Actually, maybe I did react too quickly. I get pretty defensive about The Championship but really, in it's current format this competition is not helping the lower league clubs. I'm off now to have a rethink and to take on board the ideas of more reasoned posters like yourself. Carry on sir.

i can see what the problem with the challenge cup is.its the fact that all sl clubs have a clear advantage over championship clubs as they are full time professionals,and the result is shocks are rare,which nulifies the romance of the cup.
personally though id rather win(or contest) a trophy at the national stadium, which as a venue must surely rank as a better experience for a fan or player then old trafford.

Funny how you guys want to fix it up and us in the Southern Hemisphere just want one

Why on earth do you insist on calling me Bazza?

No problem mate. I also want what's good for championship teams as I love rugby league.

These days the championship sides dont even benefit from good gate money as the crowds for these games are now terrible.

Something does need doing to restore the cup to what's it knce was but I'm lost for ideas as what can be done.

European-ise it as I suggested over time to increase rather than diminish its relevance.

Like i said on the Wigan board

bring it back a month and have 1 round per month

4th round in March
5th round in April
Quarters in May
Semi in June
Final in July

it's a full 3 months before the GF

I agree it needs to be scheduled in a better way to give it more respect. To stop the cricket scores it might be worthwhile to restrict the super league overseas players to 3 only, similar to the championship 1 and 2 quota.
The 4th round free tickets needs to be scrapped, again to put money into the championship 1 and 2 clubs.
It's all super league top heavy, the RFL have lost some of there traditional values.

I think the quota rule should be based on the weaker side.
eg

Warrington playing Swinton should have played with the restrictions that Swinton have in playing overseas players.
but in a game like Wakey/Cas you can play full quota.

Going back to my original point make the first week in the month challenge cup week from March to July.

Again agree the challenge cup final and grand final is too close together. You can win the challenge cup then after 4 weeks you are already in the super league play offs. Since the CC new final date, I think only one team has managed to do the domestic double. A July final would mean it doesn't have to compete with other sports in football/union etc.
What I would like to know is how much backbone do the RFL have when dealing with the BBC instead of letting them and SKY media dictate the shape of RL.

given the scheduling of the competition, the RFL dont have too much backbone. 2 rounds in 3 weeks in May, then over 2 months to the next round, then the next 3 rounds within a month is ridiculous.

there have always been runaway scores in cup games, its not a new phenomenon at all.

Well done lads it took me three goes but you all came round in the end , any drastic change to the format will just make a mockery of the whole competition , it is a relatively simple knock out cup , and should remain so

Yes as I suggested ages back , both teams should play to the lower teams quota rules , and the SL clubs should sell tickets to their fans at half price , all of that money going to the lower club , they would however still get their 50 percent of the tickets sold to the lower clubs fans , not much I'll admit , but if the same rules applied to round 3 as well

It is highly unlikely that we will ever get the Challenge cup back to where it was , the SL GF has taken premier place within the sport , similar has happened in football with less importance given to the two domestic cups than was previously

The Championship quota is 1 , not sure on Championship 1 , it used to be 2

but teams have been thrashing each other since this game was invented...why change it now?

It wasn't that long ago Warrington were being SLAUGHTERED by the likes of Saints, Bradford and Leeds in the League.

Its a cup competition...and all that matters is getting to the final..if your team isn't good enough to win it or get to the final then tough....get better.

The way to improve the standing of the CC is to somehow include it in the franchise criteria.
I don't know if things are the same today but back in the 1980s because of winning bonuses etc if your team didn't at least reach the final you lost money as a club. This didn't matter then because we didn't have strict financial criteria to stick to and a trip to Wembley was the season's showpiece, arguably on a par with winning the league.
Now because of the SL licensing/franchise system what matters to a club is SL money and the CC is becoming a costly distraction.
If you awarded a licensing point, for example a Championship club reaching the quarter-finals or a SL club reaching the final then there would be added incentive for the bean counters to ensure their club did well in the cup. As things stand we could see this years CC final winners fail to gain a SL franchise and be relegated to the Championship, which is clearly bonkers.

No , franchising is clearly bonkers , you are seriously suggesting that a SL licence should be potentially down to the luck of the Challenge cup draw , it's bad enough that the NRC draw plays a part , but at least that is against same league opposition

I dare to suggest ALL!!!!

First I am no fan of franchising, but it seems here to stay.
Second I suggested that a Championship club could achieve a point without having to progress as far in the comp as a SL club because clearly they are at a disadvantage wrt SL sides and reaching the quarters is a significant achievement.
Third, there's always an element of luck in sport, but with 3 years between franchise applications its 3 chances to gain the point. Your argument seems to be that a good CC run should recieve no recognition whatsoever.
Fourth its one point amongst many of the franchise criteria. I would have thought adding another point representing on-field rather than off-field performance would be welcome.
Fifth, it was merely a suggestion for discussion, calm down dear.

ok David

No worries. We're all RL fans here at No.10 you know.

Any radio links online for the Saints Fev game?

Wow! the crowd at odsal...

Has anyone gone to Bradford then?


Embarrassing crowd from here.

Richards delaying the inevitable.

Hudds 8 - 10 Dragons