League 1 and expansion prospects

[bowes]

Manchester is a rather northern place!

In the South, I think the likes of the Outlaws could potentially step up. It all depends on money and backing but they have a decent setup. Nice idea though.

Where would Toronto play though? South I'm guessing.........

I was thinking Nottingham, West Wales and London Chargers to make 9 in the south. I can't think of a tenth team as Valley Cougars are too close to Scorpions (there's an argument to be made for them merging with or replacing them). I guess you'd leave spot 10 vacant with Medway pencilled in for the future

[Guest]

I think Liverpool should go down the same road as Manchester. Using it proximity to many established RL clubs and communities as an opportunity to grow the game in L/pool. And getting the council involved.

I don't know the grassroots development policies of St.helens, Widnes and maybe even Warrington so I apologise in advance if they already do so but its always amazed me how little work is done with spreading RL in primary and secondary schools in Liverpool by these clubs. Liverpool and the merseyside region is a huge target audience for RL in terms of not only potential spectators but untapped players and I would be as a club targeting different areas of both Liverpool and merseyside. Hopefully with the 4nations being played at anfield they'll be a big grassroots push by the RFL working with the local councils.

[bowes]

I think Liverpool should go down the same road as Manchester. Using it proximity to many established RL clubs and communities as an opportunity to grow the game in L/pool. And getting the council involved.

Liverpool Lions are doing well so far this year, albeit in division 5

[Viking Warrior]

I don't know the grassroots development policies of St.helens, Widnes and maybe even Warrington so I apologise in advance if they already do so but its always amazed me how little work is done with spreading RL in primary and secondary schools in Liverpool by these clubs. Liverpool and the merseyside region is a huge target audience for RL in terms of not only potential spectators but untapped players and I would be as a club targeting different areas of both Liverpool and merseyside. Hopefully with the 4nations being played at anfield they'll be a big grassroots push by the RFL working with the local councils.

 

 

liverpool lions are developing nicely and are adding more and more junior teams each year, to be fair both widnes and saints do go into the city to spread the word and thats how saints found james graham.

[Viking Warrior]

Liverpool Lions are doing well so far this year, albeit in division 5

 

 

they are also adding more age groups every year 

[Mumby Magic]

How about keeping with the division until it eventually reaches 20 teams then in a named season have the top ten in league1 then the bottom 10 in league 2!! Crikey that's like rocket science. We over complicate things in our game. No matter how exciting Toronto may feel, I am slightly uneasy about the whole thing. Have they currently a club side?

[Guest]

liverpool lions are developing nicely and are adding more and more junior teams each year, to be fair both widnes and saints do go into the city to spread the word and thats how saints found james graham.

The story I heard about James graham was that his dad was a RL mad supporter from maryport who got his son into playing RL. Not sure if that's true or not?

Also it's great to hear of the steady progress of the Liverpool lions. Where about in Liverpool are they based?

[Rascal Bongo Stork]

I detect some faux concern for southern clubs which in reality is a desire to get shot of them.Theyre just as likely,probably more likely to drop out of existence in a southern conference & will never raise their standards hived off out of the way.We're only a couple of games into this setup,give it three years & see where we're at.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

The main issues with conferences, as has been mentioned, is what to do if a southern team gets promoted and a northern relegated (or vice versa). Throw in a French conference and it's not a simple case of "moving the southern/northern most side" as you can't just put an English side in the French league to balance the numbers.

Do the sizes of each conference really matter? Can they not fluctuate and just ensure you have a set number of games in each one?

For example:

North: Keighley, Newcastle, North Wales, Rochdale, Swinton, Whitehaven, Workington, York

South: Coventry, Gloucester, Hemel, London Skolars, Oxford, South Wales.

France: Toulouse, Aude, Avignon, Villeneuve, Marseilles, Lyon..., Toronto? (I've just thrown any in the French. Not sure who plays in the top league anymore).

Ensure everyone plays 16 games, whether you've got to make that up with repeat fixtures, cross-group games or what. Top 2 go into League 1 Play-off group. Top gets promoted automatically. 2nd plays 3rd in play-off final. Guarantees that one side from a different conference will be within one game of promotion.

As long as you have a maximum and minimum size for the conference, it should work. E.g. If a conference gets bigger than 10, split it into two.

[MancRL]

I detect some faux concern for southern clubs which in reality is a desire to get shot of them.Theyre

just as likely,probably more likely to drop out of existence in a southern conference & will never

raise their standards hived off out of the way.We're only a couple of games into this setup,give it three

years & see where we're at.

Why would we want to see the back of clubs like Coventry who are already getting bigger gates than a few Northern clubs and could in the next few years become a big RL club.

It's not faux concern. It's trying to find solutions to a problem that some clubs are facing. And that is their overheads. And it's not just Southern clubs. Northern clubs are in precarious positions.

Judging by the performances of Swinton and Oldham in the Championship and many L1 clubs in the CC. Then L1 in its present guise is going backwards and this needs

addressing.

[Colin James]

Out of interest how many Swinton games have you seen?

We should have beaten Dewsbury and Whitehaven. And we've played all four full time sides in the first eight. Yes we are in a mismatch with them but to say we can't compete In the Championship is harsh in the extreme. We're only eight games in.

[MancRL]

Out of interest how many Swinton games have you seen?

We should have beaten Dewsbury and Whitehaven. And we've played all four full time sides in the first eight. Yes we are in a mismatch with them but to say we can't compete In the Championship is harsh in the extreme. We're only eight games in.

I've been to the game against Fev at Heywood Rd. And Swinton that day weren't very good.

Swinton have one win against another promoted side Oldham.

It's nothing against Swinton. I try to attend at least 4 Swinton games a season. But there does appear to be a gulf at the moment between the top L1 clubs from last season. And average Championship clubs. It could change, hopefully.

[Colin James]

Ah fair enough we were bobbins that day! Don't write us off though. We will stay up.

[MancRL]

Ah fair enough we were bobbins that day! Don't write us off though. We will stay up.

Sunday against Workington at home, will be a good gauge of where they're at.

[JonM]

Where would Toronto play though? South I'm guessing.........

 

Toronto is on approx the same latitude as Toulouse, so South would seem logical

 

James Graham played for St. Helens Crusaders because his dad picked up a leaflet on a coach trip to the Challenge Cup Final. Don't think you can count him as a product of developing RL in Liverpool.