Yes there is, or so the statement says

The RFL has stated that ‘no binding decisions have been made”

Roughly translated means they haven't a clue whats going on

Or they can't agree with the special one.

I don't really understand why hetherington is so annoyed? Part of me thought that because it arguably negatively impacts fev that somewhere it indirectly hurts leeds ?

The super 8s will be scrapped after this season,so the £1m game as we know it, will be gone.

1mil pound game will be the old playoff final. Winner replaces last in super league.

The new structure hasn't been revealed yet,but the super 8s will be gone so..............

Playoff final at a neutral venue is a better event anyway.

Top of Champ up,Bottom of SL down for me. I don't think they'll do that though.

As we know it yes, but that's not the same as not having one is it

And are we having one?

Have all the issues that the game had thàt necessitated the last change of structure all vanished or will we go back to the old structure in the hope of slowing the decline? I wonder about the place of Toronto and Toulouse in the new scheme of things.

Mr Fev ain't happy.... www.totalrl.com/featherstone-cha ... al-change/

Mr Fev ain't happy.... www.totalrl.com/featherstone-cha ... al-change/

From the little that seems to be out there, I think the biggest issue is that whilst GH agrees with the need to grow the sport, he disagrees with the way to achieve that. Reports from one of the meetings suggests that GH doesn't believe that the format is the issue, but that the clubs are themselves using the format as an excuse for their poor commercial performance. I actually agree with him on that point.

However, GH was a strong proponent of this format and so I think it would be natural to be defensive about it. GH is also a big proponent of dual registration - another issue that seems to be under fire.

GH is also an RFL man. Whether you approve or disprove of it, he has always been close to the people at Red Hall.

But I also suspect that there is a bit of brinkmanship here. GH knows that the 'SL Eleven' are weaker without the support of arguably its biggest club, and undoubtedly its biggest market. Lenaghan's dream of mega sponsorship deals are going to be much harder to come by without the support of the game's commercially strongest club and only strong 'big city' market - and Rob Elstone is already on record effectively saying as such. It wouldn't be unlike GH to use that leverage to get the concessions that he wants.

So you are highlighting that Hudds v Salford attracted =#FF0000only 494 more spectators for an =#FF0000all Sooper Dooper League game !!!
I highlight that it suggests Hudds, Salford & Widnes are on the slippery slope to oblivion, no doubt their Chairmen have voted for a bigger slice of the pie & to cut tiers 1 & 2 adrift effectively closing the shop !

Thank you for the insightful and detailed post. Duel reg needs major work if it's going to be fair and a success , I'm sure more sides will run a reserve grade comp asap. I'm sure there will be more changes to come.

You could almost expect that the SL protectionists will cut central funding to Championship, League 1 & take all of the pie, then increase the Salary Cap so that no lower tier Club will ever be able to compete, it is a recipe for disaster & I am not at all surprised by the reaction so far from Championship Chairmen.

The old qualifying criteria for SL such as attendance, stadium standards, on field performance & sound business & financing will be set aside yet further still *it was never enforced anyway* & the likes of Giants, Salford Widnes & to a lesser extent Wakey will be encouraged to take & eat the pie without actually contributing to putting any pie on the table.

Catalans, Salford, Hudds, & Widnes are surely licking their collective lips that the scheming of Eric Pollard & his cohorts is successful.

I foresee a lot of damage will be done over the next few months.

As Mark Campbell says, the gap in class between the top Championship clubs and the bottom SL clubs has narrowed. Presumably the SL chairmen don't want this. They want to return where there is a vast chasm between the Championship and SL, as was beginning to open up under licencing.
Fev's first home game under the new regime was against newly relegated Bradford. They destroyed Fev. But later that season on the hottest day of the year Fev beat Bradford at Braford. An indication that Championship clubs ere improving. the fact that Leigh toppled Hull KR two years ago was another pointer. They are now taking action to put a stop to this phenomenon.

I agree. looks like the sl clubs want a closed shop. the top of the tree is only as strong as its roots

Their point being that championship sides haven't improved but SL clubs are getting worse and its a race to the bottom that they want to reverse. They want Super League to be bigger and better and therefore RL as a whole gets bigger and better and everyone benefits. Everyone including Featherstone.

That's with the Giants selling season tickets at £125 a pop.

Whilst I can understand people want things to change you have to be concerned with the way this new guy and those 3 chairmen conducted this. That it turns out talks are still ongoing and nothing is settled and that a month ago everyone agreed to make no public comments on things really makes yesterday look unprofessional. What do you think the likes of Sky and current or future major sponsors will think of people who conduct themselves in that manner.

I'm not sure what Elstone achieves by having those 3 chairmen there, he'd have been better off doing it solo as he already looks iffy by having certain chairmen there and what good is that going forward. Talks about a positive relationship with the RFL but how do you have a positive relationship after they went ahead with yesterday unbeknown to many.

One thing about fans criticism of the 8's is that lack of time knowing the fixtures is a big problem but at the same time the champion having the rounds of the CC closer together which is the same thing, you only have a few weeks to know who and when you're playing.

The Fev fans turned out in fairly large numbers for the Catalans fixture last season, short notice or not.

I've watched Championship rugby for a good few years now, and you're wrong if you think things haven't improved in this league. I won't comment on SL sides getting worse, but whoever's in the bottom 4 are in for a fight in a couple of months time. The SL sides should still prevail, but it's closer now than ever (ask Salford about their game against Leigh).