Whilst locality is important it shouldn't be considered more important than other factors, unless it is out of the heartlands, which Manchester clearly isn't.

they could say the same thing about sheffield.

the masses of both these cities seem to be ignoring RL.

apparently this has gone un-noticed by the RFL.

i think its called "in denial"

cant see any reason why they will change their mind regardless of whether they are right or wrong though.

Quote: deeHell "I think your been selective about the criteria your using. I wouldn't value commercial portfolio as high as your self, investment is exactly that, as long as you can attract it. I'm pretty sure in monetary value Wakefield will attract as much sponsorship as Cas. Both clubs been of a similar profile I'm sure investment is of similar value. Not sure about youth to first team ratio, I don't really think there is much in it at all. In the last 2 or 3 years we had had several players come from our Academy probably very little difference between us and Cas. Both clubs having a small budget that kind of thing is forced on you. Don't forget our excellent community programme that was praised by the RFL in the last franchise award, something we lead the way in. Regarding the stadium, I think the rfl will put a lot of weight to it. Lets consider both Wakey and Cas have had warning letters about promises made in 2008. A ground that meets criteria will by of massive importance.'" Not being selective at all - the full list of areas area. Commercial, Marketing, Media and Community. b. Facilities. c. Finance. d. Governance and Business Management. e. Playing Strength and Player Performance Strategy.'" Section AThere is good progress within community development'" www.therfl.co.uk/licensing/super_league Facilities is the area we both fall down at the moment so is a pointless discussion as we're all square on that. Finance, I don't know the ins and outs of but we made a small profit last year and are reasonably well run, which is something that I note the RFL picked up on and with the improvement in sponsorships above and things, I can see that being the same again. Unsure on D as I'm not sure on what aspects it covers. E) We have been the more consistent side and playing strength is reasonable and I think we've got the better squad on paper this season and we'll see how things pan out over first months of new season. We also have a better record of bringing through youth in the licensing period. The only few that have made strides in your first team are Ferguson and Morton although I recognise that there are a couple of others who have played the odd game. Compare to that our squad who we have Richie Owen, Adam Milner, Jon Walker, Joe Arundel, Jordan Thompson, Oli Holmes, John Davies all played games in SL. We've just promoted Sam Orange, Daryl Clark and Billy Harris into the first team squad and we're fulfilling the aims of the licensing system. We've also significantly reduced down our quota players and overseas players and we are one of the best sides in SL for that. We also have a better average attendance but I'm not sure which category this falls into above. Not sure on ST sales. I think I've just summarised several reasons that justify why Cas are better than Wakefield.

Quote: deeHell "I think your been selective about the criteria your using. I wouldn't value commercial portfolio as high as your self, investment is exactly that, as long as you can attract it. I'm pretty sure in monetary value Wakefield will attract as much sponsorship as Cas. Both clubs been of a similar profile I'm sure investment is of similar value. Not sure about youth to first team ratio, I don't really think there is much in it at all. In the last 2 or 3 years we had had several players come from our Academy probably very little difference between us and Cas. Both clubs having a small budget that kind of thing is forced on you. Don't forget our excellent community programme that was praised by the RFL in the last franchise award, something we lead the way in. Regarding the stadium, I think the rfl will put a lot of weight to it. Lets consider both Wakey and Cas have had warning letters about promises made in 2008. A ground that meets criteria will by of massive importance.'" Not being selective at all - the full list of areas area. Commercial, Marketing, Media and Community. b. Facilities. c. Finance. d. Governance and Business Management. e. Playing Strength and Player Performance Strategy.'" Section AThere is good progress within community development'" www.therfl.co.uk/licensing/super_league Facilities is the area we both fall down at the moment so is a pointless discussion as we're all square on that. Finance, I don't know the ins and outs of but we made a small profit last year and are reasonably well run, which is something that I note the RFL picked up on and with the improvement in sponsorships above and things, I can see that being the same again. Unsure on D as I'm not sure on what aspects it covers. E) We have been the more consistent side and playing strength is reasonable and I think we've got the better squad on paper this season and we'll see how things pan out over first months of new season. We also have a better record of bringing through youth in the licensing period. The only few that have made strides in your first team are Ferguson and Morton although I recognise that there are a couple of others who have played the odd game. Compare to that our squad who we have Richie Owen, Adam Milner, Jon Walker, Joe Arundel, Jordan Thompson, Oli Holmes, John Davies all played games in SL. We've just promoted Sam Orange, Daryl Clark and Billy Harris into the first team squad and we're fulfilling the aims of the licensing system. We've also significantly reduced down our quota players and overseas players and we are one of the best sides in SL for that. We also have a better average attendance but I'm not sure which category this falls into above. Not sure on ST sales. I think I've just summarised several reasons that justify why Cas are better than Wakefield.

Huby has been around since before the licensing. The others, and I included Owen because he only really came through due to the change in the system, came through in the licensing period.

Ah i see.

Possibly because the club nearest this large potential new fanbase is no longer building an ' Iconic ' state of the art 25/30,000 capacity stadium just beneath the Barton bridge that would have been used for Internationals,finals,semi finals and as many other high profile games as possible , it would have been THE premier RL stadium in this country , maybe that is why ?

and luke george, aaron murphy, kyle bibb and ben gledhill

Gledhill is a Cas youngster, Bibb no longer plays for Wakefield. I'll give them George and Murphy.

What ever happened to that?

It has turned into something slightly less impressive than the Stobart/LSV , but completely adequate for a SL club in Salford

wasnt george originally in hudds academy.

I think the 2 part licence application idea makes the most sense. The 1st round being for the guaranteed place from a Championship club and then the 2nd round being open to anyone and everyone.

The idea that only 1 club from the Championship club will get promoted and then its just down to which 1 SL will get kicked out is too restrictive IMO. If the RFL consider only Widnes to meet the minimum criteria (as Barrow and Halifax may not pass the £1million revenue), then only Widnes can get promoted. Then when the SL clubs apply, the RFL will be forced to keep 13 out of the 14 in whether they like it or not (unless there are overseas applications). Even if the RFL felt completely embarrassed and pi**ed off for believing the fairytailes that Cas, Wakey and Salford told last time round and wanted them out of SL, unless they throw the applications open to all clubs, how would the RFL give others a chance?

I think its fairly obvious that its only going to be one up and one down. The RFL have already said that the reason why they will announce the successful Championship club in March is to give them enough time to prepare for SL the following year. So if Widnes (for example) need from March to prepare, surely if Toulouse were also successful in July (when the other SL licences are announced), they would already be 4 months behind with planning.

Academies are like @rseholes in soccer nowadays, everybody has one. When Barnsley first opened their academy along with Blackburn,middlesboro,Liverpool,Arsenal and Man Utd, those 6 clubs were the only ones what filled the full criteria for academy coaching, what is your definition of fancy then? If I might make a suggestion why don't you go and look at Oakwell for yourself before making an ill imformed opinion and making yourself look a tad foolish.