Is this the same Steve Ferres who was the RFL's man [iin situ[/i at Bridgend during the Celtic Crusaders fiasco ? The same Steve Ferres who apparently failed to notice any of the dodgy things that were happening there ? Clearly he's the right man for the job then.

Thats what I put earlier , basically a couple of established [ accept they are not at their best at the moment ] clubs are basically going to be dropped into what was the old NL 3 , basically an expansion league

If you do not get promotion next year, then you will be in the league you deserve to be in.

Actually they will be in the league that YOUR club deserve to be in, were it not for the misfortune of others.

Misfortune or mismanagement/cheating?

York deserve to be where they are.

So clubs that finish in a relegation place deserve to stay up ? That's an interesting concept. York should have gone down, they got lucky. There was no 'deserve' about it. At least be a little bit gracious about your good fortune.

Exactly. But certain people on here can not or will not see that this is the case and that the goalposts have once again been moved for the benefit of expansion clubs to the detriment of existing CC1 clubs. The teams who do not gain promotion will in effect have been relegated to a semi amateur league even though they have not moved themselves. All that has happened is that a shortfall in fixtures in the CC has been solved at the expense of existing CC1 clubs along with a drastic reduction in the quality of rugby.

How do you know it is a semi-amateur division? Have you seen the business plans for each club?

York didn't finish in the relegation zone, Barrow & Dewsbury did.

One man's semi-amateur is another man's semi-professional

That sounds about right RB.

Does it? Or will the remaining CC1 clubs now be in a much more competitive division that suits their level?

You'd expect that the two 'established' clubs that don't get promoted in 2012 will be of a much higher standard than the new clubs for 2013, and the new clubs might not even reach the standard of Gateshead/Skolars in the first season, but there's only one way to find out. If the quality evens out over time then I think it's a risk worth taking.

But why not 12 and 12 Matt ?

Absolutely no idea.