I'm positive it will be successful.

Out of interest - does anyone know how many pages our bid is?

With Wakefield saying theirs was 700 pages I was just wondering how long a non-begging license application is?

I'm really positive about our bid. We all know the stadium is a big factor and we're still not in it or even building it. That said we're a good way in to it and many hurdles have been overcome. My confidence though isn't in our stadium application, but that of every other part of the process. I remember last franchise, we didn't just work on our stadium then either and things such as our youth set up have come on leaps and bounds. We're always working to improve in the community and grow our club but also be a valuable asset to the community in the things we do (not just rugby). We're a classic example of how a franchise awarded club should progress. some will do it faster than others, money being a big factor, but that's something we don't have in chunks but then again we're never in major debt either. We're always realistic in what we can achieve money wise and don't go too far with it. I'm confident we'll get another nudge to get our stadium sorted and that we'll be given the nod for doing the things the RFL want in the right way.

Id agree with that mate. Like i said in another thread though the only thing that worries me is them saying Fax meet all the criteria and if anyone is to go next after Wakey its obviously not going to be any of their precious expansion clubs!

Fax only meet the criteria for the Championship Side though.... they failed there and because they met that criteria, this then meant that they will then go onto be tested all over again with the current 14 clubs, even tougher ask for Halifax now.

Im not too confident... but being a Cas fan has bread pessimism in me, hopefully another couple of years of the growth weve shown in the last 12 month should see me right.

That's the way I read it as well. As far as I understand it Fax have a very limited youth development system. They'll no doubt argue that's because they're not in Superleague but then again Widnes made much of their youth development when talking up their bid prior to being given the nod.

Was interesting to note on Boots n All the other night Phil Clarke saying that youth development is a key area under consideration in this round of franchises, if that's the case Cas are quids in! Not only are we producing the youngsters but its getting lots of publicity because of our outstanding start to the season.

A lot of people that post in these forums seem to forget that stadium facilities is not the only criteria for getting a Superleague franchise!

"Getting older is mandatory; growing up is optional".

I see you have taken that to heart

When the RFL appointed us into the top flight last time round, i fail to see how they could have expected us to perform any better across the board. If we are not given a franchise, in my view it can only be because of our failure to deliver a new facility to the competition, if this is so then it would be a very one dimensional view from the RFL, indeed.

Halifax application is a joke. last season their last home match was against Batley ( I was there, there was a fire in the new stand). They gave the official attendance as 8400, which coincidentally gave them an average of 2509. I can honestly say with hand on heart there were no more than 2000 . If that figure wasn't falsified they would have fallen short of the criteria.

The RFL dont seem to think so do they? And 8400? There was no where near that amount in the ground. It was close to 5k