willy

I agree with him. The standard of the championship clubs needs to improve, so there is competition to get into the stagnant pool that is SL. Competition that has a sound business behind it. Unlike now!!!!! SL is stuffed full of teams that seem on the edge of bankruptcy all the time. If the aim is to get championship sides with more full time players then its a big start and means less players get lost to the sport at the upper levels and less average players in the championship. Makes sense if you don't have meaningful academy matches anymore Much more cut throat I guess all round, more money flowing down through the game, assist the likes of Oxford and anyone else just climbing on board, keeps the likes of Sheffield and Leigh on a more even keel. Protects the sport to a degree. It doesn't promote the interests of the top tier but then neither did licensing, it provided a stable backdrop but no real growth, hence no main sponsor, simples. The new system promotes innovation and growth throughout the sport, exactly what you don't want if its a small pie and you want more of it Odd thing to say but Lenighan = no growth as a sport through self interest = luddite!!!! We wont get a sponsor until the sport innovates and moves on, licensing here was only part of the journey, to grow the sport nationally we need a path through to the upper reaches. Aus don't because money buys a franchise a la NFL etc. Different business model here, licensing was necessary, now lets move on, re-invigorate and aggressively target sponsors and new markets through the likes of Gloucester and Oxford and other regions such as Bristol and even the like of Italy eventually

Because it is and always was the EUROPEAN super league French teams should be protected and developed There is a core of 8 other SL clubs that are OK financially and should be around for a while yet Others have potential to reach the same level, some never will no matter how hard they try With 10 clubs in positions where relegation would be very unlikely (including the 2 French) there is space to yo yo 2 clubs every year, which is precisely what will happen unless the 3 X 8 kicks in Then the 2 French clubs would have one in each of the top 2 divisions based on placing with a likely guarantee for the 2nd French team that they wont fall out of the top 12 for 3 years You could even offer places to a third euro team at some stage which will only increase gates in Europe and create more competition for the spare places in the top 12 If I was Sheffield I would want the opportunity of playing the bottom 4 to prove a point, same as leigh, Fev and anyone else in the current championship, whether they are from London, France or anywhere else. And point proven, have a go at the top 8 Straight forward 2 up 2 down is pointless, absolutely pointless, has never worked and will never work. History proves that in the modern era promotion is pointless unless you have the cash to consolidate. 3X8 allows consolidation in the top 12. then a real crack at the top 8, which lets face it in this country is what it is really all about from mid season onwards. If we don't do this we are back to a system that works for no one and possibly semi-pro/amateur below SL in less than a decade. No players of the right standard, ever decreasing player pool. We don't have the money to do traditional P&R and survive as a sport, it stagnates everything below and bankrupts teams, this isn't the 60's and 70's where there was a reasonable financial level playing field, its not the 80's where Leeds wasted money, Wigan spent three times what everyone else did and our nearest competitor was still an amateur mostly unregulated game. Please please please realise why Scotland wanted this as a football league, it was to strengthen their game which outside Glasgow is suffering the same fate as the Union clubs up there, lower gates and disinterest. Scotland retained its structure through self interest of the top teams who never get relegated and get Euro football every year. The TV deal was re-cut to assist with this. More to the top teams. There is no money for such a compromise in RL, not and have a future as a modern multi-national multi-million pound sport

2X12 3X8 is P&R It encourages economy of scale It allows clubs like Bradford/Wakey/London to fall right down to the third tier if they want to pay off debts/stabilise the club then know its only two seasons back up the pile again to the top 12 then anything goes As for Fev etc, if they have the budget have a go, if not develop their own safe in the knowledge that because they have an even chance of getting up the ladder if they develop a team rather than buy it, they can protect the better part of their assets and actually progress by developing a team to compete. More money into team development, youth teams, far cheaper and cost effective than buying old Aussies or coveting what other teams have and throwing shed loads of cash at them. Even Schofield reckons RL is a young mans game, just as well as this system will need more players of a higher standard playing earlier than they do now. Players will stay where they feel safe especially now. I wouldn't want to be Gareth Carvell right now for instance, new job, pay cut apparently. Money bags teams will always be money bags teams, and the top end get the top quality intense football to rival the NRL eventually which can only be a good thing But as I mentioned elsewhere sport is cyclical, the top 4 will become the top 8 which will change over the seasons because of the 2 X 12 element We all moan about the start/mid season matches not being intense enough, they will have to be now otherwise the top 8 teams will be playing in the second 8 very quickly. Leeds had a stinker at the beginning of the season not long ago, they would not have been in the top 8 then. They won the competition that year I think. More intense over a season, P&R restored as 4 up 4 down, financial stability no reason for anyone to go bust except false pride. Plan over a couple of seasons could lead to a top 8 appearance and then who knows Budgetting over 5 years to hit the top has surely got to be progress over never ever having a chance to get into the top tier or even worse knowing if you do your going straight back down again and owing a lot of cash Works for me and makes a lot of sense it isn't that gimmicky either really it just places an honest assessment of each teams ability on the filed into the public eye while showcasing the potential talent below the top tier in a way SL doesn't do now. 2 up 2 down is senseless and a waste of money for all concerned, no one has previously survived without a major injection of cash or ring fencing the league after gaining promotion that way, far too big a disparity between teams and that wont go away with the traditional system licensing is dead, needs reforming, end of. Having thought about this I am quite optimistic it will work well over time my worry is that the default position of boom and bust and supporting rotten teams in the top tier will now happen thanks to self interest at the top. The 2X12 3X8 system really doesn't work well for them over time so Lenaghans response isn't that unexpected

I think that's the headline right there I cant see London making the starting line next year and with the RFL taking over their academy apparently, I guess its back to a development area status and hope Hemel, Skolars etc can grow from their bases. Certainly lets them into a bigger market share for players and possible pay days for transfers

Mullaly doesn't seem to have kicked on at all. I also read Larne Patrick would go the other way so its all a bit odd, Cas would get the better deal there I think.

I heard about this a few days ago on Superleaguefans. Apparently we've signed Craig Huby as well. Any heard that one?