I'd rather have the rollercoaster ride of a rich nutter than the lingering death we are enduring now.

My fundamental objection to it was that a team with a million or so less to play with, playing all season at a lower level, could not hope to compete with a SL team in the intensity of the MPG.

I know that at least in theory the salary cap restriction has now gone - but in practice unless someone puts in the difference between SL income and Championship income, there remains a huge imbalance.

If a Championship team is good enough to finish top of its pile then the time has come for at least one automatic promotion spot. Playoffs for a potential second if you like, but the Championship winner deserves to go up, and SL bottom to go down, full stop.

During the time we've had this system the standard of the Championship has markedly increased but it isn't SL. The top C. team deserves to go up, and then have the chance to prepare and upgrade for a crack at SL. The old objection, that they would be doomed to "yoyo" and hopelessly uncompetitive at SL level has been seriously holed by the exploits of Leigh, but even if they were, the performances of some SL clubs have not been awe-inspiring and the jeopardy of a banker relegation spot might perk that league up.

One of the original objectives of this system was to bridge the massive gap that existed between the 2 leagues after so many years of the franchise system. That is happening and so the strategy is working. The next step in the strategy surely is to go to 1U1D, perhaps if a second Championship club wins automatic promotion in the 8's in the next season or so. The biggest issue for me with the current system and this applies to Mcbbbs relegation topic too, is that the standard of refereeing needs to be improved to provide a level playing field between the 2 leagues.

Whilst you are correct in a perfect worl in the real world a team can't survive in SL without somebody putting a huge wedge in.

That is looking increasingly to be the case, at least if you want to be a proper player in the league and not just another Wakey.

The Leigh experience has shown that is actually possible, with solid, and significant, financial backing. It maybe also crystallises in the mind whether or not we'd really [iwant[/i to go up without something similar?

Leigh still have to make it stick, of course, and not come straight back down, and for the good of RL as a whole we have to hope they can. It does also, as mentioned above, lead to the conclusion that straight P&R would work,[i if all[/i clubs at our level were generally better funded.

Well, you can, at the moment, because of the smoke and mirrors "promotion" system. Leigh have done the magnificent this year, sure, but even so, 11 out of 12 SL clubs have survived, and I think until we have automatic promotion all 12 will invariably survive even if it ends up being by winning the MPG.