In 2019 to replace the 8’s, good news?

....from next season Lennigan and chums have decided. All change again. Personally I enjoy the current structure and it keeps interest until the last week of the season. They seem to think it will bring the crowds back but I am no so sure. Shame the supporters are never asked their opinion.

Merged your two topics as you both hit the button at the same time.

there will be exceptions for the team that finishes bottom though, french teams or ones that play in red and white and break the cap will be exempt

Although, I do prefer promotion and relegation, I did like the format of super and middle 8s, maybe some of its faults could have been tweaked.

Question is, say if Toulouse or Toronto get promoted, but then finish bottom in 2019, will the RFL then move the goal posts, or like Catalans, will they be made exempt

yes they are french

if we are getting back to the one up one down why not give the team getting promoted one year exemption allowing them to stable them selves with the different standard of league, we could end up with the yo-yo effect coming back

The game isn't strong enough to allow promotion and relegation and with clubs like Toronto et el gunning for SL P&R doesn't sit well with expanding the game. There will be exemptions galore.

Licensing is the best option allowing clubs to grow and allow club in when they feel they are ready. As the game grows conferences can be introduced. This option allows long term planning. This fudge means we'll be changing the format again in 3-5 years.

FFS there I times when I wish I never got involved with this sport.

Here we go again trying to continually re invent everything that has been tried before

Of course they will Eastern. There's no question about it. The same will apply to Wigan, Leeds and Saints too.

Totally with you on this. The RL is a laughing stock once again.

this is better for us I think.

my questions is will there be a top 8 or top 6 finals series.

because when you are safe from relegation and cant make the top 4 there are going o be a hell of a lot meangless games.way more than there are now.

top 8 would make it interesting the whole way through.

Maybe they will reintroduce the Yorkshire cup and/or the roses matches or some other comp to keep the interest at the end of the season. EY though I hope someone can remember where we put the Yorkshire cup it will need some spit and polish.

I think they have missed a trick by not increasing the number of teams in the league too. Make it 14 teams, play each other once home and away plus magic weekend against a similarly positioned league opponent. 27 games total. Means that they would be able to bring in toronto and probably toulouse/ Leigh. Would make the championship more competitive by removing two of the bigger spenders and may allow teams such as Fev or Halifax to achieve promotion too.

8 team playoff. highest ranked against lowest ranked opposition. (ie 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7 and so on), 3 playoff games at most.

Super league, I'll wait for my cheque in the post.

We don't have the Yorkshire cup, it was in hudds for a long time, I think it's now in leeds

Like others have said, I thought the latest format was introduced to avoid meaningless games, although it wasn't perfect, it did that to a degree, so let's now go back to automatic promotion/relegation! It does seem very odd to me, almost like they had to change something for the sake of it, mainly because of the new guy at the helm? I'm sure licensing will be back in about 3 seasons......

Or sooner if Toronto and Toulouse fail in their bids for SL

On the other hand:
There has been a continual bleating that fans can't plan for the season's fixtures because 33% aren't known in advance
Season ticket sales have slumped across the game for this reason
Clubs no longer seek excellence in weekly fixtures so long as they make the 8.
How can any sport that deliberately undermines its credibility by having an uneven fixture list caused by Magic Weekend be taken seriously by fans, potential sponsors and the media.

No doubt the next excuse will be that there aren't enough fixtures? I don't even know our fixture list when I buy mine. Once didn't even know what division we'd be in when I bought it!



2 or 3 clubs you mean?



Taken seriously enough by the thousands of fans who travel up there and Sky TV that give it full coverage? Lets dump Wembley next?

This is not tinkering by the RFL, it is a takeover by SLE of the control of finances. Of interest to Wakey might be the return of minimum Standards, I have no idea how rigidly they will be enforced but by the language coming out they will not be the RFL easy beats.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/44468711 what the hell's going on

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/44468711 what the hell's going on

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/44468711 Its beyond a joke how this sport is run

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/44468711 Its beyond a joke how this sport is run

Reading that all I can say is WTF

I thought Robert elstone would bring some stability and professionalism to RL

This sounds like a PR disaster

The last thing we need is more messing with the format
I don't care how we do it
Just make a decision and stay with it

It looks like Gary Hetheringtons comments from the other day were spot on!

Franchising, but based upon expansion, not inclusion. That is, you don't say 14 clubs and re-apply. You decide which 14 should be in. Then if further clubs wants to be in, they present a business case, show why they should be in. If acceptable, let them in and grow, which may evolve into conferences.