Franchises need to be scrapped : Sun May 15, 2011 7:35 pm  

Biggest load of rubbish going,Can anybody say super league has been improved by the addition of this?It needs to be 1 up and 1 down,A team like Leigh who are the best side in the division and have no chance of going up,Yet Widnes are treading water in midtable and couldnt give a hoot but will be playing in super league next year,Doesnt make no sense,The edge is totally lost by no promotion/relegation,Its not all about structures etc,Its about fairness and an exciting product,Teams like Crusaders,Harlequins,Wakey etc doing nothing in super league,they dont deserve that place,The team that wins the Competetion deserves to go up and the team that finishes bottom deserves to be relegated,It shouldnt be about how big your ground is,How many fans you get,How big your pies are and all the naff criteria,Its what happens on the pitch and whos has the best team,Franchises rubbish and should be abolished.

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Sun May 15, 2011 7:47 pm  

Can i also add while im on me soap box,that is the magic of football,Look at the promotion/relegation scrap in football that is the magic of the competetion,Teams like Blackpool fighting it out who dont have the ground etc but have earned there spot by whats happened on the pitch and through hard work,Theyve had some unbelievable days,Days that there fans would never have thought off,But the difference is,They had the chance,In rugby its down to criteria,its rubbish,imagine franchises in football,half the teams that are in the premier league now wouldnt be there,Wigan/Fulham/Blackburn/Bolton and even stoke,theyve earned there places by on the field activities,thers no magic in rugby its been took away by franchises,Widnes get promoted by a bloke saying they have on sky,Great,No last game win and the elation it would bring but by meeting a criteria,Its not all about how big your grounds are etc,ITS PERFORMANCE ON THE PITCH THAT SHOULD DECIDE WHETHER YOU GO UP OR GO DOWN,Franchises out,Again!!!!

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Sun May 15, 2011 8:39 pm  

Bang on.

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Sun May 15, 2011 10:05 pm  

Agreed

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 7:18 am  

No. Franchises are a Good Thing.

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 7:48 am  

You cant attract new fans with franchises. Has anyone tried explaining that Sheffield can win the Grand Final and still not go up? League is a farce at times.

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 8:05 am  

My Barnsley supporting mate who has been to a couple of Leigh games this year can't get his head round that as well. Destroying the dream is destroying the semi pro game outside SL.

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 8:08 am  

brummie-eagle wrote:

You cant attract new fans with franchises. Has anyone tried explaining that Sheffield can win the Grand Final and still not go up? League is a farce at times.

Exactly, when I talk to my non RL friends about watching rugby and explain that we're basically playing to tick a few boxes, I get laughed at, it's an absolute joke. What are Widnes playing for this season? What's the point? If Leigh win the grand final this season, what have they got to play for for the next two seasons? Nothing. It's absolutely rubbish and the more I think about it the more I start to lose patience with RL as a sport, it used to be by far and away my favourite sport but the pointlessness (if that's a word) of it all has led to me losing interest somewhat. Sad but true.

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 9:22 am  

E.S.O wrote:

Exactly, when I talk to my non RL friends about watching rugby and explain that we're basically playing to tick a few boxes, I get laughed at, it's an absolute joke. What are Widnes playing for this season? What's the point? If Leigh win the grand final this season, what have they got to play for for the next two seasons? Nothing. It's absolutely rubbish and the more I think about it the more I start to lose patience with RL as a sport, it used to be by far and away my favourite sport but the pointlessness (if that's a word) of it all has led to me losing interest somewhat. Sad but true.

Not strictly true , I would suggest that any club [ that complied with criteria ] that managed to win most of the available silverware over a three year period would be guaranteed the promotion spot , the problem comes with retaining coaches,players and supporters over that period

As Fev found out last year , your best players will be taken away from you , although they did recieve a fairly hefty compensation if what we have been told is true , as for your support , with P and R it would normally rise as the season goes on [ although Leigh posted their worst attendance figures for many years in their promotion campaign of 2004 , we seem to buck most trends when it comes to supporters ] , however over a three year possible only scenario , it probably wont , similarily retaining a good coach over three years is also unlikely

So you might end up similar to Widnes , with a fairly crap squad , disoloutioned support and I'll not comment on the coaching situation there , when you actually do go up

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 9:35 am  

2004 was a carp year at Leigh Bugsy, I blame then Directors of SCL - especially the coach they appointed and the policy of fan alienation.