Anybody listen to GMR this afternoon? Jack Dearden was very scathing of the RFL regarding the Celtic farce, unfortunately everybody missed the point, SKY pull the strings, no one else, not even the RFL.

The silence from other clubs indicates to me that they have been warned - keep your mouth shut if you want to keep eating from the top table, or else.....

At least Phil Clarke asked the right questions on Boots 'n' all - unlike his two mates.....

Not like GMR to tell it how it is! I was shocked.

tbh im sick to death of it all, will we have all this constant Celtic talk for the next 2 years? it's boring.

VM every one is entitled to post what they like if you dont like it dont in read it!!

But i cant make my mind up unless i read it, perhaps it's just me but im sick of it all. I think we should just create a sticky called Celtic and just whinge in the one thread.

I think we need to banish certain posters to that thread and leave them to continuously boil themselves to death. Just leave us out of it. I can understand threads on the bigger issues but this?

Let them get on with it. The RFL made their bed, now they're lying in it. Until they come flatcap in hand we'll just have to enjoy what we've got now.

No franchises and get pomotion and relegation for all teams.No cap etc then we wont hear whinging on unfairness.

I agree.

They will soon dissolve like an Andrews liver salt, like every other known expansion venture so far.

I want it to continue to the extent that Lewis and Co follow them down the pan.

Its a farce, bent mockery, but I cannot help chuckling each time I think about it.

Both Celtic and the RFL got what they deserved!!

We've had it for the past 3, what's another 2? It's like a prison term....

My club Leigh got slaughtered for putting its head above the parapet and saying the Celtic Franchise was wrong on many levels, Widnes took the route of saying nothing and appeasing the RFL to help their chances next time around.

Which club was right I'm not sure, but if more clubs would of stood alongside Leigh we might not be in this position of fear that permeates the game at present.

Free speech should be allowed with no penalties if you go against the flow but unfortunately unity is replaced by self interest today.

The difference my dear friend is that in doing what you did when you did it.. you simply looked like sore losers. At that time there was little other than a sickly feeling in the stomach to suggest that Celtic were worthy winners once some of the media and the RFL bandwagon had finished. We all knew it was baloney but we didn't have the proof.

Now however the vapour thin promises and assurances given by the Crusaders are evaporating around them and everyone can see what the real situation looks like. I'm glad that we took the stance that we did. I think we will profit from it and I expect the club to remain dignified over this.

You probably will profit but that still does not help all the other clubs and that is whats wrong with the so called RL family, it mirrors todays society of "I'm allright Jack".

Widnes think a Franchise is in the bag and I don't have any problem with this but if publically stating what was obviously a disgrace is going to effect your chances of reaching the promised land, well I don't care if we ever get there, and I'm being serious.

We've played that card too many times and too many times it has come up the joker and we have lost out... time and time again we have tried to take on the RFL, (quite often on our own) and now the club are taking a different approach which seems to be gaining us some ground.
The RFL family is dead unfortunately and the game is now split into the haves and the have nots... I want (and the people that run this club want), the team to be in SL and flourish.

I like it in the championship and wouldn't be too disheartened to stay but I think things will get worse from 2011 onwards and we will become nothing more than a bunch of feeder clubs. There is little in the way of an alternative. This club has terrific potential and I want my club to achieve this.

never have truer words been spoken. The day this happens is the day I turn my back of RL for good. The future beyond then is bleak, 2011 is breaking point, we have to achieve SL status.

Absolutely agree..
RL has in many ways benefited to varying degrees from having such 'hands on' administrators.. Video Referees, Summer Rugby, Salary Cap, etc etc. but I honestly think that the plan from here-in is just unsustainable and not been thoroughly thought out.

Pat Price summed it up beautifully on announcement day when she said.
'the leaves of expansion are green... but the roots are dying!!!'

Why does that not suprise me? She is like the third grandma to every Widnes fan below 50. What a woman. although you are hearing it now, hands off.