Gateshead, however fairly or unfairly they are allowed to operate, are my dark horses for the Championship title next season.
Any side that can include six players who have played regular NRL in the last two years must be in with a shout.
Expect a few more to come on board as well.
My only quibble, and its a big one, is how are they affording them? The crowds they get are appalling (even lower than the crowd figures they actually release i.m.o.), there's a distinct lack of sponsorship evident at the ground, and they don't make any money from refreshments, bars etc...
You can't tell me the Australian guys are over here playing for peanuts! I know for a fact that the least most of them are on is £30'000 each! And before any Gateshead fans shoot me down in flames, my facts came from a certain Australian who spent most of the 2009 season at Gateshead but couldn't get a regular first team place!

They better get used to plenty more empty seats at Wembley and Old Trafford then!

Getting very tired of all this rubbish about franchises and promotion and relegation and salary caps. Been hearing it all for years and non of it works. The Super dooper league will eventually implode on its self if the rfl continue to 'promote' clubs into it with no history or fan base. Maybe better to have American Football system where ALL the teams from all 3 leagues are split into 4 or 5 team divisions and ALL clubs have the same salary cap. The worst teams from the previous season get first choice of signing players. Top teams from each division enter a play off for Grand Final. Is this to simple !! Top two next season, Leeds and Saints. Leeds in grand final again. BORING.

Franchising hasn,t been introduced to make RFL a national sport otherwise why have 2 French teams.

Superleague crowds are down because 3 clubs have virtually no away support albeit down to geography.

He who pays the piper plays the tune. The RFL is the piper and we all know who the payer is.

Club chairmen in the main subsidise their clubs, or did, until Sky came along and therefore for Superleague chairmen they don,t have to dig as deep as they used to.

RL was stumbling along for over 100 years before Sky,s involvement. We had expansion eg Scarborough Mansfield Chorley and others. They didn,t work.

I hope Richard Lewis makes this point next time he talks with Sky because the way things are going I think they are putting the game in jeopardy.

The professional game,s problem is because Sky money isn,t spread around clubs like Leigh Fax Widnes Barrow Fev and others have little to aspire to and are therefore at risk.Might be an idea therefore to point this out to Sky.

Viewers of Sky might prefer atmosphere when they tune in like Wigan v Leigh Hudds v Fax Wire v Widnes etc and this might improve their viewing figures rather than Celtic v Quins/Cats for example.