Thats how i see it, not too long ago we offered them the easy choice, now its not that easy for them and the clubs moving forward (of the field at least) we may still be considered the weakest link but if we are its not by much.

If its a straightforward 14 we may well miss out.

We "may" have to concede we are the weakest link compared against Cas, thats not bigging them up, its just we are both almost the same, it could be measured in the breadth of a gnats pube, and in all fairness we have both failed to take the franchise initiative anywhere near as seriously as the RFL would have liked us to, we have both been busy playing rugby and just surviving.
What i cannot concede is that either London or Crusaders offer anything in comparison to either Cas or ourselves, and the whole world, bar HedgeHunter and one or two others know this as well.
If the Franchise system was a fair one, we would all be safe in the knowledge that both Cas and ourselves would be safe, if only for this set of franchises. The fact that we are not says everything about both the RFL and their franchise system.

13, ones already been awarded

I was optimistic that the RFL would bottle it and go for 15 clubs, but that option seems to have been removed by the fat controller.
The way I see it now is one of two scenarios:

1. The recent praise for WT's application is pollite Britishness, i.e. we're really impressed with the the quality of application put forward in such a short space of time and in difficult circumstances, but you're still out.

2. The praise for the application is genuine, and it has in fact taken us above Cas based on the fairly applied criteria. In which case, both WT and Cas are relegated based on broken stadium promises. Widnes and Fax in. The RFL have been pretty consistent on this.

This may be where the proviso of "get your stadium built and we'll let you back in" comes in.

What I would like to see on the 26th, in my dreams, is Sky doing a run-down of clubs' applicatons starting with Widnes and the A-grade clubs and moving down to B-grades. This is where we scrape in in tenth place with a B-grade and there is a mass sphincteral failure over the common. A bit like when London won the Olympic bid ahead of Paris.

I like your dream - can I share it?

What I have always said I would like to see is a clear justification of the decisions made, points scored for each criteria etc.
Then see them justify why we as a team have been relegated despite outscoring other clubs.

We're well aware of that!

I will say this again. I have nothing against Hull KR

but there ground is worse than ours ; at least we are improving our ground .
they have tons of debt
apart from this year our average finish is higher than theres.
Only thing is administration but in the long run was administration a bad thing?
No because we got a dead wood owner out.

Seen as the RFL are picking on us all the time why not let them have a worry...

My league next year would be

WIRE
WIGAN
STS
SHUDDS
WIDNES
WAKEY
CAS
HULL
HULL KR
LEEDS
SALFORD
BRADFORD
QUINS
CATALAN

Expand to 15 would be better for injuries etc and then i would have FAX in. Crusaders with a team of 3rd rate aussies thats bodering the border are a disgrace. We are a miles better club.

Thank you.

If I was AG I would already be seeking a legal opinion on the our upcoming demise from the games top table. An impartial decision can in no way be made by the RFL especially with the monies involved in loans to the Crusaders and legally it's a very strong point to challenge because all this about charges on the Wrexham ground is nonsense.

You are right but the cost of taking a case of this scale to court would be huge and although Glover is wealthy I don't think he could afford it.

they could give any clubs a years grace and if not building in 12 months then kick them out. We are not the only ones not got a new ground and who's to say our situation and any other clubs situation will not change for the better or worse. The RFL could be way too hasty with their decision and find that they have got it all wrong. From a legal point of view i wouldn't pursue anything now if kicked out, But would look at this if other clubs defaulted on agreements. i know people will say why didn,t widnes when they were passed over bu i think it,s different situation we are already in superleague they were not.

Seeking an opinion is not too expensive, if it is found that there is a case to answer, then the only people that would be worrying about costs would be the RFL!

A question was asked on Radio Leeds today by text - What have Widnes got to offer that we haven't?
Well, that sums up the attitude of not just Wakefield fans but SL fans in general.
So the question to you is why shouldn't other clubs currently out of SL not have a crack at playing at that level?
You might feel hard done by if you go down and you might think the RFL are a bunch of....well i'm sure you could fill in the blank but fans in the lower leagues have held that opinion for years but have had very little support from fans of SL clubs.Only when you face the chop do you start to realise that franchising is unfair and SL positions should be decided by on field exploits.
You might be lucky because the RFL have a habit of moving the goalposts but if you are then don't forget how close you have come to Championship rugby.
Below SL the game is dying a slow death but hey it might not be your problem so why should you care?.

Have to say thats crossed my mind lately and if i'm honest i have never been 100% happy with the way the games gone, but you do have a point about not really caring untill it affects us.

Probably worth a separate thread, but you need to choose the title.

Wooahh!
Hold on there fellamilad!

Some of us have voiced our opinions against franchising since the day it was first mooted, my stance on the whole farce extends well beyond the effects it would have on Wakefield.

Lets also remember that Wakefoiled were unfairly removed from the top flight of our game when SL was first introduced and we won our way back on the field. Even then we had it tough by first being denied the promotion we had won and then being denied any SL money for 2 years. Despite that we've never finished bottom and IMO we don't deserve to go out now even with the convoluted system that the RFL have thunk up.

If the Championship clubs want to have a go I'm all for it but don't expect us to roll over just because popular rhetoric says we are the weakest link though by any logical measure we obviously are'nt.

I also voiced my concerns a long time ago too. I've never been a fan of Super League from day 1.

Playing away next year is going to be a painful experience.Sadly due to the off field events before AG took over we have become a laughing stock and will be berated at every opportunity by other fans.
Thanks TR and thanks RFL.

Sadly you are in the minority when it comes to disageeing with the franchise system as far as many SL fans are concerned, judging from the reaction I get when speaking to them but good on you for seeing the franchise system for what it is. We too were left out of SL at the start and have struggled and still are struggling to recover with many fans staying away because there isn't a path into SL as far as many are concerned, 'they don't want us' is pretty much the attitude many exiles have and i think they are right..
What you will find is that the number of fans travelling to Wakefield will be limited in lots of cases to less than 50 with the exception of Fev, Fax, Leigh and depending on when you play them possibly Barrow so your income from away fans will be severely dented meaning your parachute payment will need to be used to cover lost gate receipts. When you travel you should take enough to counteract any ridicule you might get but bear in mind if you think you have been hard done by then join the queue because the Championship fans have felt like it since the franchise system was introduced and beyond. As for being the weakest link, I don't think Championship clubs are too bothered about who gets kicked out as long as somebody does.There are strong arguments for it to be Crusaders (moving to North Wales when the franchise was for South Wales) and Harlequins for being bailed out and not improving attendances.
We will find out soon enough and by the time you do visit, if it is you hopefully our ground improvements will be well under way and we at least can enjoy a derby game with a decent atmosphere.

Put Ted Richardson in charge of your club Phil Stone and see if you end up coming out of the gutter like we did. I wish people would stop judging this club as a whole based on a boards incompetence and judge what glover has already done. He's not exaclty experienced in running a sports business but is doing a very good job for me.

Halifax were relegated from SL because they were not good enough, despite their efforts they were kept out of SL once again because they were not good enough, now all of a sudden because they have a decent ground and nothing else, they are deemed good enough. How does that work then? Apart from the well to dos' who are never likely to be in any danger of losing their franchise, I think you'll find most fans are against it and just want a simple P+R every year, then when you do get promoted at least your club and the others can turn round and say we are here on merit, just like us really.

Pardon me if I have got this wrong because I am no authority on TR and his ins and outs of his dealings with the club, but I was under the impression that it was he that pulled us up from out of the gutter and helped save the club, either way its history now so don't you think that's where it should stay in the history books and forget any bitterness and move on, personally I can't see the point in keep dredging his name up at every opportunity with something that has no relevance to the thread.

You get used to it

since we got the nod some away game attitude against Widnes has been shocking!