Quote DParky="DParky"From what was said at the Launch Event this competition is going nowhere, especially seeing as Northern Rail extended their sponsorship. The format needs tweaking however as clubs can't survive on sub 500 gates. Perhaps we need to split the pools up geographically and you play everyone once with the top 2 in each comp going into the Semis and then Final?'"
How about sacking off the group stages entirely. Run the comp like they used to do the Transvestite cup.
Play out half the league fixtures (so you play everyone once) results will also transfer to two 'conference leagues' (split basically East & West....with non-heartland clubs divvied up to equal them out.)
Then have a three week break - the top 2 from Champ & Champ1, in each conference, go through to a last 8 knock-out tournament....played as two 'double-headers' over our own 'Magic Weekend'....semi's following week, final week after - to up the intensity a bit!! (tickets to all these knock-out games no more than £15 for the double-header, and £10 for the semi's/Final....to encourage decent gates.
Re-introduce the county cups (first round over 2 legs to recover one lost home fixture...which would usually be a 'local' derby......depending on how the 'expansion' clubs are divvied up!!).
Also.....how about the RFL and SL use a bit of lateral thinking!! All Toulouse/Catalan and Skolars/Bronquins home fixtures to be played on same weekends.....and try to tie-in with sides that are local to each other were possible. For example:
We play Toulouse same weekend that Catalans play 'humbles'.......and RFL offer 'sponsored' transport packages
ditto Widnes/Warrington or Hudds/Fax or Bradford/Keighley or Leeds/Batley/Dewsbury, etc
and similar sort of thing for games in 'the smoke'!! Quins v Leeds (Skolars v Hunslet) for example
Just trying to think outside the box a bit!!!