Wouldn;t disagree with that. Not 100% sure how it works, but I don't feel that all the TV money should just be split between the clubs anway.

Yes, the RFL did decline you for a franchise based on financial history. On one hand it seemed incredibly harsh, especially when looking at some of the other candidates, but then there is also the argument that they would be seen to be rewarding a club who had gone bust not much earlier, and hadn't had the necessary time to prove that the new management structure was a worthy one. Not really worth going over all that again though as I assume we are all in agreement that Widnes were worthy of a place.



One last point though, there is no indication that Celtic are struggling financially. They too have a rich backer, and so far, apart from rumours, nothing suggests they are at risk of going bust. Where they do seem to be struggling is with the experience and knowledge of running a full time team in an expansion area.

No bitterness , just rank bad idea's from the RFL , proved by your lack of comment on it and answers to the questions asked of you about it



As for ' our ' stadium , well unfortunatley it isn't ours and possibly never will be , possibly the biggest mistake we have ever made



As for clubs below SL moving in the right direction , yes there are one or two I can think of , but the bulk are finding things much tougher

There are 3 CCJs referred to in this week's League Express. They are often a sign of a business struggling to meet all of its obligations and having to prioritise as to which debts it pays and which it allows to go to a CCJ.

I backed out of discussion on the 9's because it was pretty clear we weren;t going to agree (and it was a pure opinion thing anyway), and I was actually engaged in discussion with Pepe at the time.



I struggle to understand the stadium issue at Leigh I really do. I often read the Leigh board, so am awar of some of the issues, but it looks a lovely stadium, and whoever owns it shouldn't b the over-riding factor IMO, however that is one for your club to overcome.



In terms of lcubs moving forward, I think there has been good progress from the likes of Halifax, Widnes, Barrow, Featherstone, Toulouse and Gateshead have had some highs this year, although it is a fair point that every team is finding things more difficult in the current climate, which is the case for all teams, whichever division.

The issue quite simply is that unless the club are in SL the cost of playing in the stadium is too much



So the ' ownership or running ' of it is the over riding factor



As for the 9's yes it is opinion just the same as everything else



Just answer one then



How do you think the SL clubs would react to being told to play 1 st team squads in a 9 's competition right now ?



Go on , one simple question , treat yourself

Championship clubs aren't being told "right now" though are they? They've known this for months. How much of a bind do you think it is? Anyone can take a full strength squad - it's what you do with it that counts. Most will just have a half-d run about. It won't be blood and thunder hit ups and heart-attack inducing sprints. I'm sure most will just treat it as a training session. No worries.

I don;t doubt that there would be many people complaining, however that doesn;t mean that me as a fan would toe the line and go with whatever my club thought.



Personally I think our seasons are at risk of becoming a bit stale, and I am a fan of new initiatives. I went to Edinburgh where people complained, and loved it, I also went to Barcelona to watch Wire. Without these couple of things these year I feel that the season would have been quite boring, and I have felt this for the past couple of years.



Events like the Magic Weekend, the World Cup have kept me interested in the game, and I am a fan of a 9's festival in the middle of the summer, although I do understand why people have concerns about the logistics of it.



With regards to the costs of your stadium, why is that an issue to the bog standard fan? I know that this may cause issues for the club, but as fans surely that isn't a massive concern that keeps people away from the stadium.

small things amuse small minds.............................

a bird in the hand is worth two in a bush

and also the lack of a supporters bar which has totally changed the matchday experience



That and the lack of belief that we will ever get the chance to move up the ladder combined has made this season like just a series of freindleys



Our team seem to be feeling the same and dont seem to be able to raise their game at home resulting in us now being probably favourite to be relegated



The club is in a downward spiral at the moment and it is unlikely we will get out of it



So we need another pointless competition like a hole in the head

Yeah, I have read threads on the lack of bar issue. I haven;t been to the new ground yet, and don;t know Leigh that well, do you have plenty of bars around the ground?



I remember at Warrington there was uproar at first due to no supporters bar, however I think this was soon forgotten when fans realised that there were so many pubs in the area that we didn;t really need one.



I assume that won;t happen at Leigh?

personally i am getting bored of hearing about the franchise.



Celtic and Salford got in whether people think it was right or not.



i dont know why we are talking about franchise at the start of the first year of it to start with there is at least 1 year before this topic should be coming up.



i would love for Fax and Widnes to get the next franchise but at the same time i am pretty sure we dont stand much of a chance unless we are uprooting the club to Spain or Cumbria.



I will put a prediction down right now for the next franchise seen as though we are on the subject.



Toulouse will get a place because of obvious reasons.

Barrow will get a place subject to them making improvements on the growd, for obvious reasons once more.



as much as we might not like it Hearland clubs and clubs with a historic rugby past will probaly end up getting shafted at the next franchise for teams that dont have much going for them apart from location.