Barrow although geographically situated in the county of Cumbria has very few links with the areas traditionally considered as the County ie Whitehaven, Workington, Carlisle and the large amount of small towns in the vicinity of these towns such as Egremont, Wigton and Maryport. Therefore i would discount them imediately from any Cumbria + Super League equation.

If Haven or Town we're ever to be admitted into SL the old rivalrys would be forgotten over a short period of time and im sure alot of fans from the 'other' club would soon attend games. When Town had their couple of seasons in the top flight quite a few Haven fans would go and watch the games purely because of the teams visiting Derwent Park. If they'd established themselves perhaps more would have followed and become regular visitors to the ground. The people who witter on about the rivalry and 'hating Town' are as a rule of the older generation. There isnt much of a rivalry to speak of these days bar the poorly attended NRC/Friendly games.

Theres is a definite hunger for top flight RL in West Cumbria, nobody has the appetite however to achieve it.

Typo fixed!

Barrow is alot easier to get to, it's about 20-30 minutes from the M6 turn off at Kendal.

and how far from workington, whitehaven? the road up to barrow was a shocker the last time i went up there.

Why not? They,ve bunged a SL team in Bridgend?

Reduce the playoff from 8 to 4

Increase the size of SL, from 14 to 18

the championship 11 to 14

leaves 3 teams out (potential merger loss)



An actual international tournament

top 4 super league
top 4 NRL

play in a mini tournament

1st plays 4th
2nd plays 3rd

so going off last seasons standing

1.St Helens v Sydney Roosters
2.Leeds Rhinos v Cronulla Sharks
3.Catalans v Manly Sea Eagles
4.Wigan Warriors v Melbourne Storm

A. 1 plays 3
B. 2 plays 4

A v B

team would consist of
your current teams

+ extra 4 of

1. a Scottish team
2. an Irish team
3. a Cumbrian team
4 a Midlands team

There will never be a cumbrian club in SL

Until they bring back P and R

Not rocket science

Why does Cumbria need a Super League club? It's hardly a major population with the potential to attract regular 5 figure crowds. At the moment, the Cumbrian clubs are fine as strong Championship sides. I don't see what bending over backwards to include a Cumbrian club in SL would really achieve.

Like London you mean?

It doesn't , but unfortunatley that is the required criteria

Unfortunatley some people seem to be more bothered about people who dont give a stuff about RL than the people who do actually love the sport for what it is

RL can be a strong vibrant sport that enriches it's communities and the people in them

But some seem to want more than that

Maybe one day they will get it , I await with glee the day that the USA find a major sponsor/benefactor for RL and we see a mass exodus of players from the big clubs to America

That will really help us beat the Aussies

Exactly.

There are people on here who would pi55 themselves with excitement at the prospect of a game being played in front of 3 men and a dead goat in Mongolia, but would criticise a 4-5k crowd in Northern England.

As I have said earlier there is roughly a population of 170,000 within 40 minutes of the mid-point between Whitehaven and Workington. There is a very strong amateur set-up that stands up well to Yorkshire and Lancashire in the County Championships and are the current champions.

Scouts from the top clubs are often seen watching young Cumbrians who have to leave the county if they want to make it at SL level. Why do all the expansionists insist on expansion clubs being given a chance over a number of years to develop their own players and yet deny an area that does produce them the right to be in SL.

Neither of the two west Cumbrian clubs would be strong enough to survive SL on their own but together they could be quite a force. Five figure crowds are not part of the criteria for a licence. A stadium having a 12,000 capacity gets you one tick in the boxes and 40% of your capacity also gets you a tick. So, a team averaging 3,200 in an 8,000 stadium would get one of the two ticks available.

Criticise, no.

Accept that one represents progress whilst the other represents the status quo, yes.

Major growth for rugby league is not going to happen in towns or villages that have had professional or senior amateur sides for 100+ years. Re-gaining fans that have stopped attending matches will happen, getting into schools and developing new generations of fans will happen - but neither will change the perception of a sport that the business and social elites have derided for being parochial and northern since its inception.

I hear a lot of fine words about the 'Energy Coast' and the input from nuclear companies to fund Cumbrian sport. What is in it for them? West Cumbria has little chance of attracting 20000 jobs to replace the nuclear industry if they upped and left, so beyond contractual obligations why should they fund any sporting developments?

Neither the Cloffocks nor the Recre have moved on much since they were first mooted though, so perhaps the dream of a super-stadium is still there.