Barley Mow

They are already located within the six yard box - you could see the football markings painted over in green yesterday.

You think that the whole grading system will be set up and implemented and then for the very first year it is operation it could be overridden to keep a favoured club in SL? Surely the grading is set up to give certainty? If a club does x, y & z they get a certain number of points and the top 12 with those points are rewarded with a SL place - How could anyone believe in the system moving forward if that certainty was thrown out in year one?

I understand your point now. I don't think it would need to be an issue - as long as a definition was agreed upon in advance any of the things you list could be included or not. I would envisage it being regulated by the RFL in a similar manner to the salary cap.

I don't necessarily agree with @Tommygilf's suggestion (although he has made me think when suggesting it before), but why do you think it would be hard to enforce? Surely it would be similar to how we currently have separate competitions for amateur clubs? The existing pro/semi-pro clubs would decide which category they were going to be and we would just have two separate competitions.

By my estimate they will have to have a frankly unbelievable season on and off the field (and rely on other clubs messing up) to have a chance of making the top 12 in the IMG gradings. Edit: I realise this is the first thing I've posted about London since they secured promotion, I really should also say congratulations - a fantastic second half to the season, well done.

They can't be using the same post sockets that are used for association football because of the difference in dimensions. The sockets must be specific for rugby league matches, so if you're correct then there must be scope for convincing them to replace and relocate them.

At our club grounds, when the playing area is too small we reduce the space between the 20m and 40m lines and keep the in goal areas 6m. This could be done at OT, why don't they?

I wasn't going beyond agreeing with the post I quoted - saying "Manchester is in the middle of Yorkshire and Lancashire" is incorrect. I'm not suggesting we move the Grand Final. I think it's in the right place at the moment.

Yep, I saw a fair few Hull FC and Hull KR fans at Old Trafford yesterday and I'm sure they'd question how central Manchester is!

More than happy to praise them. They're doing a lot of things right. They are currently the closest club to where I live, I've started going to watch them quite regularly and have been enjoying my visits.

USAP (the rugby union club in Perpignan) get (or always used to get) bigger crowds than Catalan. Catalans were an expansion of the British competition into France, but the area has been a RL heartland for over 80 years - it certainly isn't an expansion of the game into a new area.

Not targeting you particularly here, but this seems to apply to York in a way it doesn't to all the other clubs who haven't been in Super League since '96.

An aside I know, but York joined the Northern Union in 1898. They have been in the top division and won the Yorkshire cup multiple times. The current phoenix club is a continuation of the original club in the same way as Bradford or Hunslet. I really don't understand why they are consistently considered some form of expansion club.

Great, thanks. I'd like to think we just have a differing opinion on how best to develop the sport - this particular idea, I disagree with. Some people would see it as a bad thing. Sport is tribal, people are attached to their clubs and their identities (including their names). I can't think of an example of a pro-British sports club suggesting a name change that wasn't bitterly opposed by their fans in the last 100 years. Your proposal would risk the club's current identity and with it the current fan base without any firm guarantee of significant gain.

The RFL is effectively a members club with the pro-clubs all being full members. The RFL can't 'just tell' the clubs, the clubs are the RFL. My point was that based on how close it was at the bottom of the championship this year, there are at least five clubs at serious risk of relegation. I can understand short sighted protection of your own interests - but to only think of the coming season and not even of what your situation might be in 1 year from now is beyond short sighted.

The people of Liverpool will be thrilled, they go from having no rugby league club to having two at the flick of a pen. Neither of which are actually based in Liverpool

Widnes is also in Liverpool City Region - is the suggestion that they change their name as well? Do we get a 'Liverpool' derby or do Saints get to claim the whole city region for themselves?!

Swinton's statement doesn't seem to consider this - going into the last round of fixtures this year they still looked like going down. Are they really that confident they won't get relegated to the 8 team division next year. The bottom of the championship was so close this year - Haven and Barrow could easily have been in the bottom two as well - with six weeks to go York were even looking over their shoulders. About half of the Championship teams have been in L1 in the last few years or so - why don't they think "it could be us again soon" and act accordingly. It's so short sighted.

That's really good to hear, I was hoping there could be some form of resurrection. Please do keep us updated if you hear more. I'm sure many on here would be happy to support this if there is something we can do, I certainly would.

Workington Town statement: https://www.townrlfc.com/article/780/official-club-statement

The first statement on this I've seen from a club outside L1, Swinton: https://swintonlionsrlfc.co.uk/news/board-statement-2/

What sort of sides did they put out?

Just a reminder before supporters of other clubs go clicking on this willy-nilly - Don't forget that looking at other clubs' social media could help their IMG score and even disadvantage your own club!

Laying on, six again ref!

The indicative gradings are being released soon, but these are to give an idea of how things will work and where we stand. They won't be used to decide who is in which division next year. The gradings released in late 2024 will be used to decide which division for the first time for 2025.