www.loverugbyleague.com/news_237 ... er-8s.html

www.loverugbyleague.com/news_237 ... er-8s.html

Its a more even dsitribution of power, which the big clubs don't like. Rather than make the game better for all levels, greedy club like Wigan want to turn it into the 90s again.

We need promotion and relegation in our Sport or it stagnates. I hope Wigan get relegated and then all funding gets cut to the Championship, he'll soon change his tone!

What an utter T0$$€R !!!

Idiotic and unthought out comments from the Wigan Chairman who wants a 6 month season and the same 12 teams in Superleague forever.

A recipe for the game to die imo.

I'm with Lenagan on this one. We should campaign for a Super League closed shop with immediate effect and no promotion or relegation from now on.

Mr Lenagan's comments are clearly based on selfish self interest - nothing to do with the sustainability or growth or the best interests of the sport - quite disgraceful.

He would clearly like to revert to the situation where Super League clubs play out meaningless fixtures towards the end of each season in front of ever diminishing attendances. A system where there is no threat of relegation and clubs bump around the bottom year after year and are still guaranteed £1.8M to sustain a stagnant model. A system where no club (or its fans) outside of the licenced elite (probably the wrong word) get the chance to live the dream. A system that widens the gap between Super League and the rest to the point where the smaller and community clubs are driven out of the sport.

He infers that the RFL have made it too easy for Championship clubs get promoted even when the current Super 8s system still massively favours the bottom four SL clubs operating with £1M extra Sky money compared to the best in the Championship.

Was Mr Lenagan not involved in the debate prior to the introduction of the Super 8s?

His apparent agenda to feel sorry for Hull KR is I believe more to do with his greed for a greater share of the increased Sky funding for the top end of SL. If he were to achieve his objective it will only serve to distort the sport still further in favour of the financially stronger SL clubs. End result - a non-competitive Super League that isn't worth watching apart from a few fixtures between the richest clubs.

The sheer arrogance of some of these SL clubs, beggars belief. 'Atrocious' that HKR have been relegated, but only 'poor' that Leigh have only just gained promotion. Imagine the hue and cry, if Leeds had been relegated!

In fairness to the man, Mooka, and ignoring other rank stupidities, he isn't arguing against promotion/relegation per SE, merely against the Middle 8s and MPG. I think he might actually be sanguine about a two leg play off between the Championship leaders (we used to call them "champions" for good reason), and the bottom placed SL team - my preferred option now that the cap restrictions are the same. His words suggest that he might even be okay with automatic one up/down.

That said, yup, the rest is simply blinkered self interest.

Any lack of funding in superleague is his own doing. Him all all the other superleague chairmen voted to take a rushed sky television rights deal, only Dr Koukash said lets look elsewhere first!

Sometimes you hope that whats written in print isn't how it was actually meant when spoken, if so( in this case) it makes the Wigan chap look a very greedy person.