Latest from this weeks RL press on structuring.
Championship clubs will meet up on July 5th to have their say on the proposed changes to the league structure.

Super League representatives met up earlier this month to discuss a number of key issues, including the possibility of an expanded Super League competition.

With those plans now apparently gaining increased support from Super League clubs moving forward senior figures from the twelve Championship clubs will meet next week to discuss the proposals put on the table by their Super League counterparts and how they may affect them moving forward.

The press understands the RFL has not yet set out the exact points of discussion to the clubs but the potential restructuring will be at the top of the agenda.

A proposal was put forward at the Super League meeting that could see Super League return to a 13 or 14 team competition.
A number of Championship clubs are keen to seek assurances on their position should that happen and the implications it could have on central distribution of funding and their prospects of earning promotion to Super league in the future or whether the new concept will result in teams being locked to the second tier.

Another topic of discussion will be the future of the Super 8's structure should Super League take in two additional teams.
Any change to the number of teams in both competitions will entail changes both to the regular season format and the Super League 8s themselves should the structure actually remain in place.

An additional complicating factor is that any changes made to the league structure must be approved by Sky as Sky's current broadcasting agreement with the RFL carried the proviso that both Super league and the Championship were 12 team competitions with the Super 8's format and any adjustments would have to be accepted by the leading figures at BSkyB.

If any restructure happens would it come in to immediate effect for 2018 ?

Your answer to that, Ian,is Bradford.

Agree and posted already,but on reflection this would undermine this years middle 8s and render the million pound match worthless.If this happens the remaining 250 of us that bothered to turn up at Swinton will be one more light next season.

The official decision is yet to be made but.
The cynical side of me (that seems to be getting bigger as the years goes by) is that if it's up to the RFL and current SL the additional two clubs will come from HKR, Toronto, Toulouse and London and it will be whenever any of those tick the box concocted by the RFL and SL.

If someone else where to tick the box such as say Fev, then they would find something to put an hold on it until they faded away like they did with Keighley some years back.

As you say an additional rosette for the powers that be to wear proudly on their old pals chest would say.
"We saved Bradford from relegation from the Championship".

I forgot to add that it will protect Catalans from ever suffering the same fate as what happened to HKR.

Who knows?

However, I am very much against creating a situation where the metaphorical goalposts are shifted during the season.

We don't change the rules during a game and we shouldn't change the rules during the season either.

Is not one of the problems that the inclusion of teams like Toronto, Catalans, Toulouse and Uzbekhistan Rovers makes no sense in an environment largely populated by part time clubs ?

Yes, fully agree and I think that shows that the teams mentioned will be given preference and internal assistance to change their environment from the Championship to SL, otherwise why would their owners bother if they hadn't been given a behind the scenes nod, only then does it make any sense.

Nod, maybe. But the notion that $uperleague clubs will chip in a few quid to finance them is difficult to believe.

However, as always, it's the clubs who make the decisions, not the RFL.

You're not the first person I've heard say that. Perhaps The RFL are going down the pub company route. You know the one, buy up a chain of pubs and the ones you don't want just run them into the ground until there's hardly any customers left. You then cast them aside saying they're unviable and concentrate on the one's left. Now swap your pub for your rugby club and fat Nige and his cronies are laughing all the way to Toronto, Toulouse and Australia. Forgive me for being cynical but we'll have a look in five years time and see where we all are, eh?

Exactly, so think it through.

We can believe it because it's the SL clubs (and therefore their notion) that are proposing to go to 13 or 14 teams which raises the interesting question where will the funding come from?

This must have been considered by the SL before putting that idea on the table for as you say there is no way they would have done so if it meant they would lose out, sitting on the branch with a saw comes to mind.

There is something going on behind the scenes that will take care of the above and not leave them out of pocket.

As a speculation.

Take Toronto for instance, would the owner have bothered to set up a club knowing the best they could ever achieve was Championship rugby?

Would the RFL ever have let them form if they new they would restrict them to Championship rugby which would likely lead to a pretty quick demise?

Will their funding be through some sort of sponsorship through Premier Sports and or Air Transat that picks up their tab?

Would the same apply through French TV for Toulouse?

Interesting times and it will show where the RFL, SL and the rest stand when it all comes out.

Quite frankly I am totally confused by the 'strategic planning' of the SL clubs and the RFl.
How can you forever be tinkering with a sport format (even mid season!) and expect credibility, sponsorship,investment, sustained future growth from bottom up.
This just looks to me that the untouchables at the RFl and SL Chairmen are hell bent on a closed shop for the privilege few.
The remainder may well find themselves cast aside and perhaps even in a part time breakaway league structure comprising the unfashionable heartland clubs!
As has been said earlier let's re visit in 5 years time and see where the game as a whole is at.

So there are a host of issues that will need addressing.
Totnto's deal with Premier Sports - if they are promoted how does this work, probably Prem Sports will get sacked off once again in favour of Sky, likewise with Toulouse I guess.

SL teams - will they take less money, of course not.

More games - they are already moaning there are too many, I don't think the SL teams can come in at any later stage in the CC unless they play rock, paper, scissors until there are just two left and they join at the semi-final stage with two 'lesser' clubs with guarantee the SL clubs are kept apart.

Cynical, I think not, I'm with Mr Hall, sack the lot off as there really seems to be little for Fax to carry on for. Let the club fold and we can reminisce on past glories as that is all it looks like we will ever have.

Three years ago there was a huge pressure from supporters to go to twelves and eights, despite the Swiss soccer league (only ones to use it, sfaIaa) saying it was carp. If we hadn't made this change, we'd never have heard the end of it.

As it turns out, it's a nice fit from a competition point of view, but the financials aren't good at all. You don't know the fixtures for the last seven games of the season until July. Ground sharers are always second to soccer for their fixture date picks. Clubs who only sold season tickets for the twelve phase of the season made a huge mistake in thinking they could sell "mini season tickets" for the eight phase.

Toronto can only make their decision on the basis of the situation at the time they made that decision. If the door to $uperleague does close, they may just close the club down. Or they may not. They don't seem to be doing so bad at the moment, crowds still good, sponsorship healthy. Obviously there's a lot which hasn't been made public about their finances, so we'll never know.

The Sky contract is also a factor - it's based on twelves and eights and if there's to be a change before the contract runs out, Sky would need to agree because the RFL have an obligation to provide games on the twelves and eights format.

But - again - if there's some "plot" at Red Hall, it'll be at the instruction of the clubs. They are the masters and the RFL are the servants.

My preference would be for no change for 2018 and, if there is to be a change for 2019, for it to be announced before the 2018 season starts.

Agreed.

The 8's is Ok as long as you are in the ones that really mean anything. The Middle 8 when points are reset is the one with real interest. The top 8 works as long as there is a bit of hope that those below the 4 can make it in there, if you're 8-10 points adrift it's pointless, so to speak, same with the bottom 8 though there is always the relegation side of this which can make interesting watching,IF somebody is actually going to be relegated.

They could keep the 8's format but it might be split with Bottom 6 of SL and top 2 of Championship and the first 5 stay up and 6 & 7 are in the Million Pound game. No one cares how they then split the rest.

Only acceptable way...

Absolutely it's the only way. You have players complaining about mental health due to the Million pound game etc. How does a sudden change in format help players make decisions on their careers when they don't know what the fudge is going on from one season to the next.

Would clubs have spent more money knowing that from next year it's a closed shop again.

If it does go back to a form of franchising then I am done, I watch SL on TV but really have no preference who wins as long as it's not Wigan, Leeds and Leigh, I could only watch fax but not in a meaningless competition. Franchising is purely for clubs with wealth to flash the cash and get in, Toronto, London and Toulouse and that'll be done!. Surely some of the chairman realise this, Wakefield for instance would be first out of the door!.

Spot on Griff.

The bit I highlight is the biggest problem to all the clubs. How do sell sponsorship for the games when you don't know when they are to be played, whether you are going to have 3 or 4 home games, how do you set up the pricing for executive boxes, season tickets, sort out advertising, etc. The casual fans will not necessarily leave the weekends blank to attend games.

On that basis you can see why some chairmen/chairwomen may be saying let's have 14 teams with a 27 game fixture list (13 guaranteed home games)

Season tickets, you probably just need to take a view on where you're likely to finish. If you're right, great. If not, just take it on the chin.

This business of including three games and selling you another ticket at a discount if there are four games is an admin nightmare.

griff1998 wrote:My preference would be for no change for 2018 and, if there is to be a change for 2019, for it to be announced before the 2018 season starts.

Got to be that way to give clubs / players any chance of planning ahead.

And also so that fans don't feel they have been defrauded when they have been watching 2017. Finishing positions for this year have to be honoured in terms of central funding, promoted teams/relegated teams have to go up/down as appropriate, the winners of the £1m pound game have to go to SL etc.

Good point.