The costs I will grant you, but this is where this idea that everyone has to start in L1 doesn't help. If we see the expense of paying in Dublin as an opportunity cost (and I think we should), asking PT clubs who can I'll-afford that cost puts any expansion venture on the back foot.

Don't get me wrong, based on what I've read so far regarding a Dublin team, it strikes me as a bit "fag packet"', but I don't think that the logistics of a 45 minute hop across the Irish Sea is a big enough barrier. I've planned events in Ireland and Amsterdam from the UK, and logistically it's no more difficult than one in London

Cavan would have a clash with Swinton, Longford and Wicklow would clash kits with Warrington. and Laois would clash with Leeds

Think of the children.....

Me neither. fans think they own the game and should never be shared by non-flatcappers. Holt's Bitter run through their veins...

No thanks. Mr Pallywood is an embarrassment to the sport.

Success? Define Success!
London, whilst not a total disaster, still failed in Superleague, but now seem to have found their level as a Top tier Championship club, with a good youth set up, albeit at the say so of their benefactor.

Other than that, we've had PNG and Crusaders, both who were "backed by benefactors" who expected the SKY funding to be enough to run a SL club ......it wasn't!

Then in the tiers below SL we have Skolars, Newcastle, North Wales, Toulouse and Toronto, the latter of which whom are starting to look a lot like Crusaders in that they are almost frothing at the mouth in anticipation of the £1.8 million in funding next year (as are some of their suppliers)....it still won't be enough and to cmpete Argyle will need to drop £2 million a year for a decade.....Toronto are getting "PSGesque" crowds and seem to have a bit of razzmatazz about them, but next year in SL they will be dealing with much bigger fish, so the Jury is still out. Hemel don't play in Hemel, West Wales are a basket case and lest we forget...Gloucester and Oxford.......where did they get to?

It's not that RL fans want expansion to fail, it's just that done as a stand alone SL rich mans toy it has failed so far and done as "from the bottom up" scenario, it takes 2 decades or more and we've broken a lot of eggs in the process for no omlette.....Toronto are a Hybrid and may well buck the trend, but Dublin, with 10 of their starting 13 as Union Players not up to scratch, playing in the North of Dublin before moving south, run by a guy who runs Lancashire Irish RL with its 200 likes on FB, with no sponsors and with no backers other than some people that apparently "want to invest" according to a bloke that knows some other bloke at the RFL is as pie in the sky as it gets.

As HMcN, the funding guy at Skolars about setting up in a strange town with a strange game on a limited budget and with no pedigree or heritage........He should be Knighted for his services to RL, but the reality is his side after 23 years in existence and 16 years in the top tiers are a bottom 5 club out of the 38 we have in those top 3 tiers.....or better still, ask any London Broncos fan what would happen if David Hughes was to pull his backing....and it's not just outside SL either......Look at what happened to one of our only 4 winners of SL to date. Bradford wouldn't exist as the entity they are now without the benevolence of the RFL......and if, as expected, Bradford and York go up, then the Dublin Blues will be joining a division with an average attendance of 500 or so......

...so no. I am not dismissing this imaginary team "out of hand" but with the knowledge and research of seeing the multiple failures that have gone before.

He was , he offered to buy Leigh , but was turned down , so I wonder what his plan was there ?

Pie Canon?

Cannon fodder more like

Why do you think he's chosen to invest in Toronto rather than a team in Australia? If he's in mining I guess he's pretty tied to WA. Would surely be a much better use of his cash backing an NRL team there than wasting it on Toronto.

I like the idea of having a team from each of the home nations in Super League. As a sport we need to learn from previous failed ventures and build strong foundations rather than chucking a few quid at them and hoping 10000 people turn up.

Agree

I like the idea of cheap beer, early retirement and world peace....doesn't mean it's coming any time soon



So, back to your Home Nations. Teams in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh where there is little if any interest in RL will be allocated a side and funded how exactly? This is a genuine question, because for all his faults (there are loads by the way), David Hughes has sunk between £25 and £30,000,000 into London over the last 11 years and still that club relies 100% on his benevolence to exist.
These strong foundations you mention. Would this be a program of youth/schools development linked to these new clubs, with RFL funded development officers in place to assist the club put down roots in the region? I have bad news for you......the RFL have no employees in London now......none at all. If it weren't for Hector and Dave at the Skolars and Broncos, there'd be no pathway south of Sheffield......but let's say the RFL gave each of your imaginary teams 3 Development officers each......what then? Free tickets for the kids? Great....bus 'em in, but again, who pays for this?

Wakefield, Salford, Huddrrsfield and Widnes have collectively 608 years of history between them.....and in 2018 collectively averaged 4,500 between them as an average. The break even figure for a SL club is 10,000 (Nigel Hudgell).............and that's 10,000 paying £15.00 a pop...so whilst Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh build to get this figure of sustainable income....who bankrolls them

I'm off for a cheap pint to discuss world peace with my buddies who took early retirement

Who has the time to read all this above? Could somebody please summarise what he says in 3 sentences?

3 sentences would still be too much for you to comprehend.

No.

Jeez take a chill pill. That’s one massive chip on your shoulders.

If you spent less time flipping between here as Jean and the other sites you infest, then maybe you would!

Nope. It's just fatigue of years of listening to idiotic "fans" who believe that we have a god given right to have our sport played everywhere and dropping pins in a friggin map......instead of being snide, why not answer the pertinent question? Who will invest the required £100,000,000 needed to found and then support your 3 imaginary teams with sustainable roots for the first 10 years? I mean, it's only £10,000,000 a year......surely there's some rich guys in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast that the RFL know want to invest....

It's time RU took over RL then. They clearly know how to run the sport.

No they do not....but they are an eon ahead of RL....even the 2017 NFL season saw attendance issues, something that the Franchise owners have been in discussions about recently....no sport has a brilliant governing body, but other sports do have executives that Govern......the selection of moore sports for USA 2025 is yet another example of how badly our sport is run in both it's top tier comps.......even the NRL has seen attendances drop by close to 10% over the last decade.....it seems more TV cash results in fewer fans at games.....maybe we should adopt the Bundersliga policy of £5 to get in, but FILL THE PLACE!?

Wouldn't make a blind bit of difference if games are played on a Thursday / Friday night and people can't get to them.

Really? Soccer fans seem to cope.....

Its good news if they get a team together that are good enough to join the leagues.

However, like every other club, they will have to earn the right if they want SL status.

Less geographical complications than Toronto or the currently fictional NY team, but they will get their chance if they earn it just like all the other clubs that compete in the championships. There should be no favouritism.

Excuse me for stating the blinking obvious but there are a lot more football (I hate the word "soccer"icon_wink.gif fans than rugby fans. Easier to get them in when there is a bigger fan base.

How are attendances going in the mid-week league cup in football? They are often discounted tickets but I don't see many sell outs.

They can't be as bad as West Wales, so why not?