I heard that too, he said Barrow and Halifax will go well in the Championship, then tried to backtrack by saying "well perhaps not Halifax" .

Rimmer should learn to engage brain before opening mouth, but would that be classed as multi tasking?

You are being ' used ' by the RFL in an attempt to put some weird form of credibility to the licence process , by having you in it , it is a selection process , rather than an exclusion process

Your also there just in case, another SL team implodes and Toulouse, Paris, etc are'nt quite ready. In other words keeping all their options open.

Another bad thing about today is that it feeds the paranoia amongst Halifax fans. Some of it deserved some of it not.

Dont forget some of the Leigh fans as well

I think most Fax fans have been quite dignified today in their responces and congratulating Widnes when it could have been quite as easy to go off the rails and turn very bitter. A reflection of rugby league as it should be amongst fans. Of course we are all gutted and there is going to be the odd gripe but on the whole Fax fans can hold their heads high today.

The only thing happening in July is that Wakey will be coming down. For another club to be "promoted" at any other time in future it will have to be one backed soundly by a millionaire - probably with a 3 year security deposit.

Dickie saying last night how well the franchising system has gone and fat Nige saying how transparent it is. Well, they're lying. They're lying because of how they've ignored the failings of Crusaders. How on earth can they say it's a success when they've had to bail them out AND are still owed money by them.

It stinks and it is a totally unfair process on those clubs trying hard to get in.

No matter what crap they spin and no matter how much Sky try and manipulate our sport there's one thing they'll NEVER change - it's a northern sport played in region stretching from the Humber to The Wirral. The quicker the suits realize this then the quicker we get back to "sport" as we know it - Jim!

It just proves that these decisions are made in advance and no one can keep their traps shut about it... the same way widnes were always going up, we ARE being used by the powers that be... after all we are a just a small club with no history, no prospects and nothing going for us... maybe they should have a little look at what we have achieved and what we bring to the game...

Im afraid were just going to have to ride out this folly now, until sanity returns and it becomes sport again.
Next time will be almost impossible for us.
Wakefield will have recovered.
Leigh will have met the criteria.
Castleford will have progressed from a cad drawing to a 3D video.
Salford City Council will have got a loan from central government to complete their project.
Toulouse will have been given extra help.
Barrow will have merged with the Soccer club.
HKR will have revamped the ground.
Expulsion of Northern Clubs will continue as they find a 'New' hot bed of RL.
Watch it all unfold until the games absolutely skint, and we still get battered by the Aussies and Kiwis. Some of these sides today wouldn't live with Wigan and Saints sides over a decade ago.

Decisions made behind closed doors where NOTHING is open to the public to see who gets the SL spots and why. The dealings with Crusaders also are not transparent as the RFL have never come out and said "well we have leant them XXX as we need them and Quins in SL". The lies and hypocrisy from Woods and Lewis is unreal. Be honest about it atleast and stop the BS-it is pushing people away from the game!
I also heard the bit where Lewis said " Well I think Widnes benefitted from not being accepted last time,it was too short a time to plan and prepare...". What absolute rubbish! Like it was OK for Crusaders to be rushed in and make a whole mess of things but Widnes not? Honestly these clueless clowns make me sick and make me angry. I know hundreds of people that refuse to watch Rugby League because of the way the RFL/SL is. I feel I am going that way slowly as just fed up of the people running and ruining it. Thanks for killing my love for the game Lewis & Wood.

If they were consistent i would have no problem with what they are trying to achieve.
If they can't be consistent (Crusaders leniency) then at least be honest with the fans instead of this charade.

RFL - please grow some balls and ditch the criteria rubbish. Come out and say "we will decide the make-up of Super League via a small committee based at our HQ" because that's what you're doing anyway.

Show the fans of this game some respect please.

I know most will disagree with me on this [ because it would be seen as ' rocking the boat , something that many fans see as Leigh's undoing , although why they feel the RFL cannot be criticised without ' retribution ' is beyond me , we are dealing with the organisation given the responsibility of running OUR sport FFS ] but if I was the Fax board , I would seriously consider withdrawing your application in July , stating quite clearly that you are being used , and unless the RFL can come up with some clear ' stipulations ' say with relation to stadiums being started/completed or financial guarantee's you will get a place , then you withdraw your application from the ' sham ' we will see in July

Mr Wood is treating you like a donkey by waving a carrot in front of you to make you do what he wants to make him look better , simple as

Agree 100% with Starbug that we getting stitch upped by the RFL with a carrot that does not exist. If any of the existing superleagues clubs have failed to tick all the boxes now they are surely unable to remedy the situation by the end of July. So the RFL must know today who does and who doesn't so why wait 3 months to annouce the results.
PS Good luck to Widnes in SL they really deserve to be in the top flight.

As I said on another thread it's just a sugar coating on a very bitter pill, but I hope I am proved wrong