Trying to think this through.....

Widnes were awarded a license 4 months ago. Presumably they met the criteria - good.
But, the available licenses are supposed to be awarded to the best 14 license applications. (aren't they?)
So, either the RFL had already prejudged the licenses then, or they were happy to relegate a club whose SL licence bid could have been better than Widnes'?

Halifax didn't meet the criteria today, but were allowed/ encouraged to apply for a licence on the basis that they qualified to do so.
So, how did they know they could promote Widnes without seeing the other bids first, but not know that Halifax's bid would not be good enough at the same time?

Also, Widnes were told early so that they could prepare for SL, but had Halifax been successful, they would not have been afforded that opportunity, and presumably ended up with a disastrous first year in SL.

Crusaders pull out at the last minute.
So, they knew their business plan/ finances were a joke but the RFL still thought their bid was good enough for a licence (in which case the RFL don't know what they are doing when they see a business plan). Or, the RFL and Crusaders both thought the application wasn't worthy of a licence - so why pull out publicly and cause lots of grief, when they could have just been relegated fairly and squarely anyway without all the backlash?

All in all - some people out there seem to need their bumps feeling.

makes you wonder why every time we have had the licence bids, there are plenty p***ed off people out there.

When I saw a thread titled "RFL's logic" I expected the post to be blank.

Mate - I think it was good that they guaranteed at least one club being promoted, subject to them meeting minimum standards.

If you don't, maybe it's you who should have his bumps felt.

Or is it just a case of jumping on a passing bandwagon?

They had said that one club would be given a licence from the championship regardless so widnes who had the best application were told early to allow them time to prepare for next season. Sounds logical to me.

Exactly.

RFL & logic - surely an oxymoron Sir??

It is a very secretive organisation now the RFL isn't it. Do you think that they all have been to the Sep Blatter school for for sporting organisation management. Fax hadn't been told why they have failed and they won't say anything publicly. No doubt they will get a visit this week and with an arm around there shoulder be told not to worry as they will definitely be in next time. Ring any bells. If I was ther Fax board I would keep shtum from now on.

They also said it may be more than one that drops out. If they had anyone believing that then they are dumber than they look.

There is no logic because Wakefield have been in administration, haven't got anything sorted with regards to a stadium, and are subsequently getting whooped week in and week out. Therefore whether Crusaders withdrew their application or not Wakefield should have gone. They're not going to convince me that Wakefields bid ticked more boxes than Halifax's... come on!

There may be, but there wasn't. Perfectly true.

How do you know how dumb some undefined person looks, anyway ? It makes no sense.

Well it looks like its not now about meeting all the crieria. Its a case of that you can fail in some areas as long as you are strong in others. The only problem for the Championship teams is that the `others` areas are ones that are unatainable to them without either a big money backer or the extras that the Sky money allows.

Then surely the bid process is a waste of time Greg? How do we attain the turnover and attendance figures in a league where all the casual fan can see is that you are basically playing for nothing.

I also think it makes SL far less entertaining because the clubs at the bottom are comfortable with finishing bottom to try and improve the following year hence attendance figures being affected (along with the fact they have had some poorly supported clubs in Harlequins and Crusaders in the division).

The gate has now been shut, locked bolted and the no entry sign is up they are now thinking of ways to engage the burglar alarm.

Absolutely.
It hasn't gone unnoticed that in yesterdays announcements there was no mention of a guaranteed place for a championship club next time round

What if the club who lost It's license had a better application than widneseseseseses?