There has to be a change soon before supporters are permanently driven away.

As I have commented on other threads, as a result of the crazy fixture set-up which means that potentially more than a third of the matches paid for as part of the season ticket are a lottery, I have already missed two home play off games.

The net result of that is that I am unlikely to purchase a season ticket next season through no fault of the Club I support. Reading some of the comments of this forum, I am not alone. Multiply that club by club and what you end up with is less people committed to attending rugby league on a regular basis.

It then becomes a slippery slope for attendances, as the more people do not commit to a season's worth of home games, the bigger the temptation to miss fixtures not already paid for when other choices present themselves especially if the team you follow isn't winning games.

For me, without a return to a set of fixtures that are at least 90% known at the outset, the RFL and the Clubs risk permanently losing supporters to our great game.

I believe the team that finishes top of Super League should be crowned Champions. I don't agree with the Grand Final concept. I believe the teams that have proven themselves best throughout the season should be recognised as the best team. There are a number of reasons why the RFL won't change their present way of thinking though on the various issues. We can split the issues down into three areas:

1) Having a Grand Final in Super League creates commercial interest that keeps fans interested in the competition until the last kick of the last match of the season. Do away with the Grand Final and things would peter out once the league champions have been decided. In a close season, the race could go down to the last couple of games but in a more one-sided season everything could end early. I do not believe the Grand Final concept will not change. It suits Sky TV too.

2) Automatic Super League promotion and relegation. The class gap between the Super League teams and the teams in the Championship grew to huge levels where the promoted team was simply out of their depth. This was mainly due to the full-time versus part-time nature of the game at the two levels. Automatic promotion and relegation didn't work. Until the RFL funding of clubs means that teams at the top of the Championship get almost as much in funding from the RFL as the bottom teams in Super League, this class gap will remain. "The Million Pound Game" says it all. If that is the difference between being in Super League and the Championship, Championship clubs will find it hard to catch up with the Super League teams.

The Middle Eights concept is an interesting one where ability levels of the two leagues can be directly compared. Leigh have been an outstanding team over the last couple of seasons. They may be good enough to bridge that gap but for the most part teams at the top of the Championship are still a long way behind Super League level. Would it be good for the game if Batley or Featherstone had been top of the Championship pile and got automatic promotion? They'd be having cricket scores against them every week.

Bridging the gap between part-time and full-time clubs is huge. Until the RFL can be sure that the best in the Championship will be able to compete with the Super League clubs automatic promotion and relegation won’t return

3) Promotion rules from Championship 1 to the Championship. The issue here is whether the teams that finish first and second in Championship 1 should be promoted automatically or whether there should be a play-off system to decide which teams go up. From a fairness point of view, I believe the teams that finish first and second should go up.
If that were the case, the interest in the season could end early with quite a lot of meaningless end of season games. The current method keeps everyone interested for longer.

How harsh would it be if Toulouse were to hit by an injury crisis at the end of the season and didn’t get promoted because they lost two matches? It would be totally unfair. They fully deserve to go up. I don’t like the way the current system works but I can understand the RFLs reasons for doing it.

I can’t understand why the RFL should want to continue with the ridiculous design of Championship 1 as it will drive more and more people away from the game very quickly. I guess nothing will change for next season as the arrangements for Toronto’s arrival will have been put in place. Something concrete needs to be sorted for the 2018 season or else we might not have any fans left if we don’t get out of this league.

Rugby League can’t afford to lose any fans. The current arrangement of getting short notice for home fixtures is poor. Watching rugby is a habit. A season ticket keeps people in the habit. Once you get out of the habit, other things start to take priority on a Sunday. As we’ve seen on here, quite a lot of people have walked away and don’t miss it. This is one of the reasons why I fear for the game: supporters need to be respected and not taken for granted.

Have an eight team league with everyone playing each other home and away twice. All the fixture dates can be sorted for the full season before a ball is kicked. We’d have a really good competitive competition that more people would want to see; season ticket sales would go up.

Quite agree DM but I don't imagine the RFL will change anything before the Canadians have had a season to get to the Championship. I can imagine this proviso, rightly or wrongly would have been given to the club. I'm sure Jihn and the other chairmen will be in complete agreement to two leagues of eight as you say but it won't happen in time for next season.

Sure, for this to happen next season the clubs would have had to have known what was at stake with regards to finishing in the top eight to get in the higher league with the bottom eight going in the lower league. It wouldn't fit in very easily with Toronto coming in either.

Can clubs survive one more season of an awful league structure? Let's hope so but something needs to be done for 2018.

All the chairmen of Championship One clubs should stick together & tell the RFL that unless they make suitable changes to the structure of the Championship One for the 2017 season they will all refuse to take part in it next season.

Whilst I understand what your saying Geoff, not sure it would do any good, The Rfl have very little interest in the division anyway, they would probably be doing them a favour

I don't think the RFL would like the adverse publicity this would bring if all the clubs stood together on this they need to make a stand and let the RFL know what the Championship clubs require for them to make it a viable & competitive league for all the teams in that division.

The clubs are as much to blame they vote these things in .

I very much agree.

We probably all suspected life in Championship One wasn't going to be very good based on what we'd seen happen from afar, when we were in the Championship. After one season's worth of real-time evidence we've now suffered it and don't like what we've seen.

The clubs do have to take some responsibility for this dire competition.

The RFL must want to see the game develop or else they wouldn't have allowed the new teams in. They do have a vested interest in it working but all they're going to do is kill rugby off for the more established teams if they're not careful.

Realistically I don't think changes can be made for next season as changes must be agreed before the previous season starts so everyone knows what they're playing for. Would the 8th placed team in our league be happy dropping down a level to allow Toronto in? I don't think so!

The thing that must happen is that changes must be agreed upon now for them to take place in the 2018 season.

Add Bradford to clubs with money problems .
COYD

Then its in there hands & responsibility to put a action plan together to get the RFL to alter the structure of Championship One League

It's a joint responsibility. I presume the RFL will generally be looking at the wider issues, clubs will be more concerned on how any changes impact on them. Between them they need to get it right.

It wouldn't be good practice for the RFL to ignore the clubs because the clubs have to run with the system, and it wouldn't be good for the clubs to ignore the RFL because they will have full access to central funding capabilities, etc.

If the clubs don't start the ball rolling, the RFL might not. They may believe everything is working optimally.

I'm sure John Scarrow will be talking to other club chairmen. I hope we're kept informed about what's going on as we, the fans, do need reassurances that something is being done or else more and more people's enthusiasm for the game will wane.

In fact, this will be a good question for Carl's In The Dugout.

Question: Is John Scarrow in talks with other Championship clubs' chairmen with regards to possible changes to the structure and fixture format of Championship One?

Question: If so, is it possible that changes could be made for the 2017 season or have plans already been agreed for next season considering the entry of Toronto into the league?

I will forward these question to Baz.

Chris Scorah – Can we ask if the Club has started at looking at signing on or new signings for next season. Keeping the information going to the fans would hopefully start getting fans interested?
CHhttp://www.totalrl.com/featherstone-set-to-snare-moore-from-batleys-grasp/rl

[i][i]The veteran forward has been heavily linked with a move to the Bulldogs and was thought to have come to a pre-contract agreement at Batley.

However, it is being reported that Moore, who has previously played for Bradford, Leeds, London, Leigh and Wakefield, has now agreed a deal to join Jon Sharp’s side for 2017.

Moore has decided against an extended spell at Halifax and is ready for a new challenge after two years under Richard Marshall. The forward is thought to be a friend of Matt Diskin, who will become Batley head coach at the end of the season, but also has the option of moving to Fev.

Players who are out of contract at the end of a season can begin discussions with other clubs in May, and although terms can be agreed, that doesn’t mean they have signed a contract, which is thought to be the case with Moore.rl]

I remember when Rugby League was a simple game,
it's getting more like union every year sadly.