However they reform it they had better make sure that Toronto gets in the top flight.

We can't have a Middle 8's outweighing the top 8's, was always going to be on the cards. Just shows the way forward looks grim again at present.

We're Doooooooooooooooooooooooooooomed.

They might do,seeing that you won't get there on merit.

I'm all for expansion and growing the game. But no one would watch a sport were the positions are fixed. Get there on merit or not at all.

Toronto are doing fine with the current formula.

Back on topic, this does seem like rearranging deck chairs. If they want to grow the game then clubs need to market themselves. You don't hear rugby union teams saying moving the format will grow the game. They are pro active and sell their own clubs.

Again this seems like the chairmen are looking for a format to sell the game rathet than just selling the game themselves.

The problem with the current system is its convoluted and to casual sports fans a bit weird, I think reverting to a more standard format is the right move at this stage.

Completely agree with this. This weekend Huddersfield is playing a fixture that they have effectively advertised as "worthless". It's pathetic and this constant underselling of the sport (not just by the Giants, although they are amongst the worst at it) does more harm than good.

On a similar note, I wish they'd stop calling one of our supposed showpiece events 'The £1m Game' . Partly because it's not worth £1m but mostly because if we're trying to sell this to new fans, saying that this game is worth 150 times less than the equivalent game in football hardly screams "Premier competition"

Yes, we haven't got the money that football has, but do we really need to advertise that to the world?

Wonder if following the NFL isnt all bad, like already been said.

Is there are 2 top divisions like the NFL with 10 teams, play the other 9 teams in your league twice, then play the other league once = 28 games.
Think 1 up/down from each league into the championship could work but those teams would need some real funding to be able to compete when they are promoted.
As for playoffs, top 4 from each league enter the round top 2 ranked team from each league receive a bye for the first week then straight elimination in the league so you will have the champs of SL1 v SL2 in the final.

Suppose that could work.

Maybe split into East and West conferences.

Totally agree with the £1m pound game, in todays sports world that sounds like a tinpot game, as for Huddersfield giving free entry away, well I suppose they've got to try something but advertising games as worthless is just bad marketing, if huddersfield don't think there product is worth paying for neither will the public. And how do the season ticket holders feel about paying when no one else has to.

Why not bring a friend for free or charge and advertise its going to charity or something more positive than 'we can't sell any tickets so here have em for free'

I'm sure the Giants will get a decent take up on the offer and that will be used by some to justify the idea, but this isn't the first time that the Giants have done this, they've already got the cheapest season tickets in the league, and their crowds are still pitiful. A Giants poster on here previously justified it as "getting old supporters.back on the database", but these fans should have never 'dropped off' the database if the club had an effective eCRM strategy in place. No tinkering with the competition format changes that.

If I were a Giants fan, I'd be worried about for how long Ken Davy is going to be willing to try to sell a product that the people of Huddersfield aren't willing to pay for.

I don't think its how long he is willing but how long he's got left, he's not exactly a spring chicken!

Giving away tickets for free isn't the answer, because you need to put on a quality show and considering how the last match turned out that's hardly likely.

This means NO PLAYOFFS AT ALL! The league leader IS the SL champion (as it should be).

FWIW you'll lose 7 games maybe 8 if they scrap magic as well and stay at 12 teams. Therefore, go up to 14 teams with instant promotion and relegation for bottom/top team (or maybe a one off qualifier). You would then only be 3 games down. Just enough to fit in an extra international game or two. And while I'm at it, bring the CC forward.

Scrapping the playoffs and Grand afinal would be absolutely stupid, it is a major sporting event and has been a massive success, Rugby League for the majority of its existence has determined its champions by a playoff and final system.

Lennigan had decided it's back to one up and one down . You can all have your opinion but you are wasting your time . The supporters will never be asked what they want whist arrogant Lennigan is running Wigan . Even Wane is fed up with him .

'Making Your Mind Up' by Bucks Fizz feels more apt.

I’ve loved reading comments like this. Three club chairmen were sat with Elstone today and apparantly 11 clubs to one voted in favour of the changes but it was Lenagan and Wigan who made the decisions



The bitterness towards Wigan has absolutely no boundaries!

Hetheringtons not a happy chap!

I'm quite concerned about the rumours/news emerging. I was originally supportive of the SL clubs taking a more directive role, because it seemed to me that they had perceived the problems correctly.

The problem we have is that there are too few clubs which are large enough, or have the potential to be large enough. SL needs more clubs who can compete for honours, generate good crowds and profile upon which to sell decent TV rights, and produce future players through a good talent development system. So the key questions we had facing us were:

1) How do we increase the competitiveness of SL?
2) Linked to that, how do we grow the game in terms of players, fans and sponsorship?

Based on the rumours emerging today, the answers appear to be:

1) How do we increase the competitiveness of SL? We won't. We'll just chuck out two of the less competitive clubs and hope nobody notices that there are still a majority of also-rans in SL with no incentive to improve.

2) Linked to that, how do we grow the game in terms of players, fans and sponsorship? We won't. We'll just take the existing fanbase, playerbase and sponsorship, and try to concentrate it amongst 10 clubs rather than 12.

Essentially they're hoping to spread the same jam thicker, rather than making more jam. That's a recipe for the sport's demise into increasing irrelevance, and not in the long-term either.

Probably because this is the first time the SL or RFL have said 'no' to him. He's just having a tantram.

Big changing news about league structure etc. As at 7pm no reports of it on Sky RL website. Shows how little Sky actually think of the sport.

Hes not the only one not happy I think this might run a bit

It's called democracy. The RFL allowed the SL clubs to make these decisions, and now, just because he lost the vote he's whining and the sky is falling in. Sounds familiar.

You misunderstand my point, he’s not the only person unhappy about this (not me by the way, we m talking about other people in the game) the whole point being made is that this decision wasn’t made in a democratic way

It's the RFL's fault for allowing SL to become an almost seperate entity a decade or so ago.

In the end it's all down to money. Or rather, making sure that some 'new' finance helps the non-SL leagues (however they are defined in the future) with the aim of helping them ALL go pro over time. That is the only way the competition will grow. That new finance doesn't mean Sky money, but maybe a cheapish deal with the BBC or something that will still give them all more than they receive now.

Whilst I disagree with GH and his statement, he has every right within a 'democratic' system to air his grievances about the outcome. Democracy is, after all, about encouraging debate, rather than shutting it down with "you lost, get over it".

GH's statement states that it needs the RFL to show some leadership. We've been waiting for that since Richard Lewis left. Whilst GH has always been an "RFL" man, he can't really blame the other club chairmen of getting board waiting for it to come.