Leigh, Bradford, Toulouse, Widnes would all add something to SL.

There is no middle ground in SL due to not being enough clubs in it, you are either in the playoffs or relegation battle and that in itself is no good for the sport.

If you are unfortunate to be in a relegation spot the target should be aiming for safety and not the playoffs. the target should be realistic and achievable.

Plus, the variety of matches now on Sky is awful and must be affecting viewing figures, if I have to watch Leeds or Castleford again im going to cancel my subscription.

There needs to be more variety and in my opinion 16 teams would be ideal.

Maybe not in SL, but Bradford was a class act for years and I for one miss watching the style of rugby the played.

Surely, what we have now with every game being important (either for the relegation battle or for a play off spot) is EXACTLY what the sponsors and Sky would want, allowing them, theoretically at least, to promote every game ?
The middle ground, where there is "nothing" on the game, means that there will be less interest from Sky and the viewers alike.
Which game would you rather watch ?
I'm ok with adding the sides that you mention but, how many games do you want in the regular season and you dont seem to be making any allowance for the influx on N.American clubs.

The thing to remember here is, that it's pro sport and not school sports day and not everyone gets to win.

Fundamentally, we either have franchising and a closed shop top flight or, some form of promotion and relegation, which means that someone will be unhappy every season. Equally, the promoted side will be happy, ying and yang.

16 Clubs currently in the NRL & they are looking to expand into Perth. While the NRL is by far more professional than SL you can set a timetable & platform for clubs on the cusp/fringes of SL to be SL ready with a guarantee of acceptance given achieved mandatory requirements.

Something along those lines would provide those clubs with SL ambitions who are 'almost there' to apply the necessary frameworks & make investments to be SL ready within a timetable.

Widnes finished bottom twice & on both occasions Hull K.R & then Leigh were relegated via the MPG. While I would re-admit Widnes *requirements met* their reward for being the worst team in SL was another year in SL !!!

As a point of pedantry, Huddersfield we’re bottom after 23 rounds the year we went down. Widnes were up in 7th.

Widnes were not a SL club when they gained a licence and it was partly through the use of some creative accounting to boost their turnover figures that they did so. Such financial manipulation rarely ends well - see also Greece adopting the euro.

I love it when people try and look clever by using words totally incorrectly/inappropriately.

I will predict that the next club to join will be from Queensland post 2020. Currently 5 Queensland clubs have put forward an intention to apply for any future expansion opportunity.

Shouldn't that be "try TO look clever"?

The way I write is the way I write. It isn't an affectation designed to "try" to look like anything. I believed your recent posts were misanthropic in nature so I said as much. I'm not sure what spelling or usage errors you identified but please do let me know. I am horrified at the notion of you finding my posts to be a Floccinaucinihilipilification. Perhaps I am mortally afflicted with sesquipedalianism.

If we expand to 16 teams the sky money will be diluted and clubs will go bust

Only if you assume a zero-growth model, which is the last thing we should be assuming.

I don't think that we should expand to 16 (or indeed 14 for that matter) because I don't think we have enough talent to maintain the quality of competition, but "clubs will go bust because they aren't increasing revenue from other income streams" is the last reason why we shouldn't do something to improve the sport.

What do we think will happen when the Sky money is lowered next contract time?

Then I'd give Sky Sports Arena a wide berth, tonight.

That's the biggest issue for me, there's not enough talent in today's competition, compared with say 5 years ago, and it's light years away from 10 years ago.
If we get any increase on the previous TV deal it will be a huge relief, as they're (and the customer sat in front of their TV sets) paying for an inferior product.