Franchising should have been the way to go. Unfortunately like a lot of things in RL we did it half heartedly (stadiums letting clubs go bankrupt etc)and quickly gave up on it.

Despite this we saw some decent progress and foundations put in place for a lot of clubs.

It's an interesting debate, I don't want to lose some of the history of our great sport, but I can't see what adding another club in the same fan and player catchment area will do for our game.

In terms of a model to follow, the Super 14's (or whatever it's called). Is the one I'd look at. They have a big Base in Aus, a second in SA and teams reaching out to emerging markets in Japan and Argentina. It works, people don't worry about the time it takes, or away travel cost.

SL could look to follow that with teams in England (Aus) France (SA) plus Canada (Japan).

I don't think P and R will help teams grow and build in the long term, and as a result any excitement it provides will always be short term. And that's before I start thinking about the benefits in terms of player development.

Franchising was indeed the sensible option but, the failure of clubs within that framework, which should have meant their removal, didn't happen.
Also, the inclusion of a new club, that was deemed strong enough, didn't happen (although the criteria for being strong enough will be both contentious and interesting).

You have to say that the handling of the old system was down right appalling.

Until the super 14s or whatever it is called came along RU crowds in Aus were dreadfully small. This new format lifted the sport there for certain.

I remember a team winning the Championship from 2010 > 2014, a remarkable feat - how are they to progress in licensing?

I'd half agree that franchising helped us blood younger players however we did that in NL1 when we had cleared the dead wood and were forced to play youth because of the lower SC (players such as Shenny)Compare our attendances now to when we were in a franchise. The town couldn't be bothered with RL when this was in place and many other towns across the heartlands were the same. P & R gives fans hope which translates to money for the game. If it were upto me the promoted team would have a years exemption from relegation the first year to be able to recruit the following year knowing they were in SL (which helped Catalans no end at the expense of my own club). Under this system Leigh for example could be a viable SL club.... Look at HKR.

That said we have given the current system 18 months so far and we are talking about changing again ??? Why not give the current system a chance for a few seasons, Bradford were not far off of winning promotion last year through this system.... In the cup you do see the odd Championship win over SL opposition.

Yes, remember 2012

The thing is the success or failure of they system isn't based on whether or not a club gets promoted. It's about whether it creates the environment for the game to fulfil it's potential. Right now we are going backwards at a rate of knots.

I guess you're a Feath fan? I can understand where you are coming from. In a lot of ways they deserved a licence more than Wakey who were a mess at the time, that was part of the problem and why it failed because we didn't follow through on promises/threats.

At the same time, as a genuine question, how much did Rovers progress off the field, did you run at a profit, were there 5 thousand plus in your ground every week, we're you producing your own players.

I'm not saying Franchise and close the gates, but let clubs prove they belong here, that should take more than a winning record imo.

If your going down the true franchise route ( Super Rugby in the southern hemisphere ) then its

London south
London north
Birmingham
East midlands
South west
Yorkshire
Lancashire
North east
Edinburgh
Glasgow

All playing at various stadiums ( but not just 1 ) in their area

All current clubs play in lower tiers

Otherwise , forget it

Koukash questioned the RFL's decision to allow Toulouse and Toronto into the British competition and rounded on Catalans Dragons, which he dubbed "the RFL's baby".

He claimed the Perpignan club have been permitted to exceed the overseas quota, are regularly treated more leniently by the judiciary and are costing each Super League club around £100,000 a year through subsidised travel costs.

"I am all for growing the sport but we contribute at least £10million to their local economy and they don't bring any fans with them when they come here," Koukash said.

A junior competition? Most clubs in the Utopia of SL don't run a reserves side!!! Give your head a shake pal

Catalan Dragons have so many overseas players it's ridiculous, how is that good for the game in France ? Basically it's not, unless you support them...
Over to you Jean, hater of M62 RL clubs !