The RFL are considering lowering the salary cap for Championship sides! Here is the article.

[urlhttp://www.lasttackle.com/blogpost_166-gulf-below-super-league-increasing.html[/url

another way of making sure the teams in SL stay there.

This highlights the RFL's totally cock eyed vision of the future

We have some clubs struggling financially so instead of looking at real ways of helping them improve their income lets waste a bloody fortune on flying teams over the channel and bugger up teams cash flow by having an odd number of teams in the Championship

As for the Championship 1 teams well they can survive on 14 home games a season and a 9 's tournament in Blackpool in the middle of the season

Clueless

Oh I forgot , changing the name of the competition will help the clubs get more money in as well , that and having games on a thursday night when nobody turns up unless they get free tickets

What a stupid idea, why is this going to help clubs like Doncaster, London Skolars and Workington for example???
It will make the gap even bigger between SL and the Championship.

I've heard of this and I think it is completely ridiculus. Its a cap, not the amount that has to be spent, so teams who don't have the income to spend 400k shouldn't spend the top amount, they should have a proper business plan and cut their cloth accordingly. I agree starbug, the RFL is a shambles that has only super leagues interests. Teams with ambition to play at the top level like halifax, widnes, leigh,barrow etc... shouldn't be held back by teams that are happy to be competing in the national leagues, and have no ambition.Lowering the salary cap is just gonna stop the top clubs spending money on developing talent and surely this is not exactly a benefit for the game, but do the RFL care do they chuff.

It's time we got rid of these buffoons. A set of total cretins with their own agendas.

They are killing the game.

That is an excellent point mate.. It's not as if other teams have a gun held to their head and are made to spend the full amount.

Halifax learnt that to their cost in the past.

There will be a gun to someone's head somewhere when it comes to voting for this move to be ratified. It's up to the clubs to vote against this, but the RFL, (IMO), will 'persuade' those clubs unfortunate enough to be unable to spend without getting into trouble or have enough to spend to vote for the proposition. It's time that something was done.

It would conveniently make it easier to install a club form say Scotland or Ireland, and allow them to compete with even the top Championship clubs without costing the RFL....err I mean those clubs too much money.

Well said Pepe. I think that the RFL are trying to ruin the game outside Super League and trying to use the championship to breed new teams for Super League But look at Celtic Crusaders

.

Unfortunately, our great old clubs will become nothing more than feeder clubs. The Championship seems to be destined to be nothing more than a proving ground for new expansion clubs, where they can gain a kind of false credibility, before being fast-tracked to Super League.

Lowering the current salary cap is effectively removing the draw bridge to SL for heartland clubs and slamming the door behind them. One of our clubs may stand a chance in 2012. But after that....

I agree pepe, I do fear for any team who has ambition left in the championship after 2012. I however can't see any of the super league clubs being dumped out of super league, too much financial investment from the RFL, would be wasted and they wouldn't want that cos the ones who dropped out wouldn't survive, and they wouldn't want any of their precious super league club going under.

Here's a radical idea, how's about making 2 super leagues of 12 teams with promotion and relegation between the 2, that way the clubs with ambition aren't left to slowly die. Would something like this happen, I guess not we are talking about the RFL.

Is another breakaway going to happen?

It's there to help prevent club's going bust



SYSTEM FAILURE

So, what happens to Championship 1, then?

That’s a good point, and you’re probably right. However, if a club really is struggling, They would surely have to drop them, or the whole credibility – such as it is – of the licence process comes into question. This will open up the possibility of legal action, despite the signing of an agreement not to by all clubs applying. The RFL still have a duty to assess all the applications fairly and legally. I’m pretty sure that deciding these things entirely on location would be a breach of EU rules, and that’s where any case would probably end up.


That’s a great idea, but unfortunately not on the agenda. It seems to me that Sky may stipulate that any money they give to the RFL goes to the SL clubs, so that those clubs can exclusively recruit the best players for the main competition they broadcast.

The Championship coverage is merely an after-thought and the RFL get nothing for the rights to broadcast it. If the RFL were to give the Championship clubs half a million each fron the SL pot and keep the salary cap at £400,000, it would enable these clubs to run academy set ups and make demotion from SL less disastrous for the demoted club. It would actually make the Championship a viable league in it’s own right as well.

Sadly this will not happen as expansion clubs also require every penny of that money in order to stay and compete in SL with low crowds.


Not for the foreseeable future. Although I cannot rule it out in 15-20 years time, if things turn out even worse than I expect.

Got told on Fri it`s the clubs like Donny and others in the lower of the league that won`t vote against it.Makes me wonder if they want those from the larger NL1 clubs to be draged downwards rather than trying to aspire to make themselves better.

Richard Lewis has already said that there is no limit to the number of clubs who could be in Super League and I read that to mean that a Super League, SL1, SL2 etc is not out of the question.

As Super League Europe have all the TV rights to Super League and not the RFL, I would say this is the ONLY good point to having a tiered Super League.

People should keep their own houses in order, that includes us and we have tried since our last financial disaster.
We need to let ambitious clubs who do it right and legal have a high enough salary cap to be ready for the step up to SL, not be held back by the smaller fish in the pond.
What good will it do?
Only increase the 'back handers' that certain chairman and clubs do thats all.
Keep it high and within the control of the RFL I say.

I think Salary Caps should be scrapped completely. If a club can attract enough funding, whether it be from a Lottery Winner, Sponsorship, Sugar Daddy or Gate Money, what does it matter?

The Leagues will find their own levels and while money might buy you players, does it buy you GOOD players?

We've seen it our selves in this league that it doesn't mean you're going to have the best squad just because you have a Full Time squad, and a lot is down to the management.

and also to help produce as level a competition as we can

What the RFL should be doing is trying to help all the clubs increase the one long term sustainable income they can have instead of trying to do it the ' quick fix ' way via sugar daddy and sponsorship

If you have a bigger fan base you are much more likely to get the sponsorship and private investor to help with the little extra's

It seems to me that everybody is trying to follow the ' model ' originally done by Man Utd , ie corporate sales and large sponsorship deals

But at the time they started doing all this they allready had a full stadium every week and a massive profile

If every club could increase their crowd averages between 50 and 100 % then we would be getting somewhere

If a club has the income, then let them compete. That's what I say.

Yes, the long term stability of gate income is great, butas has been witnessed by the likes of Bratrut, the fans will desert you if they aren't happy. They will find their natural level if they don't find a replacement income for the lack of gate receipts.

I think that's the idea, Widnes currently run about 5 sides and Steve O'connor has weekly meetings with the RFL. It is my understanding that a couple of clubs will be allowed that little bit extra on the cap.


Note i said couple.

With regard to championship 1 sides it seems most of them aren't really bothered about getting up the ladder to play in the top tier, why would they want to bring the more successful/ambitous clubs down to a level that makes it easier for them to compete with, instead of trying to improve there own club.

The ones who arent in super league will be able to regulate themselves and set limits on the amount that can be spent, without hampering the sides that want to progress.

The sad fact is now super league is a closed shop some of the once great clubs of our game have no chance of playing in the top tier because of politics. We will never see a Burnley FC situation in rugby league, where a team like Hunslet,Swinton etc... work their way through the leagues through hard work and perserverance and finally dine at the top table. Stuff of fairy tales

As will sugar daddys and sponsors especially if they have joined on the back of a sustained period of success on the pitch

Only a few clubs are ever in with a shot of winning anything in any given season

Those at the bottom of any league will suffer but localised loyalty is always going to be more sustainable than short term expectation of unrealistic promises

As for the salary cap it is set about right at the moment , to now start to mess about with it because Donny have proved to be unsustainable in the Championship at the Keepmoat would be daft

Unless of course you believe Pepe's conspiracy theory

I am getting more and more disinterested in the Pro game and that is mainly due to the pillox at the RFL! They should be helping ALL clubs and each team should be under the same cap as the rest- I fail to see why teams cant be capped that they can only spend say 60% of income on players. The rest must be used on such things as developing the club in the local community and developing the stadium and staying in the black. By capping teams under a set amount it does little to encourage clubs to push themselves to bring more money in nor does it reward teams who are wanting to push themselves. Why should Widnes for example be held back to the likes of Workington, Gateshead and Doncaster? If teams do not want to be in Championship then bugger off back to Championship 1! Really the RFL are ruining our sport. Never would I have thought that the game would be so selfish like it is now