Surely you can see an issue were sides outside SL are expected to have up to scratch facilities on what 1/5 of the budget with no SKY money etc yet some sides in SL have happily just took every penny and invested it where exatcly?

Leigh got their stadium done in time for 2008, Widnes got ours sorted outside of SL, why should anyone else with much more money coming in be any different? Save the economy excuse as well as sides ignored the good times to fill the directors pockets!

Saints and Salford will have part built stadia by this time next year , it will be plain to see , there will be steelwork and concrete , but both will struggle to be finished for feb 2012

Cas and Wakey ? , Who knows if they will even have started but one thing is certain , they need to build them no matter what or where they end up , it cannot be a , no SL , no stadium situaton

Wakefield have already said that Newmarket will not be ready for the start of the 2012 season and will be ready in April/May.... so that means they should stop and not bother then? The fact that in the next few weeks they could be (and I say only could be) in a position to confirm everything and get legally binding contracts in place AND start work on site prior to the formal announcement/decision should now count for nothing now then?

Ok, now I am being overly sarcastic but the point I am making is they have to give all the clubs right up to the deadline to get things sorted. If they don't they are pre-judging things. But also they do want to be sure that if contracts and deals are done that they are water-tight. The issue with the current SL clubs is that if they have indeed committed to contracts for new builds then you really have got to keep them in SL, it is a harsh reality but if you don't you are going to most probably send them to the wall!

Yorkcourt are not going to build empty units BTW, they will only build them when they have tenants for them. Colin Mackie of Yorkcourt has said in the Wakefield Express this morning that he expects the site to take 7 years to fill. Developers like this are in it for the long hall but they know you need to spend money to make money and they will probably still retain ownership of the land for the ground anyway!

I see where youre coming from,but i also see a slight dilemma.

Wakefield have already announced that they wont be at Belle Vue in 2012.

Come what may next season is the last at Belle Vue.

So if they do have a subsequent plan to play out of Oakwell while building is complete,i dont see how the RFL would have any option but to assess their facilities based on Oakwell.

I agree with Starbug (but I did take a few liberties with his punctuation to ease the shock).

Savilles will do as professional a job as possible to establish whether a stadium will be ready for Feb 2012. The RFL are behaving professionally by getting advice from specialists. Using Savilles reduces the likelihood of clubs playing fast and loose. It makes it even harder for them to cry foul after the decisions in July 2011.

Whether they use spcialists or not some people are desperate to bag the RFL.

Unfortunately it's not that simple. Oakwell is not a long term option.

100% agree. Anyone who takes that attitude should be booted out IMO. RL needs teams who will use the SKY & RFL money to make the competition stronger at club and international level. All these clubs who live on that money to pay off various debts etc are in effect just a drain on our debt. Personally I really can't believe after 12 years or so Wakey haven't grew much further as a club despite the money and have what one playoff win, one cup semi to show for it on the pitch? Cone on that ain't right surely? If you can't afford to be in SL (sane for us in 2007 btw) then why not let someone else have a go why you take a few years in Championship? What they should if done with Crusaders and tbh Quins now too.

It's hard to stay competitive and develop in SL so drop down sort stadium & set up then come back much stronger.

You are spot on mate and if they don't make it in time then they will have to go down and do it the hard way like those clubs. Also, don't think I don't think that they deserve a place in SL because they may well do, but the point is here, is that the RFL have given them a deadline and made the new stadia the no 1 issue. If they do get started before the RFL deadline and Savills are convinced they are as water-tight as possible can you not see that they have to be allowed into SL.

I agree that Widnes and maybe Leigh should have got in last time but that was then and this is now. I don't support any of these clubs but not to allow them to at least try and get themselves sorted and if they do, turn them down because they are going to be 6 months late would be madness.

And the clubs also should be in it for the long haul , and if some of that includes playing in the Championship and having to prove themselves as fit for SL , so be it

I agree its not simple.

But if people dont want a club to be assessed on a stadia that might/might not be ready and as in Wakefields case,they wont be at their current home -- what can they assess their facilities on?

All the stadium criteria is madness , but if you have it , you have to have a cut off date , that cut off date last time was the decision date , it shpould be the same again , tough call i know , but somewhere you have to draw a line

They score nil

The fact that they have not delivered a long term solution yet.

The council and Peel holdings have formed a "Joint Venture" company. Theis company is the applicant for the new stadium and the council has loaned this company £10 million to help pay for the construction work and new infrastructure. This joint venture company will then own the stadium and Salford will have a license to use it. The money is already sourced and ring fenced. Salford City Council are determined that this Stadium happens, they have given it the fullest of support and see it as another jewel in the City’s crown, following the Lowry Centre, Lowry Hotel, BBC/Media City etc. Salford City Reds are not paying a penny for any of this, hence we have a bit of money to spend in the recruitment side of things for next season.
It will be built, and all the signs are that it will be ready for the start of the 2012 season.

Must say I haven't read anywhere Wakey said won't be ready for season start 2012. Last I read was 48 week build from Feb, i.e. It would be

Is their any substance to Oakwell either as just seems a presumption from most, nothing official. Granted may be waiting like Saints to know timescale of stadium before signing rent agreement but until it happens the way I see it Wakey are leaving BV this season and need NM ready for next.

The club have said 48 weeks, but I think that is optimistic.

The Oakwell rumour is just that. They have said there is a plan 'B', but not confirmed what that is.

haven't read the thread, but I don't think the RFL will dump anyone out for their stadia alone for 2012. I would also think that any stadiums under construction will be classed as ok for the application for present SL clubs, as it would be rediculous to let a club about to get a top class stadium drop out for the sake of a few months.....

Of course they wont , they'll do it after carefully considering all the relevant criteria , and then if one of Cas ,Wakey or Salford dont get a stadium , they'll throw them out

and if Saints don't?

At the risk of being accused of pedantry (I know): no-one will be thrown out of SL2012 for the simple reason that no-one has a place in it. However, a number of those applying for a place in SL between 2012 and 2014, including at least one club with a 2009-11 licence, will be unsuccessful.

Surely those clubs that were awarded an A or B license are in because clubs can only move up or down 1 grade each round of licensing? So A grade last time = at worst B grade this time and B grade last time = at worst C grade this time.

Indeed.
Unfortunatly some Clubs (Maybe that is a little strong but definatly a fair few fans of some clubs) seem to think that a new stadium is some kind of silver bullet or some kind of smokescreen that will stop the RFL from seeing the rest of the application.
The way I see it is that without a stadium they are up to their necks in it with a new stadium they are only up to their waists.

SL is not in a very good shape then at all is it!!!

Why wouldn't they guarantee a championship club a licence in future?Because it is causing them endless problems this time.As a Widnes supporter I am pleased about it but what I think they will do next time,to avoid all this confusion,is what they should have done in the first place and that is to state that any club can apply, and the best 14 applicants wil win a 3 year licence,whoever they are and whatever league they are currently in.No guarantee's for anyone