To be fair to Cas till we had a 1 bad season where we got religated and it knocked Cas back 5 years we was always a top 6 side and won plenty matchs all what happend is that we have been given a chance to bring our top youngsters through and build a side.
Im not saying we will end up in the top 4 but most Cas fans was pretty confident that we would make the 8 because last year we was not a million miles of the mark but we had a few who was not up the standed requied for Super League.
We brought 9 decent signings in and now we look better for it.
So in my veiw the Franchise systam does work.

if, and i assume you do, you have some good youngsters waiting in the wings, do you think 2010 and 2011 could be big years for cas?

Anything can happen but i dont see why not, i believe we intend to spend full cap next year for the first time we have some great players that are underated like netherton, evans, jones, feather etc, who are all out to prove a point, and for the first time since 2004 we have some stability. We also have some excellent homegrown talent, (westerman, owen, shenton etc) that are getting better and better, and we have some younger kids trying to break through that are looking good (arundel, walker, gledhill etc). Like i say anything could happen, but i reckon cas have every chance of beeing a top half of table side.

Could be 2011 but what will say our Schools in Cas and the region are the best in the country winning every thing in site at every age group and if we use our brains which we are at the moment surly they will come through the systam and make us a powerfull team for the future.

Only piece of the jigsaw missing is a new stadium at Glasshoughton and Castleford can be a flag ship club.......................it's all gone quite again.

You beat me to it , I was going to post something similar last night but with the sites being down wasn't able to

Yes early days but undoubtabley Cas have benifited through not being relegated and are showing what some stability can do

So yes at the moment you would have to say that Franchising is looking to have been positive for the clubs in SL

Now if juniors are given thier chance this year then that would be another plus

I'm off for a lie down …

AND for the other clubs.
Widnes won't have to overspend and go bust. They can build gradually over the next two years and will be bankers for a return to Superleague. If Halifax, Leigh, Whitehaven, Toulouse etc. have a 3 year plan, which I'm sure they must, then the bids in 2011 will be interesting.

No desernable effects good or bad for any of the clubs outside SL yet

As for naming 5 clubs when only probably one will be moving up

Widnes could still overspend and go bust , as could any club , they didn't banckrupt themselves over 1 season

So you feel Celtic will get a playoff place whereas Wigan won't eh? Keep drinking son!

I think you’ll get in the play offs but struggle in them. Not struggle to get to them!

Hows the singwing going ?

Really? I'm not sure things have changed much on that front at all.

Widnes, or any other club(before this becomes an anti Widnes bitch fest) could 'build gradually' and do everything the RFL want to see but if they don't achieve the required level of onfield success they won't even be allowed to apply.

Other than having 2 years instead of 1 in which to overspend what disincentive do clubs now have that they didn't before?

It would probably also help if they knew exactly what they were supposed to be building slowly towards. We know exactly how renewal applications will be assessed but not those from non SL clubs.

Franchising is working in as much as the circumstances that franchising created are what was expected, so far.

While the two promoted clubs were still behind the field this time, they were not hamstrung as under the previous p & r system.

Cas not being relegated are doing much better in their second season, this I think was common under the old system too. If you managed to stay up, you were then on a level playing field with the rest of SL and could therefore be much more competitive.

The importance of being in SL at the time of franchising is now obvious and many suspected so before franchises were awarded. Perhaps this contributed to the or bust approach that the previous Widnes board took. And maybe, given the apparent professionalism of the new Widnes board it was a blessing in disguise, but who can say how Widnes would have done if the gamble had paid off and they were now in SL with a secure (for three years at least) future?

It is far too early to speculate on the success or otherwise of franchising the implications are many and wide ranging and it will take years for the full effects to be seen.