While there is a finite cap there is also an income based cap as well

As conspiracy theories go the evidence is pretty damning.



Celtic already have been fast-tracked through this league. No sooner are they out than Toulouse are introduced. Then the RFL have openly stated that they will be looking to introduce an Irish or Scottish club soon.

Lowering the salary cap would make it much easier to throw an expansion club in to the Championship and have it compete with the top clubs from the word go. It effectively hamstrings those clubs that can afford the current salary cap, and makes it harder for them to recruit a squad which could then go on to compete in SL, with just a few additions. It is making the gap wider between the lower leagues and SL and this makes it even more difficult to put a bid in that could better that of a current SL club. Only a club which can field a team full of antipodeans in their first few years could prosper in SL in those conditions. That all but rules out the heartland clubs.

Call me an old cynic but....

Lowering the Salary Cap could jeopardise the income of some of the SL players who are dropping to the Championship (and making it more exciting at the same time) to take up other careers for when they retire.

With a reduced spending limit, what do you do, get a high cost ex-SL player or a low cost unexperienced youngster?

We all want youth to come through, but we all want competitive teams too.

They were not challenged by any club left out, this time. That situation may well change next time. The quote below is damning evidence that the whole process was a fix from the start.
"I was approached in 2004 to start up a club that was capable of getting into Super League by 2009," said Samuel.



You could be right, but I think they will be challenged in court in the next round of licences, by some clubs. I don’t care about the agreement they have to sign in order to put in a bid. The RFL still have to run the process fairly and legally. Choosing a club almost entirely on location may not be an option next time.

We’ll just have to see what happens and if any club has the balls to take them on. After the next round of licences, I reckon there’ll be nothing to lose doing so. Because if you don't get in then you never will anyway.

I think Leigh should challenge. Their chairman has already burnt his bridges after his verbal tirade last year. In for a penny, in for a pound. I'll be cheering him on in the public gallery and i will urge the judge to burn Mr Lewis on account of him being a witch.

Yes, OK



I'd like to think that there would be a few clubs willing to take them on, rather than just one.

I don't think that's going to happen. They'd have to have a backup plan;a breakaway plan or something because the relationship would be irrepairable. They'd need a TV deal and big sponsorship to "go it alone" and until i see Michael Grade and Stuart Rose sitting down with Steve O'connor and Alan Rowley i'm of the firm belief that we should nod and toe the line and bow down to our wise masters.

Why?

Do you think they'd throw 3 or 4 clubs out of the league?

If not, they have nothing to actually lose. The lower leagues are clearly being down graded and will soon be largely made up of feeder clubs, a process that is already starting to take place at Whitehaven. No club will be in a position the round after next, to take the place of a SL club.

The first round of licences has already proven to have been ill judged and the competency of the RFL is surely in question now.

It is clear from this statement:
"I was approached in 2004 to start up a club that was capable of getting into Super League by 2009," said Samuel.
That Mr Samuel. Was approached by someone acting on behalf of the RFL to[i “start up a club that was capable of getting into Super League by 2009,"[/i. This shows the what the intention of the RFL was to entering the Celtic Crusaders into SL, and also shows the whole licencing process to have been a complete sham.

If the RFL were to kick 3 or 4 big name clubs out of the Championships, it would create a schism in the game and have much further implications than just the clubs in question. It would open up a massive can of worms and a debate that would hold the RFL and it's actions up to the light. I very much doubt that the RFL would want that anymore than Dracula would.

may have to if grounds not up to scratch as would be easy to challenge the ruling after given so many years.

I'm talking about clubs possibly being kicked out of the Championships for taking the RFL to court, as seemed to be implied by littlerich, and not SL clubs being kicked out.

I'm not saying they'd be kicked out but they may be shunned forever although as you initmated, it appears as though this is the path they're taking anyway.

Hence there's nothing to lose. If several clubs say enough is enough, and stand together it may, or may not, make the RFL think again. Either way it will make no difference. But this will be our last chance to make a stand. After that it'll be all over. There could be no further possibility of a challenge, because none of the Championship clubs would be anywhere near SL standards.

you could be right but i think the RFL will do anything they can to get the game out into other parts of the country and even other countries, they wouldnt have brought toulouse into this league if they didt have plans to stick them in super league and if Barrow can sort some things out then there are the 2 places right there.

then you have further down the line of having a spanish club, maybe a cornish club, a scottish club. teams like Halifax and Widnes may never get back in with the way things are going.

Sssssshhhhhh No one is supposed to know this!

Licence.... what licence???

But they have to act within the law. In particular, EU law.

they will find some clever way of doing it to stay in the law but make sure they get who they want in the super league and not neccesserally the teams that deserve the place.

Given the way some clubs have not fulfilled their promises and the state of some of their grounds, attendances and financial problems, that may not hold up to any real independent scrutiny.



The case against the RFL is building week by week.

the walls are closing in

Here's the get out clause.

RFL:
[i"The Crusaders, who were founded in 2005, have met many of the targets they were set after being awarded a three-year Super League licence 12 months ago but have been experiencing difficulties due to the adverse economic climate."

“However they are in it for the long haul and we are determined to do what we can to help them find additional investors. We are trying to establish a Super League club outside the traditional rugby league heartland, which would have been a tough ask at any time, never mind in the depths of a worldwide recession."

“When their Super League licence was first approved the world was a very different place to what it is now and no-one at Celtic Crusaders could have anticipated many of the difficulties they have faced."[/i

[urlhttp://www.totalrl.com/features/content.php?feat_id=746&featcat_id=49[/url

Looks like the RFL were the only people on earth unaware we were heading into a major recession last July. That will now be the excuse they use to keep all those clubs who promised new stadiums in SL come the next round of licences.

I asked

This is what I was told




So is it all a conspiracy or not

It's not about who asked the question, but on who's behalf was it asked.

Surely that could only be the RFL's?