In the 25 years of Superleague there hasn't been much of a "fence" at all most years involved promotion?

The 1.8M isn't life support it's money to pay for the best professional team the SL clubs can find?

There's been a few years where finishing last didn't = relegation......and after being saved, Huddersfield are still 100% reliant on Ken's cheque book.


Take 1.8 million from Wakey, Huddersfield, HRK, Leigh, pretty much any of them and they struggle against Fev or Toulouse (or batley, fax, bradford)......in Salfords case, 1.8 million is probably 70% of their income!

I've just read the LE report saying 10 team SL1&2 are on the cards....which is simply reducing the top tier to try and ring fence the money and improve the product....It only does one of those things IMHO and it's not improving the product!
If they go to a top tier 10 with 2 French sides taking no money, I suspect the game will be dead as a pro sport inside a decade..........

In trying to justify this new proposed set up, Sky saying the poor quality of some games featured raises [at least three points:

Wigan v Wire was dire - big clubs don't equal good games.

They don't seem to have the same concerns when chucking stupid money at the utterly boring soccerball game.

10 teams playing each other at least 3 times is boring.

The moment you mention association football you miss the point.......soccer is as boring as bat but it's in a different galaxy.......and remember, without SKY, we'd have a semi-pro comp reliant on benevolent rich guys and fans.....we have neither in great numbers at present.

20 team 1st division....38 home and away top 4 play offs.....no cap......let the sport evolve because we've tried more new formats in 25 years and they haven't worked.

Nah 38 team comp next year all teams play each other once on neutral grounds top ten become SL1, second 10 become SL2 and clubs outside this relegated to the amateur game....

1. So cubs will have to agree to play an open game.

2. In the case of soccer it's Soccer that control the broadcasters.

3. You may take this admirable personal view but I would guess a third Saints.v.Wigan will beat a first Featherstone.v. Batley in terms of ratings.

The problem is not the clubs. The problem is the league structure.
Most SL games are completely pointless in the current structure.

Wigan v Saints on a bank holiday monday. Two big teams with great support, both have "quality" players, and will produce a good game of RL. BUT, the result is meaningless. Both these teams will be in the playoffs and that is the only point in our season where results actually matter.

With the overseas player reduction, I'd argue that you'd struggle for 10 teams.

Any increase in teams will meet opposition from the poorer teams in the league because it means their cut of the central money will be reduced.

Can someone tell me where i can read what Sky have said about poor quality games.

According to newspaper articles and some wireless content this morning people have realised what garbage the rah rah boys served up this last couple of weekends emperors new clothes etc

Our RL leader should have been on all points north all day hammering home the differences between rl/ru without taking the mick.We should be seeing articles tomoz with the compare stats time ball in play/tries scored metres gained passing movements etc
What chance......none

Sky's not going to belittle the product they are trying to sell are they

and yet sky pay top dollar to show it and vodafone paid £6,500,000 to have their logo on the lions shirt.......sky are on record

back to the shirt deal......that's 25% of our entire sky deal for 8 games........it may be turgid dross but its popular in a way we will never be

but we should have been positively promoting our game for years we have gradually had less coverage hardly anything in the nationals now no magazine show to build characters poor commentators has all pandered to the establishment who we know run that game still.its another example of the north south divide.maybe we have a chance to ride that levelling up wave to get us moving in the right direction

i am trying to be optimistic.we have to do something. do we cut right back no overseas players proper effective enforced salary cap and build up participation at community level

Without incurring the wrath of moderators on here, I'll cease from posting a map of the uk, but I can assure you the North/South divide is one purely of our own making. we have 4 in West Yorkshire, 3 in greater manchester, 2 in East Riding, 1 in cheshire 1 in merseyside and a French Club.....Somerset, Bristol, Exeter, Gloucester, Middlesex (2) Leicester, greater London, Tyne & Wear, Northampton, greater manchester, , Coventry & Worcester is where Unions top teams are based.....

We are a Northern Sport and we need to accept as much or we need to stop half d chopping and changes and support clubs like London, Newcastle and York in the same way the NRL backed Melbourne

York were formed in 1868 and joined the Rugby League in 1905, they are about 26 miles from Headingley. But I assume you know that, it's just that it comes over as supporting new clubs in new areas

Don't try to be an "ordinary optimist" please...







Cut the overseas players and you greatly reduce the playing quality of the Superleague
Enforce a level salary cap and top aussies won't come here and top English players may go to union

I like [i"Build up participation at community level"[/i but that participation has bombed in Rugby League, just as it has in Rugby Union and also big time in soccer. It has bombed further on the head injuries thing. So we just go on doing the best we can as we have done for 125 years......

No magic bullet here, we simply go on doing what we are doing as best as we can do it.........It's called survival.

Each team will play each other twice, not 3 times, hopefully augmented by a 9's Comp which will add home games & bring much needed excitement to the sport. R.L needs to learn from the likes of the Cricket 100.

Clubs cannot survive on 9 home games.

But as I say, they won't if a 9's Comp runs alongside !

Pie in the sky.

From October 10 all 14 SL marketing bods should be working as a central team....3 months to get fans chomping at the bit for what could be an epic season with 4 teams facing the drop to SL II.......as for the championship.....given there's nothing to play for, I suspect you'll see a sharp drop in gates......but as long as the right 10 are in SL come October 2022, then it'll all be ok.......but woe be if Leeds or Wigan have a mare in 2022.....now that would be funny

They'd find a way to keep them up even Radlinski would come back to play for nothing again like 2006 season when the rules was bent to keep Wigan up

Thanks for that Ste, it's a matter of making the best of it and a season with all to play for, no loop fixtures, some very important fixtures fighting for SL places, and the safety net of a second tier that will also get funding, and the 9's which you rightly term "excitement" (years ago I went to Wigan to watch RL pro-nines and it was great stuff) then we have a lot to look forward to........

Unless one's club is one of the many that won't be part of SL 1&2 and will no longer see a penny of funding. Now we know where the game is going forward, thoughts turn to who they will leave behind...........

Yes indeed........ A significant time in the history of the game in which there may be exciting times.......for some......

For those shut out quite the opposite and so attention turns to the middle of the Championship where there will be some serious battles for literally "survival" and where Semor Kurdis Newcastle club are playing for a place in the 14 after being conveniently hoisted into the Championship.

What a significant point you raise, thoughts ought to also go out to some grand old clubs......

No game on Sky on Friday night, I know, let's tune in to some other 3. fook me, What's going on?