leeds have had 3/4 s of a new stand built in the last 70 odd years , hardly what a club of their standing should be proud of

Huddersfields crowds are dire , HKR are millions in debt

Bradford are no longer a big club , they are having to basically let fans in virtually free from next season , Odsal is a disgrace

Quins and Wrexham are a joke

How ' SUPER '

What about Widnes's profits ? , they lost a million in 2008 , and have made a million in 2009 , Yeah right

You havent a clue

Wrong.

thanks for allowing me the opportunity to make all my points re franchising.

theres no need to repeat them, other people on here will get it.

I am genuinely not sure what planet some posters appear to be on, but it isn't the one called earth.

The challenge has been set, quite rightly, to all clubs to go out and improve the infrastructure at their club. Each club has had to apply whatever resources available to comply with this demand and now the 'weak' ones in this respect are all actively pursuing new stadia ranging in price from around £11m to £20m+ - yet they are being told that there may not be room at the table for them? In what other line business would someone invest that type of money with no re-assurance of some kind of return on their investment?

I know people will point to other clubs in the National Leagues who have faced this challenge, it does seem somewhat devisive to suggest that this a major flaw in a process which is, in itself, an entirely unfair system where we all know that several clubs are exempt almost regardless of their application.

Surely the major flaw here can be overcome by the simple addition of one club to the existing 14 - IF the existing 14 come up to scratch in this respect?

FWIW the irony of our overseas contributors is of course that investment made is always on the back of a known presence in the NRL - thus guaranteeing a return on investment made. If we desire that investment, surely it's not too much to ask for some kind of guaranteed return.

This applies to all the clubs involved!