I would ask if we were one of these clubs striving for their chance in SL how would you feel about keeping a team like Wakefield in. We have had 25 years and during that time jumped from financial disaster to being just surviving being kicked out of the league and in the majority of years just bouncing along the bottom. In the grand scheme of things not a great resumé so maybe it is time to give another team a go.
I am not happy about it but we have only ourselves to blame.

.....But better than teams that have been in SL and have never been in it again since.....

Statistically there are less and less juniors playing rugby league. I’m pretty sure it’s dropped by 1/4 in the last 10 years. This will have and is having a huge impact on the quality of players coming through for sure. We can have as many SL teams as we want, but the quality will be even worse.

But if the pathways aren’t there up to elite level where lucrative careers can be made then there will be reduction at youth level. The issue for me is pathways and the whole structure and investment levels need reviewing.

It may not be there short term but again there will be more opportunity for elite level sport/academy so there will be natural growth over time. Citing only leads to further reduction in my opinion.

For me, the cycle for pathways for top teams like Wigan, St’s Leeds et al are already there, with the amount of players they churn out. it’s the likes of the less financed teams like us that will struggle, especially if the Grass roots levels are getting smaller.

All that Sky money over the years, and where as the majority gone?
Into players pockets.
Be interesting to see how much as actually gone to grass roots

When the SKY money used to come into the clubs, there was actually two payments, one of which I believe was towards junior development

It’s undeniable that the playing talent isn’t currently sufficient to support a 14 team top flight league, but it’s the absolute minimum that the RFL should be striving for in my opinion. The tried & tested systems for RL have failed miserably & it’s time to think radically or the game is done.
Ive said this before, but still feel it’s the only solution - remove all of the junior/academy aspect of RL from individual clubs. The RFL should run regionalised academies with each set up having the same state of the art facilities. Every employee should work for, & be paid by, the RFL with scope to change/move people around on secondments to prevent any one area falling drastically behind in the aim of producing future professional RL players.
The next phase would be a draft type system to ensure an equal distribution, as is possible, of the emerging talent.
Obviously this would require some clubs to give up their self interest, but as we’ve seen with the IMG proposals this is possible. This isn’t a guaranteed fix for all RL’s problems, but it would do away with a lot of what so many people think is wrong with the game. The only real problem I see is that I wouldn’t trust the current people at the RFL to not make a complete hash of it!

That sounds much too sensible Steady.Don't they do something similar in Aussie?

Aus have RL academy schools like Keebra park that just churn out NRL talent from all over Aus and NZ. We’ll never compete with the NRL, I believe Penrith have a bigger junior system than the entire SL.

It's all about numbers and the quality of coaching. We're lacking in both.

I think a lot of it relates to how the sports is perceived in any specific country.

Not only aren't there player numbers for a 14 team league (you could argue there aren't enough for a decent 12 team league) there just isn't the money to fund it either. There isn't a TV deal in position for any division next year as it stands and it is widely expected that any deal signed will be a short term one on the same terms at very best the but more likely slightly less. The IMG proposals aim to reverse that trend moving forward but it won't happen on a 'what might be', it is looking down the track and aiming to increase monies down the line when things have hopefully improved. 14 teams might be the longer term goal and i hope it is but right now it's just not possible.