Utter bollox

Don't be stupid! Why don't Warrington and Widnes merge for the good of the game then? They are rivals, fans do not want to merge, it cannot be done!

Let them sort it out by themselves and the RFL can help them where needed. As it stands Barrow have what it takes to get into super league if they can get a new stadium or upgrade the exisiting one.

The reason is Warrington and Widnes can pull the crowds unlike the Cumbrian sides.
If a professional side can't pull regular 4 figure crowds let alone 5 then what is the point seriously.
2,987 was the record crowd for a local derby Whitehaven v Barrow.

Whitehaven average crowd for the whole season 1,670
Workington average crowd for the whole season 468
2138 combined
flogging a dead horse for the sake of
0.0033 % of the population


is that because you'd fear for the professional status of Leigh ?
average att 1,984 which to be fair is almost the same as 2 Cumbrian sides combined

You clearly have no idea of the geography of Cumbria if you think Whitehaven v Barrow is a local derby. They're approximately 50 miles apart.

By your logic, then Warrington v Bradford is a local derby too.

Really? thought all clubs had them.

for both clubs fans that would be the game they'd look out for though when the league kicked off

Absolutely no-one involved in this development is talking about merging Workington and Whitehaven.

What they are saying is that neither town can support a team in SL and that if the area wants a team at the top level, and the game wants the area to be represented at the top level, then a new team would be the only sensible proposal. That new team could play in SL, out of the proposed new stadium, and draw on the considerable latent support that exists for RL in West Cumbria. Which would leave town and haven to continue as they are at a sustainable level.

So can everyone please stop juddying the water by talking about mergers? That only winds people up and stops the actual proposal being talked about in a sensible, rational manner.

There was a time when wire were struggling to pull in decent crowds, even though they were in super league and alot of clubs were nearer and brought more fans. Congratulations to wire for making such a vast improvement on attendances but dont look down on other clubs who's circumstances havent been so favorable and tell them they should merge as at this time they arent pulling in alot of supporters. Mergers are terrible ideas that always (in this country) result in one club dying, and thats the last thing rl needs.

So this ' new ' team would be watched by who exactly ? , not Haven fans , Not Town fans , definatley not barrow fans ,,Barmy

In this post you highlight why barrow are not anywhere near ready for SL because of their lack of support , No club that cannot pull in the 4,000 ave that Widnes get outside SL is strong enough to enter a franchised SL

As for Leigh's Future , I have long ago accepted it will not be in SL , and the fact Leigh are not in Cumbria seems to make them not relevant to this thread

with the exception of Widnes but only because they were a hugely successful team in the 80's and still (just) living off that
it's catch 22 as regards crowds, no big games means no big crowds but by just putting them in SL 1st couple of seasons isn't going to light any said towns fans alight.
So ok forget the merger but having two leagues instead of three would give in the 1st few years more opportunity to the smaller clubs to play the bigger clubs without having to freeze relegation or artificially mess with the leagues.
granted at 1st there would be either a 2 tier league or possibly a 3 tier league but the opportunity is still there.
Surely you have to agree that would be better for game and improve crowd numbers

Barrow's crowds have increased 65% on last season, up to 2,300. There's still 2.5 years to go until 2012, so plenty of time to get many more through the turnstyles.

BTW, Widnes didn't average 4,000 this season. On official figures they averaged 3,646 in the league which included the 'Free entry' game which grossed their highest attendance of 5,236. So taking that out of the calculations that's a league average of 3,501.

If you include their NR Cup games, then their average was 3,412.

For a club that spent several years in the Super League and many more at the top end of the 2nd tier, I think Barrow's attendances stand up very well indeed.

If they were ready for a SL club, they would be in next season.

Take into account the away support a team like Widnes would get in super league though, they would average around 6,000 and with success would no doubt have crowds like Hull KR.

Widnes should be next in super league IMO. Get rid of Salford!

While Barrows increase on the back of some success is to be applauded and I hope it continues , they are at the moment well behind the support Widnes are getting and would get in SL , dont take it as criticism of Barrow , but just cold hard facts , there chairman has started the building of something good , but there is still a long way to go

as at the moment we dont have 14 SL quality teams , and if you are going to follow the Franchise path , then you have no excuse for any club that doesn't cut the mustard

No offence and im not blowing my own clubs trumpet but your a million miles behind us in terms of setup and crowds.

That means you would have to make a choice between certain teams that cannot be split. IMO we need to go to 16 teams eventually.

Best clubs we have are

Wigan
Leeds
Hull FC
Warrington
Saints
Bradford
Hull KR
Catalans

These are the clubs up to standard IMO.

The rest either dont get the crowds, dont have sufficient plans for development of stadium issues or don't perform on the pitch.

Castleford in a new stadium would move into this top 8 and Hudds with bigger crowds would also move up.

These top clubs need to lead the way, especially Wigan, Leeds and Hull FC they have the biggest potential for huge crowds and Warrington and Saints (with a new stadium) are almost there.

Catalans also have huge potential but need the stadium.

These clubs need to improve to get the smaller ones to catch up.

Which team do you support

So you agree then , we only have 8 true SL clubs , the rest are way behind

the one that's so [size=117big[/size it doesn't even have a stadium

castleford are no worse than Hull KR.
We have about 11 SL quality clubs, only Salford and Celtic are really lagging at the moment.
Warrington and Saints' crowds aren't good enough at all, especially Saints

Wakefield , Quins , Cas , Salford , Celtic , none of these are any better than Widnes now or even potentially Fax , Fev , Barrow , Haven or Leigh with 3 years of SL behind them

Yes but thats not the point. Putting Castleford and Wakey and Quins in the league below will move them backwards. We need to stick with them. These 3 teams along with Hudds need to be dragged up to the right standard by continuing developing in super league. Widnes IMO are now ready to step up once they have been in super league for a few years.

minority sport in over saturated areas, we're screwed really lets admit it