I'm not that aware of most sports competitions, but are there actually any competitions that have the NRL-style equality of playing strength, big variance of finishing positions year on year; and also has a promotion&relegation structure?

The two don't seem intuitively reconcilable to me.

Just a pity it took him so long then........... a year left maybe ?

The idea of 20 full time teams is also ridicuolous unless RL in Britain can produce two to three times as many quality players as it currently does. You can't pad teams out with imports any more.

20 would be 17, 3 French .
The objectives are to expand the pool and beat the Aussies. Greater intensity at the top will help, allowing the late developer to remain FT will help, increased gates will help but giving hope will strengthen the sport and reverse the decline

This seriously has to be considered IMO. For me it is the first step of many that need to be taken with regards to completely revamping rugby league in this country.

I think it should work on a hybrid franchise/P+R system. Allocate initially 24 teams to have a "SuperLeague" licence, and then further allocate the top 10 teams in to SL1. The remaining 14 teams are made up of the 4 that didn't make the cut for SL1, plus the best performing teams from the current championship as well as expansion sides and another French team. Work on 3 year franchises with P+R between SL divisions but no relegation from SL2. The current system has let teams stagnate and not improve on areas where they have promised, this one would not.

The broadcast deal is obviously going to play a big part in whether this is actually a viable option or not. I think Sky would continue to show two SL1 matches on Friday and Saturday/Monday nights. I'd love a third, Sunday afternoon fixture to be introduced on to FTA TV also. Premier Sports could use the current Thursday night slot to show a SL2 match, a Saturday afternoon fixture could also be added to PS.

As has been mentioned many times before the format of a 10 team league is up for debate. I personally would have each side playing each other 3 times to keep the current 27 games, and then have a 5 team playoff series at the end. At the bottom I think bottom of SL1 is relegated with top of SL2 promoted. It could also be an idea to have a playoff series between 2nd and 3rd of SL2 with the winner playing 9th of SL1 in an elimination final for a place in SL1.

There are many other issues that need looking at, most notably cup and PO attendances. I think the above system would go some way to sorting out PO attendances. WRT the cup, I'd like to see all the rounds shifted forward, get rid of the ridiculous gap between 5R and QF that now exists and get the final back to May. There is too much going on at the back end of the season to realistically get every fan to shell out for Cup semis and finals and POs and GF all in August and September. I think the 4th round should be played the week before the first week of regular rounds and the Magic Weekend should be used as 2 double headers for the QFs.

The youth teams need addressing quickly also. It is ridiculous that there is no way for an overage player to get game time without going on loan or for an oversees player to get any game time other than first team! One of the main focuses of any licence criteria should be the youth systems in place. IMO, every team should have an u16s, u18s and u21s with overage allowances in 21s.

It's alright for people to sit back and say "it'll never work" etc etc. and rubbish suggestions people like JP may have but the fact of the matter is what we've got now isn't working. We're sitting back letting lower teams try to catch up and in the meantime we're losing players to leagues that can afford to pay them what they are worth. Losing top class talent to RU is a disaster and while having a decent English contingent in the NRL may benefit the international team, if all our best players are on the other side of the world there's going to be a dwindling set of supporters over here to actually appreciate it, who are getting fed up with the steady decline in playing standards.

I don't see how changing to that system would stop players being signed by Union or NRL clubs.
IIRC under the current system we've lost 2? players to Union. Tomkins & Eastmond. Under the previous system we lost Myler, Ashton, Walker, Hape, Vainikolo (& probably more).
Under the current system we've lost Graham, The Burgii and Scott Moore to the NRL. Under the previous system we lost Ellis, Tansey, Mathers. (Again probably others I've missed.) Whilst these players are obviously a loss to SL are they anymore of a loss than the players under the previous system?
Also, since we were losing players to the NRL and Union before the current system was in place, it would make sense to think that the system isn't the reason players left SL for Union or NRL. I would suggest players leave SL now for exactly the same reasons they have always done. Either for more money or more recognition, or a different challenge.
Now all these new league systems people keep dreaming up are very nice, but none of them, not one, does anything about the reasons why players leave SL.
We can't do anything (short term anyway) about recognition or different challenge issues and we can't just magic money out of thin air.
The 2-tier SL is a fantasy. It's not a 2-tier SL, it's a 1st & 2nd division. Simply calling it something else isn't going to suddenly make Sky (or other sponsors) pay more in to a 2nd division. Because its still a 2nd division.
Whilst there are issues re u21's or the salary cap, they are exactly that. U21's and salary cap issues. It's not necessary nor viable to change the entire leagues structures simply to address those issues.
We're going to have to accept and deal with the fact RU and the NRL's wealth and buying power has increased significantly in recent years, so we are likely to lose some players. Some salary cap exemptions would seem justified, but changing the league structure will do nothing to increase the buying power of League clubs, most of whom can't currently afford to spend the current cap along with the necessary backroom staff/facilities.
This is the time for RL clubs to stop blaming their ills on someone/thing else and reduce their own shortcomings through a more progressive and more professional approach to running their clubs. Attending best practice seminars would be a good start.

How do you market the fact that however good you are you may never get promoted to a potential customer or investor?

The same way current SL sides do.

If we had loads of clubs in the championship which were 'good' then the question would be a lot more valid.

Explains why things are so rosey then, thanks

Did you just have a stroke? WTF are you talking about?

Players will go to the NRL or union because there's more money there, in the same way they'd go play football if they had the skills to. That's not a failing of the sport, or the system we have, it's just life.

When union players switched to League in the past, was it the 'challenge' or big money? They still had a much more high profile international game then of course.

If we can't compete with the finances elsewhere, that's more an indication of where our sport lies in the sporting spectrum. Unless billions of pounds appear from thin air, that won't change.

Premier league football appears to have everything the SL has not- vast sums of money, international interest and it attracts players from all corners of the globe rather than losing players to other countries or different sports. And yet like SL its the same half a dozen teams at the top of the table every year, the gap between top and bottom arguably as wide as that in SL and the national team continues to disappoint.
The Scottish Premier league doesn't have the finances of English teams and the better players tend to move to England and it has a smaller 12 teams rather than the 20, so a bit like JP's proposal -yet like SL its the same teams at the top of the table every year, the gap between top and bottom arguably as wide as that in SL and the national team continues to disappoint.
Think again JP, if you actually thought at all. Cutting the size of the SL will not bring the results you imagine.

You don't market that, because its not a fact and it would be stupid to do that. You have to first become more professional off the field, work harder and smarter at getting people both involved with the club and with RL in general, develop proper links with the local community. Then you market that to potential investors/sponsors. I don't pretend it's easy, but boy some clubs are pretty bloody pathetic at it.
There has to be a bigger incentive to winning the Champ GF, even if its just a big financial payout, which I would prefer to see not spent on player wages.
But I believe the gap between SL and the Championship is (and has been for some time) far too big for P&R to work properly. P&R should be the ultimate aim in the future, as P&R between 2 strong leagues is the ideal way for sport to work IMO, but that is based upon there being 2 strong leagues. And we don't currently have that. So we have to have licensing of some form to try and build 2 strong leagues. This takes time, perseverance, patience and possibly a dip in on-field standards as resources are re-distributed from mainly spent on-field to mainly spent off-field.

Very succinctly put - I concur.

Seconded !