Well there are excuses, not all of a clubs income goes on player wages What about overheads? Youth Development? Community programmes? Marketing? Bills?

Well there are at least half a dozen clubs that don't spend up to the full cap that I can think of right now. Are you suggesting we just have an elite competition compromising of a paltry selection of wealthy clubs? If so then we will just forget this conversation ever happened...

is it really that many?
i'd have thought three or four at most

To be honest, I don't really see what all the bickering is about anymore.

Despite losing a lot of creditability with farce after farce, the RFL will shoe them on one way or another because quite simply they have to. As with London, they are more important to the long term future of the game than Wakefiled, Widnes, Leigh, the Isle of White or Jossies Giants. I just wish the RFL had the b0llocks to say so.

In the meantime, I'm sure I can find something more important to worry about.

How would that work then ? , the Pies have to Beat the Dragons [ St george ] to get league points ?

Absolutely spot on.

Put bluntly if there are no Crusaders then you can wave goodbye to the development sides in South Wales and all that comes with that.

The only ones that would benefit would be maybe Scorpions but most of the dual contract players turn out for Scorpions quite a bit anyway.

I know its popular to cast the RFL as a perpetual bad guy working against the best interests of clubs, but its worth pointing out again that the size and entry methods for Super League are subject to agreement by two bodies: the RFL and SLE. The current 14 SL clubs voted to guarantee a place to a championship club and to keep the competition at 14 for 2012-15, even though that would inevitably mean one of them not getting a licence, rather than share the Sky fee among a larger number.

To wander back on topic for a minute, does anyone know if anything happened as a result of yesterday's rumoured meeting of the Crusaders' shareholders?

once again rugby league is portrayed like a music hall joke.........how often are the goal posts for super league membership going to be changed at the whim of lewis and wood? if crusaders are placed into administration then they should be demoted to the championship, we have had doncaster and keighley relegated in the past two years due the their pre-season points deductions, but what punishment is there for a super league club? the annual welsh soap opera is becoming about as boring and predictable as emmerdale,

you can look at this two ways
1) you can either say - well thats it - get rid of that welsh club, they can't run it properly either in the north or the south

or you can say

2) If the International RL ambition of having a strong Northern hemispshere competition with England Wales and France leading the way is to be acheived, we need a welsh side playing in the Superleague.

- Wales RL is building in force. Wales under Iestyn Harris are European Champions ( for the 2nd successive year)

- Wales also has a 2nd club called The Scorpions

- Wales also has successful student sides, conference clubs, the Welsh Dragonhearts, and more schools than ever are playing league.

Yes I know we have to bend a few rules and people will not like it one bit, but thats what we need to do to achieve 2)


PS wheres the Magic weekend taking place again - oh yes in one of the greatest stadiums in the world in a little country called Wales.

I agree Port, it aint pretty and its gonna have some backs up but.. its got to be done.