Quote: TheButcher "The Premier league is so far ahead of the championship because of the vast wealth inequality between the leagues. In fact, even the premier league is skewed heavily in favour of the clubs with unlimited cash. They also have the problem that only about a quarter of the teams in that league have a chance at winning the title. That's not as big a problem for them because it boosts all the clubs in the league financially. Most of the teams have no hope of competing but they have other enticements such as European football and domestic competitions. Plus they are the countries number one sport.
The trouble with certain fans with your argument is that it's elitist nonsense and a catch-22 for you. Your teams already sit at the top end of the competition, but when top clubs such as Leeds or Wigan to name a couple over recent years have struggled. It's that the competition is degrading in standards somehow. When teams that have traditionally struggled pull themselves up to be competitive and challenge the 'top' clubs, instead of seeing that as a positive thing it's somehow because the general quality is now rubbish or we can't spend more when we can.
For SL to survive and move forward the league needs to be competitive. Nobody will invest into a sport with only four or five teams battering everyone else every week. That's why we're still struggling even now. These things take time. I'd rather watch a SL that throws together more competitive matches over watching a few clubs play champagne rugby over inferior opposition. While what we have now isn't perfect, the 'lower' teams are dragging themselves up and becoming more competitive. Not every match can be a SOO banger because these things take time. The marquee signings are a perfect solution, as it stands, to attract that bit of talent that's floating around.'"
That's not my argument. In a truly competitive competition like you see in the NRL there would be ebb and flow where one year a team could finish 12th and the next year finish 3rd.
Seeing the 'big clubs' be successful or struggle isn't the barometer of whether the competition is a quality product. I am simply judging the product on what I see on the pitch and to me the standards have declined.
Now of course the solution to that isn't simply about better quality from Australia as the game needs to produce a better homegrown quality of player but it would help.
A few years ago I would of said the top 4 or 5 in Superleague could match the top 4 or 5 in the NRL and it was further down the league where the huge gap in quality was but now I dont think that's the case.
The gap has become much much bigger between the two competitions top to bottom. Now of course it doesn't help that over here there that we dont have the same level of player trading. Our top players play for the big clubs and stay at the big clubs due to too many clubs not in a position or are not prepared to spend up to cap.
If we have a competition where far too many clubs cant even spend up to to the salary cap that do we have that begs the question how can the standards ever improve.
