I think it will either be Leigh or the Bulls based solely on the criteria.

Anyone except Bradford. The last thing we need is another decrepit ground in West Yorkshire.

I think it will be Leigh. Given the short notice, I think they're the lowest risk option as they have an alright squad and decent support. If I had my choice I'd give it to London though. They had a very good crack at SL last time out and they bring a different player pool to the league which we have already seen pay dividends with LMS, Sarginson, Clubb etc.

Whoever it is, they're being put in a very difficult situation as they will be trying to recruit at short notice after losing a season's worth of gate receipts. As such, I'd give them a year's exemption from relegation to find their feet.

My initial thoughts were Toulouse but when I read the arguments against I started to doubt that pick. If we’ve still got covid issues come March, travel could be a real problem and we could do without issues like that. I’m a massive supporter of Bradford coming back in to superleague because as a game we cannot turn our noses up at a club who’ve averaged 15,000 plus at times in the past but the time isn’t right. They’ve got probably the weakest squad of all the teams bidding to come up. I’m also a fan of London but they don’t feel in a very strong position either. They’ve lost a lot of players from when they left superleague and the time to build is short.

On that score I’d be looking at Leigh or York. They’ve both strengthened their squads over the past couple of years and both bring positives to the league. Leigh would be the real safety first option but I’d be tempted to go with York. That is a great city, they’ve got a fantastic new facility, a good up and coming coach and their entrance would create more of a buzz than Leigh.

Ultimately I’m fully expecting it to be Bradford though.

completely agree. They arent even playing in the ground cos it wasnt fit for purpose

i've posted previously on here and Wigan RL fans forum that with Woods at the helm, a completely incompetent administrator, then they should get nowhere near, but this is the RFL and you just cant trust them to make the ruling based on facts and not that they own the ground and the fat controller is involved with Bradford.

if Bradford were financially stable and had demonstrated their worth from both a playing and commercial perspective over the last couple of years, then i wouldnt have a problem, but they just arent ready for SL yet and should have to demonstrate that they are ready.

that said, how many clubs with the threat of automatic relegation are ready for promotion and on a reduce SL TV money contract. I would say none of them are, and everything is stacked against them. the only real hope of staying up is Wakey. HKR or Salford have a real mare of a year and run into financial difficulties.
i am all for franchises to give them the opportunity to come up and bed in from a playing and commercial perspective the both the SL and RFL need to set out clearly what their aims for expansion are and what they see SL looking like in 5 / 10 years time

My bet would be York.

I suspect though it will be Bradford,for what reason though I cant fathom.

Promotion/relegation should be knocked on the head for at least three years to give whoever comes in a fighting chance.

As a game our history of development is embarrassingly awful and I expect that either Leigh or Bradford will get the nod.

All applicants have reasons why they shouldn’t get the vote.

Not sure where London are in terms of financial support but if still supported then they would be my choice but acknowledge that their team has been plagiarised by current SL clubs so would expect them to finish 12th if they were successful

My initial thoughts were either Toulouse or London. Having had time to reflect if either of those came up they’d be straight back down again. I’d prefer them to earn promotion and hopefully have a team that can compete when they do come up.

Leigh are probably the only team who have anything close to a squad which has any sort of chance at competing, for that reason I’d give it to them.

Toulouse,York,Leigh,Bradford,London,Featherstone in that order

Leigh/Fev/Bradford would be a step backwards.

Has to be one of York/Toulouse/London.

Leigh are a tiny borough in Wigan who offer what? A few ex SL players? Fev a postcode in Wakefield who’s only thing going for them is the best stadium in the area. Bradford don’t even play in Bradford.

York are up and coming and have been building well with some decent additions, Toulouse narrowly missed out on promotion and have a solid squad. London were unlucky to be relegated last time round and have a good academy with the most tickets for the RLWC.

Do I believe any of the 6 will stay up? No. But to have one of Leigh/Fev/Bradford actually selected would be an embarassment.

What time is it being announced???

12.30ish now. Was due at 12

Leigh confirmed

Christ on a bike

Shambolic decision.

Meh

At least the travel infrastructure is in place for away fans...

People may not have agreed with Toronto but at least people away from RL will have heard of the place.

Maybe an opportunity to offload some cap space here if they're trying to strengthen at short notice. Mitch Clark has some history there. A season long loan for Harry Smith wouldn't be a bad move either IMO if he's going to struggle for game time here this season

It's the only way they can get promoted these days and we get the joy of watching them get relegated. Again.

Will be interesting when Flower and Hastings meet up with each other again

Predictable and probably safe

Quite happy with this. Another derby and will bring good away support

A real safety first option but probably the right call at the moment. My first thought was Toulouse but there are too many unknowns around travel due to covid and brexit. Bradford would’ve been a joke, London’s squad is way too weak, Fev aren’t anywhere near as strong as Leigh and whilst I’d have loved for it to be York, another year or two of building won’t do them any harm.

Perhaps not the most imaginative or far-sighted choice, but understandable in the short to medium term at least. Bradford would have been wrong wrong wrong, London, York and Toulouse can consider themselves unlucky.