The board of Sheffield Eagles have been monitoring the situation over the last few months at Bradford Bulls with interest. As one of only four Championship clubs who have ticked the playing criteria by reaching last season’s Grand Final we have a vested interest in the outcome of the Bulls administration.

We are also one of only two Championship clubs that run full scholarship and academy set ups meaning that we run five separate teams from under 15s up to under 23s. All of this is being established and operated with a view to submitting a highly creditable bid for a Super league franchise for 2015 when Championship clubs are next guaranteed a place in Super league.

We have been made aware of an article stating that there may be a mini-round of licensing involving Bradford and three other named Championship clubs which did not include Sheffield Eagles. We appreciate that this is only speculation and our exclusion from the article is probably due to the fact that the club does not generally shout about its achievements and has accepted the RFL licensing procedure as being in the best long term interests of promoted clubs.

In order to produce a creditable Super league application would take a number of months and to have it assessed against other applications would take further time. The board of Sheffield Eagles is of the view that this is simply impractical given the timescales involved before the start of the next season particularly with regard to assembling a creditable squad that can compete with the other thirteen established Super league clubs.

We therefore wish to state that we will not take part in any such mini-round of licensing and will instead be concentrating on the next full round of licensing that will allow the successful club a sensible timescale to assemble a creditable Super league club that will enhance the competition.

ENDS

Interesting, I agree with the stance that we are nowhere near ready and shouldn't enter into any such 'mini-licensing' which may or may not occur, such a sad state of affairs though that the sport has come to this. It's on its knees and it's licensing that has made it so.

FWIW I think they'll keep Bradford in the league now that they've been taken over, they are a much more appealing brand to Super League than any of Leigh, Halifax or Featherstone, a bigger club, a bigger fanbase and more history. I don't agree with it though, they should be cast to Championship 1 to start over again, much like the Glasgow Rangers scenario north of the border.

There is certainly room now Northampton aren't joining the league...

Very wise. Bradford will win through any process anyway.

Vis a vis Rangers, I posted this earlier today.

Elbowing Rangers out of the top division will no doubt cost the game in Scotland a boatload of money. What sticks in my craw is that the loss won't be borne by the people who made that decision, who will, no doubt, still draw their fat salaries from their businesses outside the game. It'll be the part-time or maybe low grade full time players at clubs outside the top division, young kids just signed up for a mortgage perhaps, who get told "Sorry son, there's no money to renew your contract".

A wise decision by the club which will hopefully give them time to build up our fan base. If I had a fairy godmother to grant me a wish it would be to abolish the licencing system and revert back to the tried and tested promotion/relegation of old.

Has the current system improved the quality of RL in the UK? If it has I fail to see where - Australia still beat us regularly and also snap up many of our best players, just as they have been doing for years.

I agree that there's been little or no improvement but, for me, the key factor is that RL is the number one sport in Queensland and NSW. The best athletes want to play RL - whereas over here, they want to sign for soccer teams and turn to RL if they're not good enough.

Not just that griff but the Sydney based clubs (can't speak for others as I haven't been to any) are mostly very rich, at least compared to our and have facilities which make you green with envy - mostly financed by gambling. Don't think I've ever seen as many one armed bandits as I saw at Manley (I think - could have been Parramatta). Not that I am advocating that we go down that road but we are very much the poor relations.

We couldn't do that anyway. Our laws are different.

It's hardly surprising is it when the potential for the next round of super league clubs are three little villages in the grim north, at least one of which should have closed when the pit did. We (rugby league) have to look at development in major cities if it is to progress from it's cloth cap image.

....and good and sensible decision if only some other clubs would see the light.

Controversial .....

If by 3 little village clubs you include Featherstone Rovers then you are being most unfair. When I lived in Knottingley (next town but one) most residents supported Rovers. I think quite a few Pomfretians did as well. I don't know about now but I suspect that they still have quite a large fan base and I feel that they could do OK in SuperLeague.

Also which major cities do you mean? As far as I can see, Ripon apart, most of the Yorkshire cities are well represented (Leeds, Bradford, Hull, Wakefield) with toeholds in York and Sheffield.

Manchester - I doubt it, there doesn't seem to be much impetus there (hardly suprising with 2 footballing giants in the city, which must affect Salford). I don't suppose Belle View Rangers went out of existence because it was massively supported.

Liverpool - after the travails of Liverpool City/Huyton/Runcorn Highfield or whatever I doubt if that's a starter either.

Which brings us to cities outside the heartland. Plenty of them to choose from but if you want to go down that road then clubs must be allowed to grow naturally and not foisted on the community like the late and unlamented (Celtic) Crusaders.- a lesson the RFL somehow seem to overlook time after time.

I was never a lover of the great welsh experiment but something has to been done if RL is to become a national sport. It won't happen if super league continues to be played in small towns along the M62 and not moved into larger cities across the country. I recognise it can't be done in a hurry - the money is not there but we seem to take one step forward and two back. Maybe Bradfords franchaise should be auctioned in Birmingham/edinburgh/dublin/leicester..... and move the team with it!!!?
I actually don't have a clue how to do it but if community that is RL in the UK wants it to be a bigger sport it has got to let it move on and face the fact the likes of Featherstone RL are not Premier League Venues.........IMO of course. ( No I will duck down behind the sofa while the scorn and abuse pures in!)

Splitting hairs here - I never said that Featherstone was an SL venue, I said that they could do OK at that level.

Personally I don't think that RL will ever be a national sport but who knows. I note that RU is also struggling in the North of England (Sale Sharks are the only northern based club at the top level of club RU in England). What this means I have no idea really except that football rules the waves.

Maybe the RFL should be looking at getting the BBC to show games like they used to - come back Eddie Waring, all is forgiven - rather than some pay as you view channel that few have heard of and I for one can't get anyway.

Also IMO nothing will change until SL reforms itself and introduces some method of getting new teams into it - maybe the bottom SL team should play off with the Championship leaders, winners to play in SL, losers to Championship. As it is now, there is nowhere for Championship clubs to go other than same again next season (unless you happen to be Widnes) so you really do wonder what keeps them going or even why they keep going.

Totally agree with much of what you said RFL need to do a complete overall or just decide - "this is as good as it gets!"

Correct.

To the individual who quoted "potential for the next round of super league clubs are three little villages in the grim north at least one of which should have closed when the pit did" .....take Sheffield out and there are three, oh by the way Leigh is a town not a village. Who are you referring to about the Pits as Fev, Leigh and Halifax all had working class pits.

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