The Blues Ox

Yeah just to be perfectly clear, this absolutley does not go on in todays game.

I don't think it was stated about the expansion rather just said that it could expand. If the TV money does not go up there is not a chance in hell that the SL clubs would vote for a reduction in their funding by expanding SL.

Id make sure to have scouts watching their players from an early age, give back handers to the parents and probably slip Siddal a few quid as well to encourage them to send the players Fax's way. A cynic would say that is very much how it happens at the moment at many amateur clubs around the country. I'd just have to make sure to be the one offering the most money. On the second point its similar for a lot of the lads, there are loads in the amateur game who could play at a high level in the championship but the money simply is not there in the game for them to make the commitment needed.

Yeah I agree, I could have chosen my words better. The competition outside of Wakefield is very close and I said elsewhere, you put London in for Wakefield next season and it makes it even closer. I probably would have just been better saying the standard is a lot lower overall than it has been for many years.

Wouldn't be hard would it. The Championship is the weakest its been for years. I reckon theres a good chance of doing it in 1 but had to make an allowance for bottling the first final.

Perfect scenario for Wakefield in the timing of their relegation. You feel if it had happened before that then they may have really struggled but with the timing of the takeover and actually cracking on with the ground redevlopment this is certainly a really good platform to build from and for them winning week after week is going to help in so many other areas as well.

Big turning point the video ref decision for the Cas no try. Yes it does look like the player is held up but the marker who was on the floor clearly gets involved and should have been a penalty for Cas. Instead Leigh go straight up the other end and score. I can't see any excuse for the video ref missing something so simple as that.

I think there is certainly a need to mention it. Yes someone at Warrington has made an admin error but if what Sam says is true and the squads were announced with the player in question listed then it is clearly not an attempt by Warrington to pull a fast one and it all could have been sorted pre match without anyone knowing. I think Hull/Myler showed a lack of class in their actions if it is true that they had a choice and Burgess showed a lack of class in the tunnel incident but i have no problem with his rant. Saying all that I bet he would not have walked in to Simon Grix like that.

I think we understimate just how much the Championship as a whole has moved backwards this past couple of seasons. Sheffield do look a best of the rest team but 3-5 years ago its probably a team scraping in the playoffs. Wakefield have the weakest Championship in years and a team that would likely finish bottom 2 in SL and isn't really a patch on the Leigh promotion team. A very similar situation to Fev last season but Wakey have the added bonus that they will be back in SL next season. London coming down should make the Championship a really good contest from next year though presuming they are the only team that does come down.

Both systems have their flaws but some people are just too stubborn to admit it. London - Them getting replaced in the top flight next season does not show that P&R is a failure. They would no doubt have done things differently if they did not already know they would not make the cut. Wakefield - This is clearly a positive. A team is able to make signings knowing that they are pretty much nailed on to make the top 12 in the gradings. Leigh - This is a flaw in the new system. They are one of the teams under threat and if they were to miss out on the top 12 its a huge reduction in money and at this point they have to be careful who they sign and what they spend leading to uncertainty in their players minds. Hull - A success of the system. A basket case of a club but know that at best they will be an A grade or at very worst they will be comfortable in the 12 giving them free license to spend stupid money on players. Yes signings like Asiata happened under previous systems but a lot of the time they were for the same reasons, anyone saying otherwise is kidding themselves.

Thank you for that. The question about local open age community questions would have been my next one so it sounds like its moving in the right direction and makes sense for the RFL to allow the Barrow fringe players to play for the District team. I know the DR rules are a bit of a touchy subject as a couple of League 1 sides have already had warnings about playing more than 3 SL players in their team at any one time but those are established teams and I think in Barrow's case it is the sensible thing to do.

When I talk about return I mean results on the pitch, I probably should have been clearer about that. As far as I remember DB only spent really big on the most recent promotion season building a team that would have easily survived in SL that year. 3 years is not getting Fax anywhere near promotion under IMG criteria no matter how much money you were able to put in to the club. The 3 year average rule takes care of that. As phiggins alludes to, Im not even sure Fax could score high enough to get in to SL but even if they could you would be looking easily at 5 years. If I had millions to spend and P&R were in place I'd get us there within 2 I reckon.

Won't be helped by Leigh looking like they could be in danger so I guess a number of their players could be quite nervous and looking to get deals tied down.

They do now with the new criteria but going back to one of the original points, this is going to put some investors off having to wait 3-5 years or more to see any sort of return on their money. Leigh are a pretty good example of boom or bust and when boom on the field works you can grow from there off the field. Ironically Leigh seem to be a club potentially at risk with the new system which feels like madness. I wonder what DB would do if Leigh were to drop out of the 12.

I see sport as been decided on the pitch, if Im spending a lot of money that is what I want. I could not care less what our catchment area is or if we have an LED scoreboard. As a Fax fan I have seen numerous people take over our club with the best intentions of growing slowly off the field and yet we are still nowhere near SL but our best times have always been when we have gone boom or bust.