griff1998 wrote:
The RFL are keen on the expression "integrity of the competition".
I've no idea how this correlates with the size of Leigh's distribution.
Please help me understand.
Well I'm going to put forward Bradford as the start of it.
Why?
Because when they lost the million pound game and were relegated people at every level within the club lost their jobs and the club sank lower and lower.
(Note: This was the original idea and reason for any form of "parachute payment" to be put forward, to protect individuals and it's now been corrupted and missused.)
The fact that Bradfords demise allthough coming down to 1 game had it's roots through multiple poor management fiascos and multiple rescue attempts with the full involvement of the RFL over a number of years is maybe worth a mention.
Furthermore, Bradford being such an "iconic" club involved it resonated far beyond just them.
I suspect if it had been Wakefield no one would give a rats ass.
( No offence meant toward Wakefield.)
( Edit added. Who just stuffed us by 60 odd points so it would be even less if it were Fax involved.)
When this happened again to HKR they were really worried about a similar impact happening to them and although they managed to to avoid it and bounce back at the first attempt the potential implications of life outside SL now reached panic levels from all but the mightiest of the existing SL clubs.
Anyone who felt they could suffer the same fate and be relegated immediately called for P&R to be scrapped and licensing in one form or another to be reinstated.
Other clubs who were in no real danger of being relegated soon backed those that were because of the indirect implications.
A couple of examples are.
Bradford gone and along with them the Bradford / Leeds derby games and large loss of paying turnstile support and the "Big Game" TV coverage that went with it.
HKR gone (for a year as it turned out) and the loss of the Hull / HKR derby games and the large loss of paying turnstyle support loss and the "Big Game" TV coverage that went with it.
Answer, take away the jeopardy and close the door.
(Note: It's okay for SL clubs to expect everyone outside SL to make do with the scraps but not when SL clubs suddenly find themselves having to do so and after years of neglect the clubs outside SL slowly shrink and starve to death the SL clubs say there not strong enough to make it in SL anyway, even though it's the SL clubs who have helped starve them in the fist place!!!!!)
At the end of the day there's clearly not enough resources such as money, quality players, stadia, officials etc etc to run the game across 3 divisions and it's hardest of all on those outside SL,clubs and supporters.
I agree with you. It is all about how much money SL can get and sod the rest of the RL structure. SL clubs view that they don't need lower clubs as their academies will pick up all the good young players and then discard them when they don't make the cut. TV rights are the only thing on their agendas.
