Off! Number Seven wrote:
My concern for the SL franchise award process is that the RFL are failing to make it fair and transparent
One thing which the licence system, under the current RFL dictatorship, was never meant to be.
Off! Number Seven wrote:
My concern is that the award process may be considered illegal and that the RFL may be accused of double standards (no, never I hear you cry!). The reasoning being that the RFL has set criteria against which all clubs are to be assessed, then go on to say that a Championship club (Widnes?) will be awarded a franchise and the league will remain at 14 teams. This is in effect a statement that Widnes are not in direct competition with existing SL clubs for a franchise, i.e. Widnes ability to meet SL criteria is not required to be superior to that of the least capable SL club.
If this were not the case, then no Championship club would ever be in a position to get a licence. Certain metrics can never be achieved in the lower league in the same way they can be in Super League. That doesn’t mean that a Championship club could not achieve better results on these metrics than the Current SL clubs under threat. In other words, Just by being in SL can improve certain metrics that the same club would not be able to achieve in the Championship, so your point is moot. Just by Widnes moving up to SL would up certain metrics to an extent that it betters several current SL clubs in areas where it now doesn’t while in the Championship. The same could probably be said for a couple more Championship clubs imo.
So, to try and judge CC/SL clubs on a purely like for like basis would be grossly unfair and not signify the likely potential of how any CC club would actually perform in SL. This would be just as likely, if not more so, to see legal action taken against the RFL imo.
Off! Number Seven wrote:
The decision to stagger the announcement of selection and de-selection will further add to the inevitable fiasco as rumour and “leaks” cause a media circus with the potential for the de-selected club claiming it was unethical of the RFL to allow expenditure on team building/contracts/development when they knew they would be excluded from next years competition etc. That’s the best case scenario, I am concerned they are actually going to stagger the decision making process
Staggering the announcement makes perfect sense. Any Championship club given a licence will need plenty of time to build a competitive side. This will both help that club and strengthen the competitiveness of Super League. Having a new club left with a few scraps to pick up, in order to build a team, and will just be whipping boys sat at the bottom of the table, with little hope for that season. So, giving the advanced notice makes perfect sense.
Giving notice to the club to drop down would be a disaster for the remainder of that season for said club. It would make the remaining fixtures a complete joke and those results could well affect the standings of the SL table and thus its credibility!
Their gates, sponsors and other revenue streams would be affected far more if it is announced half way through the season than at the end. Either way, it will be disastrous for the demoted club.
Rumours and leaks will always be part of any team sport regardless. That’s the way it is. It will happen before the decision is made no matter when it is made, so it will make no difference at all.
Off! Number Seven wrote:
potential for the de-selected club claiming it was unethical of the RFL to allow expenditure on team building/contracts/development when they knew they would be excluded from next years competition etc. That’s the best case scenario, I am concerned they are actually going to stagger the decision making process
It will be a disaster for whoever gets the boot, no matter what. These clubs will already be carrying SL sized debts anyway. Player contracts will become void should a club be demoted from SL. Some of these clubs – at least the ones likely to be booted out – have been making false promises about new stadiums for years. They all made promises of getting them built during the current licence period, and would have only themselves to blame should this then backfire financially.
Oh, and the whole process is unethical, and this has little to do with when clubs find out their fate.
