We have tried the franchise route, we have tried the artificial creation of expansion clubs, now lets get back to where we should be.

Stop ripping the game apart by excluding heartland clubs, engage all the RL family and financially support the foundations being laid across the country so that one day they become vibrant clubs built in and around their communities.

Bring back P&R for entry in 2013. Yes have criteria, stadium/finance etc but make that criteria consistent for those in as well as out.

I hope the great RL people in Wales get a grip of their future and may I wish you well, and offer the support you will need to rise from this farce.

Franchising in GB RL should now be laid to rest.

Only in rugby league could we ditch something that generates a 20,000 crowd (the last NL1 grand final that guaranteed promotion between Cas and Widnes in 2007) and the attendant interest with promotion and relegation.

Has there ever been a more dramatic night in SL history than the Wakey-Cas game in 2006, played in front of 11,000 shoe-horned into that 'stadium' ?

We need people running the game who understand rugby league and its supporters.
Not bean counters

Indeed. Just ship a little more prize money on a sliding scale to the top of the Championship plus parachute payments to relegated sides to get rid of the 'financial cliff edge effect' and all would be fine.

No one outside of those teams really cared about those.

Football, gridiron, rugby union, ath;etics have all ditched events that have created far bigger attendances and public interest.



The only people that were interested were those with an interest of either club, it was a terrible game and is a very good reason for ditching automatic relegation.



But you are a bean counter yourself, wanting automatic promotion and relegation because of the crowds it has produced on a couple of occasions.. The idea of franchises was to raise the standards of clubs in SL, that it has achieved.

Raised standards, lowered them is a truer reflection of whats happened.
Let the cream rise and the sh@ fall

I'm not anti or pro P & R, but this is a really good post. Seems common sense to me the Maurice has worded it.

Would all of the 118 débutantes Richard Lewis was on about have made their débuts under a P&R system?

How many more Clubs would have gone bust in the attempt to either stay in SL or get into it.How many more overseas players with European passports would have been brought in and would any ground improvements have been carried out.

More.



More.



None, all the money would have been spent on wages of overseas players as the clubs battle to stay in SL. There would be hardly any youth development the likes we haven't seen in Super League since 1996. Salford and Saints, who had been promising new stadia for years prior to 2008, wouldn't have been forced to act upon it.

So how have standards been lowered?

Under the old system Catalans would have been playing in the Championship rather than finishing 3rd in 2007, Crusaders would have been playing in the Championship rather than making the playoffs in 2009. Teams now have better and more stable youth development. I doubt the likes of Castleford, Salford and Wakefield would have be looking at new stadiums if there was no franchising.

BINGO!!!!!!!!




<yawn>

History contradicts that during superleague three of the four most successful sides have the best youth development and happen to be some of the most financially stable. Prior to 1996 there was little youth development going on it was happening by chance. Even with franchising the worst performing sides typically have the largest numb of imports that has not changed with franchising. I believe saints would still have gone ahead with their new stadium, I also beleive HKR would have gone ahead with their ground improvements and the same goes for Leeds, during franchising there has not been a single new stadium. Wigan, Warrington, Hull, Quins, Huddersfield all are playing in modern stadia of a very good standard all during SL era and all before franchising.

Quins youth development initiatives had little to do with franchising the same goes for Catalans and Crusaders.

'Heartland' club Salford have gates comparable with Crusaders, so poor gates are not just a result of expansion. End licensing and the rush to safe bets like signing as many foreign players as you can get away with and the concommittant withdrawal of money from development in youth and new supporter facilities will drown the sport in five years.

Exactly what I was thinking.

I remember well the 3 days of fantastic coverage that this great sporting piece of theatre got.

October 8 2007 [urlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/oct/08/rugbyleague.sport[/url

October 10 2007 [urlhttp://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/widnes/2007/10/10/widnes-vikings-go-into-administration-100252-19927838/[/url

Yeah, happy days

As a Halifax fan, I still firmly believe in the concept of franchising and the reasons behind this.

However the problem lies in those making the decisions of who should get the licenses and those who should not.

One of the main aims of the licensing system is to a) promote the clubs that are performing as requested, and b) remove those clubs who cannot get their house in order and under perform.

As far as I can see it, Halifax have done everything that has been asked for, where as Wakefield have not. Simples.

Good luck Wakefield, I wish you all the best, but this decision is going to destroy our club.

I don'd believe franchising is the reason Crusaders have failed - they were simply put in SL too early, and have bitten off more than they can chew. THis comes back again to those that are making the licensing decisions, not licensing as a system per se.

Why? You've three years to improve what you already have.

No , probably about 117 of them

We knew what the targets were, we've delivered to them but still not got in. Many Halifax fans are disillusioned as a whole. We could just about get our heads around the Widnes for Wakefield swap, with Crusaders staying, but the current scenario is farcical. What's to say the goalposts won't be moved again in 3 years?

Maybe if we move to Edinburgh, knock down half our ground and go into administration we'll stand a better chance next time round.

It's pretty simple what a club needs to do to get into SL: Bring more to SL and RL than a club that's already in there.

So where do you feel Halifax fall down against Wakefield?

(Remember that Wakefield have received significantly more investment from Super League over the past 3 years - youth structures etc have to be considered with this in mind. We could have this, if we were in Super League (chicken/egg syndrome)).

I haven't seen the bids.