'Bloody RFL's pets! You watch, they'll get promoted form second place!! Don't deserve it....and my grans gardner who once walked past Odsal says he know's a man on the inside of the ground who heard from the man next to him in the toilet that they are breaking the salary cap, not paying employees and forcing sudanese children to cut the pitch with rusty nail scissors... as usual... one rule for them.....'



What a deeply disappointing decision...

That's a very puerile response. Its not the clubs fault that the league structure may change. If it does and it benefits some clubs then that's what happens. I think you should be venting your disgust towards the RFL and the SL clubs

To be right the NFL works very well, but it's their traditional system, not ours.



The general British league system, in most major sports, is home and away when possible and top is champion. RL has deviated from that many times in the past but invariably due to the numbers not adding up. I'm certainly under no illusion that some sort of similar league will apply, in one league or another, any new set-up for exactly the same reason - the numbers don't stack up.

As I suggested earlier in the piece:

Faxlore says above .... "[iI think you should be venting your disgust towards the RFL and the SL clubs[/i"



Two points:



a) If the Bulls were in SLE then Chalmers would have also acted with self interest.



b) In any case Faxlore is very right to say that he thinks we should be venting our disgust towards the RFL. They have for years, and still are, ruining the sport. Today's vote is another step towards bringing the three main people to account who have (it is commonly believed) been, and still are, bad for the sport, namely Wood, Rimmer and Moorhouse. Let's hope that they are gone as soon as possible. We need a fit and proper governing body that is subject to fair and proper independent audit. Until that happens the sport will remain in the doldrums and not attract the investment and TV deals etc it deserves.

So what's the structure beyond SL next season? And further more, what's the structure for the remainder of this season?

...as he did by voting against automatic promotion for the club you mean?

Technically Chalmers hasn't voted against automatic promotion. Looking at Twitter right now, how the Championship and League 1 is structured was removed from the earlier vote. There is a separate Championship and L1 meeting to discuss that, which could include us going up. I'd be surprised if Chalmers, now he has been "lumped" with the major vote going his way, voted against any proposal that saw us promoted this year

Tweey from Gareth Walker:

"Championship and League One clubs now on a break from discussing their future structures. No agreement yet, and the decision will be made by the RFL board, rather than the clubs, hopefully today"



Considering the RFL were the ones who proposed 14 team championship, looks like we'll be promoted in a few hours. Doesn't feel right does it.

No, which is why I fully expect it to go against us!

Do they ever publish minutes from these meetings?

I get what JK said about our being in this division being due to 'help' from money being with-held and hefty points deductions going against us, but without the adrenaline of a win there's hardly anything to celebrate if we get pushed up as collateral.



Feels like another pointless season if that happens

Kear is, of course, correct though. We have been shafted enough in recent years. I will happily take a "free" promotion, which we knew would happen after we announced the signing of Webster.

Hey, its ME! How ya doing, fella? Proper Sport must have been a boon for you this year.



I know you'll especially have enjoyed the brilliant exploits of that promising young coach I told you about, McNamara.

I have just got out of therapy this week after the stunning win by the Catalans. I am saddened you never came to visit FA.

Blimey, have I just stepped back in time 5 years?



And why are they being NICE to each other?

We didn't get a vote on being relegated from SL when they decided to start relegation again, just nice and handily when we finished next to bottom after a points deduction - nor when we should have been relegated from the championship and they insisted we go back in the same division with another points deduction and no team for a season of penury. So I'll take anything offered, with no shame whatever - isn't it great being the RFL's pet?

Me and FA have always gotten on famously. He is the Yin to my Yang.

Latest rumour is play-offs for L1 stay the same, but loser plays bottom championship club in MPG type match. So possibility no one from championship could be relegated.

That doesn't make sense. What about the L1 league winners?

What it means is next year The Championship would be 14 teams. This years 1-11, League 1 winner, League 1 Playoff winner and the final place taken by the winner of yet another playoff - League 1 playoff loser vs team that finishes bottom of the Championship

Now confirmed so still the play-off route for us. Apparently the home venue of the losing finalist and bottom championship club will be decided by a coin toss.....







The Betfred Championship structure expands to a 14 team competition in 2019 with all teams playing each other once home and away, plus Summer Bash, ending with a play-off series for the top five teams with the winner promoted to Super League, and relegation for the bottom two clubs.



To get to a 14 team Betfred Championship at the end of this current season two teams from Betfred League 1 will be promoted. As has always been planned this season, the team finishing top of League 1 will be automatically promoted.



Teams 2 to 5 will then play semi-finals with the winners of the Promotional Final being promoted. The final place in the Betfred Championship for 2019 will be decided by a Play-off Final between the team that finishes bottom of the Championship Shield and the loser of the Promotional Final.



Betfred League 1 will consist of 12 teams playing each other home and away with the top team automatically promoted. Teams 2-6 will play-off to decide the second team to be promoted.



The revisions follow substantial discussions within all levels of the professional game, led by the Rugby Football League.



Ralph Rimmer, Chief Executive, The Rugby Football League; “As we have seen this season, the Betfred Championship and League 1 are strong, vibrant and highly entertaining competitions.



We want to see both competitions continue to appeal to Rugby League fans and attract new ones. We have secured guaranteed promotion and relegation to Super League. It is vital that aspiring clubs, players, owners and fans can see their path to the top.



We want to ramp up how we build value in Championship and League 1. This means more marketing and promotion including major focus games; streaming more games as part of a wider digital strategy – already underway with the streaming of Betfred League 1 games exclusively to Our League members; and working with broadcasters to bring these competitions to a wider audience. It also means focusing the investment where it delivers the greatest return for the sport.



We need to now draw a line under the last period and focus on this together as we head to a home World Cup in 2021 and all the opportunity this brings to our clubs and communities.

Confirmed - www.rugby-league.com/article/534 ... structure-

Confirmed - www.rugby-league.com/article/534 ... structure-

It feels marginally better than adding an automatic 2nd promotion place but it's still poor changing it this late in the season.

So we theoretically get an extra opportunity to balls it up?