Tbf, I am coming at it with an opinion that staying the same isn't tenable. Or rather it could be, but there needs to be a lot more realism/honesty, which is a type of change. I'm not saying what they did was necessarily wrong, that is arguable, but it was different from what they strongly implied they would do.
I can see pros and cons for all the systems, but as long as whoever decides accepts both that is fine. Licensing tried to dodge the cons, which made it attractive (to some ) but, with hindsight, very unstable.
I know the VT used to get clogged up with threads on the subject, but since the Bradford situation was, for want of a better word, 'resolved' there's been little but stunned silence. We've not even got round to floundering properly yet.

With licensing P & R is, or possibly will be, on a three year basis rather than an annual one.
So which club('s) should be relegated and which one ('s) should be promoted?

Licencing up to this point has been a success, the gap is now too big to be bridged, removing any need to worry about who to drop and who to move up

All neat and tidy from now on

so were ours at one point. can easily fall through. Then youve got to afford to play in it.

Promotion and relegation will
(1) make it impossible for any more French clubs to join Super League (putting them into the Championship has been tried and failed);
(ii) possibly mean the end of London Broncos in any form
(iii) make it difficult in the short term for other non-heartland English clubs to join Super League, because in the short term (5 years) they will have weaker financial and supporter base than small northern heartland clubs like Featherstone, Halifax, Leigh etc.

Why is that bad? Because the game is chronically underfunded, unlike rugby union, and therefore needs to be more national and international if it is to gain more financial support from corporate sponsors and governments, and to get bigger and more financially juicy TV contracts.

I would like to see some non-heartland British clubs (including one Welsh) promoted to Super League in the short term. That means in 2018. It may be an optimistic time frame, though not if a wealthy private sponsor can be found within that time frame. It is more likely to happen sooner rather than later with licensing than with P & R.

I don't anticipate English players flocking to any new French SL clubs like Toulouse. After all it took 6 years for Catalans to sign one Englishman (Pryce). Any new French SL clubs will be expected to have around 8 Aussies or Kiwis and at least 17 French players.

There will be no clubs left in the lower leagues by 2015 never mind 2017

The game is dead

Crowds are falling, fans have given up

Chairmen except for leigh feath fax and sheffield have given up and now run there teams as reserve teams for super league clubs.

Which then impacts on the four who actually want to be a club as fans of those four clubs now boycott games because its seen as a reserve level.

So all in all the franchise thing is wonderful.

To save money on doing bids,they now are having a live paper ,scissors, rock knockout competition[no sponsor yet but the rfl are hopeful to get one]sky and prem sports are bidding for it

Maybe....but it does shorten the odds somewhat

FWIW, I can see London stepping down at the end of 2014 unless someone is found to at least ease the strain on the finances of DH.......

People like you have been saying that for 20+ years, its still not true

People like you have had their heads buried in the sand for the last 4-5 years whilst numbers dwindle and clubs go from bad to worse. Never mind its always something to write about and put a positive spin on it.

making things up like dwindling numbers doesnt help your argument.

Please list which clubs in championship and championship 1 are showing increase year on year since franchise started

I await your detailed response

SHeffield seem to be doing pretty well, but thats by the by, we are talking about SL here.

I am glad this thread didn't turn into a bun fight until the third page.

No sport has automatic P&R between pro and part time league. I doubt the championship clubs would like it if it existed between the conference and the championship, mainly because many of the BARLA clubs are better run and have better players.

At the same time having teams like Leeds, Wigan, Hull etc. applying for a licence every 3 years is a complete waste of time and money. Championship teams that want a go are not given the opportunity and clubs can do whatever they want after getting a licence. Crusaders moving from Bridgend to Wrexham and London trying to move the Guildford are good examples.

Surely there needs to be a continuous process that is both cheaper and for effective. Having clubs externally audited would not be a bad idea. Then on the basis of that they can be given a range of leagues that they can compete in i.e. the highest league team x can play in is Super League and the lowest is the Championship. Giving clubs the safety of knowing they cannot fall too far down the ladder.

I also think that Super League may be ready for more than one division. Having a SL2 would reduce the gap that teams like Fev, Sheffield and Halifax would need to jump to get into the league. This would fit in with the idea above. So for example Fev could allowed to play in SL2 if they got promoted but would need to prove themselves at that level to get clearance to try and go up to SL1. It may also be deemed that they are too big a club to play in Championship 1 so they would be protected from dropping into a league that is too small for them. This offers flexibility and security but not too much of either that would result in financial meltdown.

As mentioned it seems a bit daft for all clubs to have to apply every 3 years. It would seem better to have an announcement in year 2 that so many poorly performing SL clubs (in whichever areas, not just league position) and so many well performing Championship clubs may apply.
I'd also like, if the 3-year timescale is staying, an inspection of each club by the RFL every 3 years that is made public along with ratings on several key areas such as finances, youth development etc I know the RFL produce a summary on each club but I'd like it be in much more depth along with targets for each club for the next licence period.

Rugby league fans are just the weirdest people in sport