Trouble is, RL doesn't have enough strong(ish) clubs for us reasonably sit by and hope they fail miserably.

I am a little worried for Fev, this situation carries many of the hallmarks of previous RL club failures. Hope I'm wrong.

Whether you're for or against P&R and franchising. The people in the know said soon as we scrap it teams will start throwing money at their clubs, some clubs will throw money they can't afford? Have Fev been the first to gamble their future?

No gamble really Yed, as staying as we were was a slow death for all outside SL anyway - Fev are saying the have 'investors' to cover it and we have never been in better shape for a long time.

Well here I go again about liscenscing or franchises.

It was the most shorted stupidly thought out idea that was ever introduced for a professional sport in a country the size of the UK.

What amazes me is that the RFL introduced it and that Richard Lewis ever found his way home from Granada studios bearing in mind he had just visited the LSV and said it wasn't there.

I have just read Lewis's autobiography ''From Wimbledon to Westleigh'' and he states a meeting with you as the reason to mark down our application, LSV was a smokescren.

Why do all RL fans look for the negative side to everything other clubs do ( included our fans ). Any club that can attract investment should be applauded for the work they have done to get them in Your club was in trouble not too long ago and you crowds were poor but you have turned it around and are now the best on the field in the championship which every other club need to aim for including us Statements are sent out to get people talking about the club again which it has done on all the sites Regarding the millions we need it if we are going to try and get to S/L with the stadium how much will this cost to finish As for aiming for top 4 what do you want it to say Fev are trying to get in S/L and if we do looks like we will come back down In all walks of live aim high and try to punch above your weight it's not that long ago we were in C1 yet several years later we were top of the championship I do hope it all comes off and Probiz along with everyone else and the new investors take us there Just for the record I think you could of took the shield out of the cabinet on Sunday when you beat us as I cannot see anyone catching you up now but I am so glad the Featherstone Rovers BOD didn't hide there heads in the sand when they realised someone has overtaken us at this level Good luck for the rest of the season but I hope we have improved by the time we meet again

Teams have been throwing money they don't have at clubs all the time (Bradford, London, Salford, Wakefield). The only difference between P&R and Franchising is if you muck it up under P&R you drop down and get replaced by a club with a more sensible business model, rather than relying on hand outs and weakening the sport and competition.

In this case, it was a pointless, amateurish press release. Anonymous (imaginary? - they seem to have come out of the woodwork mighty quickly after the defeat on Sunday!) investors with an undisclosed sum (but yet "disclosed" as thought to be "millions" - you either know the amount or you don't, surely?) to invest but a self-imposed "press coverage ban" for 4 weeks - frankly who cares - all it was, was a bit of kneejerk whinge. And a ridiculous tinpot whinge at that.

Let's see what's said in 4 weeks I may be wrong but I think this was released due to the departure of the coach

Me too judging by the comments from Fev fans I heard before and after Sunday's game.

Think the statment might have been better though had they said something like keep the faith you won't believe the good news which will be announced in the next 4 weeks and we are still on course for the Championship top two.

Two questions needs answering in regards to the medium to longterm viability of Featherstone Rovers.

1. What are the investors getting, if anything, in return for their millions?
2. How is the money being invested in the club - basically, can the investors ask for the money back?

With the answers to those two questions we would know much more about whether this is a good, sensible decision for Featherstone or if they're putting themselves on the potential road to ruin.

Investment is good, but at a sporting club it needs to come with as few strings attached as possible, because a profitable RL club is a rare beast, especially at a big enough rate to repay millions in investment.

Just hope everything turns out fine for Fev they are a great club and fans, would love to see us both in SL soon.

Was you at our fans forum last week before we played you by any chance

I actually echo those sentiments.

They set the bar we've raised it and its down to others to set it higher

Well said Ian....Fev definitely deserve a crack at SL....winning the league for the last 4 seasons, just that we can't win play-off games, Fev don't win finals.

What league is the middle 8? Is it a league or is it a playoff state, a kind of limbo league?

Whole thing gets split into 3 groups of 8, Super League Playoffs, Super League Qualifiers and Championship Shield Playoffs. Everyone plays each other once, in the Super League Playoffs and the Championship Shield playoffs points carry through from the league, at the end the top 4 play semi-finals then finals. In the Super League qualifiers (middle 8 ) league points are re-set all play each other once, top 3 are promoted into Super League, bottom 3 are relegated into the Championship and 3rd plays 4th for the last Super League place.

Bet you don't get asked that again mate.

Do you mean 4th plays 5th for the remaining SL place?

He does.

Started reading and thought he's bound to get something wrong as I haven't seen anyone explain it right yet

had to wait till the last line though, and I think that was just a slip of the keys.

Yes I do. Ha knew there was still bound to be errors I missed in it after clicking submit after the 3rd read through.

Give it a season and it'll all come clear (I keep telling myself).

Give it three seasons and the RFL will have changed their mind again!

Whilst people may say its badly worded etc the fact that no-one is talking about Fev sacking the coach just 9 games into a season shows the announcement has had some effect for the guys running the club at Fev as its diverted attention from a panic sacking.
Personally I think they have now put huge pressure within the club to get a top 2 finish that many would have thought they'll get in anyhow before all the sackings and talk of 'top 4 SL'.

Either way not too fussed what they do so long as our club keeps doing what its doing on & off the field right now.

A win at Leigh, as long as other results go they way and it puts them back on if a top two finish