Keith T

The Magic Weekends are in the 12 team section of the season it was suggested that it would be better if they were in the section when the teams split in to groups of 8 so instead of 2 Magic Weekends that would mean 3 would it not?

The RFL has said that the four Championship clubs in the 2nd group of 8 will have the 4 home games and I believe that some of the Championship club fans think this will mean every home game will be against a SL club but I would think it is almost impossible for that to be the case and that some of the Championship clubs away games will be at a SL club!!

Plus there would have to be 3 Magic Weekends for the 3 groups 8 surely.

From what was said last night that appears to only happen for the top 8 in SL1.

Looking a bit further than SL1 and the top of SL2, if I am reading it correctly the 5th to 12th clubs in SL2 will play each other just once with the four highest placed clubs, 5th to 8th having 4 home matches, to decide which team is relegated. It is inconceivable that the the team that finished 5th after 23 games could have a run of injuries or whatever and end up being relegated, is it not? Batley in 5th place currently have lost their last 6 games!!!!

When asked about a sliding scale of funding in SL2 and why it wasn't the same in SL1 the reply was to bring the top of SL2 closer to Sl1 but if they did the sliding scale in SL1 there would be a distortion. When a similar point was raised about a top Championship club getting £500k+ and a lower club getting say £150k the reply was that the lower club had to work harder to get further up the league in the following season. That's all very well when you are already setting off at least £350k behind!!!!

Innit? And you also have to throw in to the mix the fact that the relegated SL clubs are believed to be receiving parachute payments of several hundred thousand pounds!!!

Very good, I suppose!!

Correction bobbruce, the SL clubs decided they didn't want the Under 23's and it was presented as a "fait accompli" to the Championship clubs. That is what I mean by saying the game needs governance from the governing body, not SLE.

From the figures quoted in League Weekly then the top four clubs in SL2 will certainly have the best chance of going full-time. The figures were for the top four - £650k, £600k, £550k and £500k. From 5th down to 12th the figures are £200k down to £150k depending on finishing position. The £450k imbalance between top and 5th both working to the same salary cap merely widens the gap between the top four and the rest.

Everyone who has put forward an opposite view to JohnM, I suppose!!! IMHO, the game lacks governance from the governing body and at times merely pays lip-service to SLE. Look below SL and there is quite a lot of unrest. Look at the DR system that has caused more aggravation than any other topic this season and the RFL merely sit back and say we will look at it at the end of the season. Meantime they are now talking about bringing back Under 23's which would in effect do away with the DR system!!!

Then IMHO if he isn't the right person to go in to detail then he should be telling someone else to make the statement, maybe Mr Rimmer or Mr Wood. Again, IMHO, Barwick has not allayed any fears that people have been talking about with the new system of re-structuring and as I said that statement could have been written by any fan not the Executive Chairman of the RFL.

I believe that anyone could have written that statement as it doesn't tell us very much. Imbalance in some games because of lack of resources, etc, - a bit like Manchester United 8 - Arsenal 2, but they don't talk of restructuring the Football Premiership. Mr Barwick is saying that he has been to many matches including the Wheelchair World Cup and how he enjoyed them and who wouldn't expect the Chairman of an organisation to state that everyone at Red Hall is working hard to bring about better results. The things people want to hear from him are the results of this hard work and just not looking for change for change sake or allowing SLE to dictate to the rest of the game. The game needs the RFL to govern not pander to SL club Chairmen and Executives all the time. I would have liked to hear from Mr Barwick how the proposed 2 x 12, 3 x 8 benefits clubs from 5th to 12th in the new proposed SL2 especially when the split to 3 x 8's come about. In the third group of 8, which is the 5th to 12th positions of SL2, does a team that finished behind at least four other clubs in the SL2 become SL2 Champions after the 7 extra games, for instance? (The top four being in the second group of 8 with 4 SL clubs) Maybe if Mr Barwick gave more answers then people would have a better idea of where the game is going but at the moment it just seems like make it up as you go along.

Nigel Wood is merely doing what he does best - blowing his own trumpet!!!

Going by the figures in the League Weekly the 12 SL clubs will each receive £1.3 million. The top four Championship clubs will receive £650k, £600k, £550k & £500k respectively. The clubs from 5th to 12th will receive £ 200k down to £150k depending on their finishing position. That IMHO is widening the gap that already exists in the Championship between the top 5 and the rest.

Well I think the theory is that they each play each other just once giving them all 7 games. The problem then is to decide which clubs get 4 home games and which clubs get 4 away games. This on top of the total imbalance between the 4 SL clubs and the 4 Championship clubs over salary caps, funding from Sky or Central funds, the discrepancy in the number of foreign national players allowed for each league. I would like to hear what the benefits are for Championship clubs that are not in the top four?

Where are we going to see this yo-yo system that people talk about because as I see it out of the 8 teams fighting for the four places in the following years SL1 the clever money would be for a return of the bottom four SL teams not the top four Championship teams? Maybe in an odd year one of the Championship four might just force their way in to the fourth place but there is not going to be wholesale promotion and relegation that some people seem to be envisaging!!!

The SL clubs have decided to reduce their numbers to 12 which means, depending on what happens re.Toulouse, up to 3 current SL clubs will be off-loaded. Do the Championship clubs have a say on who they accept in to their competition and what a furore there would be if they decided not to accept the 3 SL clubs in to their competition?

At one club per season I can think of some that wouldn't be around that long in the lower league to gain promotion. Look at the fear of some clubs at present of dropping in to Championship 1!!

All the talk has been of one up and one down but if Toulouse come directly in to SL, then 3 clubs will be relegated to the Championship and FIVE current Championship teams will be relegated in to Championship 1 with no-one promoted. I can't see how that will be good for the Championships!!

Don't worry dkw, he has a dislike of Workington because his dad's Carlisle team suffered many times at the hands of Wukkinton. Behave yourself David.

The 8 team Second Dvivision was in 1991 and I wouldn't wish that on any club. Each team played the others 4 times and including Cup matches Workington Town played Carlisle 6 times. Fans got heartily sick of the same clubs meeting each other and crowds dropped accordingly. So, no thanks, should that suggestion every be put forward again.

Because from the tone of your post it seemed like your only interest was for the top tier clubs and no-one else. I was just giving an alternative viewpoint.

So, how many from here have actually written a positive response to the RLE?

1. Sorry, I thought this whole review and suggestions was for Rugby League not just Super League. There isn't a Magic Weekend currently for the Championships because they currently have the NR Cup Final weekend and the Championship Grand Finals weekend. 2. This would seem to be a pointless trophy as they would be Champions of what exactly? 3. There are still 10 - 14 teams outside the 24 teams in Tiers 1 and 2, currently known as Championship 1. Are we just forgetting about them?