But that's madness!

You could end up with a Championship club being moved up to SL that isn't as good as the SL club it replaced, because they were not competing against each other?

Surely this cannot be right?

which if you go back to before the first franchise you will see a fair few people in their explanation of the franchise process explained this would be exactly the case

I dont really see any other conclusion

Leigh, whats the point, an area we already have a strong SL team and they even had to have the RFL bail them out on Champ one...

You mean like promotion and relegation?!

Nope, that seems pretty straight forward by comparison. At least the relegated club would have a chance to get back up the following season and, if the promoted club can't cut it, they're out pretty sharpish.

Three years is a long time to wait, and a club may never fully recover from it.

That's not the impression Steve O'Connor was under when interviewed as a guest on radio manchester in may last year.He wasn't expecting any special treatment but when asked would he be surprised if Widnes were not granted a licence he replied that he would be 'amazed'.

oh well, they should definately have got one if it would 'amaze' steve o'connor

This is a discussion about SL , why bring Leigh into it ?

He shouldn't have been "amazed". He should have recognised the political fall out within the game that would have occurred had a club who recently came out of administration been granted a licence - it would have sent out the wrong message. I certainly would be amazed if they don't get one in 2012.

Exactly. It really amazes me how Widnes fans think that being in administration only a few months before is irrelevant.

It's not the impression of a chairman though,who has been told quite clearly that previous financial problems would put his clubs bid at a dis- advantage,would you not agree?

Then why didn't the RFL make this absolutely clear to SOC before hand?

Instead they led him to believe that, as long as the business plan was good, the recent admin wouldn't be a problem. The business was not criticized in the subsequent report. Only the administration was given as the reason for rejection, and a dig at the youth development, which they hitherto deemed to be "World Class".

If we don't have the new stadium sorted by franchise time then I and most Trinity fans would agree we don't deserve a new franchise . If the new community stadium is sorted by then and theres alot of postive comments from people in the know that this will happen then we shouldn't have any problem getting a franchise.
There are only 3 big clubs in Rugby League Leeds , Wigan and Hull FC and a well run Trinity with decent facilities would be in a group of 6 or 7 behind them.
The City of Wakefield is big enough to support a SL side both crowd wise and business support, we're the biggest City in England without a pro football team. Wakefield is a Rugby League City. Last seasons attendances were down but thats down to a combination of factors that effected us last season and Belle Vue holds us back. Once we get out of there the better.
On the playing side CC semi final & 5th place finish in the last 2 seasons.
Youth development Academy grand final winner and league leaders last season.
Community Our award winning community team do a great job in the school in the area and been for a number of years.
What holds us back is the stadium and has done for years and thats getting sorted, If every club that has been advised to sort ther stadium out do improve or move to new stadiums then the RFL decision would be interesting.

they werent at a disadvantage, they were judged in the same way as everyone else

the totality of their bid wasnt at the level of others, the previous financial problems were likely to be a big factor in this,

and i would expect the RFL made no comment on Widnes bid before they had judged it, purely because they had yet to judge it

it would have put Widnes at an unfair advantage for the financial issue to be ignored

I can't answer that.

........................although Smokey may have just done.

as long as the business plan was good enough to justify their inclusion in spite of the obvious financial issues

and they wouldnt have made him aware of this prior to judging thier bid because they had yet to judge their bid,

If it was announced by the RFL that Widnes could not have been granted a licence, due the the recent administration, there could be no argument.

THIS DID NOT HAPPEN.

THE OPPOSITE DID.

This is what has led to the confusion.

If there was no chance whatsoever of Widnes gaining a licence, due to recent administration, why tell SOC otherwise, allow him to put forward a bid at great expense to the club, and then reject the bid soley on the grounds of the recent administration?

Why not tell SOC straight - YOU HAVE NO CHANCE?

Simple and honest, No?

APART FROM YOUR CHILDISH 'SLAGGING OFF' at LEIGH
ANSWER THE QUESTION
WHY DO WE HAVE HARLEQUINS ?

answers on a postcard ......................

One of your fellow Leigh fans mate.

IMO: As it stands Widnes are best placed to enter SL, the only other teams that have met the criteria are Fax and Barrow.

As for who would miss out? Good question.

Would think that it will be between Salford, Castleford, Wakefield & Crusaders.

A case can be made for any of them to go, as well as most other teams in SL.

Don't know if I could pick one, but would think it would be between Cas & Wakie.

Didn't the RFL say before the applications that Widnes could be have their application judged as a newly formed club? Then Widnes included some aspects of the pre-administration club in their application forcing the RFL to consider all aspects of the pre-administration club (including, going into adminstration). Or in the RFL's words:



You either take into account the history of the club, warts and all, or you don't. You can't cherry pick the good bits and ignore the bad.

It doesn't matter how the RFL phrased it in any way shape or form. The club was never going to get a licence because of their recent administration at the time.

A clubs support base doesn't change because the board of directors change. That will remain the same. It's financial viability will change and, on this case, most certainly did. Either way, Widnes had no chance of a licence.

Fine, but they should have said so, plainly and clearly, so that the club and it's supporters fully understand the situation.

They led Steve O'Connor down the garden path.

because, as you are choosing to ignore, there was a chance, Widnes' bid just wasnt good enough to ignore the financial issues which had gone previously

they could however have submitted a better bid, that was good enough to ignore the financial issues which had gone before, but they didnt,

the RFL couldnt have known whether the bid they submitted was good enough or not until they had judged it, and they couldnt have judged it until it had been submitted