There are no current Championship clubs anywhere near strong enough to go into a franchised SL, Fax are probably the current strongest, and their application was ridiculed by the RFL last year, there is nothing for Championship clubs to play for, and the attendances prove it, last night Leigh drew 1,800 for what should have been one of their most important matches of the season

The Championships need massive investement in time, money and most importantly inovation and inspiration, the RFL dont have any of those things

Mick Gledhill begs to differ, assume he has some evidence to support this tweet:
The whole financial viability of #rugbyleague is under threat. Salford, Hull KR and Castleford to name Three others.

He goes on to say "I truly believe that within 5 years, the sport will only sustain Leeds, Hull, Saints, Wire and Wigan as FT clubs"

Sounds like he's done a lot of research on the infrastructure and funding of the sport in the last few months. Can we support a top flight competition with more than 10 clubs? Very much hope so.

This discussion seams to have gone from 'has SL failed'? to more of a discussion about the championship. If we are comparing RL to attendances in other sports then if you look at SL attendances, and compare those to say football. SL would equate to the bottom of the Championship playing the top of the league one clubs. The Championship in RL would equate more to a league 2 football competition in terms of attendances. www.football-league.co.uk/static ... 057,00.pdf In the end we can all wish for more people to watch the game, but wishing will not make it so. Now that posters have show SL attendances to have actually grown, the doubters then change tact and go to the championship and ask for evidence that these have not suffered. What I'd say is if you want to say P&R has reduced attendances in the lower leagues, then it's down to you to show the figures to prove your own point. Anyone can throw out statements and say prove me wrong, but the necessity of proof always lies with the person who lays charges.

This discussion seams to have gone from 'has SL failed'? to more of a discussion about the championship. If we are comparing RL to attendances in other sports then if you look at SL attendances, and compare those to say football. SL would equate to the bottom of the Championship playing the top of the league one clubs. The Championship in RL would equate more to a league 2 football competition in terms of attendances. www.football-league.co.uk/static ... 057,00.pdf In the end we can all wish for more people to watch the game, but wishing will not make it so. Now that posters have show SL attendances to have actually grown, the doubters then change tact and go to the championship and ask for evidence that these have not suffered. What I'd say is if you want to say P&R has reduced attendances in the lower leagues, then it's down to you to show the figures to prove your own point. Anyone can throw out statements and say prove me wrong, but the necessity of proof always lies with the person who lays charges.

Of course fans need promotion at the end of the season otherwise winning your league is completely pointless. Nobody would have such a system if they had half a brain. Promotion is essential. That is why if you win the SL, you get promotion to . . . oh, hang on. Well, alright, maybe the SL clubs play on somehow despite the lack of promotion, but what about the Premier League? The clubs at the top spend billions just to try to achieve promotion to the . . er . . . or in fact they all play in the "best league in the world" despite it having . . . NO PROMOTION.

I believe that somewhere in the southern hemisphere there's a rugby league too - NRL or something - where they are doing OK yet eschew any promotion as well. How can all these leading clubs all over the place possibly see the point to a championship season where you don't get promoted to somewhere?

Why put discuss at the end?What do you think we are going to do,fry a breakfast?

superleague has done massive wonders for the sport for those of you old enough to remember the sport was on the brink of bankrupcy and is now a profitable entity all on its own.

however the league does need to be cut down to 2 or 3 less teams and unfortunately if the bulls do fold i think that is what will happen

Go on , explain that one ?

They are simply an extension of this project, and fair play they seem to be doing it the right way instead of packing their team full of illegally imported or over the hill aussies, but what is the real ambition ? RL will never produce a welsh rugby team like that of the welsh RU team and most welsh internationals in RL are english anyway. What gives them the right to be propelled into Championship 1 instead of heartlands teams such as Bramley who's genuine fans have worked harder for longer without the same help from the RFL

People need some realism

SL will never match the NRL in terms of quality and exposure
England won't consistently produce world class teams and players like the Aussies
RL isn't ever going to match the national and international exposure and participation of RU

RL in england is a northern sport and is a ing brilliant one, and SL was a competitive, entertaining competition so why we are trying to change it into something its not through licensing is baffling. Has licensing so far brought any extreme improvements to any part of our game ? I don't think so

We have to change because the world around us changes. Changes like the end of regional newspaper editions, the reduction of regional tv, planned reductions of regional radio all have or would have a big impact on RL. Kids are drawn to the popular stuff on tv, not whatever is happening down the road which is why kids who have never been to Old Trafford still support Man Utd.
There will be no place for a full time regional sport in the future, we HAVE TO become a national sport or RL will simply be played by part-time players in front of a few hundred people in a few ex-mining towns.
Just what "extreme improvements" were you expecting in 3 & 1/2 seasons?

90 % of your post is rubbish, yes things change and 3 and 1/2 seasons is not long enough, the rest is total nonsense

Well argued. No really. Well done on countering the points I put forward. That appears to be your stock answer when you feel like you should disagree but you dont know why.

If you seriously can't see the effect national media, be it newspaper, radio or TV has on people and what they take an interest in then I suggest you open your eyes and take a look around. There are kids that I coach who can name more of the England rugby union team, more of the GB Olympic team, more of the England Cricket team than they can Leeds Rhinos first team players. You only need to go into a non-RL pub and see how few if any times rugby league is mentioned during people's normal conversation. Yet national topics that are in the national media, are. You only need to look at the huge rise in popularity of international rugby union to see the effects of the imbalance between regional and national media. Domestic rugby union is of similar popularity to rugby league, yet international union is popular nationwide but has only become so due to it being widely reported on by national media. If people cared as much about regional sports they would be off to see Wasps v Gloucester as much as they do England v anyone at all.
The only regular media exposure RL gets is regional in local papers and local radio. Even then it's patchy. With thr move to more internet forms of media Less and less people are consuming local media, I walk into my local supermarket there are around 10 or 11 national or international newspapers and about 3 regional. Most people pick up a national newspaper. I switch on the tv, its all national programming. I turn on the radio, most of the stations are national and no-one under the age of 50 listens to regional radio except for specific local sports coverage.
When there are plenty of people living in the so-called heartlands of rugby league who have never heard of the sport (or if they have they have no idea who plays it or what it is) then how do you think a truly regional sport would survive with a full time pro league?
In the end, for the non-diehard fan there are plenty of other things to do and watch that are reported on. When there is Premier League football, International Rugby Union, International Cricket, Euro 2012 & the Olympics all with high profile, nationwide status why would people put the effort in required to actively take an interest in a sport they barely know exist?