Maximus Decimus

Just because you use smiley faces doesn't stop this being one of those attacks on Widnes that other posters have spoke of. You're a man obsessed.

The likes of Wales, Scotland and Ireland have very rarely if ever got a 10,000 crowd for an international, especially against a domestic nation. If we weren't comparing ourselves to other sports we'd see that 5,000 for any game outside of France would be a superb crowd.

Salford if I remember correctly. Even if it does then it won't be announced as such.

Jealous and hopeful. In denigrating Widnes they are trying to justify why their own club should be picked. That's why they've latched on so heavily to our performance on the pitch this year. If they can find one reason why Widnes should not go up then it gives their own team a better shot. If Widnes went bust tomorrow you can guarantee that Halifax would be treated the exact same. Licensing is supposed to be about medium to long-term. About putting things in place that should enable prosperity long term, like youth development and stadia etc. To try and ensure a degree of competitiveness the RFL included on the field stipulations and to be honest it back fired a bit as the most likely team to come up met them at the first opportunity. This meant that all Widnes now had to do was put out a competitive side and meet the rest of the criteria. Widnes did put out a competitive squad this year but have not challenged. This is not surprising when you consider the loss of key personnel including a 2 of your main signings for much of the season, a captain and a Head Coach on compassionate leave for much of the season. It would defeat the object of licensing if the RFL simply took into account on the pitch this year and put in a club that are less viable in the long term.

The point is that form is temporary which is not the point of licensing. Let's not forget we haven't had a head coach for much of this season either.

This is an over-simplification I feel and does a diservice to the club to say we are reliant on a sugar daddy. Without him we still get the biggest crowds and have the joint best ground. We also made the best stab of Super League out of any of the current championship clubs. Let's not forget that we were one game away on two occasions from being a Super League club and had we won either of those we would be a shoe in for a continued SL license. This is all without Steve O'Connor. At the same time you have a club like Wakefield who have been one game away from relegation and probable permanent SL exclusion. That is how fine a line Widnes were from being a permanent member of SL, no other Championship clubs were in this situation. Therefore it's unfair to put all of Widnes' reasons for inclusion on a sugar daddy. Barrow are a different matter, their success is largely built on a sugar daddy, one who has made comments that don't make him seem reliable. Plus despite his money Barrow still haven't many other boxes ticked.

Triple post!

This is an over-simplification I feel and does a diservice to the club to say we are reliant on a sugar daddy. Without him we still get the biggest crowds and have the joint best ground. We also made the best stab of Super League out of any of the current championship clubs. Let's not forget that we were one game away on two occasions from being a Super League club and had we won either of those we would be a shoe in for a continued SL license. This is all without Steve O'Connor. At the same time you have a club like Wakefield who have been one game away from relegation and probable permanent SL exclusion. That is how fine a line Widnes were from being a permanent member of SL, no other Championship clubs were in this situation. Therefore it's unfair to put all of Widnes' reasons for inclusion on a sugar daddy. Barrow are a different matter, their success is largely built on a sugar daddy, one who has made comments that don't make him seem reliable. Plus despite his money Barrow still haven't many other boxes ticked.

Good point but it also says 'those who are eligible to play in the Academy,' there may be a fair few who are home grown but aren't. I don't want to focus too much on the playing side of things because it is not what licensing is about. The point is that it is too easy to point to a team doing well in the league and say that means they deserve to be in. There are many other factors under licensing. Aside from the fact that Widnes have had no coach for a large portion of this year and have had key players out, we have also been clearly trying to get more club trained players in the squad and playing in the team. This is what licensing is supposed to be about. No other club in the division has focussed on this in the same way and are only recently been trying to rectify it whereas Widnes have been doing it since the last round of franchising. If it wasn't about being awarded licenses then priorities would be different. As often happens the club with the biggest and best resources inevitably gets promoted over a short period of time. Why would Widnes bother spending big on going all out to win the Championship when it adds almost nothing to our bid. I don't think for a second we thought we'd miss the playoffs but we wanted to be in the mix and the squad we had should have enabled that. Widnes can't be blamed for playing the game the way the RFL asked, tick a box on the field and spend the rest getting off the field right. Many on here seem to think this is somehow Widnes fault or that we should be punished for not finishing high enough. Once again this is not what licensing is about, it might stink and it might be killing the Championship as a competition but that is not Widnes' fault.

Grow up Mick. You know full well that what Super League classes as a youth policy amounts to far more than what you're suggesting. How are Barrow doing in the U18's Super League Academy? Just because you dislike the truth doesn't change it.

We are well known to be the only team that runs an U18's team at Super League level. I'm not trying to denigrate other clubs efforts but as far as I am aware, we are the only side that would meet the criteria for youth development.

Widnes fans have been through it at least as much as any other club in that and we fully appreciate the fortunate situation that we are in. However it doesn't excuse other fans constantly trying to undermine the fact that we are best placed to go up. The likes of Lobby are just bitter and are trying to blame the problems of the championship on Widnes, the irony is that if we still had P and R then Widnes would be most likely to go up. We are the biggest club in a small pond and over time this inevitably tells under that system.

Yes when they are included in your squad. Widnes have a large number of their squad taken up with juniors purely to try and meet the criteria for Super League. These also come from a junior devleopment system that nobody else in the league is able to fund. We could have just filled these spots with more experienced RL players from outside of Widnes but then that's not what franchising is supposed to be about is it?

You're sounding pathetic now. You shift one day to the next about which club instead of Widnes should be included at the next round of licensing. You haven't really ever got it that it's not all about on the pitch. Widnes have ticked that box and concentrated on other matters. If it was purely about on the field we would have a better squad, simple as. The fact is that we are the only club that has spent this round of licensing trying to fit the criteria for Super League and that includes the youth and home grown players in the squad. No other club comes close to us on this. Widnes are best placed for a license and as much that rankles with you it's true. We have and have had better crowds than the rest of the clubs in the division for at least a decade, we have a stadium that is bettered by no-one in the league and we have a proper youth policy. Of course it causes resentment amongst other fans but it doesn't change the fact. So please stop with your absurd anti-Widnes posts blaming us for all the problems of the Championship. It's starting to sound as bad as your rectangular stadium issue although admittedly nowhere near as funny.

This is just completely untrue and not what licensing is supposed to be about. Licensing is about picking the best 14 clubs at that point, not about adding something to Super League. This comes from the fact that it is a grossly unfair system. You could place Widnes, Barrow and Halifax in Super League in place of Salford, Cas and Wakey and they could be forever excluded as they would add nothing new to Super League.

I completely agree, its so obvious that I don't see why we haven't followed suit. We're a sport with so much rich history we should celebrate it more. The others sounds good, like has been pointed out it's a free form of marketing, gives the newspapers something to report on. It wouldn't cost a lot either.

In true Rugby League stylee we can't have a positive without a negative so... Its not a good sign when St Helens youth are losing to a school from Brisbane.

People don't like to be told that the club that they follow is sh!t and useless when in reality they have no obligation to follow a club in the first place. Franchising has created a great deal of bitterness in the sport and it will drive fans away in the long run. You're not going to follow a sport if your not wanted. That said the petition is pathetic. It makes me laugh when people start them up as if they have the consent of the masses when in reality I'd be surprised if they had the consent of the majority at all. There are some semi-valid points, I think the game is struggling a lot more than people like to think simply because of Super League crowds. The rest of it is largely nonsense, the game cannot survive as a heartlands only sport and it will eventually get swamped by other much larger and more prestigious sports if it does not offer a viable alternative to them. The same 12/14 teams largely based around small uninspiring northern towns isn't it.

People talk about RL being a game that is perfect for television. 3D is just going to make that even more so. I honestly don't think any other sport will be suited to 3D as RL is. The views were the same sort of views you get when you're at a game but better because you can't move around at a game and see close ups of the action. Nothing will ever replace watching a game live but this is going to come damn close.

It was really cool but there were teething problems, mainly coming from the pubs! The first one we went had ran out of glasses, which was pathetic seeing as though they only had about 20 people in there watching. The second had placed it in the top corner of the room and it was only after about 60 minutes that I figured out you needed to watch it at eye level to see it in 3D, so we spent the rest of the time stood on the seats. Most watching had long left the pub at this point thinking 3D was either rubbish or it didn't work in that pub. Loved the camera angles, like Dave said, it was like the Grand Final where they change the angle but it actually works in 3D.

Totally agree. Plus the biff was a disgrace and the fact that the game was close just means that we have two teams that are a poor standard.

Never mind Hull KR fans, the most gutted person right now is Kevin Keegan. He was very nearly overtaken in the 'most stupid comment that comes back to bite you on the ######,' stakes. At least with Phil Clarke there is hope for him yet.

Don't be silly the funding is fully in place for both stadia and they are due to start building in the next week or so just in time for 2012. To anybody with half a brain a shared stadium makes the most sense. Going for their own grounds prevents either from getting one. I feel the same way about the likes of Everton and Liverpool. Why waste money (often taxpayers) on two separate grounds?

Including a 35-16 defeat to Batley at home recently! I think it'll be closer than that, we tend to rise for finals but I think that Batley should be favourites. Gonna be a cracker. Widnes have sold 4300 which is quite a way up on last year, which itself is a surprise seeing as though the prestige linked to the game is much less.