I never said a level playing field across the championship, I said the middle 8s, meaning, Signing deadlines, and salary cap being increased. If for example it was raised to say £1.4m , then that should be applied to all clubs outside of SL to aspire the chance of doing better. Any club coming into the championship from championship 1 also had that kind of money to spend, then they stand a great chance to progress to the big time. Allowing SL clubs to be able to spend more money on their club opposed to other clubs outside of that division is surely some sought of discrimination.

Hmm.. One year of SL..We were certainly stronger for it in 2005..You just can't pop up to SL and take a fall back to championship without serious consequences..Your either prepared before you go,or don't go at all.Simple.

Again its one of those situations where comparisons with football dont stand up, the player availability in footy is big enough to work how you suggest, in RL it isnt, this system demands a level of performance in an intense situation, ideal preparation for entry to SL

If you are to find the best 4 teams for SL from the 8, I don't see the logic of teams starting on anything other than 0 points. Personally I like this new structure but as people have said with the main tweak of moving the transfer deadline.

Nothing wrong with the deadline IMO, same for all sides. Bulls changed their squad significantly towards back end. If you leave budget available to spend then fair play. I remember Rowley saying he wanted to sign someone, couldn't due to cap and that player signed for a rival and was now doing well. It's called budgeting. No different to you signing Hock and Higham, you just did it earlier

I see that SL coaches are suggesting changing their 'Super 8' format, so that they all start on zero points too.

Definitely not a good idea.

Quite like the middle 8s,but if people want who ever finishes top of the championship and bottom of the super league to get an advantage and disadvantage why not start the winners of the championship on 2 points and the bottom team of the super league on -2 points,just an idea to reward the winners of the championship and punish the bottom team in super league,but they still have to prove the're good to get into super league via the middle 8s

That's why I don't like the idea of going back to straight promotion and relegation, that did need a club to spend a fortune replacing the whole squad to one likely to be relegated again. With the Qualifiers, even with a handicap in place you still have a chance to defend your Super League position. It depends how the club is run regardless of how promotion works, if a club completely overhauls the squad in a bid to stay up that's the gamble, if a club intends to build over years taking the SL money & publicity and getting experience playing at SL intensity even for one year starting off with the knowledge they're likely to come back down but intending to come down a stronger team than they went up it could improve them team & club if managed well.



Care to elaborate or just because reffy says so?

In my opinion it is a system you have thought up which would have ensured promotion for Leigh, it is a contrived handicapping system. Giving Leigh a 5 point start over Wakefield when there are only 14 available is a nonsense.

I dont think you can justify raising the salary cap to 1.4m for Championship teams. They are in there respective league for the simple reason that some of the teams were previously in financial difficulties and/or that there is insufficient turnover coming into the club for them to spend anywhere near the cap. The current SC in the championship teams is there to protect themselves. If a sugar daddy comes along to spend the money then the cap should still remain as over reliance on one persons generosity is very dangerous.

If there are any rules to be changed for the Mid 8s then the top 4 championship teams should be offered the bonus that any homegrown players who have played for there reserves and have been at the club for a certain period of time, there salary should become exempt from the salary cap. you have the added incentive of growing your own talent but also knowing there salary wont count on your cap allowing you to at least bring in a controlled number of players.

The superleague bottom 4 should have the transfer date brought forward by one month to prevent wholesale changes on the eve of the 8s. I do think that SL teams entering the mid 8s should maybe forced to name a 25 man squad for the whole of play offs before they start as it becomes a completely different competition.

i do agree the rules need tweeking to make it more balanced and the above are examples only but increasing salary caps is a dangerous precedence to set

A sugar daddy would probably not entertain the championship under the current set up.
You must remember that the top 4 championship clubs need to be able to compete against the bottom 4 SL clubs, and that means better quality players hence spending more money and a higher salary cap.