You think?

Is a 6 point deduction enough of a penalty for clubs who bring the game into disrepute by going bust?

Roughly in line with football.

Give or take, I'd say 'yes' for going into administration.

Good point

But strangely both are true, the Championship is an excellent competition, and for the last couple of years I've been convincing myself that it is worth supporting, and also that eventually clubs in it will start to close the gap and will get their chance via the licence system

But ateotd it just isnt like it was, I cannot change the way it feels, Ive felt in recent years ( the last dozen or so ) the dissapointment of failure, and the elation of success , but now it feels like the club/team are just going through the motions, no matter what we do on or off the pitch, we will still be where we are now in ten years time

As a Leeds fan i feel the same, Wigan, St's, Wire, Les Catalans, Hull FC, Hudds, fans probably feel the same, we have all seen failure and success in the past 12 years and will likely still be in SL in 10 years time. Yet they dont seem as upset about it as you. Its almost like we play to win the competitions we are in and arent constantly whining because we arent in a different competition we are unsuitable for.

I guess that's why Bulls fans are whining about maybe being demoted to the CC1 then.

Are they? Where?

On twitter, facebook and myspace. Set an account up and have a look - it's OK, you don't need any friends to have a look.

Oh come on Smokey, how can you possibly feel the same!

You’ve watched your team have unprecedented success in recent years & the other clubs you have cited have won G.F’s, C.C’s or at least got to finals of the comps.

Failure to you is not seeing Leeds at Wembley or Old Trafford each season, how would you feel if the club you supported was blocked from aspiring to those dizzy heights?

Well put. It seems the old "closed shop" syndrome is affecting one or two people.

It isnt just the ' block ' its the realisation that the club ( in fact all the clubs outside SL ) will never be able to improve enough to make a realistic bid

Its like the situation at Bradford, they are basically bolloxed, if they cant exist in SL ( and recent history tells us they cant ) , they havent a cat in hells chance in the Championships, and it would seem nobody is interested in buying a Bradford Championship club

You are dead right ,who in their right mind would buy a Championship 1 club ? The RFL has made the division between the leagues too wide the Championship clubs have next to no hope of ever reaching Super League .No Club should have a divine right to stay in Super League no matter how their club has been run ,the longer this goes on the more embarassing it becomes.When is enough deemed enough before someone finally pulls the green tent round and gives a humane injection to the Bull .The RFL have much to answer for as do the Board of Bradford ,it`s the fans that suffer but as long as you still have a team then that is ok. I don`t think it`s doing the game any good to have this played out on the public stage any longer.

P&R has been a raving success in the best RL comp in the world (NRL) hasnt it. hmmm

You get your chance every 3 years to join the "elite" how is that a closed shop-Put something together that is better than the Bulls and you are in.

Although not quite the success of licencing, eh?

PS who knows how good the NRL would be if they adopted P&R?

So whats better than the Bulls? Losses of less than a million a year? , and you are missing the point , it is impossible to build or improve to anywhere near a level to make the jump, as a London fan, you should be acutely aware of that

Disagree, get a steady stream of jnr's coming through, get 3000 crowds, get your stadium up to standard and show the RFL you have corporates and/or financial backers ready to support a SL club and you would be in. Should be achievable for any aspiring SL club.

How I wish you were right and we COULD trust the RFL but you can't they have the final say and move the goalposts as they wish, there is no TRANSPARENCY in RL anymore. Come on look at the FACTS our bid was turned down yet we made a small profit last year while Bradford were making loss afetr loss, yet they passed the Francjise system financial checks???
I rest my case.

Out of curiosity, how are clubs blocked from aspiring to any heights, dizzy or otherwise?

Because it is decided by faceless people with unfathomable criteria who can pick & choose who they want at the top table.

I presume you’re of the opinion that any club that attains the said requirements can achieve ‘Nirvana’.

I, on the other hand, believe certain clubs haven’t a hope in hell, until promotion & relegation is based on performance – on the field.

I think I will go along with your version DA as opposed to the cloud cuckoo one.

I was being sarcastic, i dont feel the same, but the situation is the same, Leeds are 'promoted' because of their success. We play the competitions we are in and celebrate the victories in the competitions we are in. It doesnt take anything away from Leeds success that it doesnt lead to playing in a different competition.
there is no block, it doesnt exist. The only thing stopping Leigh being the next Leeds is the fact they arent capable of doing it. If Leigh were ever in a position where they could do what Leeds have done, they would be in SL, everybody would want them in SL because they would clearly be a great addition to the league. But the fact is they arent going to be next Leeds, they dont have the infrastructure or potential to be. They dont even pretend they will, they dont say promotion will lead to 15k fans, they dont say they will have one of, if not the best youth development structure and facilities in northern hemisphere rugby. When Leigh talk about promotion they talk about bouncing round the lower levels of SL, with lower levels of support, with some journeymen and the youngsters not taken by Wigan. When Leigh have even the ambition to be the next Leeds, never mind the ability and backing, we can talk about clubs being 'blocked from those dizzy heights' but its a nonsense to do so when even they dont believe they are capable of ever getting to those dizzy heights.

I think we all agree that certain clubs havent a hope in hell of being promoted under franchising. That is a good thing, some clubs arent ready, some arent capable, promoting them on the basis of a run of form, or a bounce of a ball, has proved time and time again, disastrous for the long term stability of not only the sport as a whole but they individual clubs themselves.

These faceless people want the best clubs in SL, thats how they pick them, they pick the 14 best. Thats what we all want isnt it, the best clubs in the biggest league?

What an interesting concept of "best" these "faceless people" must have. To be fair, they do have a sense of humour.

Is it?

even knowing what has happened with Bradford, is it really that unbelievable that they were still a better bet than Halifax?

The fact of RL in this country is that we have sects.
1. Wigan, Saints, Hull, Leeds, Wire - Great stadia (Leeds is ok), 10k+ fanbase, great sponsorship/commercial income, Bradford used to be in this catagory 5 years ago.
2. Hudds, London - have the backing but struggle for fans
3. Salford, HKR, Cas, Wakey, Widnes - make up the numbers, struggle for income and will never hit 10k gates

The Latter are in the same boat as the Fev's, Leigh and Fax - so why exclude them?