nowt rong with a pint and mucky fat sarnie

Dont worry mate, they will, if not this time then in 3 years, dont you understand? , clubs like ours and possibly a few more, dont fit in the grand Superleague plan for world domination.
So whichever team out of us 2 stays in this bent club, they will be the target next franchise round to make way for this parisienne club you talk about, I wonder if its worth all the hassle, just to be a filler club in Superleague

On some level I agree. However if we're looking for the big city mentality how do you explain Wire, Saints and Salford?
I know it can be said that each has a big city connection Wire/Cheshire, Saints/Liverpool and Salford/Manchester but can you imagine how any of the clubs would react to a name change let alone undergo the pressures we have had on us.

It's about making your application too good to turn down IMO.

Unfortunately no matter how good your application, if they want shut, it'll happen.
Where is the sense in a profit making business with the potential of a new ground and therefore better profitability (that's all three threatened clubs) to spare a business losing money hand over fist playing at a delapodated empty stadium, just for the sake of it's geography.
Absolute madness, if any of the clubs are to be relegated after achieving a satisfactory score under the RFLs franchise system, they should appeal the decision and take the matter to the high court. Only the RFL could see the sense in such a decision, no court in the land would agree.

What do we do then? And I mean we as a sport. If the rumours of 11 clubs reacting negatively toward this whole mess are true we must make a stand. Let's take the forums as a sample case. Yes they are hardly a source of wisdom but are on the whole a very good barometer for fans general feelings on RL subjects. The forums have been hardly sympathetic towards the Crusaders.

You could well expect fans of Wakefield, Castleford and Salford to be less than sympathetic (when you consider the threat of being evicted hanging like the sword of Damocles over your very existance). However the Crusaders have found IMO no support from fans of larger clubs & on the whole understand the glaring inconsistencies within the regime that face smaller clubs. So on the whole IMO very little support in SL.

So let's look to the Championship, well Widnes have been off their Christmas card list for a few years now and I doubt many other fans would go so far as to publicly speak out in support for their preferential treatment, as they suffered at the hands of Celtic being fast-tracked in the first place.
And the less said about their relationship with the t'other Welsh team the better!

RL was formed on the back of mass social change, IMO we need to go back to our roots. We control this game not some fat cat in Redhall! That's half the reason we get whooped on the international stage at every opportunity!
We need to make a stand, before it's too late for the game.

(For anyone that clicks) Just like Zac said "We gotta take the power back!"

Ideally, you have to imagine in the end that the RFL want SL to consist of something akin to the PL with the clubs being based in large cities.

Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Birmingham, London, Paris, Cardiff etc etc...
I wouldn't be surprised if some fans of some teams sat rather smug at the moment might find themselves a little more uncomfortable in years to come if the plan comes to fruition.

I was being sarcastic. On a serious note though, we put limits on the number of foreign players to help strengthen the England team, then invite French and Welsh teams in? That's not helping the England team!

I agree and I've never understood this grass is greener thing that Red Hall has pushed since expansion has begun. Expansion is a good thing,when done correctly, but it shouldn't be at the cost of the heartland teams, like what happened to Widnes and who knows what's going to happen next.I also think, that expansion shouldn't happen just for the sake of it, at the end of the day Red Hall should by now know, the limitations of RL in Britain and should stop trying to make it into something it doesn't want to be.

very noble stance and from the way it comes over as a typical working mans comment and I would stand at the side of you in the march for our rights (god been years since I took part in a strike )
but we aren't just taking on Redhall its also Sky Sports that have got the sport by the balls and they are pulling the strings, if they pulled out the sport would fail at a profession level

I haven't a problem with the RFL supporting the Crusaders like they do the Quins but not at the expense of other clubs

so do I, I have total respect to even the amateur clubs that strive to survive as well

That brings up another point. By promoting the likes of Catalan, Crusaders and Quins, if clubs like Castleford and ourselves get demoted, where will that leave amateur rugby in the area? Without a Super League club, young kids are even less likely to take up the game around here. In the long run it could be a disaster for local clubs.

yes it will reduced the incoming talent,
the deduction in the age for the reserve or as it is now under 20s is a way of bringing the lower leagues standard up a level but its going to have no effect while we keep all imports taking their places,

at the end of the day money is the big factor and to put your body on the line like they do it's just not enough to justify playing, a vicious circle

But I don't get why we need a French team in our league? We need to reduce the imports to improve our own game, but we let in a French club (and even a Welsh) which then just cancels it out by relegating two English teams. The RL seem unsure as to do what's best for the game in our country or the rest of Europe so just do a bit of both!