SL in 10 years

[Eddie]

If SL expands to 14 teams but retains P&R, who do you think will be in it in the 2030/31 season? 
 

I’d say;

Wigan, Saints, Wire, Widnes, Leeds, Bradford, Cas, Hull, Toronto, Ottawa, Catalans, Newcastle, York, Salford. 

[Cheshire Setter]

I'd say the only certainties out of today's teams would be Wigan, Saints, Wire, Leeds and a Hull team (possibly a merged one). Based on current survivability.

But who knows what will happen in the next ten years? Maybe some of the current weaker clubs in populated areas with potential will be bought up by wealthy sugar daddies. I think that's unlikely though unfortunately.

 

[hunsletgreenandgold]

SL in 10 years - 'Rhinos sign another 10 year deal with <insert edgy brand name> sportswear company' 

[redjonn]

Private equity investment which will throw lots of uncertainty as to how it impacts individual clubs in SL and potential SL candidates in the UK.

It could strengthen some SL clubs in the UK whilst having a negative impact on non SL UK clubs impacting RL in general in the UK. A thriving SL but increasing the rate of the dying underbelly is my worry.

[Hela Wigmen]

Villages in the north x14. In ten years, EuroXIII will be bigger than Christmas and I will be walking the streets in my Vilnius Vipers gear. 

[yipyee]

No one would have predicted Bradfords demise, and Wakey are constantly tipped for relegation but always manage to hang on.

10 years ago if someone said they predicted a team from toronto they would have been accused of pie in the sky thinking and being unrealistic.

Theres some certanties that Wigan, Leeds and Saints would be there as there will always be suiters to buy and invest in these clubs. But then again we can think back to Bradford!

In RL anything can happen !

[GUBRATS]

Wigan will have won 3 more GF's , Leeds 3 and Saints 4 

[DavidM]

The Cumbria super league team 

[Hela Wigmen]

34 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Wigan will have won 3 more GF's , Leeds 3 and Saints 4 

You don’t think any side is going to break that monopoly? 

[GUBRATS]

43 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

You don’t think any side is going to break that monopoly? 

Do you ?

[Whippet13]

1 hour ago, GUBRATS said:

Wigan will have won 3 more GF's , Leeds 3 and Saints 4 

Ridiculous, one of those will obviously be Warrington's year.

[GUBRATS]

1 minute ago, Whippet13 said:

Ridiculous, one of those will obviously be Warrington's year.

I was waiting for this

[meast]

Not this again!

Let me guess, Saints, Leeds, Wigan, Warrington, Catalans, London, Bradford, York, Newcastle, Toronto, Ottawa, New York, Coventry, Featherstone, Leigh and Hull?

[Oldbear]

Probably 6 certainties, Wigan, Saints, Warrington, Hull, Leeds, Catalans. Beyond that who knows. Would love to see a Bradford revival but no dodgy owners and please no Odsal, obviously would also love Newcastle to be there, but again they have to be strong enough. I would also like to see some creative promotion of an underdog team, and given the incredible work they have done in transforming their facilities, with I think if I am correct no council help, that should be Fev.

After that any other potential candidates have a few question marks

London, needs a home, also heavily dependent on an ageing owner

Huddersfield, home of the game, but also dependent on an ageing owner

Toulouse, big city, potential but so far little evidence to suggest they will be a hit, what’s the junior game like around there?

Leigh, great little club, will probably be screwed by Wigan and Saints though

Hull KR, rugby mad city and incredible derby, but financially can they cope?

Any North American expansion, Covid may change the world of long haul travel for a number of years making expansion here difficult. Also a big question mark over where the players come from, attracting players from the UK and Oz invariably leads to overpayment, lots of sport loving juniors, but the big bucks and university athletic scholarships are in NA sports so only the committed will choose rugby, hence why the Canadian and US national RU teams are so weak
 

Would love something in Cumbria but as others have said the scattered population plus the lack of wealth, particularly in the west would seem to rule this area out. Will probably be resigned to being a feeder area for existing SL clubs. The same argument could be said of Wales.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

10 hours ago, Hela Wigmen said:

You don’t think any side is going to break that monopoly? 

Wire and Catalan will win 3 or 4 SL titles between them in the next decade

Save this post and look again in 10 years

 

 

[paul hicks]

I don't get all that oh Toronto wont have Canadian players in the team for a long time so should not be in super league stuff.  it took Melbourne storm I think 19 years before they had a Victoria born player junior play in there first grade. even now its virtually a  Queensland  born team

[GUBRATS]

6 minutes ago, paul hicks said:

I don't get all that oh Toronto wont have Canadian players in the team for a long time so should not be in super league stuff.  it took Melbourne storm I think 19 years before they had a Victoria born player junior play in there first grade. even now its virtually a  Queensland  born team

Yes , but Queensland is still part of the same country as Melbourne 

[paul hicks]

1 minute ago, GUBRATS said:

Yes , but Queensland is still part of the same country as Melbourne 

yes but in terms of size Victoria is bigger than England  I would think and yet Melbourne could not get a single home grown player in 19 years but forward thinking NRL did not throw up there arms in horror over it .

my own club after 130 years has 7 players from down under plus one born in each of the following countries in the first team squad Poland ,Swaziland and Nigeria .

the point in a expansionist game is to spread the game from a strong position not to scratch around for kids who have no experience of watching the game when we have clubs who have been around since pre 1895 who don't even run a junior team now yet claim they deserve a place in super league on the basis that they  are solvent again .

 

[Gooleboy]

13 hours ago, Eddie said:

If SL expands to 14 teams but retains P&R, who do you think will be in it in the 2030/31 season? 
 

I’d say;

Wigan, Saints, Wire, Widnes, Leeds, Bradford, Cas, Hull, Toronto, Ottawa, Catalans, Newcastle, York, Salford. 

Some team that Ottawa, never kicked a ball in anger, and in the top flight! Also Bradford haven't a pot to p*ss in, neither have Toronto as of now, so that is some Crystal Ball you have!

[GUBRATS]

3 minutes ago, paul hicks said:

yes but in terms of size Victoria is bigger than England  I would think and yet Melbourne could not get a single home grown player in 19 years but forward thinking NRL did not throw up there arms in horror over it .

my own club after 130 years has 7 players from down under plus one born in each of the following countries in the first team squad Poland ,Swaziland and Nigeria .

the point in a expansionist game is to spread the game from a strong position not to scratch around for kids who have no experience of watching the game when we have clubs who have been around since pre 1895 who don't even run a junior team now yet claim they deserve a place in super league on the basis that they  are solvent again .

 

You are familiar with how the academy system has been organised recently ?

Irrelivant what the distances are , Australia is Australia 

[Number 16]

SL in 2030?

Young boy to father... "Dad, who were Salford, Wakefield and Hull KR?" 

[Oldbear]

5 hours ago, paul hicks said:

I don't get all that oh Toronto wont have Canadian players in the team for a long time so should not be in super league stuff.  it took Melbourne storm I think 19 years before they had a Victoria born player junior play in there first grade. even now its virtually a  Queensland  born team

Speaking as someone who has lived in Canada for almost 12 years I just worry about the country’s ability to ever generate sufficient local players unless there is some really serious money thrown around for a long period of time. Canada is still a country where sporting excellence is admired, kids are encouraged to be sporty and parks are full of kids playing sports. The problem is that the established NA sports of Ice Hockey, gridiron, baseball and basketball all offer the chance of becoming seriously rich and all also offer the possibility of getting some or all of your education paid for through university athletic scholarships. You would have to be incredibly dedicated to choose rugby of either code and sadly many of today’s youngsters have to be hard headed, especially in expensive cities like Vancouver and Toronto.

[Harry Stottle]

7 hours ago, paul hicks said:

we have clubs who have been around since pre 1895 who don't even run a junior team now yet claim they deserve a place in super league on the basis that they  are solvent again

Hi Paul, quite obviously that is targeted at Leigh, but a big thing that you overlook is that the town of Leigh produces Professional player's, Leigh did have an academy but if you know anything about how that was structured and the fixtures formulated you will realise why we do not have one now.

Clubs such as your own, I assume you are a Leeds fan? Along with the likes of Wigan, Saints and Warrington are actually the beneficiaries of the towns who produce player's but do not have academies, do you honestly believe that all the kids those clubs sign come from within the confines of their own town boundaries? Off course not they have the money to attract all the very best the country can offer.

I will wager now with you that any 3 little towns with a pro club but devoid of an academy will produce more Professional player's in the next 20/30 years than the whole of North America, do you realise what it takes to formulate a structure from base clubs through advancement to centres of excellence for the best of the best to compete with each other, starting now, today, if North America began an infrastructure/grassroots it will be 3 generations at least for them to bear fruit of any numbers, I will leave you with this thought that in this country for every kid who picks up a rugby ball less than one in every hundred turns pro/semi pro and the figure who makes it to SL is a fraction of that!

North America can condense more than 120 years of infrastructure into 10 or so years as some people think they can, impossible.

[gingerjon]

20 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

I will wager now with you that any 3 little towns with a pro club but devoid of an academy will produce more Professional player's in the next 20/30 years than the whole of North America

I suspect you're right. Which tells you all you need to know about what state rugby league will be in.

[Gooleboy]

5 hours ago, Number 16 said:

SL in 2030?

Young boy to father... "Dad, who were Salford, Wakefield and Hull KR?" 

"Well son, they were driven out of town, and replaced by teams from good old Uncle Sam, who, make no mistake, showed those good for nothing Brits how great our country is. God bless America!"