Whats the general opinion?? especially in the current financial climate, im a Leigh fan and was at the LSV yesterday thoroughly enjoying myself when you clearly made us look like £200,000 worth of squad (even though i thought we went well in bits)

Is it better to spread the gospel of Rugby League to Wales and France and hope for the future of the game or would it be better to have good old fashioned local derbies with the likes of maybe ourselves, Halifax and Widnes in Super league.

Taking into account away fans putting money put into the clubs with away support as all 3 travel well, playing facilities and giving more British youngsters chance to shine from the lower leagues rather than importing, and hopefully going onto the International stage to challenge the Aussies and NZ.

Purely a theoretical question as we all know it wont happen but whats your thoughts?

Super League is a miles better competition with the likes of Harlequins and Crusaders than it would be with like of Leigh and Widnes replacing them.

If the sport wants to be treated as a major sport it should not have village teams in its premier competition.

fair comment.

Totally agree

Monumental failure there pal.
10/10 for effort though.

mixed reaction so far!!!

I am all for expansion,but not at the expense of already established clubs with proud histories such as Leigh,Fax,Fev rovers,oh and maybe even widnes. Lol. I would prefer a SL with more teams in it,a bit like the aussie league,a draft system where the lower clubs get first call on up and coming players,etc. Only when we have a league with 16 teams all capable of beating each other should we expand. Some may say this idea follows the aussie idea a bit to much,but let's face it,it doesn't seem to do the aussie game any harm.

That was exactly the answer i was looking for! im all for expanding the league and spreading the game but i think strengthening the foundations in the heartland clubs first with home and away ties will make the league stronger and more competitive aswell as helping financially. It can only help with more teams capable of beating each other!

How much more would teams benefit with 000's of travelling fans rather than 50/100 from Wales and Crusaders?

What was Leigh's average attendance in there last Super League season?

I suppose thats the question...and unless they are massively supported (like Hull kr only even more..!!! ) its easy for the rfl to keep Leigh out...

I Like leigh as a rugby club plenty of History between the two teams, whether it be the Derbies of old, or the players weve signed from leigh like Dessie, or leigh born players weve had Like John Woods and Tommy Martyn Senior,

but if they are whipping boys in superleague and bring one or two thousand more spectators than Harlequins/london who have made the play offs and been to wembley and are in the capital city then they dont stand a chance and probably dont have a case against it either.

if Leigh drew large crowds and were moderately succesful they'd make the RFL sit up and take notice, they should push for a crowd of 10k just for one game give out freebies left right and centre and say eh up RFL people will watch the game in Leigh how many more times do you need stiffing in London or Wales?

but at the moment they just have the fancy stadium and a few loan players, but still its a better foundation to work on than Celtic and Quinns who to be fair are possibly the greatest example of why the franchise system is a bit $hit....

PS Im all for expanding the game BTW, Catalans are the best thing the RFL have done in years its just they keep getting it wrong elsewhere...

At the moment it is necessary to have Leigh and Widnes in the Championship to try and grow the sport by expanding with Catalan, Crusaders and Harlequins. By expanding the game it can make it more popular, and hopefully increase the money we recieve which can fund a bigger superleague. More money in the sport can then enable teams such as Leigh and Widnes to rejoin superleague.

Their Only SL season saw an average of 4,700 odd. Leigh have the potential to match HKA for fans........

On the other hand.......Halifax in their last season saw an average of 2,976........

I don't mind Leigh being mentioned in dispatches as regards potential furture SL teams...but Halifax Fans showed what they thought of their club in 2003.......a lower average gate then us for christs sake

Future thoughts?

Crusaders will end up being wound up in a few years time. They have had their highest point in Super League (making the playoffs last year). Leigh will not make it back up, or if they do, they will struggle. Widnes will get a chance to come back up but in a few years time they will be the most hated team on these forums because they are full of 'second rate Aussies' and x amount of their first team are non English.

Hopefully in time SL will take a hard approach and cut the number of teams to about 10.

I think you could be right. I would really like to see a Welsh and London side getting regular 10k crowds, it would genuinely expand the game in the UK and increase the pool of players etc. etc.

Do I think it will happen.......no, because as businesses they just don't appear to be viable and although creating a franchise, bringing in overseas players is OK for a year or two it needs to be developed into something with long term sustainability.

Maybe a second French team or Cumbria is far more viable long term than London or Wales or even clubs that are only a few miles from other SL clubs which is why Leigh, Widnes, Wire, Saints and Wigan in SL doesn't work. The same argument can be made for Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Cas, Wakey, Halifax et al.