Featherstone should be rewarded with promotion to Super League through their achievements ON the field of play.

Leigh, Castleford, and Hull KR all achieved automatic promotion to Super League by being crowned championship champions (or NL1 champions ) in the past.

However we are all well aware that now unfortunately the dream of a SL licence will only fall to a two horse race between Halifax and Leigh, based predominantly on stadia.

Halifax already have a stadium to grace Super League and Leigh's facilities are absolutely world class. So much so that it's already a favourite venue of the RFL, with them having already given Leigh two full England international matches to host as well as a forthcoming RL World cup 2013 match.

Sad and disappointing that sport can be determined in that way I know but inevitablty true in the current RFL franchising climate.

I don't think any club from the Championship will be awarded a license in 2014/15 and thereafter (2017/1icon_cool.gif I think SL will reduce to 12 teams with the bottom two (or by some other selection method) losing their license. London will be one of those clubs - with Dave Hughes calling time on his expensive hobby. I think the other one will be Salford.

After that I think SL will reduce further to 10 teams by way of relegation for the bottom two clubs. At that point the league below will be restructured and made ready to facilitate a return to P&R but only if the clubs in it can sustain FT status. By my reckoning they've got seven or eight years to get ready for this. I think the RFL have made up their minds that it is preferable to have P&R but it cannot happen between semi-pro and full time clubs - both leagues must run clubs with the same professional (or semi) status.

They key to all this is bringing the Championship clubs up to a better standard off the field, increased crowds, professional back office and a more structured marketing policy. That all requires more investment and instead of ploughing millions into careless clubs like Bradford (who, with a license should have behaved better) they should channel funds into the league that they hope one day will sustain a return to P&R.

I understand Fev's U23's won the GF yesterday by 70 or 80 points against Oldham who beat our lads last week to get into the final.

It will do Fev's future no harm & they've whooped everyone at that level all year, it will do their SL ambitions no harm either with the home-grown aspect of things, BUT......


I honestly believe SL will go 13 or 12 team structure very soon, we are on a par onfield & in front of them off field I.M.O. with Leigh in the mix as well, I really can't see where the top end Championship sides are going in the future if the door really is closed in all our faces. Championship is certainly THE most competetive league in our game right now but I fear the bottom three or four clubs at the moment and beyond that possibly when the four sides get promoted next season come up are falling behind in playing standards/results there is becoming 2 divisions within our division.

Bring back the county cups for non- SL clubs, the NRC is proving to be a much sought after piece of silverware with a box ticked in the process so let's build on that with the county cups.

Crowds are the key to it all rich, but that is the single hardest thing to address, starting tommorrow you would need 10 years investement and work to get the clubs up to the required levels, its not going to happen

It's a real dilema.

To leave it has it is is slowly killing the game off.

Possibly some kind of 2 tier SL system similar to what Ray French has been talking about with the finances more evenly distributed.

As long as there is this heavily weighted monetary advantage toward any one division the ones outside that division will be unable to compete on a regular basis with them basically making promotion an avenue to the slaughter house.

Using Fev as an example with their current team who most would say has been and is the strongest consistently over the last few years.

It has been well covered that in this years challenge cup they beat Cas and gave Wigan one hell of a game, very true.

The week after Fax gave them a hiding on their own ground.

Again most would agree and many have alluded to that at least part of that result and the scoreline was down to their efforts in the challenge cup game.
Very likely.

Well think about this.

If they were in Sl what would the scoreline have been if they had been playing a full strength Saints, Warrington, Leeds etc instead of Fax.
That is what we all would have to be able to do across a full season and at the moment I think the gulf is too wide.

At the moment it's like the corner shop trying to compete with a Super Market giant for customers and staff.

Unless one of us (Champ fans) drops the Euro Millions and decides to blow a few million and do a Brookie, forget SL...
Make some noises to the RFL to get help down here getting the game media exposure, weekly round ups on accessible mainstream channels. Get the RFL to assist and make it possible for Champ Clubs to develop more local players, fund that rather than individual players in SL, allow the clubs the find the next Tomkins, and stop SL clubs hoarding talent, festering in SL squads, or being dual reg'd or loaned.
Mr Sadler can write what he wants, its a job for him, it doesn't mean he knows anything about anything.
Sky and the RFL like to show the odd clip for a floodlit RL competition for the under priviliged now and then, coached by Aussies or Rhinos, but in truth too much talent is being lost right across the board, or not being given a chance.
In fairness though, best equipped doesnt mean a thing, Im sure out of all the posters on here one of us will be [ibest equipped [/ito be the first person to walk on Mars, it doesnt mean one of us could ever do it.