I see your point, but points are all important when it comes to the play-off's... which generate money, and are very important to clubs like salford and crusaders. I remember Brian Noble's sideline reaction when crusaders missed out narrowly. (on a penalty kick if memory serves) The fact is points do matter and are important come the end of the season. Not in terms of relegation but play offs at least, and look how close crusaders were last season... and hopefully it will leave them wide open for a 62-2 thrashing by us come Millennium Magic

I'll be more than a little peeved if at the end of the season we finish with fewer points than a team that starts the season in disarray and four points behind us. But it won't be the RFL I'll be peeved with

good point.

Regardless of how many points Salford finish with and/or league position in relation to Crusaders the point is the RFL are at best toothless and at worst corrupt! Others have posted on here that they are annoyed that Crusaders are not treated like other clubs and rightly so.

Expansionism should not be entered into at the expense of traditional clubs. By the very definition it is designed to expand the game; how can a game be expanded while traditional/ established founder member clubs disappear! This is not expansionism but redistribution!!!

We only need to look at Australia to see how toothless and cowardly the administration of RL in this country is. A few seasons ago there was a problem with Canterbury Bulldogs ( I forget the details of what their misdemeanour was), they were sitting top of the Premiership at the time and were deducted all of their points resluting in the best team in the competition by a mile finishing bottom! Last season Melbourne Storm were stripped of 2 titles and had all of their points for the entire season cancelled rendering each game a friendly in effect. Considering the aussies operate a similarly closed shop to the NRL as we do their administration obviously considered a small points deduction useless and hit these teams as hard as possible to say "we won't tolerate cheating - NO EXCEPTIONS".

Finally, I don't buy into the "We're paying it back so don't whack us with a big punishment"! Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it the law that a company in administration has to pay back it's debts and if it can't then aren't it's assets sold off to pay back it's creditors? So aren't the Crusaders merely abiding by the law of the land in order to continue trading? Why should the RFL show any leniency or favour to a club doing this. Rules are Rules! If you're going to have them then they should be applied consistently across the board and not relaxed when it suits!

How are the RFL toothless and corrupt? Going into administration carries a penalty of [iup to[/i 6 points. They've looked at the facts of the case and decided to dock the Crusaders 4 points. What's wrong with that?

And trying to draw an analogy with the Melbourne Storm situation where they were deliberately and blantantly fiddling the salary cap is a bit of a stretch isn't it?

Comparing us to the Aussies misses the point. An Aussie club would continue after such or greater action with a guaranteed large fan-base attracting advertising and so are less needful of the Sky money.

Without Sky, we would have NO Super League. Wigan/Saints, Leeds/Bradford and the Hulls could continue as they have the fan bases to attract sponsors and advertising but the rest would perish : in the case of Warrington slowly (Moran is not immortal), in our case quickly.
Sky dictate the game: they have intimated that without the game in London and Wales (apparently when Crusaders are on, it is a hit for Sky viewing (and adverts)), the subsidy they pay will be very much reduced. Clubs will not accept this reduction.

Ipso facto Wales and London are safe.

We can argue "should", "the larger game", etc forever but the reality is that SL and (if you look at financial structures) the National Leagues depend on Sky and must obey the financial backer.

I don't like it but it is the reality. One that also worries me as Salford's crowds do nothing for Sky's marketing. Like Sheffield, we are seen as a football area.

I agree - he who pays the piper calls the tune....

It would be so much better though if the RFL just came out and admitted that instead of pretending to punish Crusaders - it's the hypocrisy that annoys me.

But what hypocrisy? The penalty for going into administration is a deduction of up to 6 points. They've been deducted 4. I can't see what's wrong with that.

The hypocrisy is about the pretence that this is a punishment!

The reality, as HBR said is that Sky fund everything and dictate to the RFL who's in and who's out, who plays who and when they play!! You may remember a few years back Widnes weren't even allowed to bid as they had been in administration - they were out, they were solvent, they had a good stadium and a good fan base - but they were further down the pecking order than these "expansion clubs"

The hypocrisy is obvious when you look at what help Blackpool got compared to what is being done for Crusaders

Agreed.


RL have told Wales off and kept to the rules. This should burden them so that they will not get into the next set of SL franchise ... but will not and is irrelevant in that it will only mean that Wigan. Leeds, Saints, and Warrington are more certain to get home advantages in the play-offs: wow, isn't that a suprise.

They are smug in that they have obeyed the rules and also paid Sky off. Pharisees.

At the risk of repeating myself, the penalty for going into administration is a deduction of up to 6 points. Not a deduction of 1,000,000 points and the soles of your feet burnt unless you're Crusaders, but a penalty of up to 6 points for any team. I just don't see where the hypocrisy is.

Widnes were denied access to SL because, at the time the licences were being given out, they were not considered as viable a proposition as Crusaders. That's not to say subsequent events may have proved that wrong (just to prevent any lurking Widnesians logging on to have an e-whinge at that statement). The licences aren't being given out at the moment. That's next year, and at that time the RFL will no doubt take Crusaders' current state of health into account. At the moment, what's being decided is what penalty should be given to a team that has a SL licence (and has it for another year) but has gone into administration. That penalty is a deduction of up to 6 points.

Here's the posting on the RFL website, where it tells you what punishment the RFL can impose.

[urlhttp://www.therfl.co.uk/news/article/20669[/url