Can we put this merger rubbish to bed nobody wants them they won’t work say for instance you merged Hull 10-11,000 average with Hull KR 7-8,000 average they wouldn’t become a super club all of a sudden I wouldn’t watch a merged team simply because it’s not my team what would happen is one if not both would start up again as separate entities so in the end you’d have three average supported clubs going nowhere instead of two decent ones

Gateshead Thunder and Sheffield Eagles proving your point.

The game needs a massive shake up if it’s not going to die. A competition that embraces the sport’s past and the brave new world.

Superleague needs the teams below - properly funded and supported by feeder teams in the lower divisions or it will wither and die. Time that selfish people stopped thinking about themselves.

Toronto
Toulouse
Catalans
New York
London
Coventry
Newcastle
Bradford
Leeds
St Helens
Wigan


Plus merged teams:

Merseyside (incorporating Warrington and Widnes)

West Yorkshire (incorporating Castleford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Batley, Keighley, Hunslet and Featherstone).

Greater Manchester (incorporating Salford, Swinton, Leigh, Rochdale, Oldham and Halifax)

Humberside (incorporating Hull and Hull KR)

This will appeal to fans outside of the current base plus sponsors and tv.

This brave vision will save the sport from oblivion.

Heed my words.

Halifax playing in a Greater Manchester team
And why should Bradford survive as a separate entity but Warrington don’t? The same for Saints.

I just don’t see an arbitrary mix of town clubs and regional clubs working at all. It would kill the game stone dead to remove all those rivalries. Who in the works is going to want to watch Toronto vs Greater Manchester?

I thought it was really well thought out

Coventry and Newcastle are barely fledgling clubs, New York are just someones wet dream and Toulouse make Fev look like a big club but, yeah, lets destroy 4/5 current heartland clubs to accommodate them, it makes great sense

Look, IF we are serious about getting say, Newcastle up to speed and somewhere near SL ready, the very least that should be happening is having Magic up there for the next 4/5 years and some proper marketing on the back of it.

In the same way that The Skolars take advantage of The Challenge cup, there could be a ticket for a Newcastle fixture either discounted or includes in the Magic Ticket (based on postcode or something) to try and encourage the locals or something that allowed fans to attend the game on the following weekend and try to find whether there is genuine appetite for RL in the North East BUT, this has to happen before any talk of just elevating them to the top tier.

Look fax have done very well this season but are a long way off competing at the top of superleague. As part of an amalgamated area side for greater Manchester they might be able too


Don’t you want to see your team up there? Show some ambition!

Surely Halifax should be in with Huddersfield and Bradford, my gran could throw a tablecloth over all three with them being so close together yet, you decide that, not only do they need to merge but, they need to move counties.

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So currently you’d join 6 clubs to make one have 3 current league 1 clubs as SL clubs I know your a Bradford fan but come on your not certain to go up you’ve got no money few fans and you play out of a dump you should merge with Leeds and hunslet and finally there’s no such place as humberside

Why do people think mergers would be successful in any way and actually result in two (or more) sets of fans - probably rivals for the last century - uniting behind one team? As I said in 1995, if Warrington merge with Widnes they won't be my team anymore and I won't support them. If we take them over like Huddersfield and Hull did then that's different, but that's not really merging, it's just killing one club. Creating a new Cheshire franchise or whatever you want to call it would kill two clubs. Call it backward thinking all you like, but sporting passions are partisan, tribal, and deep rooted.

No merges. Ever. The end.

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Totally agree I wouldn’t support a merged club it doesn’t work

They don't, it is as ever....a wind up thread

They do Hull FC and Catalans have both won silverware. As recent as last week. Mergers of the smaller clubs work. You can’t argue with facts unless you are an idiot.

Sorry but it’s my way or the sport dies.

Maccbull - heed his words!!!