Quote: SaintsFan "Where have I said they shouldn't? That's just silly. I simply expressed my own POV, on this open forum, that some - some - Cas fans, the Cas fans who were condemning the Crusaders out of hand, may want to remember that the franchise system saved them from certain relegation. I don't know what the big steam up is all about. It's a fact. And because of that fact, they came across as hypocritical (which I also said).
However, other Cas fans have been very sympathetic.'"
That's not strictly true anyway, I mean we all knew that the franchise system was going to be brought into play and that we weren't fighting on the field for a place in Super League, but off it with the application for a franchise.
We used last year as an opportunity to build a solid foundation using our youngsters to give them valuable experience for this season and future years.
Had the system been the same, we probably wouldn't have played the youngsters as often and we'd have looked to bring in more experienced players to scramble to finish anywhere but bottom. The fact that we could do this shows the true value of the new system anyway.
I still maintain that I don't think Celtic were ready to be brought in, and throwing them in at this stage was just an attempt to fast-track some interest in the sport in a place where there isn't nearly enough. They should have left them to develop in the national leagues until the next round of applications by which time you could gauge more accurately whether they were ready.
That being said, I reckon if Widnes or someone else had been brought in at their expense, it would have only increased the probability that we would be missing out next time around when Celtic would have almost certainly been brought in anyway.
Ultimately Celtic will be judged on what they do over the course of the 3 seasons, and if they end up competing with the rest of the league and have an improved fan base then I suppose the experiment will be deemed a success. If they don't, will the RFL persevere or give up?
