Sleeper

As I said, loyalties come later! But the first time you went was presumably to be entertained or out of curiosity! Surely you were not loyal or committed to your team having never gone?

You "dont have to" go now! First and foremost you go to be entertained, loyalties come after that but if "your" club goes under or is merged you do without, watched a merged team or do what some have who need success, go and latch onto a SL club like many fickle folk have from Leigh, Swinton, Oldham, Hornets, Doncaster, Hunslet etc. A successfully merged team of two or three current lowly standing sides will attract greater numbers than those merged clubs origins combined.

Separate the sport and "community element" from business and yeah, I'd be in full agreement but by doing that you accept by aiming for the tree tops you acknowledge you might not even get off the ground, aim for the sky and you might reach the tree tops! First and foremost RL is a business, the community element bit comes a close second. I suppose its all down to a preference, me as a supporter of a lower tier RL club I'd swop it all for a successful North Manchester Titans .................. or something else.

I assume nowt! Oldham, Swinton and Rochdale will not dominate the Championship or Championship 1 as a standalone entity this side of 2015 (probably), Oldham might! As a merged outfit they might and in accord with franchise demands might, just might gain SL status and to be fair ........... the Oldham, Swinton, Hornets thingy was very much by way of example not a recommendation!

You only support my argument! Take what joy you can from the Hornets and er, the acceptance of mediocrity and no, its not meant as a dig.

Strange thing is, many demanding no merger and those of the opinion that they wouldnt watch a merged side are also critical of the media and its lack of attention to RL. As one in favour of SL I am against the current SL concept of entry via a franchise, its going the wrong way, its devisive and its as narrow minded as the parochial folk turning up in their hundreds to watch lower tier pro rugby! Too many lower tier pro clubs with too few "quality" players being watched and propped up by too few paying customers means its attempts at not being a minority sport is thwarted. Argue all day but the reality is SL doesnt really need two lower tier divs, it doesnt need the "ale house" approach to lower tier RL and it (SL) would be in a far better place without what is percieved as the millstone around its neck. Folk living out of RL strongholds see SL as a code, they actually think SL is the game! Pro RL cannot and will not thrive as long as poorly supported tin pot teams in ram shackle grounds limp from one unpaid tax bill to the next! Dont expect national media exposure of what is to the nation a few teams cluttering up a motorway which runs west to east across part of the north west of the country, the FA Premiership and its Championship/League 1 and 2, cricket, RU with its GP, Magners, HC, Celtic League etc will forever take a precedence over the sometimes heard of but noisy neighbour. Time now for the lower tier pro sides to secure their own destiny, no more blokes with a pot of gold out there and SL aint going to look after you, merge now (Oldham, Hornets, Swinton) its the only way to get out of the weeds. And, what about those who wont watch a merged side ............ do what many have done already, drift away or latch onto a SL club.

Oldham have been a sleeping giant since I were a lad and I started watching them c 1963. Sadly and in the main they all (Harris, Scullies, Sinfield, Eastmond) escaped Oldhams clutches after their demise. More apt to refer to Oldham a comatose giant but, I have to say they have made more progress on and off the field this year/season than they have in the last 10, small steps eh. Be a few years before they are anywhere near to SL status as a standalone business but again, small steps! That 200,000+ population would need to revive their interest themselves in RL, incidentally, a few of em have become Wigan fans, so much for "RL folk not swallowing watching a merged team", seems they are happy to watch a different team ................. And a few of the non attendees have much to say but cant be arsed! They have a great model, here's hoping!

I suspect you are right that fans just wouldnt swallow it, therein the problem and the reason why 98% of the Championship and Championship 1 teams will never get out of the weeds. Strange though that the supporters of these basement sides have drifted away to SL sides or drifted away from being regular attendees. A merger between teams who are "literally on their knees" would be a merger for the wrong reasons! I will wager now that a large slice of "supporters" in Leigh, Oldham, Rochdale, Hunslet etc would declare Jihad at the very mention of a merger ................................... yet have not attended one game in two seasons!

Hang on, I'm pro merger, willing to embrace another route and I recognise pro RL is a business but you think I'm negative .................... the mind boggles! And, if my last paragraph is of supreme irrelevance why make mention of it. Look feller, I'll nick a quote off JFK; "change is the law of life, those who fail to change will miss the future" .................. I guess you are stuck where you are, oh BTW, love your "it wont be the same", it says a lot!

Dead right there and top marks for observation, it aint Australia and yep, we do do things different here, a great pity we dont do things better! Maybe the mergers you claim have never worked in this country have failed because they havent been done properly ................... but I have to say there are a vast amount of mergers in industry that have worked! This lets not bother attitude is one reason the UK is swimming in a cesspit of its own making and we have bred a generation of weak willed jelly fish who ....................... cant be bothered "coz its too hard" all blessed with an ethos of "it probably wont work anyway"!

Its your right to disagree but of course that doesnt make you right! No, its a business first and foremost, tragedy being that the fact it is a business it will only ocurr to some folk when a club side withers and dies. Take a look at Oldham, a population of 100,000+ and a hot bed of RL, sadly its attendences average c 1000! You claim "mergers would lead inevitably to parochial fans" ....................... sheesh man, its because of a narrow minded and parochial ignorant approach that we have a load of clubs struggling and limping from one unpaid tax bill to the next. A successful side playing the like of Wigan, Warrington, St Helens, Leeds etc week in week out will attract fans, a side playing Blackpool, Swinton, Hunslet and Doncaster will attract diddly squat apart from its hardcore support which amounts 0.9% of its population!

I was and am pro merger. Much was said at the time, and reiterated now of the junior partner being swallowed up, reality is all parties would have been swallowed up. Mergers are nothing new to business, RL is a business! I will wager now that had mergers taken place, parochial issues wouldnt be spoke about 15 years later. Allround result is, Oldham, Fev, Whitehaven, Workington, Carlilse, Widnes, Sheffield, Doncaster are watching an inferior product or are dead (Carlilse), of course many out there watching the inferior stuff will claim to be happy with what they have ................... therein the problem!