which 'mate'...

there is no point in relying to Donnyman with anything meaningful, you can see crom the myriad of threads he starts about the same thing that he has a closed mind.

Thank you for your reply.

I'm sure you didn't mean "closed league" probably "Controlled league" would be a better phrase? The selection of a twelfth club by "criteria" may well repeat in a years time when all 10 or 12 clubs are "selected" for the new SKY deal. It will be fascinating...

The 'controlled league' worked well the last time.Permitted clubs into it who went into financial difficulties,ie,Bradford,shortly after handing Whitehead a 5 yrs contract - not even Toronto have matched that.Clubs with poor quality stadia AND low attendances.

Wigan may not have a stadium in a matter of weeks.

Clubs dependent on monies from the broadcast deal...and a failure to improve the standards of the national side.

Super League really is Super.

Quote: Ornery Optimist "The 'controlled league' worked well the last time.Permitted clubs into it who went into financial difficulties,ie,Bradford,shortly after handing Whitehead a 5 yrs contract - not even Toronto have matched that.Clubs with poor quality stadia AND low attendances. Wigan may not have a stadium in a matter of weeks. Clubs dependent on monies from the broadcast deal...and a failure to improve the standards of the national side. Super League really is Super.'" Think you find Toronto was going about signing players while they was going bust https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/to ... m-watkins/ Anyway what's this about Wigan and not having a stadium within weeks

Quote: Ornery Optimist "The 'controlled league' worked well the last time.Permitted clubs into it who went into financial difficulties,ie,Bradford,shortly after handing Whitehead a 5 yrs contract - not even Toronto have matched that.Clubs with poor quality stadia AND low attendances. Wigan may not have a stadium in a matter of weeks. Clubs dependent on monies from the broadcast deal...and a failure to improve the standards of the national side. Super League really is Super.'" Think you find Toronto was going about signing players while they was going bust https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/to ... m-watkins/ Anyway what's this about Wigan and not having a stadium within weeks

Absolute worst case scenario of new owners for the stadium wanting to increase rent & kicking the team out, similar to Coventry City at the Ricoh.

Annual promotion/relegation is a nonsense in the modern game. There simply isn't enough time or resources, in any aspiring club, to get themselves upto standard for SL.

Any new SL club, whether an expansionist club, like Toronto, or a traditional club, like Leigh or Featherstone, needs a minimum 3 years to get themselves competitive - Its why licensing, where an applying club can be fully assessed for what they will bring to the league, is essential.

Look at Toronto as an example. Last year, they were far above anyone else in the championship and, whether a false front or not, had resources to improve their squad. Yet, admittedly after a short period, they looked nailed on for relegation when lockdown came.

Clubs need time to establish themselves, otherwise we just have a small number of sides yo-yoing between divisions, which does nothing to stabilise those clubs for the long term.

Amazing how most other pro sports manage it...?

Do you mean like county cricket, NFL, the NRL, etc?

How many fully professional clubs do we have by the way, all playing off the same resource base?

How many fully professional clubs do we have by the way, all playing off the same resource base?'"

County cricket's most watched and most money-spinning competition is played on a licensed system. No relegation or promotion.

And I'm not picking a fight. Just pointing out the obvious.

Oh, and you never answered my question.

Whoever takes the 12th spot,should be given a season's grace to establish,and then that should be the system thereafter.. The team who finishes in 11th will be relegated if the promoted team finishes bottom in their first season.

P.S. Maybe i should have posted this on the future of the game thread.

That would be p!ss funny after the amount of slaver we get off some Wigan fans on here

That's the idea, if you finish bottom you have one more season to get your act together. As for the club who finishes 11th and being competitive, well that's what the fans want to see (competitive games). It would certainly give an incentive to play well and try not to finish in 11th place and that would also avoid meaningless games.