Hi guys.....

I'm just wondering..... what is the general feeling about this new league structure, with no one in our league able to get promoted?

I'm writing in my uni newspaper about the annoyance of fighting for a league position that kinda has no meaning now.

Just wondering if anyone feels as strongly as I do that the sport has been taken over somewhat by this decision.

Its pants

An ill thought out excuse for the RFL to fill super league with the teams they want in there, and they can stick it!

i'd have to agree with that. does anyone else feel as though it's an American Football style of franchising??

it's frustrating because what are the players in the lower leagues playing for anymore??

I dont agree with the franchise system whatsoever, but its there, we have to live with it.

As for fighting for league positions that have no meaning, what is the difference between our league and Superleague (in terms of league positions). The winner of Superleague can go nowhere, they are fighting for prestige and silverware. Surely its no different for us for the next three years.

No

I suppose you have a point. But surely the aim of every sports team is to become the very best. now i know that in most sports the reality to become the best in the game is basically non-existent, but surely you, like i, would rather watch Super League rugby over the lower leagues.

Who decided to do this anyway?

Surely its a restraint of trade too? Stopping a club from reaching as high a level as possible. The whole thing stinks and reduces competition.

I just cant believe that the clubs voted for it?

what? did the lower league clubs vote for it as well????

i know what you mean about competition. It's hardly fair that a team who is doing crap in the Super League will not face any consequences, whilst better teams in lower leagues wont have the chance to move up the table!

oh yeah and does anyone know the average attendance for Fax last season?

Av Attendance excluding Challenge Cup was1,999

I bet that SKY won't be showing meaningless fixtures from Sugust onwards.

eg

Harlequins v Salford
Celtic v Hull KR

Matches where all there is to play for is pride and a win bonus.

Absolute disgrace it is. Sport is about rewarding (promoting) teams who succeed (fairly) on the field. Cash in the bank, attendances, geographic location, etc, should have no bearing on it at all.

This is dictionary.com's interpretation of the word sport:



Now when you relate the highlighted descriptions of the word to the way the RFL treat the game, it all makes sense!

Very good Yob. Very good!

I've been so wrong about sport all these years

I think you all need to get your cloth capped heads out of the sand and embrace reality. Franchising is the future !!!

Bubba - come on mate, you must be excited by the league table for the number of seats per stadium; the rankings of the baby changing facilities and the charts showing the distance from the M62 of franchised clubs. It adds another dimension to the sport. We ("the fans"icon_wink.gif have been watching Rugby League for decades - rugby rugby rugby. It's time for a change. We're one step away from this .....................

You can't escape the conclusion that a cartel exists.

Set up by the Hetherington's, Caisley, Lindsay (I'm talking several years ago) etc and run by their selected yes men Lewis and Wood.

People will say - "so what"? The game has more TV air time nowadays and attendances are up. They have revolutionised the game and, although it may not seem palatable to some, the game has moved forward since the advent of Super League (apart from the Challenge Cup and the Internationals).

Have you been on the singing syrup?

No - i've just read the facts. It's not all rosy though - as i alluded to in my post - the Challenge Cup has sadly been relegated to a "Carling Cup" style comp and the international game has stagnated. Attendances are up. RL has more TV exposure. Fancy a drink of syrup?

The facts are that in this country international success is a major benchmark.

When Super League was introduced all this fitter training was going to make us the equals of Australia in test rugby.

And this at a time remember when we used to run them close in Ashes series.

Now they're light years in front of us.

It was sold as a forerunner to an improved interntional comp. In reality, club comes first - seeing as though that's where the money is (for the clubs). They bang on about expansion as being the key to the future success of the game but if they're serious about this - they have to run this parallel alongside the international game because success in that area too will boost the game. At the moment, there isn't the will amongst the game's rulers or the club chairman to improve in this area. A bit like the footy isn't it?