14 Team SL and Merged Championship?

[Gobsmacked]

I wouldn’t be disappointed with either York or Bradford but feel York should be given the nod over Bradford even though Bradford would boost attendances both home&away for super league.

I'm the same as you. Happy either way. Just thankful that all the options for new clubs are decent size relevant cities that have room to grow.

 

[jolly boys outing]

I'm the same as you. Happy either way. Just thankful that all the options for new clubs are decent size relevant cities that have room to grow.

Even though I think the bulls would be better for super league in terms of crowds for Bradford and their travelling support especially to other Yorkshire teams I think you have to be fair to York and give them a go simply because they finished 1st in the championship and have a decent stadium and financial backing.

bradfords odsal stadium is an abortion and their recent finances haven’t been great.

 

[Gobsmacked]

Even though I think the bulls would be better for super league in terms of crowds for Bradford and their travelling support especially to other Yorkshire teams I think you have to be fair to York and give them a go simply because they finished 1st in the championship and have a decent stadium and financial backing.

bradfords odsal stadium is an abortion and their recent finances haven’t been great.

I like York too. I like that it is a more genuine expansion team that reaches out to a new audience.

 

[jolly boys outing]

I like York too. I like that it is a more genuine expansion team that reaches out to a new audience.

Exactly.

let’s give York a chance and a shot at the big time and see how they fare.

 

[Dogs Of War]

Yeah, the headline is misleading but I wouldn't say it's a money pit.
Businesses around the world are brought out by people in the same business all the time. They see businesses that are losing money in that same business they are excelling at, buy it and make the adjustments for it to excel...
The NRL could buy SL and implement the same practices that made NRL so successful, it might take time and money but that's how investment works.
If the SL was well run and still losing money, you wouldn't invest...
But we know that is far from the case.

I think baby steps are what is required. Getting those talks happening so they can get a true state of the game, what would be best for the code.

Cause although you have some history to the teams, there are some like a London which would always need to be in the game. A team like Salford would be much better off named Manchester to provide a larger interest/coverage.

What do juniors look like, can that be streamlined?

All a bit of due dilligance before you decided to step into the abyss.

 

[Gobsmacked]

I think baby steps are what is required. Getting those talks happening so they can get a true state of the game, what would be best for the code.

Cause although you have some history to the teams, there are some like a London which would always need to be in the game. A team like Salford would be much better off named Manchester to provide a larger interest/coverage.

What do juniors look like, can that be streamlined?

All a bit of due dilligance before you decided to step into the abyss.

Our administration is the best and if they did buy in, I'm sure they know exactly what they're getting into and exactly how they plan to catapult it forward.

I think the game in the North of England has some strong clubs that will make a formidable second tier competition and the NRL are the one's who will have to cut the cord.

id say that the championship should be expanded on with those clubs belonging to small and close geographical towns that aren't fit for a international premier sports competition, have it well funded as a feeder comp.

Perfect case is: if you're Salford - no. If you're Manchester - yes.
The town of Leigh doesn't need it's own team and shouldn't be given the option, to close to Wigan is basically depriving Wigan of a broader base. Castleford - too small and once again, too close.. Huddersfield, Wakefield.. ect.

All the classics English fans will throw their toys out of the cot but the hard decisions have to be made. It'll probably take 20 years but if you look at what 20 years of sticking to your guns, look at the NRL.
Wests and Balmain. Norths to Perth.

 

[jason taylor]

Our administration is the best and if they did buy in, I'm sure they know exactly what they're getting into and exactly how they plan to catapult it forward.

I think the game in the North of England has some strong clubs that will make a formidable second tier competition and the NRL are the one's who will have to cut the cord.

id say that the championship should be expanded on with those clubs belonging to small and close geographical towns that aren't fit for a international premier sports competition, have it well funded as a feeder comp.

Perfect case is: if you're Salford - no. If you're Manchester - yes.
The town of Leigh doesn't need it's own team and shouldn't be given the option, to close to Wigan is basically depriving Wigan of a broader base. Castleford - too small and once again, too close.. Huddersfield, Wakefield.. ect.

All the classics English fans will throw their toys out of the cot but the hard decisions have to be made. It'll probably take 20 years but if you look at what 20 years of sticking to your guns, look at the NRL.
Wests and Balmain. Norths to Perth.

The fundamental issue is that league in England continues to survive only because of the diehard fans. "Grow the game" is a difficult proposition when the sport is in a relatively weak position when you compare it to previous decades. It's why Murdoch's attempt to do exactly what you're suggesting in the mid 90s failed. Under that model you would have had:
Bradford
Halifax
Leeds
London
St Helens
Wigan
Paris
Toulouse
Calder (merger of Wakefield, Castleford, Featherstone)
Humberside (the two Hull teams)
Manchester (Oldham and Salford)
South Yorkshire (Sheffield and Doncaster)
Cheshire (Warrington and Widnes)
Cumbria (Workington, Whitehaven, Barrow, Carlisle)

The fundamental problem is sport in the UK is so parochial and tied to local areas that you could throw a lot of money at a 'Manchester' rugby league team, but there's no guarantee there's going to be any fans to fill the stands. The NRL examples aren't really relevant. Look what happened when they tried to get with of Souths, the failure of the merger between Norths and Manly, the perennial dysfunctionality of Wests Tigers. St George Illawarra are really the only successful merger and even then, the game would arguably be stronger if they were an exclusively Wollongong/South coast NSW team. Norths to Perth is really just a marketing/legacy gimmick than anything of real substance.

 

[Perth Red]

Our administration is the best and if they did buy in, I'm sure they know exactly what they're getting into and exactly how they plan to catapult it forward.

I think the game in the North of England has some strong clubs that will make a formidable second tier competition and the NRL are the one's who will have to cut the cord.

id say that the championship should be expanded on with those clubs belonging to small and close geographical towns that aren't fit for a international premier sports competition, have it well funded as a feeder comp.

Perfect case is: if you're Salford - no. If you're Manchester - yes.
The town of Leigh doesn't need it's own team and shouldn't be given the option, to close to Wigan is basically depriving Wigan of a broader base. Castleford - too small and once again, too close.. Huddersfield, Wakefield.. ect.

All the classics English fans will throw their toys out of the cot but the hard decisions have to be made. It'll probably take 20 years but if you look at what 20 years of sticking to your guns, look at the NRL.
Wests and Balmain. Norths to Perth.

Why doesn’t the nrl cut Cronulla and wests and bring in singapore and Wellington?
That’s as logical as suggesting you cut leigh to bring in Birmingham or Castleford to bring in Leicester.

the only genuine expansion nrl has done is Melbourne which was news ltds doing and now perth, and they have just shifted a Sydney brand for that. Pngs just a cash gran and would never have happened without a dumb govt.
Hardly bastions of growing the game in new areas are they?

 

[Gobsmacked]

Why doesn’t the nrl cut Cronulla and wests and bring in singapore and Wellington?
That’s as logical as suggesting you cut leigh to bring in Birmingham or Castleford to bring in Leicester.

the only genuine expansion nrl has done is Melbourne which was news ltds doing and now perth, and they have just shifted a Sydney brand for that. Pngs just a cash gran and would never have happened without a dumb govt.
Hardly bastions of growing the game in new areas are they?

I think a closer example to the current climate that is SL is Newtown and Glebe made way for the Broncos and Canberra.
And I'm not defending the existence of the Sharks..
But they're still stronger than anything SL has.

It was the NSWRL only played in Sydney, Cronulla along with Penrith were seen as expansion.
But you can't really argue that Newcastle was expansion, Canberra was expansion, Brisbane was expansion, Townsville was expansion, Auckland! Gold Coast.
Now PNG and Perth.

The NRL has cut:
Balmain
Saint George
North Sydney
Newtown
Glebe

And tried to cut more! Unsuccessfully overruled by the courts! Had to reinstate Souths and Manly as the Souths precedent was set.

The NRL can't really cut clubs if they wanted to.
SL can !

 

[Gobsmacked]

The fundamental issue is that league in England continues to survive only because of the diehard fans. "Grow the game" is a difficult proposition when the sport is in a relatively weak position when you compare it to previous decades. It's why Murdoch's attempt to do exactly what you're suggesting in the mid 90s failed. Under that model you would have had:
Bradford
Halifax
Leeds
London
St Helens
Wigan
Paris
Toulouse
Calder (merger of Wakefield, Castleford, Featherstone)
Humberside (the two Hull teams)
Manchester (Oldham and Salford)
South Yorkshire (Sheffield and Doncaster)
Cheshire (Warrington and Widnes)
Cumbria (Workington, Whitehaven, Barrow, Carlisle)

The fundamental problem is sport in the UK is so parochial and tied to local areas that you could throw a lot of money at a 'Manchester' rugby league team, but there's no guarantee there's going to be any fans to fill the stands. The NRL examples aren't really relevant. Look what happened when they tried to get with of Souths, the failure of the merger between Norths and Manly, the perennial dysfunctionality of Wests Tigers. St George Illawarra are really the only successful merger and even then, the game would arguably be stronger if they were an exclusively Wollongong/South coast NSW team. Norths to Perth is really just a marketing/legacy gimmick than anything of real substance.

Can't argue with most of what you've said.
What I would say is, sure the SL isn't in a strong position.
The NRL is.
The NRL once this new broadcast deal is done will easily be able to fund and run a restructured Europe NRL , have the competence to do their due diligence on exactly what clubs bring to the table and what clubs don't!
For instance: in an NRL Europe, what are the commercial benefits to broadcasters and sponsor across Europe to have a game featuring Leigh?
You can target the massive population, potential for sponsorship, ratings and commercial agreements across Manchester but limit that to Salford? And wonder why you're going broke...

Not saying everyone has to go but there needs to be some clear strategies going forward and what exists now is exactly the opposite of that.

They're literally going to add 3 new teams in a matter of months, the players good enough to play full time don't exist, so the standard of play will dramatically decrease.
You can't charge broadcasters for a Steak when you're giving them a cold meat pie.

 

[Taking The Two]

For me, it all rests on pulling up the drawbridge and not having promotion and relegation. Promoting York becomes redundant if they’re at risk of relegation immediately. How do they build any foundations of the successful sides (pathways, memberships etc) if they’re going to be back in the Championship a year later? York and/or whoever the three promoted sides are need time and the “safety blanket” of guaranteed survival. You only have to look at what that did for Catalans and how Hull KR having that safety net in 2020 has proven successful for both.

 

[England87]

Its funny how Toulouse will be in the 12 based on IMG gradings but if their halfback had shanked one kick last week they would probably be locked out of Super League forever and behind the likes of Oldham & Widnes in the selection criteria for the 13/14th position.

14 teams with London *any name but broncos please*, York & Toulouse ring fenced for 2 seasons should be the goal.

With Catalans AND Toulouse in, having 20-30 frogs playing first grade footy every week will be the foundation of a competitive France in 2026.

 

[jason taylor]

Its funny how Toulouse will be in the 12 based on IMG gradings but if their halfback had shanked one kick last week they would probably be locked out of Super League forever and behind the likes of Oldham & Widnes in the selection criteria for the 13/14th position.

14 teams with London *any name but broncos please*, York & Toulouse ring fenced for 2 seasons should be the goal.

With Catalans AND Toulouse in, having 20-30 frogs playing first grade footy every week will be the foundation of a competitive France in 2026.

The Broncos moniker is remaining. Lockyer said in an interview recently that the consultants who put together the bid were originally in favour of a complete rebrand, but once Lockyer was onboard it was decided they’d get more out of sticking with the Broncos due to his association with the brand

 

[Perth Red]

For those following along:

Rugby League Commercial have confirmed that Thursday will see all the IMG grades confirmed meaning 12 of the 14 Super League teams will be announced before the 13th and 14th teams are confirmed at 10:00 am on Friday morning.

 

[Foreign Legion]

 

[Pippen94]

View attachment 107124

Top 12 get funding while 13 & 14 don't. Somehow Bradford find way into top 12?! This is potentially criminal.

 

[Warriors Fever]

View attachment 107124

Seems a little corrupt the third best championship side overall getting first dibs based on? Being Nigel woods club

 

[Taking The Two]

Who is Dave Musgrave?

Anyway, it’s been rumoured to have been a hatchet job from the beginning and if Bradford actually get in as club 12, it will only confirm that theory. I think there will be anger amongst fans of other clubs and I suspect we’ll see veiled threats of boycotting Bradford away.

 

[Taking The Two]

Okay, Bradford are in from what I’ve been told. A journalist I know is expecting Bradford as club 12 and is shocked by it too. Toulouse were confident they were club 12 by what he says too.

 

[jolly boys outing]

Okay, Bradford are in from what I’ve been told. A journalist I know is expecting Bradford as club 12 and is shocked by it too. Toulouse were confident they were club 12 by what he says too.

Bradford and London don’t deserve to be in super league at the expense of Toulouse and York.