No it wouldn't , proper franchising is what the super 15 s are in RU , totally new clubs all based in large population bases , with all existing clubs still playing in lower tiers

The top RU club in Wellington NZ was the ' Lions ' , when the ' super ' concept started , the Lions continued , but the Hurricanes were formed to play in the new competition

That is proper sports franchising

You'll have to go tell that to the commissioners of the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS, MLB then...

WTF?



Are they anything like the reverse snobbery goggles you seem to be wearing?

It seems to me that some fellow CHAMPIONSHIP club fans have got their knives out for us already.

FFS it’s a licence bid process and not P&R. As such, this decision is far from an ‘outrage’ as, under those rules, it is clearly the right decision. Whether or not this is the right method of moving between the Championship and Super League is another question.

All talk of on-the-field strength being the be all and end all, ended the day the licence system was introduced. If some club chairmen were too ing thick to realize that, that’s their problem.

Now they know what they have to do and, if they still don’t do it, then they are the ones to point the finger at.

Look back at the history of those sports , it is totally different to what we had , plus their support systems are totally different as well , with college scholarships and the like , the Super concept is the one the RFL wanted at the start , but some clubs refused it

My memory is the club chairman grabbed at it (and the £87m) with both hands - it was only fans' protests which stopped the mergers etc

The point of the thread has changed from the OP , Pepe , as for my comment , it just seems that suddenly , lots of Widnes fans who were just as vitriolic in their condemnation of franchising as us Championship fans a couple of years ago , now seem to suggest it is a good thing , and interesting enough , fans of clubs in danger seem to be favouring P and R all of a sudden

The original format was for all clubs to stay as winter clubs with all new area clubs playing in summer

I think a lot of people are underestimating the effect franchising has on the Championship. How are Halifax supposed to get more fans down when we have nothing to play for. If we win the league or grand final, so what? Its just back to zero points and start again, Widnes have proved that on the field dosen't matter at all. Leigh will be in the same boat.

Halifax's strategy was to get more fans down by playing entertaining rugby and competing at the top end of the table every year; this has not worked. Next season I do not believe that Halifax will take as many fans to away games as they have done so far, and for some clubs in the Championship they only see a 1k attendance when Halifax, Leigh or Widnes are in town. The money within the league is going and the dual registration system, whilst excellent for SL teams, makes our league a joke. At the risk of sounding bitter, look at the Widnes team that won the Cup final.

Widnes deserve to be in SL, but the reason they are is because they didn't have to grow their fan base, therefore they could do what they wanted on the field and concentrate on the off field criteria. Its Halifax's own fault our fan base drifted away, but we simply cant burn the candle at both ends and work on off and on field criteria.

Being the 2 nd tier of a minority sport , our ' Brand ' is weak , if the possibility of moving up is taken away it makes your brand ' value ' virtually worthless

So how do you sell something that is ' worthless ' ?

You promote it. Spin it. What you don't do is a Gerald Ratner - even if you think the product IS crap.

Yes - I'd like to be in SL but it won't take long for me to get back into the swing of The Championship. Hell, we gotta get off the bottom of the table !!!

I might ' Ratner ' it on here , I don't when asked locally , I don't attempt to tell anybody about licencing unless asked , as for the answer , well yes you're right , you market it , to the people who either don't understand or care wether there is an end product or not

What the hell has happened to Rugby League... it used to be a really enjoyable sport that I played on sunday morning and watched on sunday afternoon...

I have to say in my two and a bit years now living in Sydney... thet is what it is like here... it is still a community... the game has rivalries but the vitriol I see here caused by (seemingly) the licensing process) doesnt exist... everything is about the game... sure the press try to dig dirt but the offices and work places and sunday morning touchlines are all talking about what happened on the pitch...

people on this forum dont seem to talk anymore about the 'fantstic piece of skill' or bone-shaking tackle or tackles....


its sad....

The NFL has certainly replaced clubs in it's time. Albeit by means of relocation.

Really, which ones?

Because I haven't seen any change of attitude in any of them. Some, very few, have expressed a liking for it long before this decision. The rest haven’r changed at all. All I have seen is Widnes fans defending the decision to award our club a licence based only on what is actually on offer and not on what they think should be on offer. That is not supporting the licence system, but merely acknowledging the reality of what it means and how it is judged. What about the Leythers that suppot the licence system? Does thet mean that all Leigh fans also have [i' Super League goggles?'[/i

So, name names and give all these examples you speak of. It shouldn't be too difficult. And be careful not to take anything out of context, because I will ensure that it is pointed out to you.

No

No, because it was just a pathetic little cheap shot, and your accusations, nay calumnies, are false and you know it.

It was an observation , wether you care to believe me is up to you , I am not going to trawl through pages and pages of posts to find the often asked for evidence or link , but they are there ,

I have already seen pretty much every post by a Widnes fan, over the last couple of days, and they are not there. You are just making things up.

Nonsense.

It is just a subtle change of attitude , I have no doubt if we were ever fortunate enough to get the chance many Leigh fans , quite possibly myself ( although I'd like to think not ) would start to see things differently , just human nature I suppose

Eh up , backups arrived

Aye, happen. It seems to be so ing subtle, only you can see it. I think the only change in attitude is from your end.

Were all entitled to our opinions

You've gone down in my estimation with that one, chief.

Was I ever ' up ' after my posts about million pound profits in the Championship

WTF are you talking about?