Fair point i do agree there are too many yorkshire clubs in the comp

Ah that one. You do realise that despite being rock bottom of the division and being temporarily homeless Catalans are getting crowds equal to or above Wakefield, Salford and Castleford, don't you? Huddersfield 'giveaway' season tickets help their cause immensely.

I think that one of Cas or Wakey could be in danger of missing out next time, whichever one can guarantee a stadium first will stay IMO.

Well wakey and cas know full well that unless they have stadia in place and are copleting they wont get a new licence

If only that were a valid point, but the sad truth is that many clubs don't bring more than a coachload nowadays.

You get clubs that do though both hull teams bring a few to us ever season leeds and brad do but these men bring sweet fa

Fair enough about catalan home att but there not bringing enough into the game the like of widnes or barrow would imo

What makes a team worth keeping in the league then?

Performance or fanbase?

Crusaders - coming on leaps and bounds this year, on and off the pitch! And they're 18-0 up against Bulls now.

Quins - poor crowds but capable of some good results (see the result againts us!)

Catalan - Great season last year, good home fanbase but having a poor season this year (like us a few years ago) and if every away game cost me hundreds of pounds I'd wouldn't travel much either!

It's not the number of clubs Yorkshire have which is the problem it's the fact many of them aren't the forces they should be.

The Wakey/Cas area has produced some top class players like Lynch, Ellis, Shenton, Westerman, Owen & Orr but the clubs seem to buy crap Aussies even in the current franchise era.

Where are the crowds as well?

A merger would have been a tough call but it would have been the right one IMO.

The question is why was they brought in the league?

Cause they want to expand the game so how long are they going to give them to boost the game in all those areas?

Widnes there is history there they have a decent fan base which will grow coming into sl and they will bring good players to the club with the cap

Don't fret, Widnes will be in next time round.

Fair point, and for the record I think Widnes deserve a place more than the above teams!

Why?

I hope so mate i was guttedfor them last time round the main worry is why have toulouse been brought straight into nl1 and they dont have to meet the criteria to apply for sl?

The rfl want these men in aswell bringing more has been aus players over for a payday it will turn into a massive jokeif there not carefull

Widnes handled the rejection well. The same can't be said for our lobby gobbling friends.

I really don't understand your reasoning, KW. The powers that be are trying to expand the game out of the M62 corridor and, therefore, expand the talent pool. They've already succeeded in London with several London born players coming through with Quins. If Catalan, Crusaders and Toulouse are similarly successful then the game will be in great shape.