Championship+1 next season

[eddo]

After widneses drubbing today its obvious that they dont have to play for anything until they are upgraded to the super league in 2012. They will only have to field a team each week as Toulouse have done for 2 seasons . In effect they could both be in the relegation slots and be promoted !!! Simply what is the point of the season ahead. Rl big joke 2/3 of the game battling for nothing.

Hope some legal beagles can step in and address the lunatics at Red Hall

[East Coast Tiger]

On what grounds do people think a sporting club has a legal right to play in a competition that has P&R? Or to put it another way, that P&R must exist in the competition?

If a club and its players need more motivation to win than personal and collective pride, possible financial bonuses, the chance to win a premiership and the chance to better their career prospects by playing well as individuals they probably shouldn't be playing the game. If you want to see what can still be achieved by a club that has "nothing to play for" look at what the Storm have done this year.

[eddo]

On what grounds do people think a sporting club has a legal right to play in a competition that has P&R? Or to put it another way, that P&R must exist in the competition?

If a club and its players need more motivation to win than personal and collective pride, possible financial bonuses, the chance to win a premiership and the chance to better their career prospects by playing well as individuals they probably shouldn't be playing the game. If you want to see what can still be achieved by a club that has "nothing to play for" look at what the Storm have done this year.

[eddo]

Best team top at the end of season are champions in all creditable frontline sports . If i won a euro millions rollover i could buy and build a tidy stadium and apply for a super league position having ticked a box. Absolute nonsense but thats the rl view and must look very strange to the outside sporting world. Promoting teams who lie 5/7th ?

[East Coast Tiger]

They're not promoting them. They're giving them a franchise. Many sports give franchises to clubs that don't even exist as an on-field entity before gaining the franchise.

[thirteenthman]

On what grounds do people think a sporting club has a legal right to play in a competition that has P&R? Or to put it another way, that P&R must exist in the competition?

If a club and its players need more motivation to win than personal and collective pride, possible financial bonuses, the chance to win a premiership and the chance to better their career prospects by playing well as individuals they probably shouldn't be playing the game. If you want to see what can still be achieved by a club that has "nothing to play for" look at what the Storm have done this year.

Absolutely spot on.

[Cardiff Cymru]

Isn't performance on the field a consideration too? Winning the NR Cup was just to enable them to be in the mix to qualify wasn't it? I think their on-going on-field performances are also taken into consideration.

Serious question - what do Barrow need to do to get a licence? Obviously they need a new ground or massive improvements but do they tick every other box. Do Halifax tick the right boxes too as they must be in contention?

[bowes]

Isn't performance on the field a consideration too? Winning the NR Cup was just to enable them to be in the mix to qualify wasn't it? I think their on-going on-field performances are also taken into consideration.

Serious question - what do Barrow need to do to get a licence? Obviously they need a new ground or massive improvements but do they tick every other box. Do Halifax tick the right boxes too as they must be in contention?

Barrow fall short on ground and attendance unsure about turnover. Halifax maybe meet the criteria don't know their turnover but they meet everything else

[Lobbygobbler]

They're not promoting them. They're giving them a franchise. Many sports give franchises to clubs that don't even exist as an on-field entity before gaining the franchise.

To some extent frenchising works in Australia, but then again you've never had a P&R system

It also possible that a P&R system would have helped grow the game further in Aus by retaining teams like Norths and also including new teams

Also the club game in Aus gets much higher crowds. A sizeable portion of HARDCORE RL fans are still resident at the lower tier clubs, and the differential between many SL clubs and lower tier clubs is not that great. These lower tier fans also contribute a fair proportion of people who but sky sports purely for RL and go to internationals/wembley. Annoy those and you lose a lot. I am cancelling sky sports next year because I hate the current licensing system which means my boyhood team cannot play in SL until 2015 despite having a superb new stadium. The RFL could have its cake and it eat with P&R, licensing and expansion (by having a vastly reduced cycle) but at the moment they are in grave danger of losing most lower tier fans which would be disastrous for sky subscriptions, the international game, challenge cup final etc

[Bomb Jack]

After widneses drubbing today its obvious that they dont have to play for anything until they are upgraded to the super league in 2012. They will only have to field a team each week as Toulouse have done for 2 seasons . In effect they could both be in the relegation slots and be promoted !!! Simply what is the point of the season ahead. Rl big joke 2/3 of the game battling for nothing.

Hope some legal beagles can step in and address the lunatics at Red Hall

At the end of the day Widnes are doing what has been asked of them. Qualifiying on the field, via the NR Cup.

Strengthening their Junior structure etc.

People keep saying it's what happens on the field that should count, and Barrow and now Fev should be promoted, but that's not how Licensing works.

If you don't agree, don't moan about Widnes, blame the RFL.

[East Coast Tiger]

To some extent frenchising works in Australia, but then again you've never had a P&R system

It also possible that a P&R system would have helped grow the game further in Aus by retaining teams like Norths and also including new teams

Also the club game in Aus gets much higher crowds. A sizeable portion of HARDCORE RL fans are still resident at the lower tier clubs, and the differential between many SL clubs and lower tier clubs is not that great. These lower tier fans also contribute a fair proportion of people who but sky sports purely for RL and go to internationals/wembley. Annoy those and you lose a lot. I am cancelling sky sports next year because I hate the current licensing system which means my boyhood team cannot play in SL until 2015 despite having a superb new stadium. The RFL could have its cake and it eat with P&R, licensing and expansion (by having a vastly reduced cycle) but at the moment they are in grave danger of losing most lower tier fans which would be disastrous for sky subscriptions, the international game, challenge cup final etc

We all know the pitfalls of franchsing, but the RFL knows there are advantages to it as well. Providing stability for the lower teams in SL is a big plus. Allowing the likes of Salford, Cas, Quins and Crusaders the chance to build for a year or two and close the gap with the higher sides is clearly the aim. Yo-yoing up and down only ensures the lower clubs will never be competitive. And that's without considering other factors like finances, stability for players and promoting junior programs etc. There are some people who will never agree with franchising but you can't please all people all of the time.

[RP London]

After widneses drubbing today its obvious that they dont have to play for anything until they are upgraded to the super league in 2012. They will only have to field a team each week as Toulouse have done for 2 seasons . In effect they could both be in the relegation slots and be promoted !!! Simply what is the point of the season ahead. Rl big joke 2/3 of the game battling for nothing.

Hope some legal beagles can step in and address the lunatics at Red Hall

IF Widnes get given a franchise in March and the players they chose cannot see that this is their chance to go up with the club then someone somehwere needs to be shot, be it the coach and/or chairman for not getting that fact across or the players for not realising that if they play well they may well be retained. If anything for those players there is more to play for than for anyone else..

what are the legal beagles going to do? the RFL have set out the rules for entry to the competition, you can apply to join their competition or you cannot its up to you..

This is how they get around the quote systems, rather than limiting the number of imports you can have they make a stipulation of entry that you must have x number of youth players etc.. if you dont like it you dont have to join the comp.

[bowes]

After widneses drubbing today its obvious that they dont have to play for anything until they are upgraded to the super league in 2012. They will only have to field a team each week as Toulouse have done for 2 seasons . In effect they could both be in the relegation slots and be promoted !!! Simply what is the point of the season ahead. Rl big joke 2/3 of the game battling for nothing.

Hope some legal beagles can step in and address the lunatics at Red Hall

Any teams that make the final or win the NRC next year can apply for SL from 2015

[no13benny]

I'm thinking of having some cheese sandwiches for lunch.

[davo99]

my boyhood team cannot play in SL until 2015 despite having a superb new stadium

And under P&R they'd still be someway short of SL no matter how shiny their seats

[tim2]

I'm thinking of having some cheese sandwiches for lunch.

Any particular kind of cheese?

[West Country Eagle]

It's like groundhog day on this board sometimes.

Jesus wept!

[no13benny]

Any particular kind of cheese?

Mild cheddar I think. Nothing exciting or noteworthy.

[davo99]

Mild cheddar I think. Nothing exciting or noteworthy.

Toasted with a little onion or just butties?

[JohnM]

Best team top at the end of season are champions in all creditable frontline sports .

Can you explain how the NFL Superbowl works?

Last time I looked, the NFL attracted an average of nearly 68,000 to each game, so that makes them the most credible sport in the world, and they have playoffs,too.

Mine's Lancashire with a touch of Worcester Sauce on toasted white, then browned under the grill, please.

Mine's Lancashire with a touch of Worcester Sauce on toasted white, then browned under the grill, please.

Mine's Lancashire with a touch of Worcester Sauce on toasted white, then browned under the grill, please.

Mine's Lancashire with a touch of Worcester Sauce on toasted white, then browned under the grill, please.

Edited September 6, 2010 by JohnM

[Segovia Carpet]

Barrow fall short on ground and attendance unsure about turnover. Halifax maybe meet the criteria don't know their turnover but they meet everything else

Could be interesting if the RFL decide that the club which finishes higher next season between Halifax & Widnes will replace the club downgraded. There really would be something to play for then..............

[Bomb Jack]

Could be interesting if the RFL decide that the club which finishes higher next season between Halifax & Widnes will replace the club downgraded. There really would be something to play for then..............

What, and move the goalposts again ?

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

Could be interesting if the RFL decide that the club which finishes higher next season between Halifax & Widnes will replace the club downgraded. There really would be something to play for then..............

About as likely as them deciding that whoever finishes lowest of Cas, Wakefield or Salford goes down.

[bowes]

Could be interesting if the RFL decide that the club which finishes higher next season between Halifax & Widnes will replace the club downgraded. There really would be something to play for then..............

A bit difficult given they have to decide by March but then again doing it on the 3 year playing average between teams meeting criteria to go up and the worst 3 year average of those missing out on a B license (or equivalent under the new system) to go down. Might spice things up but they wouldn't be happy if Quins went down

[The Parksider]

a. What do Barrow need to do to get a licence?

b. Do Halifax tick the right boxes too as they must be in contention?

a. Barrow need a ground and a larger yearly investment from their sugar daddy. i.e. Millions of pounds.

b. Halifax need a sugar daddy i.e. someone with a few million pounds to lavish on them.