It is bad for clubs that then find it nigh on impossible to attract investement

All it does do is show how weak our sport is compared to most other major sports

tada! We have a winner!
Rugby League, regardless of what some of out learned friends on these boards would try to have you believe is a 3rd rate sport when compared to Soccer and the kick and clap lot. This statement is not based on actual enjoyment, skill levels or even loyalty of supporters...it is based on what an advertiser will pay to have their ad show during an event. The RUWC final featuring England Rugby Union will always attract a higher premium than a 4 nations final featuring England RL.
Not only is the Union game on free to air TV (as are all the other games and they have the full might of free to air promo's in the build up) but the image of league as a flat capped, pigeon fanciers sport will take more than 15 years of SL coverage (2 games, 1 midweek show) to overcome.
Rugby League in the UK is far stronger today than it was in 1994.........it just needs another 15+ years to really kick on! As it is, Namibia v Japan in next years RUWC will probably attract a bigger UK tv audience than England v the Kiwis in October and most definitely a bigger GLOBAL audience....and if you are Procter & Gamble...GLOBAL means exactly that.....not 1 road in the UK and 2 states in Australia.
Lewis is no mug. He has a plan, his organisation turns a profit and he has a long term strategy.....even if it's at the expense of traditional clubs. These clubs on the outside looking in should cut their cloth accordingly, budget for long term growth and apply only when it's impossible for them to be ignored. They will not die.....but they will struggle.......all the while others who are currently at the top table will fall...........and they will get their chance.
IMO that is.

In reality though it just won't work in certain areas. E.g. you could create a mega-successful SL team in Glasgow but attendances would always be poor because it's been a football city for so long and always will be.

Likewise you could create a club in London, give them 30 years of 2nd chances, a wealthy tycoon who gets them to a CC Final and they still wouldn't sell out their allocation in their own city against a club like say Leeds - there just isn't the interest there.

Yeah but what are the (average) viewing figures in London compared to everywhere else? Low I would imagine!

A. Not a hope in hell.

b. Wouldn`t that be a bit confusing for Tigers supporters?


My 14 in no particular order.
Saints
Wire
Leeds
Hull F.C.
Hull K.R.
Cas
Wigan
Widnes
Fax
Salford
Wakey
Bradford
Huddersfield
Fev

SL1
Bradford
Leeds
Wigan
Saints
Hull
Hull KR
Cas
Wakey
Widnes
Wire
Catalans
Hudds
Barrow

SL2
Quins
Crusaders
Oldham
Fax
Fev
York
Haven
Workington
Leigh
Salford
Toulouse
Skolars

Top two go up
bottom two go down

SL1 to keep play offs (top5)

Super League Premiership

Eastern Conference
Wigan Warriors
St Helens
Widnes Vikings
Warington Wolves
South Wales Scorpions (Relocated to Cardiff/Llanelli/Newport/Bridgend)
Crusaders
Reds (Based in Salford, but Renamed Reds to appeal to a bigger audience)
Barrow Raiders (move to either Carlisle/Renovate)

Western Conference
Leeds Rhinos
Huddersfield Giants
Hull
Hull KR
Bradford Bulls
Halfiax Blue Sox
Catalans Dragons
Toulouse Olympique

Play-Offs
QualifiersWeek One
1. Winner Western vs Winner Eastern
2. Loser Game 1 vs Wildcard
3. Runner Up Western vs Runner Up Eastern

[iWinner Game 1 recieves bye to the final[/i

Week Two
4. Winner Game 2 vs Winner Game 3

[iWinner Goes through to the final[/i

Week Three
Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 4

Game Schedule
3 x Derby Match (Home/Away/Manchester Magic)
2 x Regular Match from Your Own Conference (Home/Away)
1 x Regular Match from 4 Clubs in Other Conference (seeded)
19 x Matches.

Points System
Win Over 30 Points, 3 Points
Win Under 30 Points, 2 Points
Win After Golden Point, 2 Points
Loss After Golden Point, 1 Point
Loss by Under 4 Points, 1 Point
Loss by Over 4 Points, 0 Points

Super League Championship

Fetherstone Rovers
Blackpool Panthers
Leigh Centurions
Keighley Cougars
Wakefield Wildcats
Dublin Raiders
Stade Francais
Fulham Lions
Whitehaven
Workington Town
Hunslet Hawks
Sheffield Eagles
Batley Bulldogs
Dewsbury Rams

Play Each Other Home/Away, top 8 go through to play off, like in SL now.

So what you are saying is that because we regularly beat you (as we have all the other clubs at one point or another over the years), we dont deserve Super League? You also appear to be saying that if ever a club loses a few games and isnt playing as well as they might, they should be dumped from the top flight.

Glad you arent actually capable of putting this fantasy SL into action, because your logic is utter shoyte.

For me it would be to get to 2 full time leagues. P&R between Superleague 1 and 2; apply for re-election (points based system) to go between National Elite and SL2.

So which clubs in the second tier are likely to be able to get to support full time Rugby League and add to the competition.

Barrow
Sheffield
South Wales (if it can represent the whole of South Wales - we need a team to tap into the player pool down there like we did in the good old days. A Gus Risman for the 21st Century to take a new Cumbria team to winners of the Challenge Cup in 7 years).

Big city Conference Clubs that may really step up into Championship 1 in the future.

Edinburgh Eagles (unbeaten in the regular season last year and this year) - They were the club rumoured to be joining NL2 a few seasons ago.

Would love to say
Coventry Bears (Butts Arena had RL played there prior to WW1 and would make a great Championship ground although probably not big enough for SL). They are Midlands Grand Finalists yet again.
Nottingham Outlaws - Doing OK in the National Conference and the area has experience semi-pro Rugby in the past.

Mergers / Joint Ventures

West Cumbria Atoms (joint venture Town;Haven and Wealthy Backers).

Other Sporting Clubs who are rumoured to express an interest in an RL Side

Paris Stade Francais
Barcelona (connection with Les Catalans)

So for me I'd like to see

Barcelona
Barrow
Bradford Northern
Castleford
Coventry Bears
Edinburgh Eagles
Huddersfield
Hull
Hull KR
Leeds
Les Catalans
London Broncos
Nottingham Outlaws
Sheffield Eagles
Paris Stade Francais
Salford [can't believe people would want to drop the team of Lance Todd - The Toddy Toddlers in the 1930s predating the 1950s Busby Babes down the road - Potential in the new Stadium and outreach to Manchester].
Sheffield Eagles
St Helens
Toulouse [Promised a position SL1 with the other Paris. Doing OK in a mixed semi-pro full time league].
Wakefield Trinity [aren't they the biggest City without professional Association Football; seems like bags of untapped potential even though they're an established SL club]
West Cumbria Atoms
Warrington
Wigan
Wrexham

Making 24 teams - so two leagues of 12.

wrexham, edinburgh, belfast, salford, gateshead, barcelona, st helens, toulouse, leeds, halifax, london, amsterdam, new york and moscow

The best idea was Albert Rosenfeld suggesting Salford rename to Manchester United RLFC.

I think they should be called the Reds, or City Reds, because that way, you don't have 'Manchestoh' getting them annoyed, but don't have Salford, restricting the fan base.

You could apply the same logic to every team, giving an ideal Super League of...

Reds
Blues
Greens
Whites
Blacks
Yellows
Oranges
Purples
Pinks
Turquoises
Puces
Vermillions
Cerises
Magnolias
White With A Hint of Apples

Watch the fans flood in!

1. Wigan Warriors
2. St Helens
3. Warrington Wolves
4. Bradford Bulls
5. Leeds
6. Hull KR
7. Salford City Reds
8. Huddersfield
9. Leicester Tigers RL
10. Widnes Vikings
11. Hull FC
12. Castleford Tigers
13. Wrexham Crusaders
14. Barrow / Cumbria
15. Newcastle
16. Halifax