Here we go again this old chestnut how many times a year does this crop up sick of it let the powers in charge do it and mess it up not us the fans thank you

Then the criteria were wrong ( or not properly imposed )

Forget about promotion and relegation, super league should go down to 12 teams.

Just to clarify, I'm not arguing for P&R, just the ability to know for certain, say 3 years out, that your effort will be worth it should your club meet a predetermined absolute ( as opposed to relative to other clubs at that three year point ) standard.

Just relegation then.
Would you pull up the drawbridge to protect the 12 remaining clubs in SL and who do you drop out ?

Totally understand why there is no P & R and a big part of me agrees witrh it. My head says it will kill my club though and that hurts.

I think its the only fair way to bring a team in, as apart form Catalans the franchise thing as not worked.
If a team was promoted and it was allowed the promoted season and one more, I can see no arm in this and they would make way then for another team who IMHO deserves a chance.
Obviously all the top SL teams fans here aren't going to agree, just in case their team were ever in the frame to be relegated.
It would also make the season more exciting from day one till the last day, the crowds would improve because of this, as London v Salford with the team losing going down would get more crowds then at present were you would be lucky to have a couple of thousand on. meaningless games would then become interesting again.
Make the playoffs 6 teams again too 8 is too many.

Doesn't union have franchising without calling it that? There's no automatic promotion for winning the Championship, you have to fulfil certain criteria.

i believe Union did, but didn't the club who won the championship take them to court becuase they was not going to be allowed in and won, so got promoted in the end?
not sure of the full in and outs tho

London Welsh got Premier Rugby's decision overturned in the courts, as they were denied entry on the basis they were not the "prime" tenants at their chosen home ground (Oxford?).

The courts ruled against Premier Rugby, as a number of existing clubs are not prime tenants either - Wasps at Wycombe, London Irish at Reading, for example.

"Automatic" P&R between the Championship and Premiership does not exist in English rugby union. Neither does it exist to the Pro12 league of celtic nations in rugby union, or in basketball, ice hockey, speedway or many other sports in the UK.

This idea that automatic P&R is somehow intrinsic in British sport is a fallacy.

So, say your team gets promoted, wins 2 games the year after and comes bottom, who gets relegated?

Also, you say relegation means there are more meaningful games but then you take away 2 places from the playoffs meaning the mid table teams have nothing to play for. The last 2 years with the 8, the season hasn't been over for teams as low down as 11th. I agree 8 is too many, but it keeps things interesting near the end of the season.

Apart from 1, maybe 2 teams at the bottom though, franchising has created a lot of parity. Yes, we have the same 4 teams at the top, but in the last few years 5-11/12 has become a toss up season to season. We need to keep it going because once this current batch of players (late 20s) pass through, it will extend up the table IMO.


This was never going to be an over night thing. It takes time to bed in and start to show, like anything.

Not for me either. Wakey were once criticised for having up to 10 - 11 overseas players in the mid 2000's. I felt it was unfair as realistically we couldn't rely on youngsters and proven english players tended to find their way to the bigger clubs.

This Weekend we fielded:

Mathers (Eng)
Fox (Eng)
Collis (Aus)
Lyne (Eng)
Cockayne (Eng)
Smith (Aus)
Sykes (Eng)
Amor (Eng)
Aiton (Eng)
Poore (Aus)
Kirmond (Eng)
Lauititi (NZ)
Washbrook (Eng)

Wood (Eng)
Mariano (Eng)
Poore (Aus)
Wilkes (Eng)

So 5 out of 17 is much more healthy in that respect, plus we have a raft of talented youngsters on the fringes, Cowling, Walshaw, Trout and Annakin being the standout players.

I also agree that it would be a step backwards for the game as a whole, as others have mentioned - the gap between SL and the Championship is too great for a club to realistically leap and survive these days. They should concentrate on making the National Leagues more vibrant and try and get as many clubs as possible to Fax/Fev's level.

British Sport ? , dont talk bollox

1 stly , it has been the CHAMPIONSHIPS for 4 years now

Yes you're correct , that nice Mr Wood stated 4 years ago that the intention was to make the Championships " Vibrant , and worth winning in their own right "

So why in 4 years has he done NOTHING to achieve that aim ?

This is the real point here , the Championships are going down the pan , and nobody has a clue how to stop it