Franchise is the greatest saviour of our game,as it means we can watch teams playing out season after season with the hope someone who wants to set a team up in scotland can step over the dead bodies of the national leagues and be funded quite rightly with tv money that there team will bring in with its greater press coverage with a team in stranraer,who knows we may even capture the isle of man and with them competeing in the world club championship by 2015/16 at the earliest opertunity, with them now a major force we will have a two pronged attack on the irish main land with belfast being captured by 2018 and a big push towards dublin by 2020,with ireland now world champions by 2022 we are in a fantastic position to now take iceland,with the expected melting of the glaciers iceland will be perfect for summer rugby so with iceland secure we open up norway and the rest will be history.

And all the above is down to the power of franchise

if wakefield do get chucked out i hope they chuck salford and cas out as well because theres no difference between any of them.

Squad investment for 2011 may tell you different and Cas have a stadium to pay for!

I would say for the RFL it would be an easy choice to kick out Wakefield but neither Salford or Castleford tick any boxes neither regards new grounds.
Not much going on of late at the side of the M60 only what appears to be mass landscaping ,seems there is no rush from the contractors i think Salford have the attitude of if they seem to be doing something all is fine.
It irritates me that only a select few new that drastic changes needed to be done to grounds to survive in this game whilst a select few carry on at snail pace.
If they boot Wakefield out then the clubs who have not got their new grounds or current grounds up to scratch in SL should also be booted out too.
But alas we live in corrupt times so i wont hold my breath !

john kear has always brought player in who other clubs wouldn't touch,so theres no difference there,

cas are no closer than wakey are to getting a stadium.

salford have been the worst of the three in all the other criteria in the last three years and theres no guarantee they'll be in a new stadium.

I'm presuming that any club coming down will be handed a huge parachute payment for 3 years to stay solvent / in existance.
Equally in view of whats happened with the South Wales franchise won by Celtic Crusaders I suspect it would head off any unwanted court mutterings by the club stripped of a franchise if Crusaders win one.

Personally hope they leave all the clubs in and add Toulouse with Widnes to SL.
That way we should be left with a level playing field in our competition which can only help.

They will on 27th December!

took me a minute work that one out alan

There will be NO parachute payment, the RFL made that clear some time ago, if a club has any SL contracts outstanding they will be nul and void - as a clause is written in them all now.

Well I am not doubting you but I would not put money on it.

My views on this franchise stuff have been documented although I have been flatcapped (a new adjective which has crept into the language) and I am sure the same people will do it again.

Whatever no parachute payment what happens ? Parachute payment why franchising ? What will happen ? Do not be embarressed you know don''t you ? I think I do.

Not according to recent comments from Ralf Rimmer , the recentlly apointed RFL ' fall guy ' , at the sports trust meeting last month

If that be the case Steve then the RFL have changed their minds again as I also read somewhere that 'parachute paments' were done never to return, the question begs 'WHY?' as any club getting 'relegated' has had at least 3 years to get ready for relegation, now hard as that may seem it isn't as if the club that will be coming down will be really surprised is it? Thats the harsh realities of being a 'second tier' comp and the same 'sink or swim' criteria should be the same for all.

It would make 'our' competition more interesting Fred - yet another set of rules for another team! 'Parachute payments' would go a long way towards ensuring that whoever comes down, will have a good chance of meeting any 'onfield criteria' for future franchise applications!

Who do we want to come down? It's probably not going to be Salford but if Widnes were to be promoted & Salford were relegated at least we'd have a derby

Not Salford we want MORE teams in SL from this side of 'The Hills' than there is.

Didn't parachute payments cause the ' "yoyo effect" when promotion and relegation were used and weren't they scrapped for that very reason ?

Wakefield look doomed without one. I think Cas would be ok if they lost their franchise though and it would add weight to those of us who see franchising for the ridiculous non incentive system that it self evidently is.

When franchising was muted I did forecast year 3 would cause big problems. Well lets see who is right.

Who said this ? and when?

Parachute payment for wakey after 12(?) years of SL and all the Sky Money and other benefits that come with it would be an absolute joke. Same for any other club coming down. They have all been aware that they could be out if they didn't fulfill their promises and they should have cut their cloth accordingly. I would be furious if they did give them a parachute payment as it would basically be a bribe/sweetener to stop the relegated team from complaining too much.

Well it wouldn`t be the first time they have changed their minds but it would be nice if they all sang from the same hymn sheet once in a while.
Just as an aside the House of Commons Select Committee on Culture ,Media and Sports will be conducting an investigation into Football Governance .
They are asking for everyones views and while it has nothing to do with Rugby League how about all of us contacting our MPs and asking them if they will be doing the same for Rugby League.
The select committee has powers to call witnesses equivalent to that of a court I would like to hear Nigel and co` trying to explain their criteria for the Grand Plan to that lot.

Absolute nonsense.

Not arguing that Salford aren't in a vulnerable position, nor that they shouldn't be relegated before Cas or Wakey but your statement is factually incorrect.

Why is he incorrect ? He says other criteria. Well Cas and Wakey have higher gates and have had better on field results haven't they ? Mind you results do not matter with a daft system like franchising do they ?

What other criteria are there apart from youth development ?

Well it worked for 'em last time, so why not??

Watch out for the Portakabin, JCB, and several Hi-viz jackets, hard-hats, & shovels being dusted off for a photo opportunity come licence renewal time!!

Not to mention making a mockery of the competitive nature of the Championship!

Would the relegated team then be given a higher salary cap than the rest of the league?

take out the stadium criteria and tell me how salford are ahead of cas and wakey on any other criteria ?.

I was thinking that. If you judged all 3 on the 'Leigh way' i.e. Not played in new ground so it doesn't exist then Salford fall way behind. One season of big spending (mainly imports?) does not cover other faults over past years, also bearing in mind signing these players does not gurantee them a higher league placing.

FWIW I don't think Salford will be dropped and they will be one of first into a new stadium, however if jusged fairly after Crusaders & Quins they'd be next in line without a doubt.