well finally youve made a pro expansion comment

well done

off the top of my head, leigh, the club that have been around for donkeys years, are the bedrock of RL in england, averaged what, 3000? in their dismal SL year.

PAris averaged somewhere between 5000 - 8000 in their SL years

heartlands my ar$e

Surely being on the committee of an expansion league and helping out at an expansion club is more pro-expansion than making a few ignorant comments in favour of expansion clubs on a forum?

All expansion clubs should be treated fairly, maybe even given a few little bits of help like being allowed a few extra overseas players for the first few seasons (having an unlimited overseas quota to last perpetually keeps players from development areas out of the game), but these should be decided on a case by case basis as the situation in South Wales is not the same as north London, the North East or Toulouse. That's different to thinking they should all be rushed into SL whether they're ready or not.

If there were the money there I would support this, but we don't live in an ideal world and the sport doesn't have money to spend funding clubs like the Crusaders. Some common sense is needed, for example if giving Harlequins an extension on when Lenegan needs to sell up will secure their long term future it needs to be done, but if Crusaders need the RFL to invest several million pounds a year to be kept afloat in Wrexham (hypothetically speaking) then to me that would be money better spend elsewhere.


I've seen too many expansion clubs sent to the wall by expansion too fast (my own and several others nearly did too), to agree with this. Though if we are to fund expansion areas I think the money should go in investing in juniors and maybe multiple semi-pro sides, rather than a couple of token SL sides, to get the grassroots in place first. If it were a choice between keeping Wrexham afloat in SL, or having Bridgend, Hemel and Nottingham in C1 and keeping Gateshead and Skolars there I would support the latter. I am prepared to wait for natural growth.

As an example until this year the RFL did virtually nothing for the game in the midlands, but this year a condition of the Sport England money is that they invest in grassroots RL across the country and thus we now have a midlands development officer. While the difference hasn't yet reached the top midlands amateur clubs at first team level, the difference at junior and merit league level is very visible and all this without a SL or even semi-pro side.

Unfortunately with no pathway to semi-pro and no longer amateur season this could be lost to RU in the future (or at least players will play both), and having a SL club 100 miles away in Twickenham and another slightly closer (distance wise, not time) in Wrexham really won't help.

Just out of interest, does anyone know the running costs of your average Championship and Championship One club? And how much of this is salary (i.e. what's the salary cap for the respected comps)?

Quote: dally messenger "icon_lol.gif off the top of my head, leigh, the club that have been around for donkeys years, are the bedrock of RL in england, averaged what, 3000? in their dismal SL year. PAris averaged somewhere between 5000 - 8000 in their SL years heartlands my ar$e wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/in ... age_id=259

Quote: dally messenger "icon_lol.gif off the top of my head, leigh, the club that have been around for donkeys years, are the bedrock of RL in england, averaged what, 3000? in their dismal SL year. PAris averaged somewhere between 5000 - 8000 in their SL years heartlands my ar$e wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/in ... age_id=259

Salary caps for 2010 are 300k / 150k afaik (down from 400k /200k in the year just finished)

What was the model of these clubs that was stupid?

so leigh did average less than PAris is SL.

heartland my a**e

im guessing reading wasnt one of your strongest points at school

And at the stage that it turns into a trading of insults minor flame skirmish, it stops being sensible.