He's like Wrighty's love child - so far beyond any reality it beggars belief!

Just skimming through this thread, it has just hit home what a sorry state our great sport is in when the axe hangs above some great RL clubs. The axe is brandished by a faceless bunch of unelected administrators who continue to bail out 'experimental' clubs, but don't think twice about condeming more traditional clubs to a slow death.

I am not against 'expansion', but am against flogging dead horses at the expense of other, more worthy causes.

If the RFL go by their silly criteria to the letter, then Crusaders would be first for the drop, followed by Quins. Both will still be in SL in 2012 and that, for me, sums up how scandalous the sport has become.

I find it slightly sad and disturbing that RL clubs have to bow and scrape to these faceless people. Scratting around to prove the worthiness of their clubs and jumping into decisions to try and secure their SL future. Press releases about Stadia, season ticket sales ..... many of which have huge negative financial implications to the clubs concerned.

The next 12 months is going to be really interesting - but also a real crossroads for at least 1 club currently in the top flight. At least 3 years in the Championship for the deposed club may well spell the end. Back to part-time. No more Sky millions. Far less TV coverage. Crowds will fall. Sponsorship's will reduce. And if the unlucky clubs' proposed new stadium does actually get built, a white elephant that cannot be sustained.

Off the field, the sport and its' decisions is a laughing stock. Unfortunatly the joke is on all of us.

:yawn:

Also Ferguson, Hyde, Davey, Morton, and Wildie all played SL last year.

With time to go Crusaders or Quins could well financially go under there by making the decison an easy, if nit enjoyable, one for the RFL.

If by some miracle they both keep their heads above water then it wil be Wakey or Salford.

Absolutely no chance.It will be between Wakefield and Cas.Salford have a huge catchment area to tap into,so much so that an average 4500 RL mad Manchester people have flocked to the Willows in the first two years of licencsing.

There are no RL teams in Manchester, and it's played in relatively few schools (and only then thanks to the efforts of Salford), so it's not true to say Manchester is part of the 'heartlands'.

Yep, huge catchment area, unfortunately, all soccer fans.

This new stadium malarkey is a total red herring, football is king.

People forget that fans are fickle, I know they shouldn't be but they are, salford havn't won or even finished in the top half of the top league since the 70s and you wonder why the manchester public arn't interested? Take sale sharks for example, They used to get 3000 max at their old ground, When they moved to their current stadium in stockport "manchester" and with more money started to climb up the table the fans flocked in.
Lets see what happens with salford at our new stadium with more money and new raw fans? There's no reason we can't do what hull and wire have done?

I would hardly say "flocked" don't they avg around 6,500?

Maybe now their down near the bottom of the table, But when they were finishing 4th to 1st they sold out every game. I think around 10500 a game and when you think their max was 2000/3000 before i would say they did flock in!

i was at barnsley earlier this year and it would compare very highly against any super league ground,although not has new or has big has say the k.c galpharm or the dw its facilitys would be equal. 3 sides of the stadium have practically been re-built and offers everything modern stadia should whilst still having a traditional look.the night i was there were 22k in the ground and the atmosphere was electric.