What are the wordings in the article and in what paper?

This total of an announcement removes any glimmer of hope I had of seeing SL at Barrow. I think we are now lying in 4th position, possibly 5th. I also think Widnes are now 2nd in the running.

What p*sses me off is that so many people at the genuine clubs have spent so much money trying to 'Meet RFL Criterea' and then WALLOP Richard Lewis & Co kick them in the and and give dispensations to Tolouse in the name of expansion.

Good old RFL.

I don't see the point in anything in the Championship anymore. Everything is basically just a tin pot now and completely meaningless. Bragging rights is about all you get.

WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP !! I HAVE JUST ABOUT HAD MY FILL OF RUGBY LEAGUE !

Gutted for you guys.What the hell have you got to do,bend over and spread em?

Really hope you get the nod but gonna be difficult now

Looking at this from a slightly different angle i cant see the RFL just kicking one club out of Super league. How on earth they will come to a decision on just one is beyond me so that could leave 2 clubs on they way out. This then grants the RFL's wish of expansion by getting Toulouse in and getting a heartland club in with Widnes?

I understand what you are saying, but that is not the attitude to take if we want to get something done about this. If the national press want to use this as another negative take on our game, I will wholeheartedly support the negative press for a change.

Dream on Vikingman, existing clubs in SL will have some way of keeping their status. Because of the current massive differences, mainly financial, between SL and Champ, if they kick anyone out they will effectively put them out of business. That would be bad press they would avoid. However a poxy Champ club going bust is of no interest to them in the grand scheme of things. We are losing our game quicker than I first imagined. We need support from ALL championship fans, and any SL fans who can see beyond the 'we're in SL and we don't care about the game in general'

I have to be totally honest here and say I feel for you more than us. Your application was far more watertight than ours and currently ours is just a pipe dream. Des has done more for the Barrow Club in the last 2 - 3 years than any Chairman has done in the last 20 years. He must feel like he has been kicked in the bollox and to be honest I would shake his hand and say thankyou very much for the ride if he walked away. SOC must feel the same and may take the high road if your application isn't accepted this time round (along with a number of your fans I suspect). Why have criterea for Clubs to work to and then move the goal posts ?

SOC must be thinking deja vu !

The RFL are going to kill the heartlands clubs.

The vote has been set to keep the current SL at 14 teams so someone is going to make way for Toulouse.


Please tell me who that club will be, and as you say whoever it is they will go under.

good post Gary lad.. It's sickening for all clubs mate and everyone at these clubs trying to raise funds and develop themselves will just think it.. why should I bother?

I think there can now be no doubt, even in the minds of the RFL apologists on these boards, about the lying duplicity of the RFL. What little integrity and credibility they had left is now in shreds.

To tell the Championship clubs one thing and the officials at Toulouse another in order to get agreement on their entry, and then simply change the rules they agreed with the Championship, stinks. This truly is deceitful and totally disrespectful to all Championship clubs.

I fear for this league's future while being governed by the RFL.



If Toulouse get in, after not meeting the original stated criteria for making an application, I’m gone from the game. I’m sick of it now. This just isn’t a sport anymore.

It’s time for us all to march on Red Hall and f*****g burn it down!

May be SOC will stop pussy footing around the RFL now and tell them what he really thinks about the way Widnes have been treated. Sucking up to the RFL obviously hasn't worked. So be true to yourself Steve and the Widnes fans and tell it how it is instead of playing it with a straight bat!!

How do you know that Widnes aren't part of the RFL's promotion plan? This could mean that two SL are coming down OR the RFL are just paying lip service to Toulouse.

Bad news for PR and I understand why fans of championship clubs would be bitterly annoyed by this. They should have just said from the start that they didn't have to meet the same criteria as other teams, it might have seemed unfair but at least they would have been honest.

However its naive to think that the RFL are doing this for some evil nefarious purpose. Playing devils advocate, how do you know the RFL have not added up the figures and decided that the game will die if radical action isn't taken? It might be that the status quo is killing the game and that we badly need new clubs and new investment. The gap between League and Union grows every year in terms of wealth, crowds and media exposure. There's no doubt in my mind that Richard Lewis thinks he's saving the game, cheating to save the game, but when your in a desperate position the ends seem to justify the means, it's the only sound explanation of the decisions they have made. We have a World Cup coming up in 2013 and there's no prizes for guessing where the RFL want to hold one of the France games.

Rest assured Widnes will get a license in 2012, i'd bet my house on it. If there's another team that doesn't get a new stadium built in SL then they might make way for Toulouse. There would be outrage from the Championship clubs at the time, but if Toulouse are playing Catalans in front of an 18,000 sell out crowd at the local Yawnion stadium the RFL would just say 'you see we told you it was for the greater good.'

this is no shocker to me, i knew as soon as Toulouse were put in this league they were on the fast track for Super League am sure everyone on here knew this was ging to happen to.

i said as soon as this ridiculous franchise system came in that Halifax were not going to get back in until they end it