IMO it is showing that RL at this level is dying.

We have had Keighley, Doncaster, Gateshead recently experiencing an insolvency event - i.e. administration etc.

Rememeber not that long ago - us, Widnes, Oldham, Whitehaven got big crowds on a regular basis.

Now - only Widnes really - Barrow and Halifax occassionally?

It'll be interesting to see if they go up for the league games - i suspect they will but not by many.

Play off games used to get massive attendances....recently they have also been poor

People are losing interest IMO...and fast...

How about sacking off the group stages entirely. Run the comp like they used to do the Transvestite cup.
Play out half the league fixtures (so you play everyone once) results will also transfer to two 'conference leagues' (split basically East & West....with non-heartland clubs divvied up to equal them out.)
Then have a three week break - the top 2 from Champ & Champ1, in each conference, go through to a last 8 knock-out tournament....played as two 'double-headers' over our own 'Magic Weekend'....semi's following week, final week after - to up the intensity a bit!! (tickets to all these knock-out games no more than £15 for the double-header, and £10 for the semi's/Final....to encourage decent gates.
Re-introduce the county cups (first round over 2 legs to recover one lost home fixture...which would usually be a 'local' derby......depending on how the 'expansion' clubs are divvied up!!).
Also.....how about the RFL and SL use a bit of lateral thinking!! All Toulouse/Catalan and Skolars/Bronquins home fixtures to be played on same weekends.....and try to tie-in with sides that are local to each other were possible. For example:

We play Toulouse same weekend that Catalans play 'humbles'.......and RFL offer 'sponsored' transport packages

ditto Widnes/Warrington or Hudds/Fax or Bradford/Keighley or Leeds/Batley/Dewsbury, etc

and similar sort of thing for games in 'the smoke'!! Quins v Leeds (Skolars v Hunslet) for example

Just trying to think outside the box a bit!!!

Has the format changed over the past few years? I looked at LE and it seemed a different group structure.

Here's what they should do; expand/merge the Chp to about 16 teams, the weakest teams can be restructured into an amateur conference system aimed at getting clubs prepared to make a step up to semi pro, teams like London Skolars can do their own building without getting stuffed by 60 every week.
30 league fixtures and the NRC is straight knockout. I like..do you?

I have been advocating something similar too.

I also think franchising is a mistake though so without promotion and relegation I do not think it viable.

Success should be rewarded and a team finishing bottom of a Non Relegation league should be demoted.

We will probably never agree on that which is why there would not be a lot of point if teams full of imports are fasttracked at the expense of heartland sides.

More local derby's might increase crowds
Right side of the pennines plus Toulouse
Yorkshire side plus London
Play home and away and top 5 in each league play the top 5 fron t'other league home and away (based on previous seasons positions) - 20 teams each playing 13 mathes home and away plus cupties.
More matches - leigh v Swinton will attracr more than leigh v london
Two equal divisions and top 4 from each in play off at seasons end = our top v their 4th and so on so first two in each league have home advantage.
As for N R Cup - play it like the Challenge Cup with Final at Huddersfield on Monday of CC weekend - our squad can cope with two matches in three days!!!

Sounds good to me.
Dec 26th and Jan 1st will always see decent gates regardless of clashes with football fixtures.