I know that they don't like sharing the pot 'o gold, but as business men, I'm stunned they can't see they need to arrest the decline or they'll end up with a six team league or a merger with the Puntmonkies (who are discovering that Union has largely the same problems). What was wrong with just switching the old 16 team First Division to Summer, without all the other e!

That's a fair cop.

I will not mention North America ever again................................................

The point was that no matter how many times Leeds and Bradford played the crowds were enormous in RL terms

I don't want to see clubs playing each other so much, but at least the way it was done, and the result was more big crowds.

More money isn't "nonsense"........

This begs the question if we played 14 clubs in SL with a 26 round season would gate revenue rise or fall??

Thoughts??

Money isn't nonsense I never said that it was and in addition I don't think anyone thinks that there isn't a financial reward or indeed an appetite to play in a Cup Final and that's where your point loses validity in my opinion it's not really a loop fixture and you understand this despite denying it.

Here's an example using my own club as an example,

Warrington might play Wigan three times as regular fixtures, Home Away and either a loop fixture and or Magic, if they met in another game and that game was a CC Final or GF, would that crowd be larger smaller or about the same as the previous encounters?

If Warrington and Wigan didn't make those one off event games and thought well instead of having a week off we will upgrade the Locker Cup to a do or die fixture would that generate the same revenue as a CC or GF appearance?

As far as loop fixtures are concerned, I look forward to the big games but don't necessarily want more of them against the same opposition, familiarity does breed contempt, surely it's better to have more quality across a wider base.