'Fairness' and 'Level Playing Field' are not in the vocabulary of anyone at the RFL.
If Crusaders do come into the Championship and the RFL continue their support then will it be on the same basis as it does for every other Championship club? That and their financial situation are interesting questions that need to be answered and sooner rather than later.
Earlier this week the Championship and C1 tables were as follows:
P W L D PF PA DIFF BNS PTS
1 Featherstone Rovers 14 12 1 1 574 270 304 0 38
2 Leigh Centurions 15 13 1 1 556 302 254 0 38
3 Widnes Vikings 15 10 4 1 469 360 109 1 33
4 Batley Bulldogs 16 10 6 0 400 328 72 3 33
5 Sheffield Eagles 14 9 5 0 421 316 105 2 29
6 Barrow Raiders 16 7 9 0 403 404 -1 7 28
7 Halifax RLFC 15 7 8 0 443 427 16 5 26
8 York City Knights 16 4 11 1 350 618 -268 2 16
9 Hunslet Hawks 15 3 11 1 287 480 -193 3 14
10 Toulouse Olympique 15 3 12 0 260 491 -231 3 12
11 Dewsbury Rams 15 2 12 1 289 456 -167 3 11
With Widnes and Toulouse leaving, that will leave only 9 clubs in the Championship, unless Crusaders are given a place in the Championship, How many will be promoted/relegated?
If two clubs are promoted to the Championship from C1 and none are relegated, then that will leave C1 with only 8 clubs
The Co-operative Championship 1
P W L D PF PA DIFF BNS PTS
1 Swinton Lions 15 12 2 1 576 341 235 1 39
2 Doncaster RLFC 16 10 6 0 461 330 131 4 34
3 Keighley Cougars 15 9 6 0 533 321 212 4 31
4 Workington Town 16 8 7 1 543 373 170 5 31
5 Rochdale Hornets 15 8 7 0 479 394 85 4 28
6 Whitehaven RLFC 16 11 3 2 422 351 71 0 28
7 Oldham RLFC 16 8 8 0 509 439 70 2 26
8 South Wales RLFC 16 5 11 0 442 557 -115 2 17
9 London Skolars 16 4 11 1 355 564 -209 3 17
10 Gateshead Thunder 15 0 14 1 196 846 -650 0 2
Two divisions of 10 is laughable. So why not merge C and C1 so that meaningful and true 'League' fixtures can be played?
If Super League clubs insist that they need 16 'Home' fixtures to exist then why is it so different for the Championship clubs?