With regards SKy, simply speculative maths, Leeds go down, Leeds have 30-40 regular and casual fans at least, i for one would stop my subscription to SKY if Leeds where not in super league and not on the tv. if 20-25k other Leeds fans do the same (conservative figure) sky could lose 8-10 million every year in subscriptions. Viewing figures have been down for a number of years, you have to consider the loss of the second biggest supported club in Bradford into that it will plummet even more without Leeds. Sky may not insist Leeds stay up, but they may offer a considerably less deal next time without Leeds to make up the short fall. Or insist on franchising again. Make no bones about it SKY want to sell subscriptions and losing the games best supported biggest club and losing tens of thousands of subscriptions will not sit well.

We won't go down anyway, think we have hit rock bottom only was is up now. and think with the last 10 games 8 at home we will pull well clear into mid table.

you feeling ok.

Yup. I'm not a Leeds fan I'm a Trinity fan, Leeds are important to our future - nobody cares if we win or lose to Hudds or London but they do when its Leeds or Cas. That's what team sport is all about, old rivalries and local bragging rights. BV is full when a good Leeds team turns up, thats what matters to me.

TBF Leeds are also a decent enough club these days. However Hurrell is still ordinary imo, good going forwards a liability going backwards - you're a poor team with poor recruitment at present, I can't offer you any solace on that I'm afraid.

Now Leeds create the What If? its amusing to see the reality dawn on some. RL is too small to lose fans and facilities. A FT structure of 20 clubs in 2 divisions with P&R between them with a 3 year licence, is affordable, common sense and strengthens RL. The second division may contain Bradford ( 2012, 12500 avg gate) Leigh (2017, 6700 avg gate) TWP (7000ish in lower leagues) TO, Salford, Widnes (6-7k), HKR (8-9k), London Avignon Newcastle/York etc. Caveats should be around min squad spend and potential bonds, owners willing to put in are essential to growing the sport - structures are critical.

There would not be seven teams from across the pond. Only [ifour[/i. Toronto, Ottawa, New York and [ione of[/i Boston, Philadelphia, Montreal and Chicago. Four north American teams
would not be enough for a separate league.

Also, even with the north American teams vacuuming up all the players from Salford and Wakefield it would still create a strain on the available player pool, pending the development of north American juniors. Which is another reason why four north American teams is the absolute maximum for the next decade.

You really do live in Chorley come cukoo land - when have any of those cities with the exception of Toronto ever expressed a desire for a RL team, 99.9999% of the populations of those cities have never heard of RL and wouldn't want it if they had. You're a very silly poster.

Why would they want players from these teams, in your dream of RL in the future these are a stain on the game.

I know that we've been here before but, your idea is pure fantasy.
Unless there were 2 conferences that came together for the play offs, interest in SL 2 would be broadly similar to The Championship. Plus, where is the money coming from for the additional 8 FT funded clubs.
Hell, the greedy clubs at the top of the pile have been working hard to reduce the number of SL clubs to try and gain a larger slice of the SL pie.
Add to that the likely reduction in funding, despite the inclusion of Toronto and Toulouse in the mix, next time around and it's just not going to happen.
There could be yet another re-branding / re-structure but, certainly not extra cash.

Plus the boredom factor of playing so many repeat fixtures AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Fantasy is the domain of the brainless who feel that change isn't needed. We will struggle to expand in the south so must ensure we secure our foundations and create a strong France, whilst accepting strong American/Canadian clubs should they materialize. RL is undervalued massively on a £/viewer basis, we need to work with our broadcasting partner to release the funding needed to provide a more dynamic sport that creates the mutual benefits both crave.

I actually agree with the above.
However, this being the case, why, oh why, didn't we expand SL to 14 clubs (to include Toronto and Toulouse) at the last, very recent, restructure.
N. America is STILL an experiment and it needs to be tested at the top level.
On the (huge) minus side. Even with Toulouse and Toronto in SL, would this actually increase the TV deal ? and if so, can you explain just how, because, a few hundred extra Canadian / French subscribers wont make a TV deal happen.

Btw, I'm loving the threats from the RL fans of Leeds that they would cancel their Sky subscriptions if Leeds get relegated

Bit OTT, we might actually win a few if we got relegated..

New York has a rugby league team syndicate. So too does Ottawa, with the help of the magnificent Eric Perez. Ottawa has rock solid backing from a local sports team business conglomerate. The two syndicates are allegedly making their case to the RFL sometime this month to join League One in 2020. If you didn't know any of this then you are hopelessly out of touch.

My personal original proposal is that they get fast tracked into Super League.

Could you please explain the magnificence of Eric Perez for those of us that are lacking in the knowledge of his wonderful exploits on behalf of SL,

This Eric Perez is beginning to sound more and more like the Tooth Fairy.

what would be your reasoning on ommiting salford and wakefield?

When Maurice Lyndsey et al came up with the idea of a Superleague of big city clubs and mergers to create area teams, merging talent and supporter pools, I bought it. I believed that a bright new future for RL was on the horizon.

I thought it would be hard, but I believed in RL as a major player. I was "happy" for my club (Wakefield), to be a sacrificial lamb.

I won't be fooled again.

The top division HAS to be based on on-field performance, and where off-field performance fails, then bye bye. No club is bigger than the game. SL does NOT need any clubs, however well supported or shiny their stadium is. If my team earns the right on the field, then as long as they are solvent, end of.

I'm all for North American teams, but they must contribute - financially and in profile. They must earn their place.

If we don't strike now in North America, RU will and then it's game over.

RL can't even succeed in Wales, let alone New York. This JC character is simply a troll.

What a ridiculous argument.

You've compared oranges with apples. Wales and America are completely different markets with completely different challenges.

If you do not know who Eric Perez is, you're not really much of a follower of the game.

True - there is NO market for RL in America, never has been, never will be - in the meantime people waste time supporting schemes that would make Charles Ponzi blush. RL continues to die a slow death in its UK heartland at both pro and amateur level whilst the air heads on here, in the media and in the games hierarchy vainly search for that magic bullet expansion club that will put it all right. Truly depressing.

The "magic bullet" analogy is bang on. I remember when "every minute mattered".
The clue was that it looked like a pup, smelt like a pup but, we were still sold, a pup.

The unfortunate thing is thet, even thought "the fat controller" has moved on, Mr Elstone still believes in the N. American dream

, which far from saving the game, actually increases the running costs of every side that has to play over there.

Some say that SL clubs should be able to afford the "hit" but, why should "we" be increasing costs for ZERO return.

It's proven that Toronto's inclusion wont enhance the TV deal or, they would already be in SL and whilst there is a potential strategic gain (if N. America embraces our sport), it remains one hell of a gamble.

America has NFL, Soccer, Baseball etc. selling RL would be like selling croquet in Keighley.

Out of the big 4 sports in America, soccer is not one of them, but has made some big gains in last 10-15 years. Americans love sport and with so many big cities to choose from and even minor cities, there is every chance we can get a foothold and even a small share of the market can produce crowds that dwarf most lower /upper championship clubs. Its not the holy grail, but its an opportunity we must expand on, if it goes tits up just like all the other explanation plans then we still must not give up. just how many rockets crashed in the 50-60s before they got it right. how many airplanes crashed when they were developing, how many trains and steam engines conked out. its Human Nature to strive for bigger and better.

Fact is there are some millionaires over there with cash to spend and want to spend it on RL, and too many fans over here are seeing that as a bad thing, it it was Union they wanted to spend it on, they would have snapped their hands of by now.

i was just trying to lighten the mood, as every time our paths cross it becomes a slanging match.