The issue is not about the sustainability of live games or the interest of local supporters
The issue is that Sky want as wider geographical area as possible to attract sky subscription packages

WMDC is a hotbed of talent but hasnt got a cat in hells chance of supplying three clubs. remember your lucky if you get one a season to super league. add to that wire, wigan, leeds, hull, salford, bradford constantly in our area and youll see the difficulty.

Maybe I could have worded my last posting a little better to say there's enough enthusiasm and tradition in the area to sustain three SL clubs. The fact that it is a hotbed of junior RL proves that point in my eyes. Kids have always been lured away by the bigger clubs but they don't get them all, both Wakey and Rovers had a fair few home grown lads playing on Sunday and all acquitted themselves very well I thought.

Given that Cas are operating thanks only to the largesse of a wealthy grocer, and Wakefield were until recently operating at massive losses - that's just not true; there aren't sufficient bodies coming through the gates at either club to sustain them in SL. As for Fev - you're speculating, and for what it's worth, I think you're wrong - they would face exactly the same problems in SL as WTW and Cas do i.e not enough people through the gates each week to generate enough income to pay the full cap, leaving them either trying to compete with a cheaper squad than most, or requiring significant cash injections from a wealthy benefactor on a regular basis, with no hope of ever paying them back.

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But for a handful of clubs, what you say applies to the vast majority of SL hence the implementation of the new structure in an attempt to reinvigorate interest within the sport. Licensing had created boredom and that has been reflected in the drop off of support generally. It's only a couple of years since that Wildcats were regularly attracting 7/8k to Belle Vue so the potential is there on the evidence of that. I believe there's a lot of lapsed support throughout the area and indeed the whole heartland which hopefully can be tempted back to the terraces now that there's something to play for.

As for Fev, well they do have something in their favour that neither of the other two have. 17 acres of land much of which is to be utilised for industrial units and warehousing which potentially will bring in around 500k per year to start with and increasing. The existing facilities are are already used and attract commercial revenue streams on a weekly basis also. We have a smart chairman with great business acumen and a desire and belief that he can take the club forward on a sustainable and successful path.

I'm looking forward to the intensity this new format will bring to the game as a whole, the middle eight comp will be fascinating. Can't wait for the season to start.

Not much use if your ground is underwater and you are paying that to play elsewhere, allegedly.

Sadly we won't get anywhere near that number at full price. The reason we had so many coming in was also the factor that crippled us (and Bradford twice) financially. Selling season tickets for considerably under their value to increase attendance figures to meet franchise criteria was a stupid way to go.

At a realistic price we would need to start winning some trophies to get back up to that attendance figure IMO. I'll settle for a regular 5-6k supporters for now if they're all paying the appropriate price.

And don't forget the "creative" counting that was done at the time by JE and AG, along with all the freebies that just walked in through Cats bar

I'd be delighted to see yourselves, Cas and Fev all in the top flight as it'd strengthen the credibility of the new system. The downside is that one (prob. Fev) would soon descend. Regardless, the game could easily cope IMO.

Went to the Batley v Fev game this aft,Batley battered them in all departments,speed,forward play,commitment you name it.To be fair Fev should have been niled,Batley looked a fit well drilled unit,Fev well,they were poor and what I've seen of them I think will struggle big time,final score 26.6 and it could've been more.Well played Batley

To be fair wakey could've been 50+ and Fev less if not for somebody's errors I can only comment on Fev as I watch them after Wakey and they are a team that's gone backwards when like you say teams like Leigh seem to have progressed, it's not looking good for them in a crutial year ahead and I hope they can turn it around and sooner rather than later.

That don't surprise me tbh. Leigh were excellent against us (Leeds) in the cup last year. Whether or not they can sustain it over a sequence of games is the question though.

TBF you could pick the plus and minus bits till you are blue in the face, but in the end it was what it was and that was a chance for Webster to try and pick his best combinations, fortunately/unfortunately he has quite a few options open to him and with a number of new players and limited time I'm not sure he's got them all sorted atm, maybe after the Hull game things may become a lot clearer for him. If he could have just picked a starting 17 with Hall at fb, any two of three Riley,Owen, or Johnstone on the wings the two centres Collis and Lynn, Smith and either Miller/Sammut at stand off, the two hookers Godinet/McShane and perm any of the forwards' then I think the score might have been embarrassing for Fev, but with that many changes it's hardly surprising things didn't go exactly to plan, personally those Iv'e named picks themselves and I suppose injuries will probably dictate his starting line up in the forwards, whichever I'm confident we'll do better than most have predicted and upset quite a lot of people who want to see us fail.