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I would keep the number of teams as it is, with automatic promotion and relegation; the promoted team should however be protected from relegation for one year, to prevent the stupid yoyo situation that would otherwise ensue.

I think the challenge cup has suffered tremendously since the move to "summer" rugby.
Just like the FA Cup, it used to be the show piece event at the end of the season but, due to TV schedules and the move to a grand final, the CC has dropped down the pecking order.
It used to gather some momentum and finish with the final at Wembley, nowadays it has become devalued and squeezed in before the season has got going.
The Wembley final still has more "romance" than the grand final and the day at Wembley is the best RL event of the season and still beats the GF or the Magic Weekend as a stand alone event.

Regarding the 3 x 8 split part way through the season. Although this does mean that 24 teams have something to play for at the latter end of the season, it will not be to dissimilar to the play offs and do you really want to play for a 2nd or 3rd level "plate" trophy.
Surely, its better to strive for the top 8 in SL and then throw the kitchen sink at trying to make progress ?

I know I very rarely agree with you B2K but that is the perfect solution for me.


I would basically be just like when Catalans came into the SL. Cas Tigers couldn't complain - we knew the rules that if they finished botton the 11th place team would go down. No complaints.

Keep it 14 teams with promotion and relegation. No exemptions from relegation if you finish bottom your down simple

I would also reinstate the U20's with effect from next season and tell those clubs who complain that they can't afford it, tough t1ts; developing young players is part of the deal when you enter SL - reduce your expenditure on 1st team to cover it, or get the hell out of Dodge.

To go with the above, I'd also look at limiting the number of first grade games each player can participate in per season, thus forcing clubs to go deeper into their squad; to support that in terms of cap, I would make 50% of the salary of club-trained youngsters who play first grade exempt from the salary cap. I would also enable each club to pay one MVP whatever they wanted, exempt from the salary cap.

Finally, I would levy a % of Sky money from every club and ring-fence the proceeds of that levy to support community clubs with, for example, coach education and facilities development.

Have you put the above in your application for Big Nige's job Bren ?
You realise that it's all far too sensible to be considered but, it sounds bang on the money

Another idea would be to bring back the Yorkshire and Lancashire cups as a pre-season tournament - something Gary Schofield mentions regularly in his League Weekly column. Brings more money into the game.

Indeed, I'm sure he'd be able to find a better Taylor too.

There's an article on the SL website about Catalan Dragons backing Toulous's bid for SL in 2015.
Assuming they are successful (and French TV cash will be difficult to turn down), which team would drop out of the "24" ?

Considering there's 14 teams in both SL and the KPC a total of five teams will need to drop out of the 24 if Toulouse are included in the new structure. At a guess the bottom four as they are now would be the most likely. The other could perhaps be Dewsbury.

Toulouse bid is looking even stronger after the Catalan vs KR game was held there with an attendance of 14858, which regardless of which side of the expansion argument you prefer, is an excellent effort and it's starting to look nailed on that they will be in SL in 2015 (perhaps in place of London ??)