Im not sure they would need to announce everything is staying the same. Id pretty much assume that until told otherwise.



Saying that I hope there are a few minor changes, certainly the removal of the three year time-frame which benefits no-one. But I don’t think it makes any sense whatsoever to be making major changes right now. The last thing anyone in the game needs is more instability.



I also think that P+R isn’t the default position for the game, if we were to accept this structure as a failure, then P+R would still need to justify itself as the best option, it isn’t just the fallback option we revert to.



Im pretty sure we will see some information coming out soon. Clubs would need a few months to prepare for whatever it is we use going forward if it does change and if it doesnt we will need to know the timetable for bids/decisions.

I've never been convinced of centralizing what should be done to make the game more attractive when it comes to grounds. Surely the balance as to whether money is spent on the team or the ground (or marketing, or whatever) at any particular time is best left with the clubs, who have the most accurate knowledge of their own current situation. Sure, plenty will get it wrong, but why any better or worse than some central authority? Of course there needs to be minimum standards for disabled access and safety, etc. but these exist regardless of the RFL, etc. Defenders of licensing (and to a limited extent that includes me) often site the improvement in some grounds, but I don't think that's clear cut - who's to say they wouldn't have happened anyway?

Talk about a return to some form of P&R is all very well, but personally I doubt whether there's more than Leigh, Halifax, Fev, Sheffield and, in the longer term, Crusaders who are seriously interested in playing in SL. All we're going to end up with is a revival of what Dave Hadfield once christened funny results time towards the end of the season as clubs desperately try to AVOID being promoted.

Tbf, I am coming at it with an opinion that staying the same isn't tenable. Or rather it could be, but there needs to be [ua lot[/u more realism/honesty, which is a type of change. I'm not saying what they did was necessarily wrong, that is arguable, but it was different from what they strongly implied they would do.

I can see pros and cons for all the systems, but as long as whoever decides accepts both that is fine. Licensing tried to dodge the cons, which made it attractive (to some

) but, with hindsight, very unstable.

I know the VT used to get clogged up with threads on the subject, but since the Bradford situation was, for want of a better word, 'resolved' there's been little but stunned silence. We've not even got round to floundering properly yet.

With licensing P & R is, or possibly will be, on a three year basis rather than an annual one.

So which club('s) should be relegated and which one ('s) should be promoted?

Licencing up to this point has been a success, the gap is now too big to be bridged, removing any need to worry about who to drop and who to move up



All neat and tidy from now on

so were ours at one point. can easily fall through. Then youve got to afford to play in it.

Promotion and relegation will

(1) make it impossible for any more French clubs to join Super League (putting them into the Championship has been tried and failed);

(ii) possibly mean the end of London Broncos in any form

(iii) make it difficult in the short term for other non-heartland English clubs to join Super League, because in the short term (5 years) they will have weaker financial and supporter base than small northern heartland clubs like Featherstone, Halifax, Leigh etc.



Why is that bad? Because the game is chronically underfunded, unlike rugby union, and therefore needs to be more national and international if it is to gain more financial support from corporate sponsors and governments, and to get bigger and more financially juicy TV contracts.



I would like to see some non-heartland British clubs (including one Welsh) promoted to Super League in the short term. That means in 2018. It may be an optimistic time frame, though not if a wealthy private sponsor can be found within that time frame. It is more likely to happen sooner rather than later with licensing than with P & R.



I don't anticipate English players flocking to any new French SL clubs like Toulouse. After all it took 6 years for Catalans to sign one Englishman (Pryce). Any new French SL clubs will be expected to have around 8 Aussies or Kiwis and at least 17 French players.

There will be no clubs left in the lower leagues by 2015 never mind 2017



The game is dead



Crowds are falling, fans have given up



Chairmen except for leigh feath fax and sheffield have given up and now run there teams as reserve teams for super league clubs.



Which then impacts on the four who actually want to be a club as fans of those four clubs now boycott games because its seen as a reserve level.



So all in all the franchise thing is wonderful.



To save money on doing bids,they now are having a live paper ,scissors, rock knockout competition[no sponsor yet but the rfl are hopeful to get onesky and prem sports are bidding for it

Maybe....but it does shorten the odds somewhat





FWIW, I can see London stepping down at the end of 2014 unless someone is found to at least ease the strain on the finances of DH.......

People like you have been saying that for 20+ years, its still not true

People like you have had their heads buried in the sand for the last 4-5 years whilst numbers dwindle and clubs go from bad to worse. Never mind its always something to write about and put a positive spin on it.