What does everyone think to the RFLs proposals to restructure the league?

The preferred option, at the moment, proposes that there should be two leagues of 12 teams.

After playing each other once, the leagues would split into three leagues of eight comprising of the top eight from the top league; bottom four from the top league would join the top four from the second league; with the bottom eight forming the third league.

Teams would then play a further 14 games by playing each other home and away.

There are presently 14 teams in Super League, 14 teams in our league, and 9 teams in Championship 1. That gives a total of 37 teams.

I've not read anything with regards to what would happen to the 13 teams who wouldn't be included in the two leagues, or what the criteria would be for forming the two leagues, which would probably happen at the end of next season, in readiness for the 2015 season.

I would guess that two teams will be kicked out of Super League and 10 of the 14 teams in our league would stay in the second division, which could, in effect, mean four teams relegated at the end of next season.

What are your thoughts?

Don't think a lot to it to be honest, too unbalanced, too complicated and will make the game a laughing stock. IMO

There is talk of the 24 including a second French team (possibly Toulouse). The current top 5 in the Championship would I guess be favourites to join the 14 SL teams which would leave 4 spots.

I would prefer something less complecated but with P&R.

Coventry Bears joining Championship 1 next season, so league will increase by 1.

When i first read this i thought it was a joke. How complicated can we make things for the casual/floating spectator? Nowadays unless you are a full on RL fan who follows every move of the game you probably don't have much idea of what's happening from one season to the next. Too many rule changes, league format changes etc,etc. I am really becoming disallsioned with the whole sport. All this seems to be i my eyes is another way of the big boys reducing their numbers and eventually keeping more money for the elite few.

thats the next question.
MONEY!!
it will only work if all clubs are on a level footing financially.
and thats never going to happen as it will mean SL clubs losing out

Unless sky are going to put more into it, we also need another massive sponsor for this kind of thing

its just another way of reintroducing promotion/relegation.

but the lower clubs will have no more chance than they've got now
without the money.

This is absolutely true.

Sadly, I'm a big part-timer nowadays and don't follow what is going on in RL fully. Only thing I do know is that the RFL have been restructuring the leagues for about the last 10 years to no success. No doubt this new change will come in, and they will realise it hasn't work and change back again. In the meantime floaters like me lose interest in the whole thing.

I think the whole matter is a complicated one. The main issue is the funding of the game. This ultimately determines what is possible and what's not.

Unless the income pie can be made bigger, by either increased income from the media or through sponsorship, options are limited.

We have to look at the big picture and start with strength at the top. We need to be able to keep our best players in this country and not lose them to either Rugby Union or to RL in Australia. This brings us back to funding and salary caps.

Salary caps are a good idea because no one wants to see clubs go bust, which tends to happen if rigid financial rules aren't in place. The total credibility of the game suffers if clubs are going into administration every five minutes.

The downside is that it makes it harder to keep the best players.

Money speaks and if a player is offered a lucrative deal elsewhere, we can't blame them for taking it. Would you go to work for someone else for an extra £10K per year? Probably, yes! As much as we don't like market forces being the over-riding boss, that's how the world works.

There appears to be insufficient funding to allow 14 Super League teams to be properly funded and compete with the opposition, as described. This is why a reduced top tier seems inevitable.

No promotion and relegation to the top league is a pain in the backside and frustrates us all. But the problem is that part-time clubs becoming full-time clubs overnight doesn't work. We get the discredited yo-yo system where the team that gets promoted comes straight back down. We love the thought of being able to get to the big boys league but realistically the gap between the best and the next best can't be a huge one or else we get the problems we've witnessed in the past.

In order to help reduce the class gap, the lower league needs more funding but how can that be done when there isn't sufficient money to go round anyway?

I think the 12 and 12 league idea, splitting into 8-8-8 is seen as a way of bridging this gap. I have serious doubts as to whether it would work as the four Super League teams would probably be too good for the top four in the Championship when they get thrown together.

Imagine being in Super League: You want to sell season tickets to your fans but they don't know whether the second half of the season will be in the top grade or the next grade. You see the problem?

Would this structure simply discourage the better players from joining the lesser Super League teams?

If there are big differences in the funding of the top league and the next level, I see it bringing all sorts of financial problems to the teams who dropped out of the initial Super League 12 into the second half of the season division of 8.

For the credibility of the RFL, they need to fully consult all clubs and fans on this. Whatever they decide needs to be put in place to last for the foreseeable future. We can't be chopping and changing everything every season or two.

The objectives ought to be:

1) Increase income through better media deals and sponsorship
2) Put measures into place that help clubs keep the best talent in rugby league and in this country
3) Reduce the class gaps between the top tier and other divisions by better funding for the Championship
4) Invest more in the development of the game as bringing new talent into the game is key
5) Find a way to make promotion and relegation work

Whichever way we look at it, it comes down to money. The RFL must be innovative and find ways of drastically increasing the money coming into the game or else the above objectives will not be met.

As yet, we don't know what the plans are for the teams outside the top 24, should the 12 and 12 proposal be accepted. Does Dons News have any information on this one?

For the sake of the game, and the sport we love, we need the RFL to get this one right.

I've been watching RL since the mid eighties but i've started watching Donny Knights this season. A tenner to get in, decent stadium, good value/quality food and drink what more can you ask for ( a few more wins maybe ). I'm so fed up with the running of Rugby League that i can't be bothered any more.

Isn't it sad that Rupert has given up on the game because he can't be bothered any more? Lessons need to be learned from what he says.

I fully understand why he now goes to Castle Park. It's meeting his needs at a cost he likes.

The game has got to do something to win Rupert and other disillusioned fans back or else the future of the game is grim. We can't afford to lose people from our game in this way.

I'm proud to be a Doncaster lad and I like to see all of Donny's sporting teams do well. Good luck to the Knights, Rupert. I hope we might be able to win you back to rugby league in the future as well.

rlI have a potential suggestion. I’m going to throw it out there. If you like it, great! If you don’t then just throw it straight back…rl

What do you reckon?

one up one down is what many have been calling for for a long time.The earlier start, on the face of it makes sense, only the clubs themselves could answer whether it's practical. Im very pessimistic when it comes to the rfl , i hope it does listen to the clubs, not just the superleague , all clubs, but i do think TV will have a big say in any decision .The fans alas will probably just have to accept what is thrown at us.

I still watch a most Dons home games but a few years ago i was attending Cup finals, Super league, Internationals etc and every Dons match home and away, but now that interest has wained because of how the game is nowadays.
I will always be a fan of the Dons but i'm not really a fan of rugby league in general any more.

Click rlhererl to read Carl Hall's thoughts on the proposed and hotly debated new league changes as recently published by the RFL.