Good point. The CC really has lost its shine. Interest only really picks up during the closing stage of the comp, usually when 2 big SL teams fight it out.

Scrap it at the SL level for me. Make it a lower league comp.

Les Cats are really poor at home aren't they?

Catalans 26 St Helens Academy 22

HTH

You've been unbanned Lenny, so there's no need to be Atticus

That's my point dipstick.

The MM Cup turns certain Super League fixtures into a joke.

Duh!

Hey AP, need to change your sig????

This weeks fixtures aren't completed yet.

Leeds are still going down anyway.

But they still got three points last night. Doh!

I'll change it when all the results are in this weekend.

GO LUTON!!!

GO BLACKWELL!!!

The previous suggestion to make the CC eligible for non SL clubs is an interesting suggestion, which I would vote for.

I'm not majorly interested in the CC, and judging on last nights crowd, am in the majority.

I am going to go to Wembley for the final regardless, and that's only because it is the first final there at the new stadium.

The Grand Final is the ultimate goal for any SL club IMO, and fans would and should agree that winning the GF has hell of a lot more prestige than the CC.

I was thinking about this last night, after the game (and overtaking the Workington coaches heading back up the A1).

Is the fate of the Challenge Cup sealed, with the introduction of the Franchise system in 2009 ?

Given that promotion and relegation as we know it will end then, one possible outcome of that is that many of the smaller clubs will become 'feeders' for the big teams (just look at the relationships that Leeds have built with York and more recently Featherstone ?). These teams will probably have most of the younger players undergoing development (or players seeing out the last few years of their careers) for their SL team 'masters', possibly have coaching staff from those teams and more than likely and open gangway between the clubs, just as they are in Australia.

With a 12 or 14 team top league and another 20 - 30 professional clubs under the wing of senior teams, the level playing field or all clubs being 'equal' (some are more equal than others these days), the concept of the Challenge Cup evaporates. Can you see an SL Club, playing what effectively is the Academy or Reserve team of another SL club regardless of the name (or history) of the competition ?

Would it be a good idea for SL clubs getting involved in a later round?

In hindsight yes, in tradition no.

the Challenge Cup can't be reduced to another Super League competition with room for 4 teams outside the top flight.

Has Grizzly Adams (BORORHINO) buggered off?