has the time now come for the rfl to have a re-think re their policy on shiny new stadia being key to a franchise. by my reckoning and i am open to correction, this is the present set up...
bulls ground not owned poor facilities
cas owned poor
catalan not sure about tenure good
hull shared good
kr owned poor
hudds shared good
leeds shared good
london not sure poor
saints owned good
salford owned good
wakey owned? poor
wigan shared good
wire owned good
widnes owned good

so if only teams who own their own up to standard stadium can play in sl then ignoring championship sides it would be a 4/5 team comp.
as bad news seems to get more media exposure than good news, compare for instance, salfords new ground to bradford going bust,to rangi being suspended to salford needing investment, the last three got more column inches and tv and national radio coverage, i believe the time is right for a change in policy.
lets stop forcing clubs to spend money they dont have to build new stadia which they cant half fill(salford) and make financial stability the number one priority, ground improvements etc would surely follow as a result of this.
the product on the field has to be the main attraction to fans and sponsors not a poor product in a partially full new shiny stadium waiting for the next club to go bust.

I am sure that Saints, Widnes,Warrington and Salford's ground are owned by the council. Wakefield's definitely is.

London's ground is owned by Quins RU. Not sure how you work out that a 12k all seater stadium is poor though?

bulls - lease owned by RFL - pay rent
cas - owned
catalan - pay rent
hull - council owned - pay rent
kr - owned
hudds - pay rent
leeds - owned
london - owned by Quins RU (as above) - pay rent
saints - owned
salford - pay rent
wakey - pay rent - owned by B.O.I
wigan - pay rent
wire - council owned - pay rent
widnes - council owned - pay rent

I was going to type out a lengthy post once again stating all the fundamental faults behind the RFL Franchise dream, but at the moment it seems to be speaking for it's self loud and clear. But, is anybody really that surprised at what is happening to the game?

The words "RFL and rethink" are an oxymoron and don't go together, a bit like "Vegetarian Meatball" or "Working Holiday". Who was checking Bradford's finances when licences were awarded?

as bill hicks would say "welcome to, You're wrong night!"

Silly me.

Well a team running two sets of books wouldn't be a first. Didn't one of the NRL teams do that the other year to mask a thing or two??

Melbourne Storm got busted for that a year or two back. They were stripped of 3 Minor Premierships, 2 Grand Final wins and a WCC win. Bradford can give back their 10th place finishes over the last three years!!!

No, it definitely isn't!

In other news - Castelford fan in stadium criteria rethink shock!

Belle View was owned by the Bank of Ireland who, I believe have since sold on to a developer for housing.