Toulouse accept NL1 offer!

[vikingnomad]

Lets face facts - we are in NL(or whatever) for 3 seasons with  Toulouse and Newcastle  given quota advantages, we know what the RFL are like and they are likely to fast track one or both of these clubs.However I intend to enjoy the next 2 seasons and will watch our team hopefully triumph in cup and league.at the end of that look around and see what the state of Superleague is then - I think and hope that franchises will be ditched as treasurers of the majority of the clubs will be hard pressed making ends meet due to alarmingly low gates
Onwards and upwarrds!

[Sandgroper]

I must say that I am more and more convinced that Sky rule the roost.  They want an 'international' sport and they will have one.

We have no option but to play the game their way for three years at least.  I also think that the existing NL1 clubs should get themselves tooled up by upping their gates and so on so that if things do go pear shaped they havev some strength to barter or break away with.  Sadly too many of our fellow NL1 teams are still in the dark ages and are not able or willing to turn their backs on the RFL's meagre handouts.

[Briga]

I must say that I am more and more convinced that Sky rule the roost.  They want an 'international' sport and they will have one.

We have no option but to play the game their way for three years at least.  I also think that the existing NL1 clubs should get themselves tooled up by upping their gates and so on so that if things do go pear shaped they havev some strength to barter or break away with.  Sadly too many of our fellow NL1 teams are still in the dark ages and are not able or willing to turn their backs on the RFL's meagre handouts.

Totally agree Sandgroper, I feel, more and more that nl clubs are the 'dirty end' of the game and the rfl are just shutting us up, and stringing along more than us with their golden fleece promises.

I would dearly love for the nl clubs to provide a vote of no confidence in the rfl and then breakaway to an even handed leagues system.

[johnf]

I must say that I am more and more convinced that Sky rule the roost.  They want an 'international' sport and they will have one.

We have no option but to play the game their way for three years at least.  I also think that the existing NL1 clubs should get themselves tooled up by upping their gates and so on so that if things do go pear shaped they havev some strength to barter or break away with.  Sadly too many of our fellow NL1 teams are still in the dark ages and are not able or willing to turn their backs on the RFL's meagre handouts.

It is the only thing keeping clubs afloat under the game in its present guise - without the handouts there wouldbe no second tier.

[Peter]

Totally agree Sandgroper, I feel, more and more that nl clubs are the 'dirty end' of the game and the rfl are just shutting us up, and stringing along more than us with their golden fleece promises.

I would dearly love for the nl clubs to provide a vote of no confidence in the rfl and then breakaway to an even handed leagues system.

[/b]

An even handed system appeals to me. I also have no confidence in the RFL Board. I would like the expansionists to look at the idea of an English League, a Welsh League and a Scottish League -- the French already have one -- with promotion to a 16 teams Super League from the top 2 after each League champion have a play off That would show the strength of support within each nation. It would also show strength in depth, which is where true strength relies. Oh, and another thing, I think Australians etc should play their Rugby in Australia etc.

But, at the end of the day, Sky are now the paymasters [thank you Maurice] and our game is controlled by the money coming in.

[JonM]

It is the only thing keeping clubs afloat under the game in its present guise - without the handouts there wouldbe no second tier.

Don't think that's true, John. The NL clubs are getting £100k per season from the RFL now, but a couple of years ago got nothing except what they earned themselves.

[manxviking]

I've no problem with Toulouse being in NL1 - it's the licensing system that is wrong. Reintroduce P/R with a modification, allowing a club to have two years protection, and it'll work bett.

[Tin Man]

I've no problem with Toulouse being in NL1 - it's the licensing system that is wrong. Reintroduce P/R with a modification, allowing a club to have two years protection, and it'll work bett.

I have we don't need a French RL team in the British SL.They have there own competion.

[johnf]

Don't think that's true, John. The NL clubs are getting £100k per season from the RFL now, but a couple of years ago got nothing except what they earned themselves.

Maybe not completely true Jon but there is a definite element of truth in it - look at the clubs who have gone or, in our and Doncaster's case, as examples, been ever so close to going in the past few years. The second tier is on a gradual decline away from the professional game and is heavily bolstered, if not completely, by league hand outs / subsidies / finance whatever you want to call them.

The game is a bit like one of those poor souls who develops an illness that goes untreated. The patient develops secondary illnesses which, in most cases, account for the loss of life, but loss of life and cause of death are not the same thing.

I have we don't need a French RL team in the British SL.They have there own competion.

Eggsackerly 

[rs]

RL clubs have always received handouts from the RFL as a share of such things as the Challenge Cup pool, title sponsorships of the competions and any proffits from international rugby. I strongly suspect that in real terms lower teir clubs are getting less than they were 25 years ago.

With the loss of the transfer system, the seeding of the early rounds of the Challenge Cups and the loss of on average one big pay day in the early rounds of either the County Cup or the John Player the lower clubs are in a much more difficult position.

[JonM]

I'd suggest an element of rose tinted specs there? 

The idea of a club like Doncaster running a full-time squad in the second division would have been utterly ludicrous until a few years ago. Half the GB team were part-timers even in the late eighties. Even at Wigan people like Steve Hampson etc. had jobs outside rugby. This year, around half of the teams in the second division (NL1) were "full-time".  There are no longer "pro" clubs like Huyton/Runcorn or Blackpool Borough with a Geoff Fletcher type figure trawling round local pubs at 2pm trying to get 13 players together? In real terms, I suspect the clubs are paying players a lot more than they were in the past, which suggests that they generally have more cash coming in.

I agree that in all sports, the differences between top and bottom are being magnified. People can follow a team from anywhere by TV and motorways etc. make it perfectly possible for people in much of the country to get to Anfield or Old Trafford every weekend which tends to favour big clubs at the expense of smaller, more local teams. But even in football, most of the conference teams are full-time now which wasn't the case 10+ years back, when non-league pretty much meant part-time.

[manxviking]

I have we don't need a French RL team in the British SL.They have there own competion.

It isn't a British SL - it's a European SL. It always has been. I don't have a problem with adding Pia and Carcassone or whoever to NL either.My objection is to the licensing system.