I agree with the Superleague show whoever produces that needs shooting, it's akin to watching Breakfast with Frost when your aged 10, bores the life out of me, needs re-vamping big time but that's the BBC for you.

Ideally we need a 5 to 10 year plan of getting RL higher up in the estimation of RL fans and the general British public e.g.

Firstly as a quick fix but not affecting the game itself we could as follows:

We need more bums on seats, give away free tickets to schools and RL clubs, you get a kid with a free ticket and their parent has to pay and then food and drinks on top plus it looks good when televised. If a ground holds 24,000 and the average for a certain game is 14,000 give away 4000 tickets 4 weeks previous to the game in the areas of the ground that struggle to fill.

Simple things like not having Hull FC or Hull KR play teams on this side of the Penines on a Friday night so more fans will go.

Have the big teams play away at Catalans and London in the warmer months to attract the fans and do a day out package and start banning the idiots who have no interest in watching RL just want to get bladdered and make a show of themselves as this stops some families going.

Make it a proper day out not just RL orientated and think big (not just face painting), have muscle cars/monster trucks outside the ground, have fly pasts by the RAF/ have Merlin helicopter deliver match ball, fire breathers on the side of the pitch and fire works, make a mobile fan zone outside the grounds selling ale and showing classic games on TVs whilst having a proper DJ blasting out good tunes (not Wish FM BTW, XFM or Real XS and get them involved for free advertising and prizes)

Which doesn't suit Sky, they want to make it difficult so that you DON'T go, that way you watch it on Sky and also all those fancy adverts they show too.

Neither does changing the current playoff format.

Top 8 give more gives more games and more advertising revenue (i would presume) than a top 5 regardless of the quality of the product.

I do wonder if Sky give a monkeys about the decline in attendances for playoff games, when they may be raking it in regardless with increased numbers viewing from home.

the game desperately needs mergers. Unfortunately with towns their size, the likes of Wakefield, Widnes, Halifax and Castleford are never going to be able to support a side that could win the title without the aid of a sugar daddy. Basic maths says that you need to combine some teams to make them viable as businesses. A smaller Super League, with franchised teams, all competitve, and a professional league of associated feeder clubs below that. You end up with a competition looking like this: (combined average attendance 2012 in brackets)

Wigan (16,043)
St Helens (14,08icon_cool.gif
Bradford (11,761)
Leeds (14,94icon_cool.gif
Catalans (9,383)
Warrington-Widnes (17,372)
Wakefield-Castleford-Featherstone (17,08icon_cool.gif
Hull United (19,671)
Huddersfield-Halifax (9931)
Leigh-Salford (7714)

Also it's likely the number of fans drawn from Halifax & Leigh would go up if they had a SL franchise based there, probably enough to push Huddersfax over 10k, and Leigh-Salford over 8k. It's only with attendances like those as a base that clubs will be viable as businesses, rather than the plaything of the local Mr Big.

The RFL can then pick clubs for expansion, and give them extra room in the Salary Cap, a direct grant, and licence to sign outside the quota limits to boost their success. Immediate places to start would be a Cumbria team based in Barrow & Carlisle, supporting London for their expansion, and seeking to bring another French team into the league.

Also, before anyone says 'but all the fans will go away', it's worth remembering that the Wakelford Rovers team that'd go out into the next SL season would be something like:

Richie Mathers, Lee Smith, Michael Shenton, Jake Webster, Ben Cockayne, Tim Smith, Rangi Chase, Justin Poore, Daryl Clark, Craig Huby, Andy Raleigh, Ali Lauitiiti, Danny Washbrook. R: Keith Mason, Jacob Emmitt, Danny Kirkmond, Jordan Tansey.

Which, one would think, would at least give the top sides a run for their money most of the time, as well as freeing up a large group of players to strengthen other sides.

Lastly, in terms of TV, I'd really like something like this 'dream team'

BBC
Presenters: Claire Balding, Brian Noble, Iestyn Harris
Commentators: Dave Woods & Robbie Hunter-Paul

Sky
Presenters: Brian Carney, Shaun McRae, Martin Offiah,
Commentators: Bill Arthur, Terry O'Connor

Mergers will never happen unfortunately.

What needs to happen is the RFL need to firstly grow some balls and tell the lazy, small, 'let someone else do it' clubs to shape up or sh*t out. Then they need to learn how to market the product to get a substantial sponsor and TV deal to support a two tier league.

Warrington-Widnes..........yeah right

I thought that. Why would they put a big club like Widnes with Warrington

:bpj7lwcj

If you feel like that following one of the biggest teams in SL just think how we feel in the lower leagues hatty.

Move the RFL to London. Get a dynamic businessman at the helm - Get to the heart of business in the country.

Offer franchises to big corporations and get them into new areas aligned to other sports, possibly.

Merge smaller clubs.

Re brand the game. Get rid of the archaic mindset that RL holds within the country. Bring in more razzmatazz at the venues

Stop Stevo being the face of rugby league. He can take the 2 dim props with him. Wrap Peacocks mouth up with tape. Stop aiming the commentary at thick northerners who like a bit off Biff. Use Clarky, Wells, Carney in more prominent roles. Get Tomkins, Sinfield, Hall etc infront of the cameras at every opportunity.

Whilst we continue to have a fat northern dimwit at the top we are finished.

Richard Branson?
he likes the sport, so why not let him take charge.

Because he's only interested in himself and making money for himself, don't be fooled by him looking all nicey nicey and popping up in all sorts of adverts and TV programmes.

Given that Wigan stacks up virtually identically to Wakefield in town and wider borough populations I trust there is going to be full support for a merger with Leigh at the same time that Wakey, Cas and Fev come together?

Since RL top flight crowd averages have in recent years reached levels not seen in most people's lifetimes, how can this statistic, taken alone, possibly be used as evidence to support the narrative of Super League failure so popular on this forum since September?

He did once with Broncos, if he can't help them who can!!

Quite right, Wakefield and Wigan are so similar in so many ways... Thank god you are here to point it out..

I'm glad you agree. So what's to be done?

Oh wait, i was just looking at our attendances, and the work done by our marketing people. Suddenly Wakefield don't look so good. Perhaps your knowledge would be put to better use assisting them.

Good idea!

As Wigan and Stains are the first two teams that come to mind when merging........

In the words of Blackadder "You should go to Jamaica and become a limbo dancer"

Which bit do you disagree with?