That was a reply to MR C.........

even so, I'll pop an answer...

...ambitions for a single, national pyramid from start-up club in a local league division 9, up to and including SL, are in the public domain already. The game has to decide it wants to go down that route, and then decide how it's going to transition from now to its chosen future shape. My area is all summer anyway, so for us it has pretty much 100% approval. I can't see the rest of the sport NOT wanting it (at least, not many, and not the players or parents of junior players)

On that one it wasn't exactly a difficult choice given the Toulouse situation [ another decision I completely disagree with ]

I understand the way they pigeon hole us at a certain level , but do they tell us that openly ? , or do they ' humour ' us , telling us they want us [ but knowing really that we are not going to get to the level required ]

Personally I believe they dont know what to do with the Championship clubs , they know basically there is no future for them , there is no way any of them are going to be able to draw support , it is that which most upsets me

Bottom line is I dont trust them , or they are dishonest , and at the end of the day , our sport was based on honesty , that is what broke us away from the Union in the first place , they dont understand the sport below SL and above the amatuer game , so if they dont understand it , find somebody who does

But we don`t have a direct route from local league 9 into SL........We don`t even have that from a tier below SL.Otherwise you are being ambiguous.
It `ll suit yourselves down in Exeter, surely this gives folks time to develop fitness in the off season for their preferred choice of Onion in the winter.

why should you upsep people with that post ?

there is no problem though is there?this town isn't big enough for two semi pro clubs,so if the east or miners step up to the mark and that leads to the demise of LC then so be it.LC will have no one to blame but themselves.

not in this sport you dont.

we got about 1800 home supporters last season.
why would SLE want this club in that league?

How many would watch Wrexham in the championship?, how many would watch Harlequins in the championship? How many watched Hull KR in the championship? How many will watch Wakefield (I apologise to them) Salford (apologise) Castleford (and again) Huddersfield (and again) with no chance of promotion for 3 years?
Attendances are relative to which division you are playing in so having attendances in the criteria is wrong it should go on what attendances could be achieved like it should be what revenue could be achieved (and its that which IMO is our one stumbling block at the moment and thats real revenue not fancy accounting).
Without wishing to upset you JC its a mental set like that Mr C is reffering to, Widnes and its supporters have had a never say die attitude and a belief in themselves since they were refused three years ago that its about time we Leigh fans got.
If you don't aim for the stars you will only ever hit the dust, but it must be done progressively and not like has been tried in Wales over a very short period of time, we have to start that mind set and self belief NOW, but we always seem to try and self implode at Leigh we slag off each and every signing we slag off a choice of shirt design we slag off everything and everybody concerned instead of keeping our mouths shut pulling together, forgetting events that have occurred in the past and aim for the stars, because if we keep doing ourselves down we will never rise above the dust. Oh but we have freedom of speak and we pay our dues so we must have our say some may shout, which is all well and good but for once in our long proud history as a rugby club could we not all just do away with all this negativity and pull together, get behind Arthur Thomas and Ian Millward and all aim for the dream, like Ian says just enjoy the ride yes it may become rocky at times but a rocky ride sometimes makes for an exciting one.

Agree about negativity about the club to a point. But can the club also take responsibility for its own actions sometimes instead of having a swipe at Welsh clubs and the governing body. This actually does harm to the club by criticizing the competition we are actually in - devaluing it another words. Lets forget everything is unfair and the blame game.
Promote Leigh Centurions and RL, and also appreciating the competition we play in - which is just as good to watch as SL for entertainment and that important ingredient in sport - unpredictable results where you are hoping to beat Batley at home and not demanding it because we are supposed to be a SL club in waiting.


Also why oh why do some on here seem to think weekly crowds are effected by the old system of not having P&R when crowds where poor then too? Crowds are not great now, but they wasn't 4 years ago either. Yes crowds have gone down, but so have they at other sports and activities.

If Leigh East or Miners got in the Championship, I think it would be great.

Well done W71 for his recent posts.
Just goes to show what is really happening, and positives are there when you look hard enough instead of picking up on easy snipes at the sport that appear on here too often.

3 years ago Widnes went bump, wrote off some debt and a bloke visually pumped money in on plan to achieve a dream. They have had far more recent success than Leigh and were 'THE' club in the decades before SL. They said the right things and united the fanbase.
We spat the dummy out and wasted a move to a fantastic stadium with awful decisions and clueless marketing, whilst AT poured in hundreds of thousands in the background.
We must now unite behind the business sense of IM whilst we pray the marketing/PR element comes up to scratch.
RL is about 20 or so clubs, those not in SL struggle to survive competing against clubs with no fans, no ambition and carp stadiums. 2 divisions of 10 provide a base for the ambitious clubs with fan base and history, whilst improving the intensity of the top tier.

The suggestion is far too sensible. Trouble is that the rugby league doesn't deal in sensible. Also the clubs who are already in super league only think of their own self interest.

Again, the idea is players will have a menu of opportunities... north and south, there will be chances to play May to July, like the SW RLC does now, but for more committed and/or higher level players, there will be chances to play in Februrary - September leagues.

If there's enough interest, there may well still be winter competitions, too... perhaps, again, a Sept-April comp and/or a short, Oct - Feb comp.

Some union players play a short summer season of league in the SW. Some league players in the North may try union (or footy or hockey) if they have their winters free. Some serious cricketers may stop playing RL... or may play league on Saturdays and cricket on Sundays, or midweek, in summertime.

The ambition, though, is that there will no longer be 'pro' and 'amateur' clubs and players... just rugby league clubs and players, all in one game, one structure, one pyramid. Play as much or as little as you like, play as seriously and at whatever level, but you will still be part of one intergrated sport.

And yet the RFL are encouraging Championship clubs to find ' sugar daddies '