I don't want Leigh to implode. The Championship needs a strong Leigh in 2019 and beyond, just as it needs a strong Featherstone, a strong Halifax, a strong Sheffield, a strong York, and for the short term, a strong Bradford.

Halifax, Leigh, Featherstone, London, Toulouse and Toronto are all far too strong for the Championship, but far too weak for SL.....the 3 tier comp needs to be a 2 tier comp......with 2 up 2 down between the tiers....18 sides in each, 34 games a season top 4 play-off.......

The time is now. Along with a seperate broadcaster deal. Ensuring all Championship/ SL2 is full time.

Indeed......Sky need to be made to come back to the table NOW and discuss a 10 year plan for the game and it's broadcast rights on a global scale........but the "gravy train" that is SL will never endanger their £1.8 million a year......which will probably be £1.3 million a year next time...

The main reason for this is the massive difference in funding Championship clubs receive depending on their finishing position, meaning clubs running on very different budgets for players.

All Super League clubs receive the same funding. If all Championship clubs got the same amount that competition would be a lot closer, and clubs wouldn’t be likley to get into financial difficulties for failing to reach the top 4.

Sky have the rights to broadcast the Championship but choose not to.

Calling it Super League 2 isn’t going to make any difference, the tv rights will still be worth diddly squat.

Derek said on RL Backchat if Leigh don't make the top 4 he will step away from the club as he cant afford the additional cost of highly paid players on 2 year contracts and a reduced sum from RL for missing the 4. I heard it with my own ears. Thats not rumour, conjecture etc its what he said

He has rescinded that statement since

He appears to be studying the political style of Donald Trump.

He certainly has had his moments

Mixed feelings about who I 'want' to go up. I've never been a fan of North American, or even French teams in British RL. However, I do think Toronto deserve a crack at SL, having proved themselves on the pitch. My own club has tried, with 14 wins out of the last 16 games, but couldn't overcome their dreadful start. And, to be honest, had we somehow got into the top 4, we would have been on the receiving end of some big defeats!

Toulouse may just upset a couple of SL teams, but can't guarantee beating their Championship counterparts.

Brilliantly as they have done, Halifax (yet again) and London aren't likely to sustain an effort over seven hard games.

His problem. He shouldn't be so desperate to break the bank for the glorified 'Soooper Greed' And brought a balanced sustainability to his club in the long term. Another clown with no professional business experience.

If he walks away then he'll face lawsuits from those players.

He's done no different to what Toronto are doing now. He wanted progression, and along with KR showed just how much it costs to break a system heavily favoured towards SL.

Sustainability is one thing progression is another. You progress to create stability. Otherwise you don't move anywhere.

I've said for a while that this league structure is dangerous. By dangling the carrot of promotion to super league and also basing future funding on final league standings, there is a huge incentive for clubs to take risks.
Those in charge at Leigh will have based contract offers and player salaries on the funding they currently had and also an expectation of what funding they would receive in 2019. Unfortunately for them the risk has not worked - for whatever reason they have massively under-performed this season to such an extent that they will not even be in the top 4 come season end.

The question now is, was this outcome budgeted for at the start of the season? Do Leigh have any kind of contingency plan in place for such a scenario coming to fruition?

As a Bradford fan, this is pretty much exactly what happened to us in our second year in the championship. I think it's safe to say that we definitely did not have a contingency plan in place. Hopefully Derek sticks around and Leigh can rebuild for 2019 and beyond.

Over on the Leigh board they suddenly feel promotion shouldn’t be based on on-field results, haha.