Looks like the national league is to expand, with 4 of the following likely to be added to the 3rd tier after next season:

Gillingham
Hemel
Bristol
Coventry
Northampton
Chester
Oxford

Got to be a good thing as long as the correct structure is put in place.

The game desperately needs a strong Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham side to bridge the gap.

Oxford are already doing good things so hopefully they can kick on, Also Northampton is the one that exites me with the plan for them to fill the summer void at the rugby onion ( And seemingly the money to do it )

My club (Worcester Ravens) played a friendly against Northampton Demons earlier this year and they were quite simply phenomenal for an amateur team. I believe they got a bit of airtime on Boots n all. Cant remember who they were playing, but they had a great team! If this is a sign of things to come from Northampton then great!

Mate, seriously? They are ok, but phenomenal?..I would not go that far!

Mate. you're talking to a player who plays for a club who RARELY win. They were an extremely good team. On the day there were 6 teams (like a pre season tournament) and they were the best by far. Us the worst.

Northampton are a very strong unit for the level they play at, some excellent rugby league played there. I can see them stepping up.

I can see Bristol doing good things - there's a rugby league academy at Filton College that intends to be SL standard within three years (drawing on the rugby talent in the region), and the Sonics are regularly putting out firsts and seconds in separate competitions. They're really keen to be part of the new Championship structure. Not to mention that a successful bid to host World Cup games would do wonders for development and investment in the area. Plus, the Rhinos are really putting a lot of time into development in the South West which is great.

They will be exceptional for the level at which they play at, I think that's a better way of putting it. If they were to come up against a side from the top two divisions of the national conference league then id expect them to get beat fairly convincingly. However this isn't to say they can't build on what they're currently doing and become a competitive side at a higher level. In order for them to carry on their improvement then they need to be playing regularly against sides equal or better than themselves just as any side at any level would need to do. Entry in to Championship 1 would inevitably aid them in their quest so long as structures are right off the field as well as on it