lets face it

Quote: pies-r-us "I take your point, and it’s one that’s been quoted for donkeys, but what is YOUR answer to the problem? Many ideas have been put forward over the years like smaller league, less games, change to the league structure, higher or lower salary cap etc. most solutions given with or without P&R, but what would you do to change things? For mine I can’t see any big change no matter what is done. Tweak it where you want but IMO you’ll still get the same teams at the top, and more or less all the same teams at the bottom. All you can do to really change it is to have a breakaway super-duper league of what is more or less the present top eight teams playing each other over and over again, and would that work? I very much doubt it, but who knows, I don’t!

This is what I would do;-
1. Retain the franchise business model - can anyone give me clear reasons why we would change? in 6 years both Catalan & now Widnes have been allowed to develop into strong clubs. In my view promotion & relegation is not the answer as this will only serve to go back to the days of boom and bust. If the reason for change was due to clubs going to the wall then club chairmen and the RFL, who were supposed to be monitoring club finances in real-time if you remember, are to blame and so the decision to change is obviously due to their incompetence.
Build strong clubs with good youth systems combined with a sprinkling of big names and the quality of the comp will improve. I have said it before, there is not enough quality in the current superleage, so where is it going to come from when we dilute it to two divisions? This will upset people, but the existing championship clubs should be structured to form a feeder comp to develop players for the elite league.

2. Increase the salary cap to a level which means that clubs can go out and attract marquee signings which will attract excitement and punters through the gates. The fact that some clubs are not spending the max now is irrelevant as this just endorses the lack of quality in the comp - see 1

3. Scrap England RL and go back to GB Lions with Ashes Tours in alternate years - we currently have a handful of players in NRL which is good but other players need an opportunity to test themselves and playing the best will only serve to develop them.

4. Having 8 in the play-off achieves nothing - top 5 will create big intensive games. May be take these on the road to showcase the sport? Currently, play-off are drab affairs until the semis so people don't go, preferring instead to watch at home or in pub.

5. Re-brand the comp. Christ, the word 'Superleague' is associated with netball and women's football! The NRL have introduced a brand which spans the whole sport to give it identity - the RFL go for the first thing that comes into their head without taking the trouble to consider how to promote and develop the brand. 66,000 at last years final which the good folk of Warrington were craving - is the appeal of the big game dwindling??

The above is not rocket science and has been stated before in many guises. I have watched RL since 1974 and have brought up my lads to follow the game also but it is now becoming impossible to motivate them to attend games because they are quite frankly bored for the vast majority of the season due to the lack of spectacle on offer.

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