Well said that man.

Oh and how do you work that 1 out??
If it wasnt for RFL we wouldnt have been relagated in the first place...Wigan and catalan come to mind..

So go on, work it out plz

You first got relegated in 2004. How was it the RFL's fault that you finished BOTTOM of the SL that year?

Go on, work it out please

Why should there only be criteria on grounds and nothing else?

You are clearly open to there being certain criteria in off-field matters, so why not others?

yeah then we came back up..then what..go on

Because your perfomances on field is all that should matter barring your ground is fit for people to attend to.

So it wasn't the RFL's fault you got relegated in the first place then was it?

As for the second time you got relegated, was it the RFL's fault that Wigan cheated the salary cap? And was it a guarantee that had they not, you wouldn't have finished in a relegation position? And did Castleford (and the other SL clubs for that matter) not know before the season began (or even more in advance than that!) that Catalans were immune from relegation?

It wasn't the RFL's fault. Stop trying to point blame for your club's failings.

Two conferences

And also it being big enough to attract decent crowds.
And also that your club can produce an adequate number of players.
And have decent financial streams in place to be solvent.

Im not tring to blame any1 as such...All i ask for is a fair competition and same rules for EVERBODY

I support Wakefield and want them to succeed, no matter what division or competition I want success for my club, If I was a basketball fan then I's want them to be the best, same with football ect.

Everyone wants their team to succeed, so comparing basketball and football is not really fair.

As a small town we do get good crowds...props the best supported team on a population v's average crowds ratio.
If we do get a new ground we would average 10,000 ( is that good anoth)
Cas as showing good at producing good English players.
And weve never had finanical difficuties

Yes you are. You blamed the RFL for Castleford getting relegated the first time. You said it here:



You are not asking for a fair competition at all. You just want Cas to be in the top league. You have proven that you will moan and blame someone even if P&R is here, so I don't even know why you think P&R would be 'fairer' in this instance.

Your only motive is to ensure your own club are competing at the top. Something you have accused other people's motives for franchising being.

Which harks back to, If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

Only the clubs will be to blame if we are left out next time round. If Wakey are left out I will not be mad at the RFL (unless we are well on with the ground) but at the board.

Well you shouldn't worry about getting a franchise next time round then (as long as you pass your own self-imposed ground criteria).

How am i asking for that? all i want is who comes bottom goes down, simple as...if its cas they go down, simple as.

Bet they won't!!!

Yes, but nowhere enough to be a threat or be described as pushing us, therefore irrelevant at this moment.


I’m not skating around anything. All you did is state the blindingly obvious. This cannot be stated as any advantage to anyone until they have actually won the NRC or competed in a GF. Good early form is no guarantee of achieving any of this. Widnes are sitting in 2nd place and have competed in 2 of the last 3 GF’s. Our record in this league has been pretty good so far and I don’t expect that to change. We are now getting some of our injured players back, (a major reason for our poor form imo) so I expect us to improve. Halifax have beaten us twice on their own ground, but narrowly.



The same as what happens to Halifax, if the roles are reversed. All, as yet, irrelevant anyway.



Well I’ll tell you…

Halifax don’t even have a reserve team. Widnes have both an 18 academy side in the ‘Gillette Academy Championship’ and a reserve side. We have also set up a foundation academy team. There is a set up behind them all that is second to none in RL.

I don’t know for sure how many youngsters Halifax have brought through themselves to their squad, but I don’t think there are many, if indeed any.

Widnes have 7 players that have come through our academy system in the squad, 5 of which play regularly every week.


So that’s it?

It’s not a very convincing argument is it?

With all due respect to them, they are nowhere near a threat to Widnes and are not pushing us for a licence at all …..

……..Yet!

I don’t have a crystal ball, so in 3 years time that may be different, but they are a long way off our set up at the moment and will have to move mountains to catch up.


Not about Halifax I’m not. I doubt very much they will be a threat to Widnes’ bid in 2011. I’m certainly concerned we will not get a licence for 2012, because, I firmly believe that Toulouse are favourites regardless of any criterion and Widnes will not get a licence.

If Halifax continue to improve, they could well be pushing Widnes for a licence in 2015.

aray, youve hit the nail right there.
O.K so lets say both Cas & Wake get their grounds.
Who would you say goes down? and who comes up?
Wouldn't be fair to pick a team would it? Surley.
If they dont meet ground critia, yeah our won fault.

So who would go down if we all meet critia, and theres others in NRL1 who meet the critia, who would come up?
Surley the only way would be rel/prom

Why is it not fair to compare football to basketball in the way that I have?

I would rather my team win a bigger competition than a smaller one. Just because it is the top doesn't mean it couldn't be better.

I support RL before Hull and would much rather see the sport reach its potential over my club. If the sport doesn't reach its potential, my club never will. There are many people that fear that the sports growth will dampen their club's ability to ever reach the top, as proven in this thread. Expansionaphobia.

But when it happens to your club you will still complain and blame someone else, as you already have done.

That's what you want, is it?

yeah thats all i want.

Cas and wake dont meet new grounds they go down, I have no proplem.

But lets say we all meet critia....who goes down? This is the only point im trying to get to

If they both get their grounds sorted, and are achieving all of the other criteria, then neither. Pick someone that isn't achieving the criteria.


If everyone meets the criteria in SL and the Championship, then you maybe they should consider bringing back P&R.

OR...

Maybe they should raise the bar as to improve the competition further? If everyone meets the criteria, then clearly the licensing process is working in regards to improving the standards of clubs.

They're bricking it because of the scary prospect that they'll win knack all and therefore bar themselves from even applying.



As for our finanaces - he hasn't a clue - neither do i but they're certainly getting the backing from somewhere. Our crowds have increased only slightly and that is worrying. Success on the field hopefully will bring this number up to Widnes' level. Like i said in an earlier post on this thread, if Halifax (or another team) dominate the Championship over the next three years then it will be hard for the RFL to knock back a licence - no matter how much Mr O'Connor may bleat (if it isn't Widnes).

I fully agree with what you have just said.
I only fear that if we all meet critia then they still pick and choose who they like, theres going to be some unhappy people and wouldnt be a fair.