Wigan relegation

[WJ]

If/When wigan go down, i've read from various places it will be easy and they will come back up, but will it?

The super league cap is 1.8million, the nl1 cap is 400k. Unlike most super league clubs that get relegated wigan are operating at the full cap.

1.8 million to 400k is an absolutley enourmous change. Apart from a few youngsters they would have to completley clear out their first team, then put together a team capable of competing in NL1 within 400k.

That is hugely difficult. And even when they do, the team will be completley new. The NL1 is an extrmeley competitve league these days. Leigh, whiethaven, widnes and hull kr are all vying for promotion, it's a decent comp in it's own right.

The fact is that wigan as a club have budgeted to that of a grand final challenging team. The loss of income for them from super league to NL1 would be enourmous. Again most super league clubs that have gone down are poor teams and not budgeted to be a top team. Their fans have been hugley loyal fair play, but they will not be getting 12k in NL1, not a chance.

I don't think it would be that easy for wigan to come up straight away just like that. But imagine the knock on effect a sustained time in NL1 would have?

Some fans would turn to the more successful premiership football team. And what about youngsters? Potential RL players would play football.

The fact is IMO people assume because wigan are wigan they'll be fine if they are relegated. But i think it'll be harder for them than a team like cas or hudds or salford.

Wigan IMO have been piss poorly maanaged for decades, and this is the result. Even when they were in their prime and buying all the best players around, spending money for fun, they needed to win everything to break even. When they didn't, they empire crumbled and they had to seel central park. That's not good management, i could do that FFS.

When was the last time a top club fell upon relegation, and what happened to them?

 

[WJ]

I suppose one club that springs to mind is HULL KR. In the mid 80's they had a huge fan base, made finals and won trophys on a regular basis.

They fell on relegation and we've seen nothing of them since.

You could argue relegation was easier on big clubs then because there was no salary cap. A club was in control of how much they spent or didn't spend. If there was no salary cap wigan would storm NL1 because they could sign all the best NL1 players and keep half their existing team.

 

[roughyed8]

Wigan were relegated in the late 70s but came back up the next year and set about building the side that eventualy dominated the game for 10 years(85-95) . that was pre superleague and full time players. The only comparison you could possibly make would be Widnes who were excluded from superleague at its conception due to finishing outside the top ten the loss of money hit them hard and it took them 6 years to get back. None of the so called big clubs have been relegated recently in the first 2 years of SL Workington and Oldham were relegated, Oldham went bust and Workington bearly survived. recent teams that have been relegated Huddersfield, Salford and Castleford all stayed full time and went back up at the first attempt.

 

[WJ]

Wigan were relegated in the late 70s but came back up the next year and set about building the side that eventualy dominated the game for 10 years(85-95) . that was pre superleague and full time players. The only comparison you could possibly make would be Widnes who were excluded from superleague at its conception due to finishing outside the top ten the loss of money hit them hard and it took them 6 years to get back. None of the so called big clubs have been relegated recently in the first 2 years of SL Workington and Oldham were relegated, Oldham went bust and Workington bearly survived. recent teams that have been relegated Huddersfield, Salford and Castleford all stayed full time and went back up at the first attempt.

When wigan were last relegated there was no salary cap. The point I'm making is that, with the teams you mentioned who have been relegated, they won't have been operating at the full cap.

IMO it is harder to adjust from 1.8 mill to 400k, instead of say 1 mill to 400k or whatever.

 

[ParraDude_Jay]

They've already said Barrett will still play for them if they're relegated so that's gotta be about half of that 400k right there.

I still think they'll either narrowly miss relegation or the RFL will save them, I hope it's the former because it would be embarassing if they bent the rules just for Wigan.

 

[WJ]

If barrett doesn't have a get out clause, he will take up half of their cap if they are relegated.

What a mess.

If that happens their board need to be shot.

 

[Fairleigh Good!]

I've said it before in other threads and I'll say it again here.

The RFL and Super League will NOT relegate Wigan without some form of concession being made to them.

I think it is highly unlikely that Wigan will be allowed to go down. As mentioned in my thread about the £100k offer to the winner of the National League, that would simply not have happened had Wigan not been bottom and struggling. The whole idea of that is to keep Wigan up whilst also ensuring they don't end up being taken to court by the rejected team. I think they will force the £100k upon the winners blaming their inadequate facilities and make them reject the Super League spot.

If it were Widnes or Hull KR who won the National League I think they would then attempt to extend the competition for a season by having 13 sides. This would be difficult to sell the other 11 sides as they would lose 1/12th of their Sky money.

If Wigan were relegated as the clubs vetoed a changing of the rules, then Wigan would still be offered a lifeline. They would be given a salary cap of £1m or even the full £1.8m.

 

[WJ]

I've said it before in other threads and I'll say it again here.

The RFL and Super League will NOT relegate Wigan without some form of concession being made to them.

I think it is highly unlikely that Wigan will be allowed to go down. As mentioned in my thread about the £100k offer to the winner of the National League, that would simply not have happened had Wigan not been bottom and struggling. The whole idea of that is to keep Wigan up whilst also ensuring they don't end up being taken to court by the rejected team. I think they will force the £100k upon the winners blaming their inadequate facilities and make them reject the Super League spot.

If it were Widnes or Hull KR who won the National League I think they would then attempt to extend the competition for a season by having 13 sides. This would be difficult to sell the other 11 sides as they would lose 1/12th of their Sky money.

If Wigan were relegated as the clubs vetoed a changing of the rules, then Wigan would still be offered a lifeline. They would be given a salary cap of £1m or even the full £1.8m.

Personally, i don't believe that will happen.

If wigan finish bottom they will be relegated IMO. Imagine the damage to the credibility of the game if they did finish bottom and weren't relegated. Even the wigan fans think it wouldn't be right.

I mean what does it say for teams like salford and hudds that were relegated, stretched financially and had to earn there way back up. How would they feel if wigan were allowed to stay up.

The rfl will create more problems than they solve if the keep wigan up.