Totally agree!! All the other posts on this thread (and all the others like it) are like turkeys arguing about how they should be slaughtered (but each one assuming, of course, that they're "special" turkeys and they won't be slaughtered at all!)

actually you could have hit onto something there, super league east and super league west, played on a home and away basis,the top 4 teams all play off and the winner of the west plays winner of east in the SL grand final

No they won't, because it isn't in their interests - I wouldn't imagine being associated with a moribund RL club (if only because of the name) is something they're overjoyed about!

Is this Back to the Future? Im pretty sure that system used to exist...

precisely.
it would also mean potentially improved crowds are most would be local games and no travelling over the pennines on a friday night

It would be interesting to read your theory as to why Barrow and Toulouse would be an asset to SL, would it be their stadiums or the type of rugby they play or maybe the attendances they achieve or perhaps all of these.

personally i think it will be 2 in 2 out - Wakefield, Salford to go and Widnes, Toulouse to come in - everyone else should be ok

Disagree mate,one in(Widnes)one out,probably Wakefield.

After it kicked off when an article got mis-read or something back in April-ish where Toulose claimed they didnt have to get into the final to get promoted, i think they (RFL) made it clear then that you HAVE to have reached the final or win NRC for go up. So as it stands it can only be Barrow, Halifax, Widnes and Batley (with probably Fev to come to be fair, and then maybe Leigh).

Can't see them changing two clubs at this stage, too much of a gamble, particularly if Crusaders and Catalans are rumoured to have financial problems

T.O or another french club are vital to SLE simply because its wants to be known as a european league.at the moment its a bit of a joke league when it comes to being european.as for barrow..not for me thanks but perhaps a joint frachise between workington and whitehaven might be worth looking at in the future.

What if Toulouse were to drop out of the Championship and attempt to gain a license the same way the Dragons did?

For me, the inclusion of Toulouse wouldn't be as beneficial for French RL as many think. Today, Catalans welcomed their 100,000th English supporter through the gates. I reckon if Toulouse had been in SL alongside the Dragons since 2006, both clubs would be welcoming their 5/60,000th English supporters through the gates. I'm not saying Toulouse and Catalans' proposals should be demerited due to a decrease in away support, but two teams in the south of France would be less attractive than one in Spain, Paris or Ireland. France needs a high-standard league of its own to really start challenging rugby union and in international competition, though I guess it may only arise once two or three French sides make the leap into SL.

Going by standards of the current contenders though, Toulouse probably don't come up to scratch.

From a sentimental point of view I agree but lets not forget that at least one if not both of Cas and Wakey will be kicked out of SL next year to incorporate Widnes just because they have a better ground, so on that basis what chance have the cumbrian teams got?

it will probably be widnes but what is the point in replacing like for like under a franchise system ?as you say they have a better stadium but other than that how can they be better than cas or wakey?

Thats one way of looking at it I suppose.

Another way is Cas currently have next to zero chance of a new ground of their own. Leigh have one. You'd also happily swap your debt for ours.

We average just over 2000 with next to no travelling support in a league were winning the top pot means nowt but your picture in League Express and £50 book of Argos vouchers.

The reason we dont get 40% is becasue we'd have to get over 4500 on for every game. Even the mighty Cas would struggle to get that after spending all but of one of the last 20 years outside the top division.

As for youth, I'd put our towns amateur set up against yours any day of the week and given £1m of Sky money every year we'd probably have half a chance of converting it into a better youth programme too, not thats it's shoddy now.

The Chairman is Arthur Thomas, I assume your thinking of Allan Rowley who only said in public what Steve O'Connor said in private.

Leigh are certainly not ready for Super League, but we're not as far behind Cas as you'd like to think we are.

They are not better than Cas or Wakey, but give them 12month in SL and they will be as good as them. With the income from Sky they will be able to attract better players and be able to compete more favourably with the more established clubs. Unfortunately they were lost to SL due to expantion and then lost out because of this franchise business, Cas got relegated twice and bounced straight back up and Wakey have never been relegated but now it looks like another good club is going to be lost to it as well all because Sky wants everybody to have a new stadium.

You can't put "Vegas" after your town's name though can you?

Ah well, its a nailed on certainty!

how do you know whats going to happen about the cas ground?

How big do you think our debts are?

Amuses me that before the word 'Franchise' appearred in the Rugby League dictionary, very few people voiced their concerns about the state of some grounds.

we have become somewhat ground centric haven;t we?

Most importnat factors as far as I'm concerned is
1. Income
2. Fanbase
3. Jnr Development

anything else is window dressing.

What the hell has being good at playing the game got to do with .....err! playing the game.

I would love to see Barrow back in the top flight, but if you can kick Wakey or Cas out on the grond criteria, then Barrow fall a long way short of either of these two grounds.

There is more chance of the pope having sex with Jordan on Youtube than this happening.

.....or at least the backbone of one, this is what Morgan did at HKR, the bulk of his promotion side was in the first season SL squad and a few are still in it now.