Add those in as well, the only possible reason I can think anyone would have gone for this was either, misplaced hope of being competitive or a belief promotion / relegation would be scrapped.
The sensible move was to hold back, fund this year's squad and push for promotion. Leigh along with the others had virtually no chance of competing this year with the hand they've been dealt.
This year could push leigh back 3 years in reality

I can still see Degsy doing celebratory forward rolls in-front of the Leigh players when the announcement came though of Leighs successful 500 page bid! I suspect (Listening to his rant at the weekend) that he's now wishing he had sent a blank piece of paper to the RFL.

I wouldn't be surprised if Robert Elstone was the biggest Champion of having Leigh in Super League. As a business man Degsy should have seen the pit full's of going into Super League under the conditions that they did. Also as well there are rumours going around that some Leigh players have already been tapped up by some other clubs for next season.

Which will now mean more fans saying F*** It

What did he say?

I know I'm fuelling your fire, but this is the crux of it.

Donnyman makes a fair point about Salford and it seems to be slipping under the radar with most posters who seem obsessed with Leighs demise.

SL in general is not in a healthy state, and for those who think it is is in cookoo land. RL in general is in dire straights and this year is more of a gap year. Whether they decide to promote and relegate this year is still up for debate hence the stupid systems they currently have in place. Even the Championship sides don't play each other home and away.

Keep plugging away Leigh. We have seen some terrible SL sides, and some have actually escaped relegation. Halifax were shocking, Bradford were Shocking, London were Shocking and Leigh were shocking in 2005 but so what ? Huddersfield ? How many sabbaticals did they have ?

Lets get some sustainability around the sport and start thinking grass roots up. The Amateur and Academy sides should be duly funded and that is the only way to substantiate the SL. After all, it is only ever a 4/5 horse race. Its boring and the sport needs a complete overhaul !

Once Leigh get their first win this season (and i really do hope they do win one this season), I will have a drink on them. Them guys put their bodies on the lines week in week out to maintain SL to be a 12 team competition. Fair play to them !

Thanks for the reply. I can't buy "show willingness". But it's a very strong point that if Bradford had taken that place, how would they have financially managed given their finances are on a tightrope and a season of Slaughter would not have brought the fans back in enough numbers. Applying for Superleague when nowhere near ready and a willingness to be hammered every week leaves a massive question mark over what is going on? Leigh were not even offered the full money, too easily dismissed as "greed", it made massive sense for Leigh to try to win the Championship, yet Beaumont apparently decided to guarantee himself relegation instead.

You say we need "More vibrant teams" in the competition, but according to Lenegan this last two years we need LESS teams and that has been the case before the pandemic struck. memories are long when people's club make wembley, or score a shock win over a big club, but very short when it comes to the off-pitch side of the game. For two years Lenegan has been pushing for a 10 club Superleague. He pushed that to an actual vote amongst the clubs. What that would give SL clubs is a bigger share of a much smaller pot when times are hard. I know people will scoff but I remember several overhauls of league structures over many years and a drop to a 10 club superleague is a reality.

Salford's ground issue may be only part of the story as they face a very big cut in income next season they can't replace. As for the other 11 clubs who else is at risk from a major cut to funding following two seasons when income has been slaughtered?? Just because nobody is publicly crying the poor tale doesn't mean that a couple of chairmen may well not be able to make ends meet 2022.

But Derek Beaumont certainly appears to have the money and the will to take Leigh forward. I can easily see the financial crunch having to be faced in the autumn and the Superleague cutting to 10. Simply because Lenegan has tried for this a couple of times already only this time he and the big club owners have the power to make the desision.