Should never have got a franchise in the first place.

So apart from Crusaders what bottomless pits of money are being flung about by the RFL? Care to produce some facts?

The problem is trying to expand/promote too quickly which is the fault of the RFL rather than a club or the area it is in.
How long did it take for some clubs to become properly established in the past, there was little else in some cases for people to do or watch. Now in times when there is much more competition for people's money and other things for people to do it is harder and harder to get that slice to get up the rung.
However you seem to ignore the fact that rugby league is alive & kicking in all 4 corners of the UK, teams & leagues that have been on a summer season for years! We have a National Conference going from strength to strength with teams from Hertfordshire, Wales and Coventry doing just fine, below that the conference Premier that reaches from Scotland to West of England & to Suffolk & Essex and Regional teams that stretch all the way to Devon.
It's narrow mindedness that will just want the game to stay in the North, then it will stay just as a minority sport & be viewed upon as quaint & insignificant. We would never get national recognition and you'll be happy with that I'm sure.
I was volunteering at a RL festival at my club in St.Albans recently and to see hundreds of little kids as young as 7 from London & the South travelling nearly 100 miles to play TGG just brings home how important expansion is.
RL IS a great sport and has something about it that most sports cannot reproduce. To want to curb that to the traditonal heartlands in just utterly ridiculous.
I actually feel sorry for you.

No need to feel sorry for me.
I actually coach at amateur level so am well aware of the health of the game at grassroots level thanks.

The efforts to establish new clubs at professional level have been a total failure and I stick by that claim. Sorry that you weren't able to spot that from the list of clubs I gave !

Would you include Melbourne Storm in that? Whilst it is true that expansion hasn't worked over here, there are examples of modest success. The very fact that Crusaders actually have a fan base after 2 years shows the potential there, it's just a matter of setting it up properly.

I my opinion, for expansion to be considered successful, it has to attract new fans, sponsors and players to the game. I don't think it should be judged purely on the results of the franchise. If London and Wales continue to produce top level players, then it is lunacy not to support these projects.

No I wouldn't include Melbourne Storm, as i was really on about UK expansion

However, alongside Melbourne Storm were Adelaide Rams and Perth Western Reds (you can't count Hunter Mariners and South Queensland Crushers because they were set up in established areas as "rivals" to existing teams in the ARL/SL war)

Didn't go to the game...but I feel Crusaders do have a future in the game in some form.

In Wrexham they quickly built up a 'hardcore' support, who's numbers were not that much lower than some of the other SL teams like Salford and Wakefield. The baffling decision to play games on a Friday night (when they had the potential to attract a lot of away fans being near Wire, Wigan, Saints etc) can't have helped their crowds, nor can the constant bad publicity.

overall I hope they do get a Championship spot, and 'earn' their right to return by meeting the criteria.

artificially placing a team in SL doesn't work though, and it must stop. Teams should be made to work their way up from Championship1 IMO.