The biggest hurdle to a Cumbrian team being given a Super League franchsie are the Cumbrian Clubs themselves. None of them are big enough to support a team in itself or have the financial backing or infrastructure to do so. Yet the none of them are willing to work with the other clubs to address the problem by whichever means necessary (merger, overarching club with existing clubs as feeders).

As with many people in rugby league they appear good at blaming others for their problems without doing anything to address the issues themselves.

What i find interesting it that the man in question (Woods) said it isn't about money its about what the fans want and that he he will ask the fans before making any decisions.

Now i did fill in a questionnaire about the Cardiff experience but one of those question was not "shall we go to Scotland next year" there was a question about the hotel prices but i would be willing to pay that bit extra due to the location of the stadium in Cardiff.
Im led to believe that the main reason for moving away from Cardiff was because the welsh didn't do enough advertising for the event, is that not about money then

The RFL have signed a contract with Edinburgh so the event will be there next year also but if they were to move to Ireland the year after this would mean either getting a plane or a ferry and i don't believe people will do that, Cardiff and Edinburgh are both accessible by road all the way there and back, Ireland means getting a second form of transport and may even cost more money.

Will the RFL ask the fans there opinions on Ireland or will they just sign a two year contract and see if it takes off like they've done with Scotland, there will be near enough the same amount of fans there at the weekend as there was in Cardiff last year, the Scots have only sold 4,000 tickets which is again the same as the Welsh did last year.
Moving to Edinburgh poses no advantage for the fans and if anything it's a step back because the stadium in Cardiff is in a great location and because of the roof would keep any bad weather away from the stands.

The RFL are trying to expand the game of Rugby League (to much) and at the expense of the Fans, if the RFL were to ask fans for an opinion on expansion, im sure the majority of fans would say that enough is enough.

Aye, but Huyton and Runcorn do.......
That's the way forward

But that's like asking Wakefield and Castleford to merge or Leeds and Bradford or (perish the thought!) Wigan and Saints. Why not work with the teams that are there?

I think the RFL have to give serious consideration to consolidation at some point. There does not seem to be a drive from Red Hall to support Gateshead or Sheffield, for example, which are teams that have survived inspite of maulings by the RFL and yet are in real expansionist areas. I think the likes of Barrow and Whitehaven, Gateshead and Sheffield should be given priority over Scotland even though I believe the agenda is all about 'the international game' at present. However, it's no good trying to force an issue. Surely that was tried in Wales and didn't work (unlike the present effort which seems to be reaping something, though only time will tell just how much).

If it was up to me I would actively promote and support those clubs in place at present and from them grow a GB team, with help given to the French sport also. Only soccer is truly worldwide. Just now we should focus on strengthening what has been achieved rather than risking ruining everything by overstretching ourselves. We're a minority sport with a minority sport's budget.

And I think having Magic in Carlisle would be great!