The problem is that there is such a chasm between SL and NL1 that building fior SL can only be done up to a point. There is absolutely no guarantee that a club that is successful in NL1 will make the transition to become a successful SL club. The promted club has to make so many fundamental changes to its organisation, personnel and financial structure on becoming a SL club that its previous record as a well run NL club is almost irrelevant.

So F"ck em. leave em to rot in the lower league and continue to let SL club after SL club go to the wall!!!!

NL1 has not been around for years and it is the Championship, there is that big a gulf now that championship teams are running the SL clubs close or in some cases beating them on the pitch with a Salary cap of £300k and part time players.

OK then, So a full 4 years into licensing that was designed to make clubs stronger and to compete with the NRL we have Crusaders bust and out, Wakefield saved from the brink and in administation and the once Giants Bradford bulls teetering on the edge, Fax have applied for the last 2 rounds and will wait their turn, can the same be said for the other clubs, Fax were once in the mire, and ever since have rebuilt and come back stronger, Been in 4 finals in 3 years and possibly more to come this year, Have the stadium which some SL clubs envy, but lets not let the facts get in the way, Fev are dominating as well at the moment and plans for stadium and are awaiting planning permision which will be through in the next 2 months, Not 4 years + like some.

I can see both sides of the argument with regards to the franchise system.

However, the reason for clubs struggling at the moment is less to do with that, and more to do with the state of the economy in the country. People have less (or no) cash at the moment so leisure activities such as supporting your club take a much lower priority.

The Bulls might have kept limping along under the old regime if it hadn't been for the UK economy generally.

As for the Bulls? They'll stay in SL (if they survive), and I tend to agree with that because it is in line with other decisions made with other clubs recently. As for points deductions and when? Because I'm a Rovers supporter I can't really comment because it would be my team who would probably ensure a playoff space if it happended this season. I want us to get there on merit.

This

I dont agree that the Bulls state is due to the ecconomy.
Their turnover has been falling for many seasons and the simply haven't reduced their costs accordingly, ie player salaries.
They have contiued to spens as though they are grand final and WCC winners.
To blame the ecconomy is a poor excuse.
Regarding the franchise element, whilst I would prefer the P/R system, I dont think this is a factor at all. In actual fact it should alllow clubs to
control their budgets more easily as it takes away the need for panic buying to avoid possible relegation.

And despite all that, they submitted an application last time around that was nowhere near the required standard, which rather bears out the poster above who suggested that success in the second tier does not necessarily equate to success in SL.

But i thought that Halifax's application DID meet the required standard and that why, when Widnes were confirmed as going up, Halifax were allowed to stay in the running to be considered along side the other SL teams.

Who told you that, someone from the RFL.

Crusaders were in the mire and neither thr RFL or Cru could cover it up any longer. Wakey put in a solid bid based on a new owner and an injection of money.

Its not hard to work out.

It did, the RFL came out afterwards and said that the financial Business plan was "speculative" which is why so many fax fans are peed of with whats happening at bradford as their business plan was clearly doomed from the start and speculative yet KPMG didn't want to or didnt realise this.

It is all one big smelly mess. No wonder Richard Lewis saw the open door and Bolted

Wasn't it the RFL who told Crusaders to withdraw their bid? Not the other way round.

But it seems to me that you're confusing facts with your own opinion. Unless you've actually got both bids in front of you (and that seems unlikely) then you're in no position to comment on who's bid was stronger

i reckon bradford should be handed the same treatment rangers have just been given and be dropped down two tiers so they can re build if they are as big a club they can re build stronger and hopefully get a good backer in the l;ong run