84 replies to this topic

[marklaspalmas]

Have I missed any off this list?

WIll there be any more before the start of next season?

What about the new boys in CH1?

Super League

1 Bradford Bulls with Dewsbury Rams
2 Castleford Tigers
3 Catalan Dragons with St. Esteve
4 Huddersfield Giants with Batley
5 Hull FC with York
6 Hull Kingston R
7 Leeds Rhinos with Hunslet
8 London Broncos with London Skolars
9 Salford City Reds with Oldham
10 St Helens with Whitehaven and Rochdale
11 Wakefield Trinity with Doncaster and Oxford
12 Warrington Wolves with Swinton Lions
13 Widnes Vikings with Workington Town
14 Wigan Warriors with Leigh Centurions? and South Wales Scorpions?

Championship

1 Barrow Raiders
2 Batley Bulldogs with Huddersfield Giants
3 Dewsbury Rams with Bradford Bulls
4 Doncaster with Wakefield
5 Featherstone Rovers
6 Halifax
7 Hunslet Hawks with Leeds Rhinos
8 Keighley Cougars
9 Leigh Centurions with Wigan Warriors ?
10 Sheffield Eagles (with Limoux)
11 Swinton Lions with Warrington Wolves
12 Whitehaven with St Helens
13 Workington Town with Widnes Vikings
14 York City Knights with Hull FC

Championship 1

1 Gateshead Thunder
2 Gloucester All Golds
3 Hemel Stags
4 London Skolars with London Broncos
5 North Wales Crusaders
6 Oldham Roughyeds with Salford City Reds
7 Oxford with Wakefield
8 Rochdale Hornets with St Helens
9 South Wales Scorpions with Wigan Warriors ?

Edited by marklaspalmas, 13 December 2012 - 10:58 PM.

[Derwent]

As I understand it, Widnes have decided not to partner with North Wales Crusaders now and will only be linked with Town. I believe the have partnered with the Widnes St Maries amateur club instead (to be known now as St Maries Vikings) to develop their younger players and Town will be getting their first team squad fringe players.

[The Parksider]

Have I missed any off this list?

11 Wakefield Trinity

2 Gloucester All Golds

Wakey and Donny I think

Gloucester and Leeds....

[Gav Wilson]

Hull KR & Gateshead? Is that an official one?

[1976PMJwires]

Hull KR & Gateshead? Is that an official one?

Feel sorry for Gateshead after the sharks!

Once bitten, twice shy!

Edited by 1976PMJwires, 17 November 2012 - 03:46 PM.

[Griff]

Not sure that Sheffield-Limoux falls into this category.

I don't think dual registration will be permitted with a French club so it's not within the definition.

[marklaspalmas]

Any links to websites confirming HKR/Thunder and Wakey/Donny or is it just speculation.

Griff, a link up's a link up, whatever form it may take.

[roughyedspud]

you can take oldham & salford off that list!

Edited by roughyedspud, 19 November 2012 - 04:14 AM.

[davewd]

How many SL clubs are making a profit ? or is this sponsership linkup another way of NOT running a reserve team .

[The Parksider]

How many SL clubs are making a profit ? or is this sponsership linkup another way of NOT running a reserve team .

Nobody makes much of a profit, as any profit they want to use to pay off directors loans or invest in the race to be top dog.

About half the Superleague may somehow break even, the other half make some sort of losses, which sometimes are minimised by simply not spending on players hence you get the easybeats at the bottom.

All this has become a bit of a shambles probably accelerated by the move to 14 clubs

This is NOT a sponsorship link up, it is as you say a way of not running that extra team to save costs SL club wise, for the championship club they get a structured player development system that can also give them a decent team at a reduced cost.

It's cost sharing, in which both clubs save costs, but for me essentially the Championship club acts as the Superleague clubs reserve team. Works in Oz so what works in Oz is often copied.

The SL clubs without a link up may suffer, that a couple have no link up to me says they aren't confident of their SL future.
The CC clubs without a link up risk having to compete against stronger "CC clubs who are really SL reserve teams" which could quash their ambitions.

This will depend on how...

1. The fans react - will winning turn them on or being reserves turn them off
2. Whether independant clubs will get the better players.

Fascinating struggle ahead...

[Terry Mullaney]

How many SL clubs are making a profit ? or is this sponsership linkup another way of NOT running a reserve team .

It's a SL money saving exercise first and foremost, you're absolutely right. When did the SL clubs ever show the slightest concern for the plight of the Championship? If they don't get exactly what they want out of this they'll drop their subservient 'partners' like a ton of bricks.

[Marauder]

Any links to websites confirming HKR/Thunder and Wakey/Donny or is it just speculation.

Griff, a link up's a link up, whatever form it may take.

I can confirm Wakey and Donny, Carl Hall told me during a phone conversation months ago before they became public knowledge.

[Derwent]

It's a SL money saving exercise first and foremost, you're absolutely right. When did the SL clubs ever show the slightest concern for the plight of the Championship? If they don't get exactly what they want out of this they'll drop their subservient 'partners' like a ton of bricks.

It depends on how subservient and commercially astute the Championship club is. For example, I know of one club that has negotiated a deal where each time a player from the SL club plays for them then the SL club pays them a fee for it ! Additionally, the fee increases if the player is picked at the specific request of the SL club.

I'm not a fan of the whole concept but if its going to happen then Championship clubs should make it on their own terms like as above.

[Marauder]

Nobody makes much of a profit, as any profit they want to use to pay off directors loans or invest in the race to be top dog.

About half the Superleague may somehow break even, the other half make some sort of losses, which sometimes are minimised by simply not spending on players hence you get the easybeats at the bottom.

All this has become a bit of a shambles probably accelerated by the move to 14 clubs

This is NOT a sponsorship link up, it is as you say a way of not running that extra team to save costs SL club wise, for the championship club they get a structured player development system that can also give them a decent team at a reduced cost.

It's cost sharing, in which both clubs save costs, but for me essentially the Championship club acts as the Superleague clubs reserve team. Works in Oz so what works in Oz is often copied.

The SL clubs without a link up may suffer, that a couple have no link up to me says they aren't confident of their SL future.
The CC clubs without a link up risk having to compete against stronger "CC clubs who are really SL reserve teams" which could quash their ambitions.

This will depend on how...

1. The fans react - will winning turn them on or being reserves turn them off
2. Whether independant clubs will get the better players.

Fascinating struggle ahead...

The biggest assets of most sports clubs are the players, will this mean the championship clubs will become worthless?

My biggest worry for championship clubs is the very short lived changes the RFL seem to make, over the last 10 years they have chopped and changed the age group they should run academies at.

[Marauder]

Not sure that Sheffield-Limoux falls into this category.

I don't think dual registration will be permitted with a French club so it's not within the definition.

It's going ahead and it's actually Sheffield acting as the parent club.

[The Parksider]

When did the SL clubs ever show the slightest concern for the plight of the Championship?

Why would they? the local championship clubs take fans, sponsors, players, etc that could be theirs.

You don't think Leeds are going to resurrect Bramley and free Hunslet from subservience do you?

Do you show the slightest concern for your business rival down the road when he goes under.

[The Parksider]

My biggest worry for championship clubs is the very short lived changes the RFL seem to make, over the last 10 years they have chopped and changed the age group they should run academies at.

These changes have to me some very far reaching consequences, and are financially significant so I do not see the RFL messing things around. The clear aim is for SL to save money, the unclear aim may be for SL (whatever form it will take 2015) to secure itself as a cost effective Elite division to deliver the SKY contract, the conspiracy theory is for SL to wipe out the annoying local CC clubs and in time grow off the back of their possible demise.

Time to argue if independent CC clubs go all the local fans and players will turn to soccer

[Marauder]

These changes have to me some very far reaching consequences, and are financially significant so I do not see the RFL messing things around. The clear aim is for SL to save money, the unclear aim may be for SL (whatever form it will take 2015) to secure itself as a cost effective Elite division to deliver the SKY contract, the conspiracy theory is for SL to wipe out the annoying local CC clubs and in time grow off the back of their possible demise.

Time to argue if independent CC clubs go all the local fans and players will turn to soccer

I'm with you on this and another big worry is the amateur game.

[Terry Mullaney]

Why would they? the local championship clubs take fans, sponsors, players, etc that could be theirs.

Since when Parky? Are you telling me that the the people who support Fev could one day have an affinity to Cas? Which Rovers players would Wakey take from us? Sponsors have a choice and will support the club which looks after them and their clients the best. They're never going to make money from their association with RL clubs. sL clubs should be better equipped to make the match day experience far more attractive to potential sponsors but some apparently fail miserably.

Look at the attendances in the Championship. Of all of those fans decided to defect to the SL it wouldn't make a bit of difference.

[Ackroman]

I think all the clubs actions are made to satisfy their needs at this time, it does not however indicate a resigned attitude to saving SL by capping ambitions for Championship clubs. That argument has no basis. You can't on one hand justify spending money upgrading stadiums and carrying out community work to then chuck all that in the bin in because the aim is to make SL successful. All this work is aimed at making the individual club successful regardless of which level they are at.

In my opinion these tie up's are not the creeping fog of domination by a chosen elite, it is a system designed to buy time to work out what the hell the sport does with developing talent. That is the issue that nobody seems to be discussing on the thread.