Perry wrote:
Very true, but then again there are only two seasons of the Premiership where at least one promoted club didn't go straight back down, which suggests that three is too many.
The results suggest (and I think you concede this in your post) that Leigh are the only team with a realistic chance of promotion, and of cutting it in SL when they get there. If we did have 2 up/2 down, I suspect that the second promoted side would be whipping boys most years.
I would tend to agree with all of this, but I am sure most of the fans of those clubs that went up and straight back downn enjoyed their day in the sun as it were.
Back to RL I would propose a slightly different flavour that is like the way football promotion was done at one time.
Championship 1 team gets promoted in place of SL12, then a mini league of SL11, Champ 2, 3 & 4 play home and away for a second potential promotion place. even a one off game between SL11 and Champ 2 would be of interest, but maybe not enough games for the RFL.
Personally I would prefer automatic promotion even if it was just 1 up one down.