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It's always interesting to see these threads because they tend to get lots of posts from fans of SL clubs suggesting a team they'd like to be in SL, and quite often this seems to be based on zero knowledge of that club other than that it's based in the place where they most fancy an away day. Let's be real: there are no clubs in the Championship that are anywhere near ready to jump into SL right now. I'll give a few examples. Toulouse - for a couple of years they have made no secret of the fact that they are operating on lower budgets than the year they were in SL (or previously in the Championship) and this has shown in their recruitment. Last year they had a very thin squad numerically and it looks the same this year. They haven't updated their website squad list or to my knowledge published their squad yet, but as far as I know their only new additions announced to date are Rob Butler and Ellis Gillam (who is on trial), both of those will be good signings but we know they have lost Harrison Hansen, Guy Armitage, Siti Akauola, and Eloi Pelissier who were all regulars in their 17 last year. They will be very competitive in the Championship for sure but don't look to have the depth or financial muscle to make a fist of it at SL level. Bradford - certainly seem have the strongest squad in the Championship on paper but the mystery of how their ground now seems to be deemed SL-ready remains. For years Bradford fans have acknowledged that the crumbling Odsal is in no way, shape or form suitable for SL, but with the IMG criteria focusing almost exclusively on broadcast/TV requirements, a new TV gantry and a new bar behind the stand appear to have miraculously transformed it into a SL-ready stadium which seems laughable to most Championship fans, whilst the pitch itself is only about 86m long and still seems to be extremely narrow. York - a few years of steady progress but on and off the field I'm not quite sure they're there yet, after finishing third in the regular season in their first year back in 2019 they haven't matched that subsequently albeit they have been consistent, their crowds seem to have stalled too, they're probably at least year or two away still. Fev - as has been well documented, went all out for promotion from a financial POV in the final year of P & R in the knowledge the new IMG gradings gave them little chance thereafter and it didn't pay off, and the club is still rebuilding having been in a not very healthy financial position at the start of 2024. there's some very good stuff going on off the field since Paddy Handley took over but might take a year or two at least before a SL challenge is realistic again. Oldham - clearly have a big backer and have certainly flashed the cash in terms of signings but it's surely unrealistic to be talking about putting a club in SL before they have proved themselves at Championship level. London - possible new backers on the horizon, but they are a shell of a club off the field and have been for many years. Mike Eccles worked wonders with them over the last two years but they have been stripped of most of their squad and regardless of new backers are going to need time to rebuild and re-establish themselves.

TBH, they have flown under my radar. They don't seem to rely on or look to outside help. They are a blueprint for anyone who wants to run a successful amateur club. The lifeblood of the game. https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-league/articles/cdxzxvk1lnqo

Well argued

Probably means they've been hooked up wrong.

Yes, what happened to all those people? Have any of them migrated here?! Good luck to Cas. I hope they can make the progress they're looking for. Plenty of room for a strong Cas and a strong Wakey to co exist.

There's a bloke giving it a go at Montpellier too, he gets overseas players to come over for his club and never pays them, they play 3 games per season and then wrap up, change the name and restart the next year, There's other ways than Castleford playing an imaginary team to promote rl somewhere, just say it's a training camp for Castleford and get them to play the catalans in a friendly over there, rather than 7 blokes from the pub risking serious injuries, I hope Castleford will get something out of it,

To be fair you only have to read the thread re Belle Vue from the begining to see people scoffing about the chances of redevelopment suddenly going quiet.

If I was a gambling man I’d wager this thread will still be going in 2045, with no real progress made.

I see on social media that Cas have brought some temporary buildings onto the site and are showing what looks like new/renovated changing rooms (possibly within the temporary structures?) More small changes, little improvements that are seemingly affordable while they await hoped for funding to replace the main stand, etc. I see that as a positive - it gets away from accusations of just producing another set of plans, even if redevelopment does occur in the short/medium term and some of these minor improvements are ripped out again.

It's a top bit of trolling by the Keighley owners, the bucket collection won't raise enough to buy a half time Bovril never mind make a dent in the finances of a SL club.

Telford are a great club and I'm sure they'll do the Midlands proud. Midlands RL is going from strength to strength

Who’d have thought it, Trinity fans defending Cas but we’ve walked already trodden this path for several years. It does get tiresome when folk on here post stuff without any clue as to what issues are ongoing behind the scenes. It might take years to get any development at Wheldon Rd but Cas own their own ground & can afford their squad. That must count for something?

Six. Chester RFC, Halton Stadium Widnes, Wilderspool, Victoria Park Warrington, Caldey RFC and now Robin Park. Six in North Wales. The Racecourse, Queensway, The Rock. Eirias Park, Llanrwst RFC, Rhyl RFC. If only we could find the money to build number 13 and become home owners.

The RFL should slap it down and the Giants should be told to spend the money they would spend on The Shay on marketing their club to the people of Huddersfield and the surrounding district. The club's marketing and promotional effort appears to be largely non-existent.

A few more details coming out now with Davy saying that he will pay for the initial improvements if he buys the stadium but it will mean a rent increase for the 2 clubs and then when the Giants move out the clubs will be offered the chance to buy the stadium back but the price will have to reflect the improvements that have been made. Im really not sure what is in it for Fax or Town, neither club can afford this. Its hard to see this going ahead.

Surely Cas know what they’re doing, as a professional club?

The CC is, sadly, a money drain for all clubs especially the lower leagues. They aim to progress in the hope of getting a money-spinner of a tie against a SL club. This arrangement was intended to provide 12 successful clubs with such opportunity to make some money. The major mistake, in my view, is in not separating the community clubs earlier. What has resulted now is two ties where the community club will face SL opposition. I believe this to be potentially very dangerous to the players from these community clubs.

From what MJ has said , it looks as though we will be waiting until potentailly end 2026 before work can start on the new stand (providing money has been released by Axiom) . The new temporary office blocks are to allow all staff to be in the same 'building/place' as they were working in different parts of the stadium. The big plus for us was the announcement that teams can carry their current stadium score forward (for a 2 year period) , when stadium upgrades are taking place, which allows us to keep max stadium points when work starts on the new stand .

I assume none of those calls to expand were on the basis of the club being ready within a couple of weeks though.

Response to Salford Red Devils Statement •Salford City Council For those who haven't seen it.

So you're saying Cas have an outside chance of beating them?

https://www.rugbyleagueontv.com/bbc That suggests we are getting a Saturday afternoon BBC1 slot. That seems like a huge improvement on last year.

LE podcast again with Martyn insisting clubs should do more on social media. If only there was a matrix in which they can be scored and rewarded for a good social media presence.

Very sad news. RIP Des

The other huge positive with Jake is the 2 year contract which shows the clubs intent to keep building longer term and the player happy to commit to their plans.

That's the big one for me, fans have no excuses now, the BOD have put together a great squad which I'm sure will deliver on the pitch, the matchday experience is already there, let's get down and back them. UTT

The Keighley owners are canny f******… this is a next-level wind-up.

Two great signings, Jonty and the board have put together a very good squad , a mixture of championship players and top quality young amateur local players that will learn and develop further, I wouldn't like to be Jonty selecting a 13 from that squad, we have finally got strength in depth and town fans need to get down now and support the club, this could be a great season after years of struggling and false hope, UTT

A huge leap forward in many ways The appearance is ultra modern when compared with perimeter boards The potential advertising revenue on LED boards is multiple times that of static boards TV games at Belle Vue will look modern and will help sell the image of a modern club in a prestigious competition Pre match displays & shows will incorporate the LED boards thus helping to create a superb atmosphere alongside lasers, fireworks, smoke, flames & sound system Each new development pushes us onward, the stadium is slowly morphing from an 1870s structure into a modern day tech advanced venue right in front of our eyes Brilliant to see and all thanks to our superb new owners Matt Ellis and family

What? I'm just stating my opinion, tell me which parts are incorrect? I don't think any of the current Championship teams are close to being SL ready ( whereas for instance I definitely thought Wakefield were, on and off the pitch). And anyone who reads my ramblings on here knows that I'm positive about plenty of stuff. Could it be, perchance, that I said something you didn't like about your team(s)?

I’ve removed the political stuff. There is a place for those discussions on TotalRL and it isn’t in the general rugby league forums.

Great read! They are no chance of beating Rochdale Mayfield but what a great occasion for them, I hope they enjoy and put on their best possible performance. Just had a quick look at their website, which says they have 250+ players across teams. Though they do not specify age groups, I thought that was very impressive. https://telford-raiders.com/about-us/

It certainly looks that way unless some more details emerge. I can only hope there is more to this as we know the council want to offload the stadium so they will be easily persuaded but both clubs also seem to be in favor of this which is obviously a worry given how much rent arrears Fax have already run up.

Cheapest seats in SL and an annoying bloke with a cowbell. What more do you want?!

That makes it a pretty hard and unpleasant pill to swallow for the Halifax clubs. The whole thing continues to make zero sense to me and I really hope it doesn't happen.

London's squad is padded out with former academy and Skolars players, plus the Hoists #7, which is obviously why he was missing from their CC team last week. These are not Champo players.

Venue change https://nwcrusadersrl.com/venue-change-london-broncos/

Well said. Cas did more in the last 12 months than they've done in decades. The way to help get further progress is to celebrate the small wins along the way, there are few silver bullets in rugby league.

An absolute Legend for Haven and a true Gentleman so sad to hear of his passing. Thoughts go out to his family

That's a nice (and very positive) statement from Salford City Council. I suspect other clubs would be very happy to have the level of support the Red Devils have received from local government.

Cricket is a great game Eddie, so many formats and is very popular globally, second behind football. On the same website, there are top sports lists for each country, based on the estimated number of fans using a very interesting method to measure popularity. The lists are based on the results of website visitor traffic analysis (using the Alexa traffic rank) of over 300 sports websites, which reflect which sports the internet users in the particular country are most interested in. Regional popularity gives an insight into where the fan base is located around the world. Field hockey is widely played, though I'm not sure it should be ranked so high. Response from Google AI about RL How many fans does the rugby league have? “The overall numbers have also increased significantly compared to a year ago with over 7.2 million Australians now supporting an NRL club, up a large 757,000 (+11.7%) on a year ago, and up almost as many, 6.8 million, now watching the NRL on TV – up 674,000 (+11%) on a year ago.26 Sept 2023 rank Sport Estimated Fans Regional Popularity 1. Soccer / Association Football 3.5 Billion Europe, Africa, Asia, America. 2. Cricket 2.5 Billion Asia, Australia, UK. 3. Field Hockey 2 Billion Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia. 4. Tennis 1 Billion Europe, Asia, America. 5. Volleyball 900 Million Europe, Australia, Asia, America. 6. Table Tennis 850 Million Europe, Africa, Asia, America. 7. Baseball 500 Million America, Japan. 8. Golf 450 Million Europe, Asia, America, Canada. =9 Basketball 400 Million America. =9 American Football 400 Million Europe, Africa, Asia, America, Australia. Motor Sport is not included, so asking Google AI, Formula 1 (F1) has over 750 million fans worldwide. This makes it the most popular annual sporting series. How has the fan base grown? Women Women make up 41% of the F1 fan base, and the 16–24 age group is the fastest growing. Middle East Saudi Arabia is the biggest growth market, with 11% more fans than in 2023. Digital F1 is outperforming other major sports in the digital arena. Netflix The 2019 release of Formula 1: Drive to Survive helped F1 gain popularity in the U.S. Social media People are more likely to learn about F1 through social media than through Drive to Survive. How many people watch F1 on TV? In 2022, 1.5 billion fans watched F1 on TV. In 2021, 445 million people watched F1 on TV. How many people attend F1 races? In 2023, 5.69 million people attended F1 races.

Swap Salford for Toulouse no thanks there is already one too many teams from France in the League

In 2023, I ran all 30 of the 'mountains' in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. By which I mean that I drove from my house to some convenient spot and ran up 1, 2 or 3 of them, ran down and drove home. The consultant you refer to ran up all 30 of them back in 2020. Difference is he did them all in one continuous 209km loop, on foot, taking 41 hours to do it. Fastest known time by a considerable distance. I comforted myself with the thought that maybe he is a lot younger, or maybe he has a job that allows for a lot of time to run. But no, he's a consultant, director of a division at the hospital and has 5 kids. And we're almost the same age...

Yep, I made this point (I think early in this thread). If you were asking people around awareness, it really would be closer to compare Wigan Warriors against Anthony Joshua as they are what gets sold on the fixtures. Completely different things.

Well I wouldn't like to be jonty trying to pick a 17 from this squad absolutely unreal competition for places right across the team which hopefully the players will thrive on especially the likes off Ellis archer who really stepped up at weekend and looked ready made for the loose forward position then we've got 3 unreal half backs with Cole walker Taylor in there aswell I can't wait for the season to start Massive well done to all involved

Delighted with the Carter signing, well done to everyone at the club, anyone holding back on getting a season ticket, get down to DP and get one. We need to get behind the club this season, they have shown great ambition. UTT

The Bulls pitch meets the RFL requirements. https://www.bradfordbulls.co.uk/article/1133/odsal-pitch-works-completed The provisions of Section A shall apply to matches played in 2024 as directed by the RFL. The applicable protocols that the RFL may bring into force from time to time, shall take precedence. Pitch & Ground Requirements1. 1.1. Playing Field The plan and markings thereon and the notes relating thereto are part of the Laws of the Game Minimum distance from goal line to goal line 88M Maximum distance from goal line to goal line 100M Minimum pitch width 55M Maximum pitch width 68M Minimum in-goal area 6M Maximum in-goal area 11M Recommended in-goal area 8M Clubs should provide a playing surface as close to the maximum as possible while still maintaining a safe pitch perimeter.

An idiotic club spending money it doesn’t have isn’t a reflection on the rest of the league. There’s at least two, possibly more, clubs who would have been very happy to have Salford’s place if they weren’t keeping up their delusional plans at the time of the last assessment.

Yes he is Darren boy, if half has good has his dad we have signed a cracking young player...

The RFL folk I work with are great. There aren't any non-producing pen pushers so far as I can see. The problem with the organisation seems to be right at the very top. There seem to be managers but no leaders. There also seems to be no-one in authority who has experience outside the game or the North of England. It's a straightforward leadership vacuum - nobody is prepared to be visible, set a direction, and be decisive when that's needed. Instead, we see this drift where governance is opaque and nobody acts until they are forced to.