Yes, I can read thanks.

Who comes down?

It does give more games more meaning and acknowledges that we have a widely disparate spectrum of clubs, with too many games having +20 bookmaker handicaps.
But it is very convoluted. And it is difficult to imagine how the Sky money would be divided in a way that was seen as fair by all or even most. A variation with 2 10s and a semi-pro third tier would be more sensible, IMO, but too many clubs would be nervous of coming bottom 4 next year, I assume. And it'd be just as complicated.
Blake Solly and Gary Hetherington have said it is one of 4 options being considered. Another is staying as we are. As long as we admit licensing is franchising, fine - but there's a fine line between giving clubs security and allowing them to stagnate. Plus we do have a lot of effectively dead rubbers, even without considering reducing the number of play-off places. I don't know what the others are, but really it comes down to trying to make a complicated structure to try to suit as many clubs as possible or telling them to get on with it even if it is square pegs and round holes. Plus finally coming to a honest settlement between clubs at different levels.

Surely having more close/exciting games is a big benefit to fans?
I think it has its flaws but to dismiss it outright is a bit strong, the current system we have also has flaws.
People often bang on about promotion/relegation but in reality the step up/down doesn't make that feasible and at least this gives the opportunity to expose lower clubs to higher opposition on a more regular basis a maybe raise standards as a whole.
I understand the point about "not knowing what you've signed up for", but really I sign up to watch my team, not others - and if my team isn't good enough to make the 8 then thems the breaks kid, it's mid-8 for you...
Main issue I have is about the first 11 games as the deciding factor for making the 8 is based on playing teams once and home advantage can often play a large part.

Next season the bottom 2 in SL and top 10 in the Championship would be put together to form SL 2 in 2015.

In 2015, the 12 remaining SL1 teams play each other once. 11 games, presumably including a magic fixture.
Same for sl2. Then, mid-season, top 8 in SL2 breakaway to compete for the title - home and away, 14 more games. The bottom 4 from that division and the top 4 from sl2 form the intermediateship, an extended P&R play-off tournament for 4 places in the 2016 sl1 and the bottom 8 sl2 play for... pride, and that.

I think it's a decent idea, games need to be meaningeful and closer. Also we need the crowds top go up again and give the likes of Fev, Fax and Leigh a chance too. the current system is killing the game IMO.

Just say the top league after 11 games is Wigan, Leeds, Wire, Hudds, Bradford, Saints, Catalans and Hull. 2nd tier could be KR, Salford, Castleford, Wakefield, London, Widnes, Fax and Fev. More competative plus closer games. It makes the first eleven games all to play for too.

thanks for explaining, it's actually worse than I thought!

This sounds stupid.

Have a few issues with it, hows the sky money going to be split, hows it going to effect attendances and recruitment of players for clubs...

It's a bollox idea without a single redeeming feature. Whoever came up with it should be sacked and immediately sectioned for their own good.

Wasn't aware that it had even been put to the clubs, let alone voted on though.

Considering the money problems some clubs are having can't see many clubs wanting to vote for this..

Pretty difficult to blame the RFL solely, four structures were put to the clubs, the clubs have voted and this is the one that they want.

Anybody come up with a better proposal? No point saying 12 teams and P + R because that was and why it needed changing in the first instance.

There's too many one sided games for RL to be credible, this should sort that issue.

I doubt the idiots who came up with this dog's breakfast of an idea even considered the potential impact on season ticket sales.

My preferred option is:

Keep things as they are and put the effort in to making what we've got work.

Stop blaming:

Lack of competitive games

Lack of P&R

Losing players to NRL or Union

Lack of talent coming through

They voted on it?

When did this happen?




It's about time the clubs realised that there's no magic bullet and THEY need to get off their ar[is[/ies and make what we've got work




No there aren't. In any season, under any format, you will always get the odd one-sided game, we're not seeing any more than we have done over the years

Two leagues of 10

Top 6 play off format.

9th & 10th place team in SL1 are relegated and replaced with top team of SL2 and winners of a playoff series between 2nd, 3rd & 4th teams in SL2.

Teams knocked out in the fourth round of the challenge cup compete in a new challenge shield competition, with the final played at one of KC, HJ, DW.

Like your idea East Hull FC fan alot more sense plus everyone has everything to play for. I'd like to see
SL1
Wigan, Leeds, Saints, FC, Catalans, Bradford, Saints, Huddersfield, KR and Widnes
SL2
Wakefield, Cas, Fev, London, Salford, Leigh, Halifax, Sheffield, Toulouse and Cumbrian Merged team or Whitehaven.
Don't think the likes of York, Donny, Hunslet, Swinton, Workington or Barrow could substain a team at SL standard.

I'm not picking on your suggestion particularly, it is just there are flaws in any system.

Franchising - Extends the current system giving us security but at the expense of immobility. Gives the 'Rugby League Family' the Romanovs treatment, consigning those outside of SL to dual-registration dependence or a limbo of hopelessness.
Simple P&R - Too big a gap between pro and semi-pro makes it destabilising for clubs going in both directions. Only way to quickly narrow the gap is to take from the rich and give to the poor - unlikely.
Re-election - all a bit political and behind closed doors.
Focussing resources on fewer teams, strengthening them - weakens others, and narrows the base.

Licensing effectively died with oldco Bradford, so something has to give one way or the other, and there is no easy solution. A bullet has to be bitten.

Maybe we have to think about two regional leagues? Yorkshire & Lancashire, with London & Catalan joining either.
Top 4 from each progress to a finals series. Problem there is you have a lot of uncompetitive games.

My question is what happens to the other 14 current professional clubs if the 2 leagues of 12 gets approved.

Please tell they haven't actually put this through????

Got to agree - some teams will get much easier fixtures. It's as stupid as the magic weekend.

I quite like a 2 conferences model - winning the Eastern conference, for example, would feel like a real achievement, whereas even though it is harder to do the hubcap is seen as pretty worthless.
Other things would still need resolving, but it'd help re-balance the league season and the play-offs, IMO.

I am so confused!

Just for consultation at this stage, as I understand it.

Wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't put it out there [ipartly[/i to assess reaction amongst fans on places like this.

This was published last week by Sadler. This is a madness idea.

Changing the structure doesn't address the real issue. If they want to improve the quality of the games they need to improve the quality of teams playing in the comp. The franchise system gives clubs time to build and gives them the stability needed to do so. I fail to see how reintroducing an old system (P & R) that didn't work before is going to improve anything. As a game we need to work harder to market our game and improve the infastructure at all levels. Too many clubs have been tossing it off for years frankly, and as a result are getting left behind by the clubs that are run properly.

Changing the structure is a short-sighted panic measure that will probably be disasterous for the game in this country long term.

But at least six teams from each conference will ony have 9 home games per season, that's a reduction in revenue of over 30%. We need to find a way of extending the season of those that don't make the top four.

Possibly a fair point. What is the future then for those clubs without franchises though? If we're drawing up the drawbridge for good and all, do they become feeder clubs, play in regional leagues