Tell me then other than playing in a better stadium, what exactly will Widnes bring into SL that both Wakey and Cas cannot provide and I mean in actual facts and not in your opinion, and seeing as you would not disagree with what I said I assume you think they will be promoted sorry given a licence. Widnes will be told 3/4 month in advance of the unfortunate one or possibly two SL teams, that being the case how do the RFL know that their bid will be better than those already in SL, nobody will deny Widnes deserve a shot in SL but so do the rest of them, no more so than Fax who it just so happens happen to have won the comp Widnes have been striving to win for the last two year, Oh and as for better grounds in the championship, you are pushing against an open door here squire we Wakey fans have to stand in it every other week so its just possible we are more qualified to talk about that than you are as you say simples.

Last season the majority of the Wigin youngsters that played in the reserves were also entitled to play in the academy. Credit to the club when they played Wakey in the final instead of putting the likes of Farrell and co in they stood by those youngsters that played there throughout the season otherwise the Wigin Reserves who went through the season unbeaten would have played and won it comfortably, so nobody at Wakey thought that they were poop just you editorialising to strengthen your pitiful argument, oh and for what its worth quite a few of that winning side that got signed professionally at Wakey are still eligable for the academy, but unlike some clubs they progress to a higher standard hth.

That criteria , when announced was a GF appearance or a NRC win only , so yes they were guaranteeing a club would come up , the ' extra ' criteria only surfaced later

Whether they repeat this guarantee next time is very doubtful

The Championship Chairmen were happy with that decision , although I doubt it will happen again

What if you are a championship club doing all you can to follow the franchise ethos ?

I agree and therein lies the flaw of announcing a club will be switched.
If every club is doing what you ask in either league it makes you look a bit daft or promoting a hidden agenda...
I know a lot of people who lost faith with the game after the loss of Promotion and Relegation and fear mishandling this round of franchises could see the loss of a lot more.

So the answer is ?

what? did you actually read the post you have quoted? i wasnt talking about the wigan academy. nor was i making any sort of 'argument' never mind a 'pitiful' one. i was answering points and questions you yourself raised, points you raised in a rather illogical and nonsensical way i might add. merely highlighting the sheer INSANITY of stating that beasting wigan, leeds and saints academies all season means little because if we went up against wakeys academy from last year we would get twonked. i fail to understand how monumentally you have misinterpreted my point. in order to highlight the highly bull charged nature of this statement, i was refering to wigan winning this seasons grand final, and how your statement makes about as much sense as saying wigan have nothing to be proud of because they didnt beat last years winners in the final (for example)
try READING before you get y with me.

I'm not sure they did that. Unless 'beasting' means something different in Widnes slang than it does round here …

Franchising is whole different can of worms to licensing.

If you follow the American model there is no reason why St Helens, for example, could not be up sticks and placed in Plymouth (Yes finance etc comes into it) but if a multi billionaire wanted to do that and had the guarantees and pay the franchise fees then it's possible.

Licensing means you have to maintain a set of criteria and if you fail you lose.

Thats funny I've read your post over and over and cannot find any reference to Wigin winning the GF, in fact all I have read is a lot of selective misquoting and back peddling on your part and the only bull flying about on here is from you with your big words trying to disguise the cr@p your spouting and as for getting y, there is only one person getting y here squire and that's you hth.

Promotion and relegation. Simples.

Licencing/Franchising is a joke. But then I would say that wouldn't I. I'm angry that the current set up of our sport means that we are all forced to accept mediocrity in it's various forms. Mediocrity is hurting our game.

Harlequins - mediocre but don't worry, you'll always be in the top flight.
Catalan Dragons - mediocre but don't worry, you'll always be in the top flight.
Crusaders - As long as you stay on the left hand side of the border you'll be ok.

I'm afraid I hanker for the old days where it was three up, three down. It wasn't perfect but it was the best thing we had. It meant teams had something to aim for. Mediocre meant you could be relegated. Mediocre meant something. Success meant something. Rugby League meant something.

Good debate and an interesting read across board, as a Widnes fan tbf sometimes it's better to stay out of every franchise debate to stop it swaing off topic sometimes

On this point about what if the current 14 are already better... do you not think the RFL have already decided it was not the case? We our led to believe last time some sides were given the benefit of the doubt over new stadiums? And the bids go in, in just a few weeks time and as far as I am aware not a single brick will have been laid by then, so did the RFL look at that and just say a few months back, look we are being serious here and are actually forcing these clubs hands a little?

Heh, let's face it if they kept the same 14 despite numerous broken promises by various clubs it would destroy our game below SL, as some clubs only have the faintest hopes of seeing a SL future, yet if this was the case they would give up! Why should Fev for example worry about extending the stadium for a SL bid when Wakey & Cas haven't and still stayed in SL (EXAMPLE)

Why should Leigh & Halifax worry about setting up a fully fledged and funded youth set up when at the end of the day someone like Salford has rarely shown an interest in really pushing on their yet staying in SL?

If you wan't this franhise to work you need some accounatbility to the SL clubs (who voted for it). Plus I don't think they have said it out of the blue, the RFL have obviously reviewd a few business plans and how clubs have developed on various front over the past 2/3 years and clearly decided it's time for a change and by announcing it early it gave a few more Championship clbs like Halifax and Featherstone a real extra desire to push ahead with plans dreaming of a top flight return... which can only be a good thing?

Widnes have an extremely wealthy owner and the vikings posted a profit of over £1m last year. The Vikings have made it clear that they will be at or close to full salary cap in 2012. Whereas:

Wakefield have an owner in an IVA and the club has faced 2 winding up orders with the HMRC in less than 12 months. The club are unlikely to be at full cap in 2011.

The RFL do not need to know that the championship bid is 'better'. The championship bid needs to be above set standards. If there are more than one club above the standards (unlikely) then the highest placed club gets a licence. Any remaining championship clubs above the standards + the SL clubs that submit an application are considered for the remaining 13 places.