Commonsense would suggest Wakey & Cas to merge, Widnes and Halifax in, with Salford leaving.

But that isn't going to happen!

A couple of lads have been working on our house today and we got chatting about rugby league, they are both from Widnes and they were telling me that they know people high up at Widnes.

This isn`t official by any means but this is what they told me, they said that Widnes will be awarded a SL franchise and to accomodate sky Widnes have had to spend £50 - £80k on a new hospitality area for sky, i`m not sure if that includes a new commentary position as they were speaking of a room/area so not sure what it includes.

They also said that the council have or are going to spend a substantial amount in certain areas to meet some SL requirements, as i said thats not official but its what i got told today and both the lads seemed genuine enough and pretty clued up about the goings on at Widnes.

:11tvxqe4

LICENSING AND CRITERIA FOR A SUPER LEAGUE LICENCE

A1:6 a) There shall be no promotion or relegation between Super League and Championship
from the 2008 Season onwards. Instead for the 2009 Season and for every 3 seasons
after that, the Board shall invite applications for membership of Super League from: (i)
current Super League Clubs; (ii) Clubs in the Championships that meet minimum
standards set by the Board; and (iii) :11tvxqe4[i:11tvxqe4any overseas clubs invited to apply by the Board[/i:11tvxqe4.:11tvxqe4
Those Clubs being offered and accepting a Super League Licence for 3 years shall
participate in Super League – for the avoidance of doubt, all Clubs offered a Licence
shall be obliged to re-apply for a further 3 year Licence at the end of each 3 year
Licence period. Those either not being offered a place or not accepting a place offered
shall The Board shall have discretion to set criteria for membership of Super League and
discretion to assess Clubs against set criteria and determine membership of Super
League from 2009.

c) At least one Club that has competed in the Championships during the Licence Period
2009 – 2011 and that meets minimum standards set by the Board will be granted a
Super League Licence for 2012 – 2014.

d) For the purposes of A1:6 (a) above the applicant must submit a completed and signed
application form and provide such documents, including financial records, as the Board
shall at its discretion require.

I see why you've highlighted point (iii) above, which could be seen to classify Toulouse as an overseas club rather than a Championship club. However, I suspect that as Toulouse have competed in the Championship for the past two seasons, their Championship status ought to supersede their overseas status - i.e. they will still have to comply with the appropriate minimum standards expected of all Championship clubs.

Blake Solly from the RFL was interviewed on Boots N All last night and he was pretty forthright in his assertions that the successful club would have to meet the five minimun standards outlined overleaf, which for me, currently precludes Toulouse.

Now there are many who say that the RFL are well-versed in hypocrisy and favouritism, but if they are coming out now - just 4 months before the deadline for Championship club applications for a Super League licence - stating that there are five qualification criteria, only to later circumvent these and award a licence to Toulouse, who have not met these criteria; ahead of a club like Widnes, who have; then all hell will surely break loose and the streets of Widnes and the gardens of Red Hall shall burn as blood flows through the gutters and heads adorn pikes. Not to mention message boards crashing.

Let's say it would be interesting.

A better idea would be to scrap this stupid franchise system and bring back promotion and relagation. Have a maximum of 2 foreign players in each team (decided on where they were born and not how long they've lived here).Keep the salary cap, and any club who breaches it, loses all their points from that season. If 2 or more clubs breach the salary cap, they all go down and replaced by the same number of teams from nl1.A maximum of 2 foreign players, will be good for future international teams.