With the recent goings on in Wrexham am I being paranoid at smelling a rat?

The Crusaders, so it seems, will be wound up on the 10th November and reformed as a completely new club called ‘The Welsh Crusaders’. This club will no longer meet the financial area of the criteria of being solvent for three seasons, which is suppose to mean, ultimately, loss of licence and ejection from SL or no SL licence for a Championship club - as we found out in 2009.

So how can they now kick out any other current SL club?

How can they promote Widnes and still keep the league at 14 clubs?

SL chairmen should have put their foot down with the RFL a long time ago, but most of them know full-well that they are safe on the gravy train. These clubs have stood by for years while the RFL recklessly pursue their expansion program, with nothing more than a wing and a prayer as back up. The incompetence of the RFL has not been brought to book by any of them. As a result the RFL have grown bolder and more reckless very year.

There’s an old saying, by Trotsky I thinkProbe with bayonets. Where you find steel, withdraw. Where you find mush, proceed."[/i

Well they’ve been met with nothing but mush from the chairmen of the Super League clubs. Prepare for corruption, threats and bribery to be the order of the day at the emergency EGM that is being planned, and watch those clubs without a vote get shafted.

If these SL chairmen give in again, that could mean curtains for us and our 2102 licence. I'll be surprised if any will give up so much as a penny, so that may mean that they make their excuses and don't promote a Championship club as promised. It’s the easiest option available to them now.

I think legal action would be entirely justified. In fact, I think legal action is almost a certainty now. It looks like Crusaders are safe, if they demote someone else, they are going to question it, if they don't promote a championship team, they're going back on a promise.

It wouldn't surprise me - we are the dirt on their shoe as far as they're concerned - but we could certainly go out fighting. And I do emphasise the term go out.

But didn't they all sign a contract NOT to take legal action, or forfit their right to apply for a franchise.

Though it's natural for us to be nervy as just been saying down the pub Widnes will be in SL 2012, due to SO'C no matter how we want to luck at it the RFL now more than ever need money men! SO'C is submitting a side debt free, willing to spend full cap whilst also developing the club on a great business plan. We are their franchise dream as they will use are club model (stadium, turnover & academy) to knock back other champ bids the next time this all comes around. They don't want clubs knocking on the door every year or so for help with bills & court hearings etc.

It makes a change but this time the RFL need Widnes, the RFL need SO'C!

Yes you are being paranoid Pep and so am I.Unfortunately being paranoid doesn't always mean you are wrong.Supposing there is a proposal on the table at this egm to scrap licensing and reinstate promotion and relegation,but only from the 2015 season with minimum standards applying of course, and this proposal is voted through?How can Widnes then complain about not being awarded a three year licence after satisfying criteria if such a system no longer exists?

If it comes down to the clubs most of them know they'll still have their snouts firmly embedded in the Golden Trough so I doubt there will be much concern for casting someone else into the abyss.

As for it not being fair if it happens this time, it was hardly fair when it happened last time.

Crusaders will be protected at all costs just as the London club always has been.

Pep, not sure where you are coming from, a club from SL will be replaced by a Champ club.

Agreed there were clauses put in place by the RFL re legal action about their decision but I am sure this was for the SL club relegated not for the club going up.

Widnes are the model for the rest of those aspiring to get into SL they have to put us up, if they don't then RL has no future!

It will still come down to us replacing either Cas or Wakey,which imo is wrong as Crusaders and Quinns add nothing to RL due to them being exempt to the laws that govern every other club.

There is NO credibility left at the RFL. No balls, no credibility. I've totally lost interest in what happens beyond at that level of our sport. I hope you don't get messed around again and that you distance yourself from the likes of Wrexham and Wakey. Get yourself in the top six and let the plebs worry about how the RFL handle the "Super" League's sickly clubs.

Yet again the RFL appear to be corrupt and so wrong.
If we dont get in next time we may as well give up because we never will.
That will be me finished with Rugby League a sport I have watched for over 40 years.

Let me explain…

If the Crusaders are wound up on Wednesday and reformed as a new entity, this makes them the weakest bid in SL. The financial area of a licence bid is seen by the RFL as one of the most important aspects of a clubs infrastructure and bid. It was important enough for them to turn Widnes down last time for the same thing. How can the RFL then kick out another viable and financially stable club and leave the Crusaders in, without almost certainly leaving them open to a legal challenge that would be very strong, due to the RFL ignoring their own rules and criteria, from the relegated club?

Forget about any agreement the SL clubs may have signed about not taking court action against the RFL over their decision, that will be null and void if the RFL then break their own operational rules and criteria in order to favour another club. This is why the RFL are desperately trying to get an agreement from the SL chairmen to allow the continuation of the new Crusaders club in SL beyond 2012.

This may mean one of two things
It has to be signed by any club which puts in a licence bid. But, as the RFL would have to change the rules and criteria, in order to keep the Crusaders in, it will probably be null and void and a new agreement needed, which I doubt they would get.



They don’t have to put us up. The RFL couldn’t give two hoots about the Championship clubs. They are destined to be nothing more than feeder clubs anyway. The RFL have never regarded Widnes as the future of RL. Why do you think we are where we are now?

They regard clubs such as the Crusaders and Harlequins as the future. They’re wrong about that imo, but that counts for all in Red Hall.


That’s just your opinion. It has been demonstrated time and time again, by the RFL, that it is most certainly not their opinion. That is why
So you see the extent of the problem.

With you now Pepe.

I agree with you that the RFL are self serving and as I stated will do anything it takes to keep the Crusaders going.
This includes everything you have explained, changing their own rules etc, as they have proved before!! As you say they can deny us entry for anything they want to make up.

My view on this is if the RFL decide not to promote a champ club (in reality us) they will suffer a world of pain from the whole RL community and the media. As they are all aware that Widnes have done everything they were asked to do and are in better shape than perhaps half of the existing clubs already in SL.

It will also mean there is no hope for any club outside of SL ever reaching it. In effect they will become feeder clubs as stated, but for all the unjust acts and stupidity previously carried out by the RFL surely they must see that the feeder clubs will fold and die, therefore destroying lower league RL and the system for bringing new players into the game.

This will starve SL of new young players to choose from, where will new talent come from as the existing SL clubs academies will not produce enough? So the ultimate aim of the franchise system to improve the quality of SL and the England side will not be realised.

When this is considered alongside the RFL's desire to retain the Crusader's it only leaves them with option IMO, which is as you stated expanding SL to 15 meanig paycuts in Sky money for all SL clubs.

I don’t believe that the RFL think that downgrading the lower leagues in status would harm RL as a whole in any way. In fact, I believe they regarded as a desirable aim.

They think that they would actually increase player production from the expansion areas and that the lower leagues would serve RL better as smaller feeder clubs, with fewer fans and no ambition.

The good news is that the Crusaders won’t be wound up on the 10th, as they have paid off their tax bill - phew!

Rugby League will never expand,with union and football more popular in other areas.I have been based in London and Gloucester,and they laugh at Rugby League. They can not understand the tackle and then time to play the ball, with player releasing.If game is not played regular in schools, then nobody will be interested in going.I never go and watch Widnes rugby union, so is the same down south and in Wales.Rfl are stupid in my opinion and wasting lots of money.

not paranoid. RFL will always change the rules to suit themselves.