Because in HIS mind, he's always right? And everyone who disagrees is a flat cap idiot?

I think I'm starting to understand....

Ha Ha. Sometimes i think we're better off not being in super league

You've finally realised that freddie , why in gods earth would you want to be , no matter how bad things are we will all have the pleasure of visiting clubs like Fev,Fax,Doosbury,keefly,Leyth,mutantland and Batley

You know it makes sense

i was at the game vs oldham when they guaranteed promotion

i was so happy when they turned it around in the 2nd half

the stand was full of bitter old flat cappers bagging em so it was even sweeter when they won

since you have so much knowledge on what makes a RL club successful, why not pass it on to your own club first?

i went to the important RL areas in england

a friend offered to show me leigh but since it didnt satisfy the criteria above i passed.

funny way of replying above when you couldnt be bothered replying

just to remind you PSG got higher SL crowds than leigh

City of 11 million gets a slightly bigger crowd than town of 60,000 , shock horror

Club in city of 11 million folds , club in town of 60,000 still has RL

Ah the illeagal immigrants

the population comparison says it all doesnt it.

60,000 population

Wow they must be thriving after 10 years in SL then! Funny, I didn't see any of their results last year.

Interesting description of yourself, "staunch expansionist" I would describe myself as that too, the difference seems to be:

1.I would like to see a broader definition of expansion to include crowd size and financial strength my hypothesis being that a game which has the majority of clubs well supported and financed is more attractive to potential investors.

2. I would like geographical expansion to be on the basis of some sort of structured plan devised, justified and implimented by the RFL. Not by snapping the hand off of the first person who promises the world and yet can't forecast 12 months ahead.

3. My preference would be for the borders of the heartland to "creep" 20 or 30 miles with each geographical expansion club. This, I believe, would minimise the risks for a new club by maximising away support and capturing pro RL people who may be just too far away to regularly consider attending SL matches.You agree The Crusaders project would not be easy, so why make it more difficult than it needs to be? Ifs buts and maybes, however what we could have had (and must aim to have in the future) is an M1 corridor linking Quins and the heartlands. Or, had the RFL's policy been for expansion not so long back (rather than rewarding contraction with a £1 million hand out) the heartlands could have extended South to Sheffield (step one of the M1 corridor) and North East to Gateshead with the (now likely) expansion of Crusaders to Wrexham. All in all much better than the current situation.

My concern with the Crusader's relocation is that although seeming to fulfill my criteria in 3, the move is of desperation, not planned. All of the ground work and support that a new SL license should bring is away to the South.

4. New SL clubs should receive the maximum level of RFL support to ensure the kinds of fiascos we have seen with the Crusaders does not happen again.

5. New licenses should be awarded based on the plan outlined in 2. A conventional bid is not required since we have been told in the RFL plan why a new club is desireable in a particular area and it has been justified through rigorous validating of the plan and auditing of the new club's business plan (proper auditing mind such that if a business plan does not stack up then it is rejected). New clubs which fail are no help to anyone, better to have not had them in the first place and at least retain some credibility in the administration of the sport. No more pretending that bids from "expansion" clubs are on the basis of some cobbled together licensing process.

The clubs in SL now need to be made viable as (potentially) long term SL franchises. Some are currently financially stable, most are not. How then do we sell a game which virtually guarantees a half to 1 million pound losses each year?




Thanks I will. What I will not read into it is (after one year), flippin eck I didn't think it would cost that much, see you later guys you're on your own.

I agree with Smokey for the most part here but that was a good post barnacle

they spent more time in the past 10 years in SL than leigh did.

id rather a shot at 10% of a population of 11 million than 100% of a population of 60,000

PSG went bust in 1997, which at my last count was 12 years ago. HTH.

2 years in SL.

1 year for leigh.

but dont worry, rather than telling us how we can make leigh a stronger RL club, you guys have decided all you learned at leigh and apply it at expansion clubs

judging by leighs results we should just take your advice and reverse it

Two years in Super League, no longer exist.

One year in Super League, still have a club to support.

I know which one I'd rather have.

Last time I checked, PSG haven't been in the SL (or even in existance) in this decade, century or millennium (which is 10 years old in 3 weeks). Leigh have.


I'd rather a shot at 100% of something small than 10% of nothing.

Mostly by ill-informed, prejudiced people on the VT, with an axe to grind against the club, like you. These people seem to think that every anti-expansionist post on here is from a Widnes fan.


The first one is wrong, because it is a complete generalization. The second one is only a judgment on one fan, and my thoughts on his/her motives for writing it are based on that one fan, and not every single Wakey fan. As there wasn’t any cogent argument put forward by that fan, for his views expressed within that one post, I can only see it as an ignorant and wrong-headed rant.

Do you agree with what he wrote?

Why did you think it was worth linking to, within the context of this thread?

Do you think that I am an anti-expansionist merely because I’m a Widnes fan?

Brilliant post!

Totally agree. I can’t see it working any other way. Only an idiot would consider making the same old mistakes every time with nothing more than a shrug of the shoulders. The RFL need to think hard and take a long-term approach toward expansion, instead of the quick fix Bourne out of desperation and muddled thinking,

Only an idiot or a "staunch expansionist" eh Pepe?

What the sport needs is a club that can be classed as an 'expansion' to Super League, with a long RL tradition, lot's of history, an ever-growing fanbase (with plenty still un-tapped), success on the field, real progress off the field, financially sound and an ambitious board of directors.

Hang on a minute ................

Barrow for Super League 2012

That's not really expansion though, is it?

I do agree that a Cumbrian presence in SL would be very desirable, and perhaps the RFL should concentrate on strengthening RL out-posts that have been neglected over the years. Barrow are more like Les Catalans than the Crusaders imo. RL is part of its heritage and traditions and people there can easily identify themselves with it.

I would suggest Barnacle Bill's the post was dealing with a way to introduce clubs in areas with little, or no, tradition of the game. Only a fool would suggest we shouldn’t try and do this. The only question is the method. Bill's post is spot on imo.

Good luck to Barrow, but your ground is just not up to SL standard. If that, and their general, infrastructure is improved, then they should be a shoo-in for 2015.

.

I really don't know which way the sport is heading. My fear is that by 2015 there'll be a lot more competition, not only from England, but also from Scotland, Ireland, France and even Spain.

Even though most fans of other clubs are totally writing us off for 2012, it might be our only chance. It's only going to get harder to win the NR Cup or get to the GF and dare I say it 'tick the box'.

What happens when most of the 10 clubs in the Championship have the required stadia, infrastructure and decent fanbase ??

as ive said before, why should anybody with half a brain, let alone a full one listen to leigh fans when it comes to talking about what makes a club succesful

lets make a rule that you should only comment on other clubs fortunes - especially expansion clubs - once your own club can average crowds over 3000 and has been in SL for 2 consecutive years

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