People have plenty good ideas to stop it, but Nigel Wood doesn't. Nor for that matter, does he particularly care.

I noticed that,but there were still 5,as he counted Poore twice and missed Andy Raleigh.

I think if anything it has gone the other way which is a massive shame

Yeah my bad there, but the point still stands.

P&R is too much of a hit for the relegated team and too much of a leap for the promoted team.

In my mind we do need to do more to sort out the lower leagues, but it will be tough in an ever shrinking world for teams like Fev, Batley, Hunslet, Dewsbury and Keighley to ever be a big draw for either walk up fans or TV audiences.

It's on 2 fronts as well, people in Hunslet will become ever more likely to follow the Rhinos and claim Leeds connections, Keighley have the Bulls nearby etc.

But also, in terms of TV audiences (and this applies to SL as well to a degree) - beyond those who are already into the sport, they will always struggle to market fixtures between teams from places that your average southerner has never heard of. In all likelihood, I'd suggest that theres a great many people who probably havent heard of Wakefield down south, let alone places like Dewsbury, Featherstone, Workington etc - they simply don't care and THAT is the biggest challenge facing our game IMO.

Utter bollox

I guess many haven't heard of london judging by attendances

I agree with having no promotion and relegation because the gap between the two divisions is too high. A team that comes up needs to have the time to be able to plan.

More rlhererl on promotion and relegation and more rlhererl on the dual registration farce

I'm not personally arguing for P&R (at least not the simple version anyway) but the argument you give is a bit circular - supporters of P&R would argue that the gap is only so big precisely because there's no P&R.

I'd like to hear genuinely radical solutions to solve this 'drawbridge' problem. Maybe nobody is thinking outside the 'obvious' couple of options.

There was always a gap between the two when we had P & R. There weren't many sides who were promoted and then survived the season after unless the winners of the Championship weren't allowed into the league which happened a few times to Huddersfield. The biggest problem was that the team that came up tended to release all the players that they came up with and brought in low quality overseas players and overaged players.

The idea of the franchise system is that each club in the top division has a 3 year plan. They can blood the youngsters with no fear of relegation. Similarly when a team is promoted ala Widnes they can take half a season to assess what they have and then look to build a team that can compete. If Widnes were in danger of relegation last year then the likes of Joe Mellor wouldn't have got a sniff. Now he's being given a chance to play in Super League and prove himself. A chance that he wouldn't have got otherwise.

The clubs in the Championship have the same chance to build a side that can keep them at the top end of the Championship over three years and get themselves in order for a licence application. The biggest problem is that some of the applications seem to be built on total BS as I indicated in that blog.

Now let me see. Most people on here who are against it are already in super league.
I totaly agree that there must be realistic criterias to be met.
If they did teams could build up to it even if it was a 5-10 year plan.
I for one know someone who would put in a good lump of money into my club if there was promotion, but wont do it because he says he wont waste money just pumping money into something that cant go forward.
How many other business men or women think the same way or it could be stoping sponsers who already invest putting more in.
Like someone else on here said what other sport does this system exist in.
Yes young players have come through but why should championship clubs not be able to build round there young talent instead of having to let them go.

Quite the contrary. An investor should see that he can invest in a club, as opposed to a team. If he does that, there's a chance to get into the top league based on the quality of the club. That should seem a far more secure proposition than investing in just the team and relying on match results which depend on so many factors outside your control.

You could save us all a lot of time if you just put that instead of your usual ramblings.

The game needs to grow it's audience in order to attract the big TV deals. The majority of British sport enthusiasts live in the south of the country, where we have little presence. This is why London RL is still going, in order to "tap" that market.

Imagine if you were flicking through the channels, looking for some sport to watch and you happened across a game that looked kind of similar to one you were already familiar with but played between teams from 2 small towns from the Truro area.

Would you watch it? I know I probably wouldn't - because I couldn't care less about a game between 2 clubs that I've never heard of playing a sport that I have no interest in.

The reason your post was bollox is because you suggest that the Championships need TV coverage to build , they dont , if anything it damages them , especially as they recieve no monetary compensation for being featured

Quote: TrinityIHC "]In my mind we do need to do more to sort out the lower leagues, but it will be tough in an ever shrinking world for teams like Fev, Batley, Hunslet, Dewsbury and Keighley to ever be a big draw for either walk up fans or TV audiences.

It's on 2 fronts as well, people in Hunslet will become ever more likely to follow the Rhinos and claim Leeds connections, Keighley have the Bulls nearby etc.

But also, in terms of TV audiences (and this applies to SL as well to a degree) - beyond those who are already into the sport, they will always struggle to market fixtures between teams from places that your average southerner has never heard of. In all likelihood, I'd suggest that theres a great many people who probably havent heard of Wakefield down south, let alone places like Dewsbury, Featherstone, Workington etc - they simply don't care and THAT is the biggest challenge facing our game IMO.[/quote]]


There is no need for anybody but the citizens of those towns to care , there is no benifit to any of those clubs to be on national TV

The Championship clubs need to be built locally , and with marketing help they could be , but they also need the Competitions themselves to be promoted , much of that falls at the RFL s feet , they recognised that when P and R was removed , but have done bugger all since to try to make it happen , in fact they have done exactly the opposite , they have [ along with inept club adminstrations ] devalued the competitions

There are currently no clubs in the Championships anywhere near ready to take on a 3 year licence , and that is a massive failure of the sport