New welsh club to be confirmed today at a press conference going to start life in championship 1 and there first game is against Workington on Feb 28. i wonder what will happen to them?

Good luck to them, hope they do well.

As I'm sure everyone does so long as nothing's rushed and they're not treated as a special case.

Will be interesting to see how many Crusaders fans that were willing to travel to Wrexham will now get their fix nearer to home rather than follow the freak show.

Best of luck to them.

it has been confirmed that South Wales RLFC will play out of Neath.

[urlhttp://www.lasttackle.com/blogpost_205-crusaders-move-alienates-fans.html[/url

So this time they are going to be taken in slow and not given outrageous advantages designed to sky rocket them into a tier they are not ready for? I sincerely hope so.

Bring them down to the Stobarts.

Just another victim!

Word!

Also from BBC:

"Meanwhile, Harlequins will play the new-look Crusaders in a pre-season friendly in aid of the Jon Wells testimonial, with the match taking place will be played at Rosslyn Park on 16 January."

Hope Mr Wells enjoys the £10 Primark voucher!

Hopefully SWRLFC (quite aptly named, btw) will be given time to grow naturally. There's no shame if they fail, but if South Wales does desire and warrant a SL franchise, time will tell. It has to be at least a ten-year plan if they want to set their sights on SL.

I think the Widnes club have been hard done by. Crusaders should lose their franchise. The whole reason for their entry into SL was to tap into the traditional rugby support in the valleys of South Wales. To move to North Wales nearly into your back yard is a disgrace.

By all accounts Quins have been told to get their bums in gear RE: crowds to keep their franchise. We shall see.

..Basically,your correct......Its been a difficult job promoting RL in London.....It still seems more a case of people down here being unaware that there is a Harlequins League side as well as the rah-rahs ..Our newish CE is a guy called Paul Blanchard and he seems to have a few irons in the fire ..We have got some good (excellent maybe) sponsors on board this year and with some decent marketing we hope to push on this year....As for the Vikings...I have family who live and play league in Widnes so I hope you get your wish, as it is well deserved and get back into super league as soon as possible...not at our expense though..

By all accounts there's big chunck of London that loves rugby league but they'd rather stop at home or go to the pub and watch it TV. Would you say this is correct?

On another note, I don't think anyone has mentioned the story on LastTackle.com about SL being made the be all and end all by the RFL and questions what we have to play for. SOC and Widnes are mentioned as a point.

[url=http://www.lasttackle.com/blogpost_208-championship-needs-a-vision.htmlChampionship Needs a Vision[/url

A load of garbage , they use the football as an example of what it should be , ie clubs happy to be in it

The only clubs that want to be in the footy Championship are the clubs in league 1 , all the championship clubs want to be in the premiership

They should never have given up the name 'London'. People can identify with that.

I think you have missed the bigger pitcher they are getting at in the article. SL teams get all the support they want and need. In the CH and CH1 clubs are left to fend for them selves. They get little to no support. The RFL should focus on the lower league then there would be no excuse for the promotion/relegation not to be there. Helping to develop the CH and CH1 will make the sport for entertaining. Some clubs are happy to be in the CH or CH1 until they think they are ready for the next step up.

The RFL need to look at these divisions and work out how they can support the clubs in this. Announcing there are a load of criteria for the next licensing system and telling the clubs they must meet these without any help is a complete joke.

If the sport is to develop it needs to be strong in all leagues with prom/rel at all levels.

I havent missed the bigger picture at all , but I do agree with you , the RFL are clueless with what to do with the Championship,s and the clubs in it , to the point that I personally think they dont want certain clubs to improve and push for SL

IMO they want the heartland Championship clubs to just survive to be either feeder clubs for local SL neighbours and to provide somewhere to test and develop expansion clubs

It sounds like I'm paranoid , but I cannot draw any other conclusion given their actions

I understand what you mean about SOME (and I mean this as some) heartland clubs. You know the ones screwed out of their change at the SL. Other heartland clubs have been dragged down not by the RFL but by the people running the club. So that statement you made it not totally accurate. Leigh where given a golden ticket so there is something to help a heartland club out.

If the franchise system is to work then the same rules need to be applied to the CH and CH1 so those clubs can build for the future.

The fact that Toulouse can't get relegated for 3 seasons (I'm not saying its right but my opinion) but I understand the reason behind it. But at the same time for those 3 seasons should be exempt from the play off's and promotion (if that was still around)/SL license in 2012. That way they can build and can't gain negative or positive's from the first 3 years other than build a better squad and youth system.

In a perfect world then bring back prom/rel in all leagues, all new venture clubs start in CH1 and build at own rate. However I do strongly believe that new expansion clubs are given help (not different rules to play by) as to running and developing a youth system. More behind the scenes help if you understand what I mean. This way at least clubs grow at the rate they are destined for and do not drag the RL name through the mud etc.

Lost me ?

Leigh fan Augustus Gloop won the ticket in his chocolate bar, here he is with his retro Leigh shirt on.

Apparently someone at the RFL found a golden ticket in a bar of chocolate guaranteeing two people a free tour around a chocolate factory and they gave it to Leigh. If you're lucky you could end up owning the whole factory which should help with finances at least.

Leigh where given a reprieve.

Think next time I'll just say that instead of using metaphors

or Widnes do get in and make a pigs ear of it , yourselves might be in the running along with us at that time and your location might well make you a more favourable proposition , we will see

Oi Starbug, Extreme Dave is one of our Viking friends from Gateshead. We dont need any foul mouthed Lobby Gobblers coming on here swearing and causing stress.

Haha yeah stop the foul langauge Starbug

my kids do not need to hear that sort of thing