Not sure where you are coming from there.......a better example would be a player signing a 3 year contract with a SL club with 2 years left on the clubs SL Franchise.
If the club was to lose its SL status the third year of the contract would be nullified.

That's a fair answer Butcher and one I do agree with.
It's very sad that RL has allowed itself to end up with a two tier system as you rightly describe.
The reason for this lands firmly at the point when Sky came on board which for most people meant the saving of RL. Personally I think apart from TV exposure it started the downfall.

Lenegan made some good points but ultimately I disagree with his main assertion. The number one priority for the RFL is to secure as much money as possible for TV broadcasting rights; this bankrolls the full-time professional era. The current deal with Sky expires in 2016. Whether or not because they were overstretched by the new Premier League rights contract, it is noticeable that Sky are cutting coverage elsewhere. There’s talk of Sky reducing its commitments with darts, for example, which has been a bit of a boon for them in recent years. It also lost out to Premier Sport for rights to the RL World Cup (if it even bid for them) and opted out of showing matches in the earlier rounds of the Challenge Cup. I doubt it was a coincidence that around this time talk of league restructure became serious — the RFL were spooked.

The new league restructure and resulting hype will kick-in around the time TV rights will come up for renegotiation. In effect, this is the RFL saying to Sky (or other suitors) ‘we’re still cool’ and ‘we can change’. So as for a long-term plan, it wouldn’t surprise me if there isn’t one. This is all about 2015.



We can argue about the relative merits of the full-time professional era but with hindsight it saved many clubs. Big clubs at that.

I have posted on earlier posts when the original restructuring plans were ' leaked' .
It's re arranging chairs on the Titanic
I fully agree with Chico's main point , Finance is the number one priority for the governing body .
for two seasons now we've had no money in from a Main Title sponsor ,
we've all but binned academy structure with DR
Now were basically losing 50-60 full time Playing roles by stripping two professional teams from SL
They won't increase the salary cap
they won't allow a marquee player nomination outside of the salary cap .

So the supposed aim of the restructuring is to improve the quality & competition
but this will not stop the issues the SL - RL currently experience

No more money coming into the comp
No increased revenue to attract more prestigeous players
no mechanism to halt the drain of our best SL players ( UK & Foreign ) back into the NRL - RU
A shortened league & PR will further curtail risk taking by putting academy lads into 1st team action
No emphasis on future academy spending for the next generation of SL players
just the same Sky money shared between the Haves... and a bone thrown to the have not's to join the table and /or starve trying

The more I hear and read about the proposed 2 leagues of 12 to be split into 3 leagues of 8, the more I like it. Suppose it was happening now at this stage of the season. The top league would comprise : Wigan, Huddersfield, Warrington, Leeds, Catalan, Hull KR, St Helen's and Hull. Presumably then, a top 5 play off.

The 2nd League would comprise : Wakefield, Bradford, Widnes, Castleford, Salford, London, Featherstone and Sheffield. The aim here, presumably is to get into the top two to be included in next years Super League of 12 teams. The remaining teams would be battling to get into the top 8 of their league to get into the 2nd division the following season.

This gives a chance for all teams to be promoted. Sounds like an exciting scheme and gives something for all clubs to aim for at the back end of the season.

It also gives a pathway for teams like Hemel and Oxford to ultimately achieve SuperLeague status and keeps existing top flight clubs fighting to retain their status.

Rugby League has always been an innovative sport. Long may it continue.

Sorry for being so positive about all of this.

I have to disagree.

The point is it's peace of mind for a player to sign a 2 year deal if the player knows the club have a franchise for the duration of his contract. If a player signs a 2 or 3 year deal with the threat of relegation he could find his contact is cancelled after 12 months.

I think under the current franchise system, it was more unlikely for a club to lose their license (at the end of the 3 year license period) compared to the threat under the new structure of a team actually being relegated every single year.

You don't have to be a risk assessor to realise that the franchise system gave players (especially those at lower standing clubs) more peace of mind.