This was mainly down to the great Wigan side of that era, nothing to do with P&R.

Oh, I was there too.

I think a major factor in GB's decline was when football clubs started to place a premium on pace. When I was a kid games teachers would encourage faster kids to play rl rather than football. Then we used to have better backs than the Aussies. That changed around 1980. We can often match the Aussies in the forwards, just don't have any pace in the backs. All the quick kids are directed towards football

While this has some merit you could end up very easily with the promoted teams from 3 successive seasons ending up in the bottom 3 with protection from relegation, hence the fourth from bottom (Salford currently 5 points clear of third bottom) being relegated. Something tells me that wouldn't go down too well. For me the franchise system gives the necessary stability & opportunity to plan for the future.

Didn't produce much stability for Bradford Bulls!



No. Put one-up/one-down automatic promotion/relegation between the leagues in place and leave it there. Ten years later - I predict a much more thriving game in this country in general and also a more stable and successful future for Bradford Bulls.

What makes you predict a thriving game, what factors about P&R will make it thrive?



Can we give the francises 10 years too??

Sorry Bullpower - but I'm off on holiday today for a while. I'm currently writing a blueprint document - a bit like our 'Framing the Future' document that won the Sky money. I'll put a link to it on here when it's completed.

So you have no opinion or fact to back up your argument re P&R???



The francises have helped produce stability and a blossoming junior set up - 20 years ago as a keen Rugby playing kid, I struggled to find a local RL side with a junior set up, this living within 10 miles of Leeds/Bradford/Huddersfield/Halifax/Wakefield.... now there are loads of junior sides and clear progression for those with talent to the SL set ups. P&R would kill that dead in my opinion. These kids will be the future stars, the ones that go Aus, the ones that actually have the beating of the Aussies in Internationals but it takes time for these kids to come through the system.

I'm sure Rutland TV will be interested in it!

I think that P&R would be great for the wider game outside SL. As a fan of a championship club, it's plain to see that we're all struggling at this level to stay afloat because of the lack of intrest in what is essentially a series full of nothing games topped off by a playoff series to decide....who goes absolutely nowhere. This fact, coupled with thursday night matches is absolutely crippling teams like Leigh (my team), Halifax, Fev, Sheff etc. Using last season as a comparison, when leigh played widnes on a sunday, we would get crowds of around the 4000 mark, which is a good payday for clubs in this league, crowds that if you had perhaps ten of them in a season, would cover a lot of our costs. Instead, we get the thursday nighters, people having to travel from fev-leigh and vice versa, knocking hundreds, possibly 1000-1500 of our gates, and to add insult to injury, it's all taking place in a competition that is basically to see who is the best team outside of super league, without any chance of ever getting to progress. I don't think SL would suffer much if P&R was to brought back financially, but i think the wider effect it would have on lower leagues would benefit the many, rather than todays system that focuses on benefitting the few. I personally don't know if bradford should go down, they aren't the worst team on the field in the league. I do however think that fev should be granted the chance to rise a level, it's about time rugby league was played on the pitch, not off it.

Reminds me of a Young Ones sketch.

Crop rotation in the 14th century was considerably more widespread...after...

Good post



One question - does the drop in attendance for the Thursday night games get offset with the extra TV and Sponsorship money brought in by being on the box?

To be honest mate i don't think it does. I don't have a figure on what the clubs receive, but am led to believe that is quite a meagre sum. Added to the lost matchday revenue through the bar, pies etc, i'd be very suprised if we were better off for the TV coverage. I think the initial idea in allowing the league to be televised was to advertise on a broader scale to potential sponsors, which in theory was a decent idea, but the thursday kick-offs are a nightmare, and obviously they want oe of the bigger games on, so its the clubs doing well who lose out. With no disrespect to the clubs, i doubt they're ever going to put york, swinton, hunslet etc on regularly. They probably have a minumum number of times they are to be broadcast over the year, but it's the teams that hit the playoffs, and do well in the NRC who have earned the extra home ties who are hit in the pocket.