Nice cast

We used to have the NRC [ equivilant ] played during the season before , it was changed as it tended to disrupt the league , attendances were no better than now if I remember correctly

As a supporter of a C1 club(Unlike I suspect the majority of posters) this news fills me with dread. The main problem over the last two years is that we have been loosing fans at a tremendous rate ( 30% drop in C1 last year), due to a combination of meaningless fixtures in the NRC and the lack of a clear target for most clubs. This will do nothing to solve this and for most will make it much worse. Next year i could find that my club or Oldham, Whitehaven Rochdale etc are stuck in a league that consists mainly of Expansion clubs with little or no away support. In over 100 years keighley have only had half a dozen attendances below 400, but in a league such as this that will probably be the highest of the season.

How are clubs supposed to survive with hardly any income through the gates? Most of the heartland clubs will either go to the wall or turn amateur, therefore leaving a league that is no different to what the conference is now. The cost of this though will be that Rugby League will no longer be played in keighley or Rochdale etc.

What is your opinion of the current structure of the Championships ?

The problem as I see it at the moment is a lack of fixtures, and a fairly low key start to the season with the Northern rail Cup. I think the split into C and C1 is correct, even though it lowers the crowds in CI as there is quite a gap in standards. Keighley have been promoted twice and have gone back down both times, so it needs a bit of investment to compete. We need to find a way to increase the meaningful fixtures and have regular home and away games all through the year. The last thing we need is artificially created expansion teams with no support. This has been tried in Nottingham before and ironically they were kicked out by the RFL as they were so poor.

I see the structure at the moment as as good as it gets , it means no club in the Championship can relax or they will go down , as Leigh did in 2009 , but it also gives the Championship 1 clubs plenty to play for , I dont see how having say 3/4/5 new clubs at very low standards both on and off the pitch in Championship 1 will be a success

1 New club every 2/3 years might work , but lumping in 3/4 all at once could very easily hit the already fragile fan bases of clubs in the Championship

FWIW, I'd expect Keighley to be in championship rather than C1, if it's a 14 club comp. I doubt any of the bottom 8 in the current C1 bring more than 50 to away games, so lack of away fans from the new teams won't be any different. If they can find enough clubs to have a 14 team C1, then it fixes the current problem with numbers of fixtures. Can't see teams coming in being any weaker in playing terms than Skolars or Gateshead were last year. For long-suffering fans of some traditional clubs, seeing them win most weeks might be a pleasant new experience.

like groundhog day the usual suspects with their anti RFL spiel

the future for championship clubs is simple. the ones that want a SL spot and are capable of funding a SL team will go down the same route as widnes, this includes a combination of ground, finances, crowds, and sugar daddy.

other clubs where SL is beyond them should just focus on maximising life outside SL

other than widnes who are a SL club in waiting, the only other clubs close to SL potential are fax and then leigh, and those clubs still need a lot of work in the next 3 years to get read for a realistic SL bid

imo fax will be at the top of the queue next time, even stronger than wakefield when they join the championship

their crowds are good, their ground finished. all they really need is a small improvment in crowds, stronger finances / sponsorshop / sugar daddy and reasonable performance on the field and they will themselves in an excellent position

Would the fact that it was Warrington (a local rival) not have helped boost the crowd? I reckon you'd still get a lot of Leythers turning out to watch Leigh play Warrington or Wigan even if those clubs were Championship 1 clubs and not SL clubs.

If their clubs are starting to win games and push for the top spots then fans will still turn up. Getting a hammering every other week from clubs that are much stronger than them and being stuck near the bottom will drive people away more than the name of the opponent. Rochdale, Oldham, Swinton, Hunslet and Gateshead will mean little to the folk of Neath but the Scorpions did okay for crowds last year.

People will watch and come back to watch a competitive team.Playing the likes of RLCN clubs each week will see them compete better. Playing home games on a more regular basis will also help as people will no longer be filling the time for a month and then losing interest as they are not in the habit of going regularly anymore.

That's because Skolars are semi-pro whilst the other sides are amateur. Think what difference a full-time coach might make. But those clubs might just have the potential to step-up even if they end up propping up the bottom of the table.

Yes , that is my point , fans of long established clubs tend to get more motivated if they are playing what they consider a ' real ' club [ yes I know it is wrong and old fashioned and all the other stuff ,but thats the way it is ] , your club makes a bigger effort when you play Quins because they are not a ' draw '

Yes ' competition ' is always better , but that is beyond anybodys control , will it help if those RLCN clubs are battering them ?

Yes regular matches would help , but having the NRC mid season was a problem before , there is no easy answers , and at the moment I think you'll find most fans of Championship clubs are happy with the actual structure of the leagues

We really just need a club adding every 2 years , prefferably ones not 200 miles away

As a York fan, this is excellent news.

Why , because it is less likely you will get relegated this year now ? , so no self interest there then