Great if you get Catalan or Toulouse. Your relying on home fans but having said that, not many fans travel away for CC games. I think the best crowd in the cup was Cas in 2017. Can fans afford 2 trips to Catalans? Not being deliberately negative, I hope this all pans out, we won’t get another chance, think this is the last chance in the last saloon.

Stupid idea, any winning margin over about 3 converted tries in leg1 will mean people wont bother with leg2. It'd be the Football equivalent of a 3-0 first leg win.

I suspect they’ll make it part of the season ticket package. It’ll be a first competitive home game of the season, so should usually have some good interest from fans.

After initially thinking, WTF?, I now think it is fairly clever idea.

If it helps end loop SL fixtures, that’ll be widely seen as a positive.

If it becomes part of the season ticket package how does that increase revenue? The only game I can see, generating any cash in that scenario, is a Derby.

If they cut loop fixtures, that means 11 home league games instead of 13. This guarantees another home game that could be included in the season ticket package and gives clubs a better chance to not have to cut the prices of season tickets. It doesn’t increase revenue, but it is a way of binning loop fixtures without losing much revenue… maybe.

Happy with everything that IMG are proposing. We, as a sport, need a huge reset moment and a forward thinking approach. Some of their suggestions may be uncomfortable initially, or a break from the norm, but that is EXACTLY what the sport needs.

Am I the only one who doesn't 'hate' the loop fixtures ??

Don't think there are enough games as it is, losing 3 home attendances & a further 20% of Sky money - WTF ??

Would support CC not being seeded so soon, surely that would give more non SL teams a chance of a big crowd & some steady openers to the season, added bonus of some SL clashes making the tournament less predictable.

I would add a team such as Toulouse but apparently the other clubs aren't prepared to share the Sky Money ??

Interesting that the IMG report ranted about the importance of London, Hmmm - been existence 40 years, CC Final, several years in SL, probably dozens of venues & NEVER come close to establishing an identity or local fanbase. They must have some magic pixie dust methinks.

https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... relegation Looks like the grading system is going ahead

https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... relegation Looks like the grading system is going ahead

Don't agree. It's all about raising standards across the game. Strive for a grade A and you'll be fine. Plod along happy with your grade C and you'll be swapped out for a higher ranked club

I guess with regard to their infrastructure if they are a category A club by then it won't matter and if they aren't, then IMG see it as an incentive for them to gain that status in the Championship to get included in the top division. What interested me was the amount of lower clubs that voted for it as it was a massive amount of support for the changes there must be a more equatable sharing out of the tv money afoot I feel

so what happens if you have 15 clubs all grade A?

Then you increase the teams in the comp. They eventually want at least a 14 team comp.

Its a good theory if and the big if is that clubs have the money to do that. I honestley dont think clubs like Cas have poor toilet facilities by choice, or poor parking and unconvered stands.

The loss of home games will probably see more revenue go down and Sky money also. Who is going to subsidise these losses ?

Cant see it working at all.

The loop fixtures took their toll towards the end of last season with pretty much every side struggling with injuries and in some instances (saints & wigan) fielding weakened squads for SL fixtures. Sides have the right to pick what players they like but none the less it doesn't sit right with me that sides are pretty much forced to pick and chose when to rest players for their welfare, particularly with the impact it can have on the rest of the table.

Less games is less strain on the players, less strain should (hopefully) lead to less injuries and better quality of games. As for SKY money, the IMG/RFL should be making the case for more games to be televised each round. If most rounds have 3 games broadcasted it would more than make up for the loss from scrapping the loop fixtures.

As for promotion/relegation, I think the sport is sadly at a point where it is no longer sustainable and is to some degree holding back the game. I am a firm believer that the structure proposed by IMG will give the likes of Toulouse/Bradford/Widnes/London a better chance of getting back in SL in comparison to the current structure. All of which would offer more to the sport then the likes of Batley/Fev and Halifax.

There is a strange mentality from some west Yorkshire clubs that think the proposals are to protect the elite when in reality its a wake up call for them. The sport is in no position to be held back by part time sides who don't have the ambition of reaching the SL.