Oh for the days when a team earned the right to play in Super League by being promoted, I dread to think that Rovers would have lost out to some made up team from another country.

Okay, approach from two angles:

* Product on display

* Develop International product.

So a new club should offer better product to the league and/or deliver a bonus to the player pool (Expand English player pool or reinforce another national side).



As we look at things Salford and Crusaders deliver the least on the field, Wakey and HKR add the least to the national player pool. Alot of the decision as to how much value a franchise adds to the league has been done by the RFL with their 3 levels of Franchises, with the "team to drop" being from the bottom tier of the franchises (most of the clubs in the league).



Of the grade 3 franchises (or whatever they're called) you can exclude Catalans as they add player pool and deliver on pitch in last 3 years. Quins also compete and are delivering their own players - though obviously questions remain.



Of the clubs to go up, check criteria, I think it's Widnes, Barrow and Fax.



If the decision were to be made today, I think the question would be can Barrow offer more than Salford?



If I had to guess what will happen, I think there has to be a swap because the RFL said there would be, I think it will be one of the four I mentioned going down. I think that the RFL may, at that point, change the system to give some clubs longer Franchises than others, to allow relegated clubs the possibility of returning earlier than each other. So, for example the promoted club might have 3 years, but the 3 that avoided the drop might have 2 years to improve or be replaced by relegated side. Etc.

So basically you think they havent a clue how they are going to do it and they'll make it up as they go along

At the risk of being pedantic: no clubs will be relegated, dropped, removed, or lose their licences in 2012 - for the simple reason that not one club is in, or has a licence for, or is in, super league beyond 2011.



All clubs applying for a licence in 2012 will be applyng for entry to SL for 2012-14 inclusive, irrespective of whether they held a licence for 2009-11 or not.



So talk like "which club would you drop to bring Toulouse in" is, at best, disingenuous.

Now that IS pedantry in it's purest form - perfected as only it can be - by tb.

Since when have you decided to take up comedy instead of journalism





















































Dear me