Other English sides will definitely get places in the future.

It is unlikely a 6th west yorkshire team will get a place but more English teams will be brought in. In fact i would bet that we look to places like Sheffield, Gateshead, Cumbria, The midlands and London again before we look to Scotland, Ireland or the continent

Toulouse has to be next in if they can get their act together and the French RL can improve player production.

No no no no no no no no no no no! And no.

Read what I've said. Widnes will be a super league club so you can't be mediocre - you've ticked all the boxes that were in front of you. However you've not won the league you are being promoted from have you? But then again you didn't have to win the league to tick that particular box.

My point is that (and always has been) I don't agree with licencing full stop. The only measurement in my opinion should be winning and losing.

As for those asking for my opinion why licencing doesn't work - look it's just my opinion but here's a starter I'll put out for debate.

If licencing was meant to stop the boom and bust approach from clubs why is it that two clubs in the last 12 months have gone into administration?

Toulouse is probably the only possibility bar some billionaire or tv company getting involved.

licensing is a logical solution to the obvious talent gap, without it the teams that in up get murdered season 1 and go back down, unlike football there isn't much difference between bottom of the Premiership top of the next league down, and that works for all the leagues. In rugby you're best championship side is 9 times out of 10 going to get shown up by the bottom SL side.
That is simple 101 rugby, i don't see how you can't see the obvious?

Yes they are doing really well at the moment in the Championship , forgetting their actual results , their attendances are now dropping very low compared to other Championship teams and the Elite 1 clubs

Keeping them in the Championship is actually sending them backwards at the moment

Because those clubs had historical financial issues and the licencing system is only 2/3rds through it's 1st round? 1 round of licencing isn't immediately going to solve these issues, but they should do over the long run.

I would love Sheffield to make a go of it. I know there's two soccer teams in the city and indeed they play at one of their grounds (which is a brilliant stadium by the way) but i really had hoped the game would take off there - to start the southern creep. I wouldn't be upset one bit if the RFL pumped money in there to try and help out.

Does winning the league below SL mean a team is better than mediocre? Not really. So why do you want to reward them?

Why so much focus on the team, rather than the club?

Because people are short-sighted and dumb.

the team that came up went straight down every time right? well, no they didnt and proper planning meant a promoted club could compete - it would be made easier still if they moved the championship grand final to before the contract talks embargo date and increased the salary cap for championship clubs who could afford it etc

if the aim of licensing is to allow teams to write off their first season then just ask huddersfield fans how finishing bottom and not being relegated helps a club, and how being relegated and then promoted helps a club

Because the team is the club!!

When do you cheer louder? When do the hairs stand up on the back of your neck? When do you hug the fan next to you in sheer and utter delight? When do you barely remember getting home because a quick beer turned into several?

I'll tell you when. It's when the team does something magical. It's when the roar from the stadium is immense. It's when you pop over a drop goal in the final seconds of the game. It's when your team wins the league or the challenge cup.

It's not, nay never ever when your chief exec releases the operational profit for the last quarter. It's most certainly not when a sponsorship deal is announced.

I'm old and set in my ways - I just liked our game a lot more when the link between success and failure was far less blurred than it is right now.

yeah just ask Cas, Catalans and Crusaders how you finishing bottom in their first season didnt lead to improvement and growth from their on which wouldnt have been available had they been relegated.