I can see how disasterous P&R can be (Bradford, Catalans, Toronto (if they made SL and were relegated would damage the game in Canada)) but I can see how it gives hope to ambitious clubs and legitimacy to clubs that make the jump to SL (Toronto, Toulouse).
Maybe the answer lies somewhere between straight P&R and licensing; maybe the RFL adopt a straight P&R system (two up, two down) which means all clubs in the system have access to SL BUT there are minimum requirements to being in SL. Memberships / crowd averages, finances (bringing something commercially to SL) whatever the key criteria are for overall growth of the game. Set the bar at a level that no matter who gets promoted (and who they replace, the game as a whole won't suffer).
If a club ends up winning the championship and don't make the criteria minimum standard, they won't get promoted (and would know that they weren't at the minimum standard before the season even started) over a club in the drop zone that does. It would mean that any clubs that are really pushing for SL (Toronto, Leigh, Toulouse) would have to get all of the other issues sorted as they start to approach the pointy end of the championship (which could in some cases take a few years of planning).
At least this way, any team that makes SL is pushing the game forward in some way.
