Unfortunately, I think you are bang on here. That dreaded closed shop system of franchise is not far away and was probably escalated by Mr Hetherington et al after Leeds found themselvs in the middle 8's followed by Warrington the following season. That and the fact Toronto and Toulouse appear to be destined for the top flight, one way or the other, then this maybe why other clubs are throwing 'last chance saloon' money at this years middle 8's to be at the table before the door does 'clang' shut.

Agree 100% with what you say Dave,there is a meeting this coming Wednesday 10th Jan by the SL Clubs ,my prediction to discuss a 14 team SL then back to Franchises,we at Leigh are fortunate to have Derek, my opinion is we have a stronger squad this coming season then last year in SL, and as you say it could be last chance Saloon.

Happy New Year to both you and Di ,it will be great to be back at the Shay in a few weeks time,and hopefully seeing you both a few times in the coming season,I'm really looking forward to this season,it should be very entertaining,see ya soon.

New signing to be announced in the league express today according to twitter. 'Snared from a rival club'

The Halifax signing in the LE is Kian Morgan from Wakefield.

LE seem to be stretching it a bit saying "Snared from a rival club"? He was in Wakefield's academy last season, but from what I've seen he turned down a new contract with them, and hence was a "free agent" when he came on trial to us.

17 Year old full back,hardly what's needed is it,whatever the spin.

I assumed the "snared from a rival club" was a different story, the one about Batley in the running to sign Rochdale's Lewis Galbraith (though that's not reported as a done deal). There was nothing in the Express teaser which said that "snared from a rival club" story related to Halifax.

Never heard of him - not hugely knowledgeable about our academy but he's not on of the names that have been touted for success - sorry

We need to sign a half back we all keep saying it but it is falling on deaf ears, we cannot rely on Scott Murrell and Johnno they are not good enough end of story!

There's a real lack of quality halfbacks at this level. They tried Gaz Moore and Connor Robinson but neither were up to it really.

I think with the Cas deal we are just going to have to wait until we see what team we can put out. Not how we would want it to be but I understand the impact of the 15/16 season blowing all the previous years prize money on big TV screens and plain poor signings at way over their market value , is still being sorely felt. The new management are having to work with the hand they were dealt.

It's a mixture of our best players and what's available from Cas or anywhere. 2 props , a halfback and 1 decent winger desperately needed. The best winger we have currently have is our best fullback. Chester is a but admittedly gains yards from the play of the ball coming out of defence. Tyrer will need to frame to hold his place. Wakefield were very strong but some players were just way off the standard required. It's hold our powder time though until we see the first team sheet of the season.

Given the size of the Castleford list of players we could end up with half the team on DR....we would the be a feeder team just as Wood predicted twenty years ago.

Half way to that as it is! HKR, Salford, Castleford. Anyone else want a bit of Fax?