barham red wrote:
Its a bit of an age old argument that I can see both sides of. Catalans bring a fair but to SL, near 10k audiences and a more attractive package for the tv companies.
The negative I feel is that it stifles the french league somewhat. The ideal would be to emulate how football and to some extent RL do that they have the individual leagues and then a pan europe competition that is the show piece.
I personally have no preference to who loses the MPG (as long as its not us) and I'll feel for the fans and boards of anyone in that position.
I do sometimes think fans of our game would prefer it to crumble ala speedway and ice hockey just so they could say I told you so to the RFL.
I can't really disagree with what you say but the same argument for holding back the French league is the same argument that super league is holding back the rest of our leagues & pro teams are affecting the amateur sides. I think the main problem is trying to run a pro club with little real cash in the game, gone are the day when local businesses men could bankroll a club for a hobby. We are obliged to take cash of sky ( I suspect most club boards would prefer not to if they could raise cash elsewhere). In the 50 years+ I have watched the game the smaller clubs have struggled from the simple fact they were small towns & just don't have the population to warrant a squad of 25 full time players. The Cumbrian clubs are a prime example. Even a large city like Hull has been pushed at times to run one decent team, even with a council with cash to assist. Much as I dislike the qualifiers at least it gives new sides & the ones who can raise the funds a pathway to the top. But as posted on hear bottom down top promoted is what should happen, as we may end with the same as last year (the team that did not come last relegated).
Statistics: Posted by Beverley red — Thu Sep 07, 2017 11:55 am
