Of course, Widnes's descent into administration was a real shot in the arm for NL1.

Everybody is entitled to their opinion

So Widnes's administration was detrimental to your club was it , sorry to hear that

Nothing to do with my club. Just a response to your oh-so-predictable anti-Crusaders rhetoric.

i have to disagree, Widnes should be in SL

They have a history, excellent stadium, strong backer, in my opinion FWIW the RFL will end up looking like idiots when Celtic fold.

Not that I want Celtic to fold, but i agree they needed more seasons at championship level first, to attract people you need to be winning

Not ' anti ' anybody , but having different rules for teams competing in what is supposed to be a level competition damages the credibility of that competition

In my opinion

yours may be different

I am happy they are in SL , if they are in trouble then the RFL should commit to financing them at least until the end of the current licences

To do this they should reduce the SKY money given to the other SL clubs so as not to impact upon clubs in other competitions , I'm sure the other SL clubs will agree to this for the greater good

I don't think there should be 2 clubs from the same city in SL !

So what!

Batley have a "history" by the way, so do Manningham, Belle Vue Rangers and Hunslet.

So your point regarding that is.........

well there are

Just read that officially the RFL are going into the club on an advisory role to offer them expertise....talk about the blind leading the blind

Same old RFL , trying to help them find ' investors '

IT'S BLOODY FANS THEY NEED

LIKE ALL THE OTHER CLUBS IN RL

TIME YOU GOT YOUR FINGERS OUT AND STARTED DOING SOME PROPER MARKETING FOR ALL YOUR MEMBER CLUBS INSTEAD OF TRYING TO FIND SUGAR DADDYS FOR THEM

CLUELESS

I think he meant have a history with regards to the teams who applied for super league licenses. . . .that and a guatanteed cash lump sum to be held by the rfl in case of any financial problems.....(who saw that coming?) But hey, don't let facts get in the way of agood argument. It was supposed to be a level playing field and jusged fairly...obviously it wasn't, I think THAT is the point

I suspect that the RFL have messed up along the way, just like they did with Gateshead back in 1999. I see the usual suspects are salivating with delight at the Celtics impending demise, I find that far worse then Celtics plight. Some people had best look close to home and think , there but for the grace and all that..................................


Celtic are in the SL and we will do the whole sport serious damage if we do not help them, it was never going to be easy and then we get a recession to add to it. Widnes went under before the franchising and they knew the score, sure I would like them in but who do you throw out to get them in.

Not easy Halifax, Barrow and Leigh all look good candidates as well.

The next franchise round is in 2011 and only grade current grade c clubs will be elligable to kick out, lets pick on a few of them to start with

Why do any club have to kicked out? In 2012 you add one or more clubs as we now have a play off system we can stick at 27 games a year & just as the American sports do split into regional leagues East & west to start with, two leagues of 8 playing home & away 14 games, play the other league home & away but play only 2 sides in that division once 1 home & 1 away to keep the fixture down to 27 games (but ensure the next year we play those sides twice) We should only loose clubs if they can not stay in business. The only restraint is can we finance it.

In 2012 you will welcome Gateshead and Toulouse to SL, won't be a shock and good luck to them both, be glad to see them leave the Championships.

Lets just hope in 2013 you don't have the RFL doing exactly the same as they are to Celtic.

There is also the playing pool, its getting smaller and adding yet another club will just add to the problem. I do not think the sport has not supported much more then twelve top clubs for some years, I think it will become difficult in next couple of years. Many clubs have financial problems maybe not as publicised as CC, but they are there and it will not take much to push one, two or even four over the edge.

The clubs will not vote for another club to be added in the present economic climate, not when they could lose quite a large chunk of income. Many of the larger clubs would cope, but the majority would suffer badly.
The sport has to stick with what they have and hope to weather the storm, certainly in the short to medium term.

But they had years to prepair for SL



Then on the move to Newport



So why did the RFL put out the criteria for clubs when they already knew that Celtic was in? It's nearly 2 years since i last attended an RL game and the last game i watched on TV was the world club challenge. The reason is simple the game is an absolute joke and it's taken me god knows how many years to finally realise.

I agree, one of the biggest reasons so many businesses fail is OVER expansion during their first few years. Surely someone within the RFL is aware of this economic theory? I really want Celtic to grow and prosper but I think they were trying to run before they could walk.

How much do you think they were spending in NL1 and 2 over the last 2 years ?

He was probably putting as much if not more in then than he is now

There you have the conundrum, we are now a full time professional sport Super League has upped the stakes supper league clubs are now such a way above the league below that any new side will find it hard on & off the field & Super League will stay behind Australia as we are not the number one sport of choice for young sports men which is why they have an abundance of talent comming through all the time. As much as I wish it were not true our game is in a defining moment in its history if the expansion is not succsessfull Super league will fail to draw in revenue & major backers & will once again withdraw into a Northern curiosity played by fewer & fewer each year, Union will have won Soccer will still be king but at least I will have long gone by then. But before we lambast SKY remember if Mr Linsey had not taken thier money in 1995 we would have folded sooner than later at least we can give it a go. Just glad I am an old optamist I still think we can grow but it wont be rapid.

I remember when Catalans were in their first season and the same rumours surfaced there. With talk of them going under with massive debts, players not being paid and their owners pulling the plug.

This smacks again of vested interests doing their damndest to destroy a RL club via a smear campaign.

Those vested interests are not RU which has always been portrayed by the game as the great Satan, when in reality its been the perfect Phantom Menace.
No its people within RL itself who want to destroy clubs and entities that have potential to alter the status quo.
RL people love to think of themselves as big fish in a small pond, then get chippy when everyone else ignores their sport.

I think the bigger picture is being missed here.

Newport is easier to get to from the South West (where a lot of Crusaders fans travel from), a 10000 capacity stadium with better facilities and a regeneration project in motion.

I also believe that David Watkins is involved With Newport Gwent Dragons RU...not bad for a patron of Welsh Rugby League.

Very positive move if it goes through.

You are right in thinking David Watkins is involved with NGD.

Crusaders have also said they are helping a lot in staging the Leeds game and want Crusaders playing out of Rodney Parade.

Then WHY the bleedin' heck would you first pitch for a SL license playing out of Bridgend?! For me, the whole thing suggests that Bridgend was something of a punt, as opposed to a calculated strategy and that is not what was promised by the powers that be, when they carted out all that crap about the licensing process being thorough.

Correct. Although, I honestly meant no disrespect to Quins fans. If anything I have sympathy, since what I was getting at was the fact that over the course of 10-15 years, if not more, the club has undergone numerous awkward rebranding exercises, management changes and relocations, and whilst there have been highs and lows, the biggest problem down at the Stoop is a lack of bums on seats. That's no coincidence.

The short-sitedness, as I see it, of some of the folk to have held the reigns at the Stoop/the Valley/Griffin Park (have I forgot one?) over the last couple of decades has at times baffled me. How do you establish a club, a strong fan base, a community of local businesses to support and fund your grassroots work, and a meaningful, productive youth player development programme, when you keep picking everything up and dropping it somewhere 15, 20, 30 miles down the road?

Regarding that last point, about youth development, I actually think Phil Jones and his development team at Quins have done some amazing work and are clearly making strides in the capital, but given what they've been up against, how successful might they have been had they just stayed in one place?

having read that the rfl are helping crusaders find new sponsors etc etc, why aren't they helping doncaster? or does rugby not exist outside of super league........................................

do you have proof that the RFL are doing nothing to help DoncasteR?