There used to be quite a lot of threads like this on various forums, and it used to really wind me up because people would just put teams from nowhere in the league or suggest all these ridiculous mergers that were never in a million years going to be good for the game. To be honest, they gave a bit of a bad reputation to expansionists, although I guess that's not so much of a problem on this forum.
Your effort wasn't actually that bad then considering. A few issues with it though, firstly the teams in Dublin and Edinburgh at the moment are nothing more than park teams and are nowhere near Super League.
Melbourne went from Park level football to NRL Premiers in two years. Adelaide were not much better placed than Scotland or Ireland and they formed a team that competed reasonably in the NRL and they averaged over 10,000 people. Perth were probably about on par with Wales and they also achieved similar results to Adelaide. It is not impossible for sides to be put into these teams and for them to be successful.
Still, I dont really agree with it. I would much prefer the Ireland and Scotland to concentrate on running their national teams as semi/professional teams. Without too much trouble, both of these sides could get 3 test series against each other, as well as sides like Wales, France, Russia, USA, South Africa, and/or some of the other European sides. In fact, with a little bit of creativity, they could turn these tests into a "League". Obviously most of the current semi pros couldnt play, but this league could be pushed and promoted enough in the home countries, without the big players. It would mean that the best summer conference players wouldnt defect to union. It would give the media a team to follow and would generate quite good publicity if it was run properly. It also gives the country the chance to try to promote the game and run a promotable team without being crippled by having to pay enormous wages that are required to run ESL teams. (And to a lesser extent NL1 & 2 teams).
Secondly I don't ever believe there will be a SL club based in Cumbria - the area is too sparsely populated with no logical base or stadium for a full time club, and I also doubt that the Cumbrians would support a merged team. Also, Warrington would definitely be in. They are one of the stronger clubs and as far as I know they have never been out of the top divison, so I doubt they would ever lose out on a license barring a disaster.
Cumbria is an interesting area. I think that their clubs will become entrenched in NL1 and i agree with you that they are unlikely to go up to esl now that franchises are in. But, I would have thought that once the clubs accept their position in NL1, due to a lack of finances, it is quite possible that a Gold Coast style push for inclusion for a new team which is not a joint venture, but is totally separate from the local clubs, could easily happen. What is the population figures from this area?
I'm also not keen on Toulouse being in the league, certainly not in the same time frame as Dublin and Edinburgh. You would have to think that, if those two clubs were ready, then there would be a whole bunch of French clubs at a further stage than them and that Toulouse and Catalans would join a full-time French league. We're talking 15-20 years away though at least.
Why would France want to run a full time french league, when they can join a European league? That is like suggesting that all the Northern Clubs drop out of Superleague to form their own NL. The aim for france will be to build their French League up to a level footing with NL1. It isnt as far away from it as people seem to think, although i guess we will see this year with the performance of Toulouse.
What's more important than the likes of Dublin IMO is getting a better geographical spread in England. I would love to see Gateshead or a Midlands club make a serious bid for SL, although obviously there would need to be years of development work before this could happen.
It is quite strange really, that franchises were bought in to give stability, but really their biggest job will be to sort out the clubs that dont make it, and get rid of them. Gateshead and midlands clubs will eventually mount challenges and for at least the first or second lot of franchises, if they come in, it will only be at the expense of non performing superleague clubs. Once clubs drop out this time, it is unlikely that they will find a way back. I think though that the future push for inclusion from within England will come more from New Entitys than from exisiting clubs. In 20 to 30 years time, i wouldnt be surpised to see totally new clubs with names like Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Cumbria, Midlands etc. Some of these may come from exisiting teams like Salford or Gateshead, but it wouldnt surprise in the slightest if new entities formed and the traditional clubs became grassroots and happy chasing the NL1 title which would become similar to the Queensland cup.
