The thing is okay we have a 14 team league with a home & away game which is good but the league will be expanded over time, what do you suggest we do?

Mate, I'm not saying my ideas are brilliant & I think Franchising is overall good for the game but at the moment clubs like leigh who have the ground, fans and team have to wait 3 years to find out whether or not they will get in.

If next time say they don't get in, what then for the fans, more waiting around in the Championship for a chance in 2018?

I'd think alot except the for the hardcore & loyal will stay at home, save their money and watch SL on SKY or maybe even jump ship & go watch Saints, Wigan or Wire, higher quality rugby with 10,000 other people rather than waiting around for SL to come knocking in 2033

A situation were clubs can apply every year based on the previous 3 years perhaps..

I'm suggesting we don't expand the league just because we're too soft to throw someone out.

We'll have to disagree, Matt.

Ironically, Liam, the reason they couldn't apply this year is that they won nowt. Which is precisely the one criterion that the fans want.

Well our attempts to be labelled an "expansion/development club" were rebuffed a while ago by the RFL, and Dewsbury is only 20mins away, so yes, I'd say we are.

Yes, Badvibes, it's official. We're a "heartlands" club because then the RFL don't have to give us any money.

Fair enough.

The idea behind franchising is to have a league of teams that are relatively stable (I know people will quote Crusaders, 'Quins and Wakey) playing in comfortable modern stadia without the fear of being relegated after one poor season. I'm yet to be convinced one way or another if this works just yet but we'll only find out if we give it time. The other alternative is one that's been tried and proven to fail. P & R might be a carrot for some teams but there are others who simply cannot afford or even cope with promotion. I've lost count of the number of teams that have spent big in the pre SL years chasing the dream and when they finally achieve it and ultimately suffer relegation the following season it's at the huge cost of almost sending the club into oblivion. The choices are you support a relatively stable club who might go up but when/if they do they will have at least three years grace to get themselves established at the top table. Or you allow the clubs who are bankrolled by sugar daddies to battle it out to win promotion and then fail miserably the next year. There are few examples of clubs winning promotion to the SL and then staying there.

Hence why we need to close the gap, not open it

And how do you propose to close the gap? Letting a semi pro club become a fully pro club overnight and have a season in the sun before the letters from the tax man come pouring in? Attendances might initially improve in the SL but when you are rock bottom and taking some hammerings they'll soon drop off again. The game should be looking at expanding the SL slowly as and when clubs satisfy the necessary criteria. Conferences may be needed as an overly large number of clubs would not be able to play everyone else twice a season. Then when enough clubs of the right calibre are there can we possibly look at making it a two divisional SL with P&R but between two leagues that consist of full time professionals. This of course all boils down to the almighty pound.

What's wrong with me today ?

I'm agreeing with deluded pom now.

If you have lost count , there must be a lot , so away you go tell us who these clubs are ?

And while you are at that , I'll give you , Widnes , Huddersfield , Salford , HKR , Wakefield

Why ? Lots of refs lose count before they get to six.

In football they have a parachute payment (2 years) that helps the relegated club out and helps them adapt without the total loss of revenue that relegation brings,that is for 3 clubs in football,Surely the rugby football league can spare that for one club as it would be 1 up and 1 down,Just a thought,They seem to have enough cash to bail out Harlequins,But its rules for some and rules for others,Which other sport changes the promtion issue,places etc every year,We won the league 6 or 7 years ago and had to go to a play-off,the year later the rule had changed,theres no consistency,Frankly the rugby league are a bit amateurish.

Imagine the uproar if you get a yo-yo team that gets, for example £250,000, every time they are relegated and regularly achieve promotion the following year. There's plenty who will tell you that the RFL have never pored money into Harlequins (or any previous incarnation). I agree, consistency is required. Something RL is not good at. I also agree that RL can come across as amateurish at times.