But it wasn't 'fair' punishment. Our chairman was well within his rights to appeal on the grounds of precedent. The RFL have admitted that five or six clubs broke the same rule last season and went unpunished despite them being aware. Why should we have accepted a points deduction when other clubs were allowed to get away with the same offence in 2013?

...and every club in Championship1 - which is where Keighley are going to play, after all - would be howling with outrage. feel sorry for Keighley, but that's not the solution.

Think it could be. A couple of clubs in the Championship getting half a million in 2015 with the majority getting only £150k was pretty easily accepted subject to a bit of chuntering. Even if you think that extra money would get Keighley promoted, there's 2 promotion spots from League 1 to the Championship next season - double this year's. If it's deemed the best of a bad lot of solutions it would get voted through even if the current Championship clubs weren't particularly for it. The detriment suffered by Keighley is partly that they will no doubt have pre-existing contractual and other financial commitments that say Coventry or Oxford and others don't have.

It's the Championship 1 clubs (and probably the other relegated Championship clubs) who would be kicking up a fuss if the RFL tried to change the goalposts after the rules about payments were announced/agreed. The RFL would be out of the frying pan & into the fire with the likes of York/Hunslet (or whoever doesn't get promoted this year) up in arms at a relegated Championship club suddenly being given far more than had been agreed.

Did that happen at the original hearing or the appeal ?

So my question is, if the RFL do nothing and Batley now go on and win the Grand Final, what kind of reaction is there going to be, as I imagine that scenario would really make the RFL look more inept and that really would be setting a precedent.