I like how your blaming the cap on your present situation

Except he hasn't. Re-read it in context of the wider game rather than Leeds.

A win against Wakefield should take us out of the relegation dog fight.

Regardless of the current scoreline this wakey team is a lot better than leeds could offer.

I'm Leeds through and through, but I've yet to see anything encouraging from Leeds this season . I wouldn't back them next week

Yep. There’s been maybe 2 games where we’ve looked to be anything like the standard we should be - the Saints and Salford games.

But in the vast majority of games, even ones we’ve won, we’ve looked far too soft to give us any kind of confidence for any opposition.

Huge game next week now.

Aye. Lahndan aren't just going to lie down and drop without a fight.

Should be a belter of a game, looking forward to it for once, I think maybe mentally the win against Wakey will have done us the world of good, lets hope for another gutsy performance.

I really think we should be turning Wigan over at home. Certainly shouldn’t die wondering.

We'll give them a game, hopefully Walker and Peteru will be back

Fancy us to beat Wigan. But cannot believe Saints lost today. London will win a few more yet as well

Peteru out for six weeks isn’t he?

Not seen that, I suppose that'll mean Singleton will continue. Personally, I'd give Muzz a game

London’s incredible win against table toppers St Helens means there are only 4 points between Salford, Wigan, Huddersfield, Leeds, Hull kr and London. Any of those clubs could still go down.

It was previously thought 16 points would make a team safe, that figure could now be 18 or even 20 points.

Fair play to London that's an unbelievable result. The table is really tightening up.

London have 4 games remaining against their relegation rivals (2 against Hull kr). Those games will probably decide who is relegated.

There are 4 points separating Salford in 7th and London at the bottom now. A run of 2/3 wins can see you ease clear and into mid table or on the flip side a 2/3 game losing run could see you right in the poop. Big game for us this week against another relegation rival Wigan at home and we need to keep the winning momentum going and stretch it to 3 in a row.

London's showing this year is also an argument for looking again at franchising. If they get up to 16 points or more and still get relegated, that's a hell of a penalty for a team built very quickly and with every chance to consolidate in the following years. Instead they'll lose some of their better players and start from scratch.

I know the arguments against expansion, but IMO the game has to grow or die, and if the only way we can get enough games is for clubs to play each other 3 times or more we really are overkilling it.

Yes agreed. You could expand with then bringing in Toronto etc next year and all of a sudden the need for repear fixtures goes and the lesgue starts to look nice and competitive whilst growing. Then if Fax Bulls Fev keep getting better what a superb league it would be

Next year would be the perfect time to expand to 14. London have gone really well and it would be a shame if they get relegated. Toronto are going to walk the championship so it looks like they will come up, I would let the team finish top come straight up, no relegation from SL and just move the playoffs in the Championship to 2nd to 6th rather than 1st to
5th, would the existing SL clubs vote for a cut in funding though and would SL dare change the format with less than half the season to go?

I’ve found the repeat fixtures a bit annoying this year TBH

Agreed Christopher. The repeat fixtures imo are bad for the sport. Takes the numbers off the crowds takes the edge off the games and makes the game look confusing from the outside.

Those extra games just make SL look like a sport moving in ever decreasing circles. Not enough gate receipts? Simple - play half the comp again.

I know the issues people have with Tornoto - ooh the risk. But they have managed to pay for teams to travel there in a semi-pro competition. That's no small achievement, and vastly more than most clubs do for competitors. The upside potential is also enormous, and dwarfs anything other championship teams could offer.

Personally I'd go for broke and bring in Toronto and Toulouse, and have Bradford, Widnes and Leigh etc fight for the next franchise spot. The conversation re TV deals would be very different with a north American presence, London and a couple of French teams compared to the usual M62 suspects.

In the longer term, for the sport to thrive, it must grow. The only way to do this sustainably is franchising. We basically bottled it last time, and listened to too many people with their own agendas instead of the sport itself as their primary concern. Due to the way that this year is shaping up, with nothing really to choose between London, HKR, Leeds, and then even Wigan, Hudds and Salford all within 4 points of each other, more than half of the league are at risk of relegation (which would be catastrophic for whichever club is concerned) so I would state now that there will be no relegation this year. Then I would promote Toronto as others have said and this group then become franchises for the following season. Any club can join the following year as long as they meet certain playing, structural and commercial criteria, with the potential for one team to be added each year when they meet those criteria.

Imagine in 5 years time you could have a league that looks like this:

Leeds
Saints
Wigan
Warrington
Hull KR
Hull
Wakefield
Salford
London
Toronto
Castleford
Bradford
Leigh
Tolouse
Catalans
Huddersfield

That's 16 teams, with others like New York that could potentially join once they've met the criteria. Some will say that we simply don't have the player pool to support this number of clubs, but without the clubs and no risk of relegation this will be an eternal question. Without the risk of relegation, more kids would get chances and so the player pool grows.

It's the only sustainable way to develop the club game.

Agreed, look at us this year if we knew we were safe I’m sure we would have seen more youngsters getting game time, that can only be a good thing for the game as a whole