End promotion and relegation

[Tigers1986]

Leigh 36-0 after 36 minutes. Goodness me this is a rout and it's supposed to be a semi final.

But sure, let's keep the status quo of yo-yo clubs.

 

[Tigers1986]

40-0. Try from the kickoff. Hahahahahahahhaa

 

[Tigers1986]

Commentators are making a good couple of mentions about a clubs meeting happening soon where things such as a restructure could be on the agenda.

@Perth Red do you have any insights into this given you're well-in on UK things?

 

[TDD91]

Batley are potentially 80 minutes away from Super League.

Featherstone are challenging Warrington for the title of greatest bottlers.

 

[Gobsmacked]

Yeh it’s almost like the warriors, tigers and knights haven’t been sht for over a decade and haven’t had time to do all that before lol.

Ok let's Cherry pick......Cowboys.

 

[Perth Red]

on the flip side the dream of little old Batley is still alive!

 

[Perth Red]

Commentators are making a good couple of mentions about a clubs meeting happening soon where things such as a restructure could be on the agenda.

@Perth Red do you have any insights into this given you're well-in on UK things?

yeh there's a big review being undertaken with the sports bodies and the new investment group (IMG). It will put a proposal to clubs, supposed to be in 2 days time, for restructuring and other areas of game development.
There were questions on a 10+10 format with P&R but closer funding between the leagues in the recent fan survey.
Strongest rumour doing the rounds is a 14 team 5 year licensed closed SL in 2024 with Toulouse and London in, but that's just a fan rumour. Be interesting to see what they come up with.

IMG reveals rugby league fans are divided on major topics discussed in survey - Serious About Rugby League

IMG has revealed fans are divided on major rugby league topics discussed in their recent survey. IMG, the RFL and Super League Europe have revealed that almost 20,000 people responded to their recent survey. The three groups have now thanked Rugby League supporters for their response to the...

www.seriousaboutrl.com

 

[Tigers1986]

14 teams is a good number for now I think. That article hints strongly at a license system, so the criterion will be very interesting for those applying. 26 games on a looped fixture with a 3rd "rivals" game for Magic Weekend.

Saints, Wigan, Leeds would be shoe ins. You'd think the Hulls, Warrington and Huddersfield would remain, same with Catalans. That's 8 teams. Then things get interesting with Castleford, Wakefield, Salford and (Leigh/Batley). Toulouse almost a certainty. Leaves another spot open for London possibly.

Bradford, Halifax, Newcastle, York all have decent stock for one of those licenses as well which, as I said, makes it very interesting.

Ideally, I'd run 14 teams for 2024-2027, then based on the strength and quality of the game, move to 16 in 2029-2032.

Championship can remain at 12.

 

[Gobsmacked]

14 teams is a good number for now I think. That article hints strongly at a license system, so the criterion will be very interesting for those applying. 26 games on a looped fixture with a 3rd "rivals" game for Magic Weekend.

Saints, Wigan, Leeds would be shoe ins. You'd think the Hulls, Warrington and Huddersfield would remain, same with Catalans. That's 8 teams. Then things get interesting with Castleford, Wakefield, Salford and (Leigh/Batley). Toulouse almost a certainty. Leaves another spot open for London possibly.

Bradford, Halifax, Newcastle, York all have decent stock for one of those licenses as well which, as I said, makes it very interesting.

Ideally, I'd run 14 teams for 2024-2027, then based on the strength and quality of the game, move to 16 in 2029-2032.

Championship can remain at 12.

I can't remember where I read it but apparently more Glasgow and Dublin I'm not up with it but apparently they are the same owners as the UFC? and they think big
Here's to hoping.

 

[Perth Red]

I can't remember where I read it but apparently more Glasgow and Dublin I'm not up with it but apparently they are the same owners as the UFC? and they think big
Here's to hoping.

Been down that road too many times! PNG, Crusaders, Sheffield, London, Toronto, Gateshead. The SL road is littered with the corpses of ill thought through expansion!

In an ideal world Bradford would be ready to be resurrected in a rebuilt Odsal to replace Wakefield or Hudds, York would have more money behind them and a bigger fanbase and London would have the resources to make ago of it again. As it is, leaving possible potential for something good to happen, there isn't a lot of options that look more stable or valuable on the table for SL right now. London and Toulouse would be the obvious two to bring in. After that you're either back to the M62 or sticking pins hoping that they don't fall over like all the rest have done.

If SL had the revenue to support them, and clubs had long term investors to grow them, my ideal 14 club SL would look like:

St's
Wigan
Warrington
Salford (maybe but rebranded as Manchester Devils)

Leeds
Bradford
Castleford
Huddersfield
Hull
Hull KR

Wales
London
Catalans
Toulouse

then room for 2 new clubs when time was right, ideally another French club in a big city plus either Leigh, York or a new expansion city.

Then I'd rebrand the competition to the European Rugby League (ERL) and use same branding as NRL to align the two comps closer. Bring in closer ties and cross over comps longer term. eg World club Nines, proper end of season world club final, pre season inter comp games etc.

we can but dream!

 

[Gobsmacked]

Been down that road too many times! PNG, Crusaders, Sheffield, London, Toronto, Gateshead. The SL road is littered with the corpses of ill thought through expansion!

In an ideal world Bradford would be ready to be resurrected in a rebuilt Odsal to replace Wakefield or Hudds, York would have more money behind them and a bigger fanbase and London would have the resources to make ago of it again. As it is, leaving possible potential for something good to happen, there isn't a lot of options that look more stable or valuable on the table for SL right now. London and Toulouse would be the obvious two to bring in. After that you're either back to the M62 or sticking pins hoping that they don't fall over like all the rest have done.

If SL had the revenue to support them, and clubs had long term investors to grow them, my ideal 14 club SL would look like:

St's
Wigan
Warrington
Salford (maybe but rebranded as Manchester Devils)

Leeds
Bradford
Castleford
Huddersfield
Hull
Hull KR

Wales
London
Catalans
Toulouse

then room for 2 new clubs when time was right, ideally another French club in a big city plus either Leigh, York or a new expansion city.

Then I'd rebrand the competition to the European Rugby League (ERL) and use same branding as NRL to align the two comps closer. Bring in closer ties and cross over comps longer term. eg World club Nines, proper end of season world club final, pre season inter comp games etc.

we can but dream!

I like the ERL! That's perfect

I get what you're saying about expansion. The reality is that genuine expansion needs 20 years. That's how long it's taken the Storm and they still aren't producing much talent themselves.
I guess the overall appeal to such expansion is that the overall look is more appealing especially from a marketing standpoint. Commercial advertising is going to want to participate when they're getting exposure across major cities across international borders.

The current setup is a small market in a small area to appeal to and that makes the prize small. Saints are the biggest fish in a very small pond , not very exciting.

If this new consortium are true business people , the idea as with any business will be growth.
Reaching bigger markets, creating a recognised brand - hopefully globally.

If good businessman get involved, sky's the limit!! BEST GAME IN THE WORLD!

 

[Tigers1986]

Reimagining Rugby League – IMG presents recommendations

www.rugby-league.com

Recommendations for a mid-season test, align with the NRL draw, and the Super League to revert to a license system of Category A and B clubs.

Interesting

 

[Perth Red]

Global sports media giant IMG has recommended a return to a licensing system in a move away from automatic promotion and relegation at the top of the English game.​

"Participation in the top tier to be based on a range of on and off-field measures, delivered through a club grading system with the aim of supporting financial sustainability and encouraging investment into clubs," read a section of IMG's report.

"‘Category A’ clubs will be guaranteed participation in the top tier whilst ‘Category B’ clubs will be reassessed annually with the highest-ranking clubs occupying the remaining slots in the top tier."
Promotion and relegation will continue between the second and third tiers.

The report states tier two would be "increasingly filled with strong category B clubs".

Super League set to return to licensing system as IMG unveils blueprint for sport's future

Global sports media giant IMG has recommended a return to a licensing system in a move away from automatic promotion and relegation at the top of the English game.

www.yorkshirepost.co.uk

 

[TDD91]

Magic Weekend & Loop Fixtures potentially scrapped are huge as well, and welcome IMO. Magic has lost its lustre and loop fixtures were always awful.

 

[Perth Red]

Dont get the logic of scrapping magic weekend. It’s one of the few earners for central funds And the fans seem to enjoy it.

camt see nrl agreeing to a mid season test given they’ve just scrapped test weekend mid season.

 

[Gobsmacked]

Dont get the logic of scrapping magic weekend. It’s one of the few earners for central funds And the fans seem to enjoy it.

camt see nrl agreeing to a mid season test given they’ve just scrapped test weekend mid season.

Let's hope the world cup is good enough to start twisting some arms regarding internationals.
Promisingly the world cup is spoken about more than ever before in my opinion. During the PM13 the PM and Lockier were both drumming up support for the internationals which was an interesting conversation.

Could the model be that the NRL and Super league have some kind of stake in internationals?
Strange structure be it Could work.

 

[The Great Dane]

Dont get the logic of scrapping magic weekend. It’s one of the few earners for central funds And the fans seem to enjoy it.

camt see nrl agreeing to a mid season test given they’ve just scrapped test weekend mid season.

It devalues ticketed memberships, particularly season tickets, and in the long run investing time and resources into building sales numbers of those tickets is better for the clubs and sport as a whole than the short term sugar hit that the Magic Weekend provides.

 

[The Great Dane]

The proposals need to be fleshed out more before it'll be clear whether or not they're likely to be a good idea, but as things stand most of them have the potential to result in either really good outcomes or terrible ones, and not a lot of in between

I really don't like the idea of having a hard limit on the number of foreign teams, especially when that limit is two. That would more or less lock Catalans and Toulouse in as the two teams and allow little flexibility should circumstances change in the future. It'd also crush a lot of potential growth in France, which should still be consideration despite the fact that France isn't the RFL's main concern, especially when the RFL could benefit from that growth as well.

I mean lets say that hypothetically a team pops up in e.g. Paris or Dublin for example, not some nonsense bid like the New York one, but teams that have genuine backing and local support with the potential to build into something big. It'd be absolute madness to lock them out of the league structure.

If you're going to go that route then you may as well kick all the non-UK teams out as well, leaving them to find their own way and you to focus exclusively on the UK.

 

[Perth Red]

My guess would be that clause is an appeasement to clubs and fans to get the changes over the line. I can’t see it being around forever.

 

[Perth Red]

Hull KR CEO sounding positive on the recommendations

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0d37wh2