IF they and Oldham fold how can the RFL justify two leagues?
far better having two 'conference' type leagues, and then the grand final would mean something.

The RFL need to look seriously at the funding they are providing to clubs below SL if clubs are to survive

It will be a 'good' contrast if they 'save' one and let the other go to the wall.

Sure I`d get over it given time.

times a good healer eh

we know which one they will save but do you remember a few years ago. leigh v oldham in the playoffs nearly 6thousand on at hilton park in the play offs.the powers that be have got no idea'very sad

18-10 win to Leigh in that semi-final if I recall, I know Ando scored one try, could have been two though...

we lost the game to oldham then we lost the game to widnes in front off about 7thou

Parky was talking about the year before, when we lost to Dewsbury 13-12.

The season after we walked the league and lost to both Oldham (15-14?) and Widnes (25-18?), in fron of crowds some SL teams would be jealous of.

that is the season you refer to. A heatbreaking season after bogging the league by 9 clear points !!

And now, Championship clubs would struggle to get 3000 for these play off games.

But hey, rugby league is booming!!

Think it was actually two. Oldham brought easily a couple of thousand that day, worth asking where they've buggered off to...

No as we did'nt finish in a relegated spot to be fair even if we didn't play good rugby so if they did put us back up then i for one would embrace it .

the rules are set out before the season starts so we did finish in a relegation spot.but like you say if we do get a get out of jail card i hope we're ready for it

Does anyone seriously think weve got a chance of a reprieve?

those big crowds leigh had were not representative of the whole season and i think our average was about 2700 but i stand to be corrected.

super league crowds have averaged more than £10,000 for the previous 2 seasons(no figure for this year).
you would have to go a long way back to match that figure.

people keep talking about crowds in the 80,s but leigh did not average 7000 in our championship year.
for a minority sport with limited press coverage the super league crowds are brilliant.

stop being jealous because we have messed up and decrying our game

No

You raise some good points but how many teams average over 10K? When you have worked that out tell me how many average over 10K paying customers?

tbf its the bread and butter league games we have to get punters in, not just if we get in semi final place in playoffs a few years ago - and using that as a marker.
We got something like 1800 against Batley in playoffs with a very good side in 2006. We also had poor showing for the home game against Haven after winning the NL Cup. There are reasons sure, but isn't there reasons every time for the ones that don't turn up ?
I may seem negative saying this but its better than being in dreamland that we get gates of 6 thou - by using 1 off games as examples. Oldham contributed to that, and Widnes contributed to the other.
The club needs big gates more often for the weekly games by Leigh supporters.

understand your reply but all sports work on average.

rugby union has leicester with average crowds of over 20,000 and gloucester 12,000 making up for sale and saracens(when they dont hire wembley).

super league in my opinion overall is a great product but they have made a big mistake with celtic but nobody is perfect.
super league has many plaudits from other sports that recognise the entertainment value of our game.
lets sing its praises as well as its mistakes.

Super League, Super League, Super League.

It's all that matters.....



Call it jealousy if you want, I care not, I'd prefer to see it as the RFL not giving a shiny s**t about much outside of Super League and not much they are doing is proving me wrong either.

Yes but those rules were forced upon the clubs and dont think that was fair as PR said they had no say in the matter so as for saying we knew the rules it does not make it right ,like i have said before the RFL seem to make the rules to suit what they want and not the paying public,i know there have to be rules in place but fair ones and not the type that take the P.If we do get to use our get out of jail card i'm sure the club will be ready ,you only need to look at our signings for that plus i'm sure the club have done a lot behind the scenes to make possible should we be in a position to apply for SL we will be ready .Anyroad if we stay where we are i'm not too fussed either

There was a vote amongst the clubs, and only Dewsbury objected to Toulouse's inclusion. Whether there were strings attached to said vote is another matter, but we had 19 games to make sure we finished high enough up the table to avoid the drop. We didn't do it, so let's just leave it in the past and look forward to next season, shall we?

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Something else that comes into the mix when talking about crowds
you have to offset what the club brings in week in week out with what the club pays out re wages, vat, tax, training, travel ect ect ect after that
i think you will find that not many SL clubs apart from Leeds and maybe one more are not making SL Rugby a profitable business if SKY pulled out which is always a possabilty then SL would be up sh-te creek in a big way
Pro RL has become in my opinion a game which revolves only for teams in the top flight and the game is run by complete idiots who cant see past SL and Sky tv it was proved last year when to everyones surprise they let in Celtic Cru and Lewis & Co backed their decision by a pack of false rantings that was a laughable if not so sad for the game..
Yes in the opinion of many long term RL fans the game has gone downhill big time and we are so far behind the Aussies its frightening..

In terms of finance and crowds, for every Leeds or Wigan you need 4 Salfords or Harlequins. Not exactly a balanced approach in a closed shop is it?

The jump between Wakefield and Leeds is far greater than it is from Widnes to Salford or Harlequins such is their latent potential.

It's this imbalance that the RFL appear to ignore when shunning the Championship clubs into a box marked 'Clubs of little importance to us', whilst at the same time tens of millions of pounds still hasn't created a self funded stand alone world class rugby league venue let alone a stand off or centre that could trouble the Aussies.

To the outside world watching on Sky, things might appear rosy (until the Aussies embarass us again). To those following the big clubs, many care little about the rest of the game and pour scorn on those who question the state of the game as a whole.

Maybe the RFL will prove me wrong in the next round of franchises, but I shan't be holding my breath.