nadera78

Wow, so the Championship clubs will be hugely disadvantaged from the get go? And they're supposed to compete? This whole thing just gets more and more bizarre.

Whatever they go for I give it 2 years before the conversation starts up again. 2015 start date so by the autumn internationals of 2016 we'll be tearing this up and starting again. And this time it might even lead to a fully franchised league rather than a licenced one. So an actual closed shop, as opposed to an imagined one.

You can continue to make things up if you like, or you can read what's been said by BlaKe Solly. Both the RFL and clubs admit licencing is better than the previous system. You can ignore that all you like but it's a fact, straight from the horses mouth. Now, what was that about living in cloud cuckoo land?

And if anyone wants confirmation that the moaners will never stop complaining just go and look at the Sheffield-London thread. Absolutely chock-a-block full of anger and conspiracy theories.

Continually repeating "Licencing has failed / been a disaster" does not make it true. Both the RFL and the clubs admit that licencing is better than the previous system. But the SL clubs don't like the costs of administering the licencing system, whilst the RFL are trying to do something to calm the Championship clubs.

And yet, we've had Fev fans on here admitting that they're only interested in seeing their club in the top flight, getting an opportunity to play Wakefield and Cas on a regular basis, even if that means the game as a whole has regressed to a semi-pro competition and playing standards fallen.

Hang on, the suggestion was that there was no significant gap between bottom SL and top Championship. On tonight's evident there clearly is.

Well the worst team in SL this year, and possibly the worst London team I've ever seen, comfortably beat the second ranked team in the Championship tonight. And, despite the wailing on the Sheffield-London thread, it was a comfortable victory.

Now that is utter lunacy. In order to save a few shekels the clubs are going back to a system they (and the RFL) know and admit doesn't work. Would some of these 'commercial imperatives' include an Australian scrum half by any chance?

I just don't see it like that. The Centurions might die, and that would be a shame, but the community game would continue. There are many, many people who play, coach, watch, cut oranges at community clubs who have no connection or interest or involvement with the pro game.

On the CEO thing, I'd have given every penny London Broncos wasted on Craig Gower to a competent CEO. We wouldn't be in the mess we are now, that's for sure.

That's true enough, but Leigh could do that within the Championship. There's absolutely no need, or justification, for the game's entire structure to be determined with these clubs in mind. The focus should be on finding an elite top tier and a strong development pathway. The bit in the middle, the semi-pro game, should be designed to fit in with those two aims.

Leigh Centurions are as strong or weak as they want to be. My point is that their strength or weakness means little to the game overall, for all the reasons I outlined in that post.

Cracking post. The only thing I'd change is that Toulouse would be one of the 12.

No, you're right. I shouldn't have said not important. But they are way, way down they pecking order And we should not be making strategic decisions on the future of the sport based around them and clubs like them.

Leigh Centurions are completely irrelevant to the future of Rugby League. If they never again play in SL what would happen? People in Leigh would still play Rugby League at junior and community level. People in Leigh would still go and watch the Centurions. Other people in Leigh would still go and watch Wigan, like they do already. The best juniors produced in Leigh would still sign for Wigan and other SL clubs, like they currently do and always have. On the flip side, Centurions playing in SL would not produce one single extra player than we currently see coming from the town. It would not produce any new investors in the game. It would not increase our corporate base. It would not increase our broadcast revenue. It would not increase the media attention our sport gets. Leigh, as a town, is important to Rugby League. Leigh Centurions, as a club, are not. The same could be said of any number of towns in the north of England.

Yep. Go and listen to the Wood interview on SLTV. He thinks the way to match the Aussies and Kiwis is to take money from the elite players at SL clubs and give it to part time players in the Championship. The man's a genius.

Glancing through the club forums on a certain other site I'd suggest most fans are opposed to these changes.

It's basically the system we had in place before licencing. And it was so successful that there was widespread agreement that it had to be changed. So, obviously, we're now going back to it.

You're wasting your time arguing. The changes suit them and their worldview, simple as that.

So if Leigh switched to union, what league would they start in? And how many fans would go with them to watch union, given that they could just as easily pop down to Sale? You're really plumbing the depths of ridiculous suggestions now. If in fact that is the sentiment at Leigh and other clubs then we'd all be better off if they did go to union. And right away.

I'd suggest finding a place for London if, and only if, there was a proper plan and finance in place for the club. The rest of it is spot on. I'm amazed that the likes of Lenagan, Hetherington and Pearson put up with the nonsense coming from the RFL. As I remember it SLE is still a separate body, if I was involved I'd be looking to re-assert that status.

It's growth in the number of clubs paying out full-time wages. But it's not growth of the sport as a whole. It's not growth in the number of elite players, or elite infrastructure, or investors, or fans, or corporate support, or broadcast and media interest. It's simply trying to re-create the sporting landscape of the past in the 21st Century.

And that's the truth of it. You don't care what the state of the game is overall, just as long as you get to see your team play in the top tier. Even if that top tier is a fragment of what it could be.