Deadcowboys1:BigTime:
Teams that competed in GF and came 13&14 in IMG rankings promoted so no one can say this wasn’t fair: we’ll brush the Bulls element to one side for the moment. If we are as good as we think we will be then could be a bumper year, perhaps with a trip to Wembley, but, and it’s a bit BUT, how easy will it be to get the IMG points to bump one of the 14 for 2027. I’m not sure at all. As I said before this process wasnt about fairness but a one off chance to build the product. Bulls have timed it just right, us -all wrong.
I’m not convinced that a wedged up London team would have been less of an asset than another French team or a promising York side but I think the sides going up will offer something. Anyway congrats to York for timing their best season at just the right time and to Bulls for sorting out their financial chaos at just the right time and to TO for being consistently one of the best in the Championship.
Agree with most of that BT, but the rub is, nobody knows what the plans are on P&R in 2027. We know how hard it is to stay up when you go up so you would expect Bradford, York & Toulouse to be in the bottom 3 or 4 with probably Giants unless another club implodes. If Bradford look like finishing bottom, P&R might well disappear. I like a good conspiracy.
If the object is to screw more TV money out of Sky/BBC/DAZN or whatever, Toulouse is a good choice but York or Bradford offer very little. Anyway, will be nice to see more wins next year. Has anyone heard anything about the Reserves, Acadamy or the Women's situation?
I always thought it was worth using this one off process to take a punt on Bulls becoming a player again I hadn’t guessed they had thrown the shackles off their financial incompetence so completely that they were now one of our best run teams. Was hoping that RL authorities might take a punt on a fully functioning London side (might not happen again) but they’ve played a straight bat and gone with this year’s 2 best Championship teams. Can’t get too bitter about it but boy did York time their run into the box well. I too think York and Bulls may struggle but I do not see quite how we catch them up IMG points wise. The idea that Castleford come 10th but get relegated on IMG points seems really obnoxious to me. I think York as a venue seems to add something. Bradford less so and the challenges of getting to France make that a moot point as far as TO go. I’m far from convinced about the merits of two french teams in what is really a British league for a sport in decline. Can you imagine 2 English teams in a French league?
I don’t think York or TO will disgrace themselves and whilst Bulls have shown no sign of having the players to storm the Championship if they really do have the money then they should be able to get a good squad together now they are in SL (having dropped some of their current squad obviously. As far as Ladies team go I can’t imagine the club will turn their back on their success. Reserves wise who knows.
