Uncle Rico:Or thane:
I've wanted a 14 team league for 10+ years now, i think the format is good, and play each team once home and away, with the challenge cup running as normal.
Lock it in like the NRL have done, and that leads to better progression for youngsters etc as you won't have to rely on overseas players to keep you up.
People argue that it would be unfair for other teams to never be able to come up, but there is a frightening shortage of actual clubs who could run at super league level long term.
Amplifies the development of youth, keeps funding locked in consistantly, etc etc
Each to their own but i'm a big supporter and advocate of it.
As for the teams coming up for me it would London 100% and maybe Featherstone. I love Catalans in the comp but not sure adding another French team would be a good idea?
For all the gene pool arguments about not enough players, the real issue for me lies with not enough money, whether revenue (Gate and TV money) and allied/additionally, Sponsorship. This is a circular downward spiral, your best 'sports' won't be picking RL as career pathway to fame and fortune (undeservedly so) and certainly not in enough numbers from areas outside the 'heartlands'.
And for all our board get stick where would we be without them? Is the current SKY deal, a 10k crowd buying beer and pies once a fortnight enough to sustain us?
I'm all up for a 14 team division, as the loop fixtures and a Magic game are counter intuitive to a league based competition and yes there's always the play offs to give a team a second bite to prove their worth but and without tempting fate, would you choose to play Salford, or Wigan three times and in fact would Solly be one of the 14 based on this year's mess or indeed Bratfurd based on previous mismanagement?
In reality, the sport might be looking for London plus two teams
And because of what you say regarding the economy of the sport I find it difficult that Toulouse would get in. Rather unfair given they were ranked 13 last time so would rightly deserve to come up on that basis but for sake of the lost finances from away supporters etc would make it tougher to divide the pie further. A counter argument to their exclusion would be some of the current clubs don’t exactly have a big travelling contingent though.
Personally yes I would like 14 teams or in some way just get rid of the loop fixtures, they are horrible and always have been. The days of looking at the fixtures when they came out to see who you was playing and when that excitement as long gone when you can play the same team 3,4 even 5 times in a season takes the shine off it. Bit controversial here but I even think Magic weekend has had its day.
