Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 9:47 am  

When I have my Eagles cap on I think yes the RFL should scrap it tomorrow, it takes alot of the excitement out of games, especially to the back end of the season. How will we increase crowds & get people interested when we basically are playing for a cheque and a chance to tick a box so we can "apply"..? I come because I love RL and living in Sheffield for the past 3 years i'd love to see the game take off here and have a SL team but enticing other new fans to games won't be that easy!

On the other had Franchieses means teams can run their finances better and can develop homegrown players instead of throwing money, which clubs don't have at players. I know their are a lot of problems clubs have to overcome when setting up academy and scholarship teams but clubs have the chance to do it.

We have an Under 15's & Under 16's side which I think is a first for the club...? Battye and Hanson are showing that the hardwork put in by the club can pay off and in a few years time more Sheffield players will be playing for Sheffield! Battye for me, with hard work in a year or two could be playing for a SL club.

Hopefully we can retain this squad for some time to come as talent feeds through the ranks. Aston will stop around but hopefully it will be just as head coach so we someone can take over the reigns of Chief exec because I think he's a brilliant coach, Sheffield through & through & we would benefit from him focusing soley on the team.

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 10:12 am  

Franchises mean teams can run there finances better - Yes folks Cru and Wakey both went pop in the SL close season.
Franchises mean nothing other than you dont need to bother for a couple of years until the next one comes along, then announce plans are passed for the ground you previously promised.

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 10:28 am  

ESO has pretty much summed up my opinions. Ive tried to get friends to come to games after watching it on sky and this is how it goes;
"It looks fun, i might have a look, can you get promoted this season?"
"No, you have to apply to join the big league"
"Eh, so what are you playing for?"
"To win the grand final"
"So what do you get if you win that?"
"Money"
"Thats all? You dont get promoted if you win your division?"
"No"
"What kind of stupid game is this?"
Conversation and interest in rugby league ends there.

Theres pro's and cons to "licencing", the idea is good in theory, but the RFL didnt even stick to their own rules regarding it. In 2008 Leigh met much more criteria (criteria the RFL laid out themselves!) that the Crusaders did and look what happened, that whole episode was a total embarassment.

The truth is this, expansion is a good idea, but its got to work in practice. For me, the Crusaders have gone from one crisis to the next and have not worked as an expansion idea. Some clubs have (Catalans) but most havent. What we have to do is look after the heartlands and preserve what we have, because if the heartland clubs lose fans due to "licencing", our game is doomed.

The gap between $L and NL1/2 is massive, no denying. What the RFL need to do is to find a way to close that gap, not use "licencing" to make it bigger.

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 10:50 am  

Starbug wrote:

As Fev found out last year , your best players will be taken away from you , although they did recieve a fairly hefty compensation if what we have been told is true , as for your support , with P and R it would normally rise as the season goes on .....

We won the Challenge Cup. There was little or no change in support.

The trouble with promotion and relegation is that supporters like promotion but aren't so keen on relegation. Hence the current campaign by, amongst many others, Ray French to increase $uper£eague to 15 clubs next year.

Keep going like that and, eventually, we'll be back to one league of 30 clubs.

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 11:37 am  

I think (& hope) next time round in 2015, 2 clubs will be put into SL and no-one will be dropped down to make a 16 team SL. There would be no P&R then for 1 year to help these 2 clubs steady the ship..

What I hope would happen then is Promotion and relegation will then be brought back into the game.

My idea would be that a club who wins promotion can only be promoted if they meet certain criteria (ground, crowds etc) a bit like if say Oldham gain promotion to Super League but can't enter as their ground isn't up to the required standards. If the club can't go up they recieve a handsome cheque and the relegation doomed SL club can then live to fight another day.

A bit like the whole Yawnion Leeds/Cornish Pirates scenario..

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 11:39 am  

Dr Badvibes wrote:

What we have to do is look after the heartlands and preserve what we have, because if the heartland clubs lose fans due to "licencing", our game is doomed.

Is Sheffield Eagles a "heartland" club. There are plenty of "heartlands" club fans who would jettison Sheffield tomorrow if they felt it improved their own club's chances of reaching the promised land.

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 11:43 am  

Dr Badvibes wrote:

ESO has pretty much summed up my opinions. Ive tried to get friends to come to games after watching it on sky and this is how it goes;
"It looks fun, i might have a look, can you get promoted this season?"
"yes, we go up to the Super League"
"Great. What are your chances of staying up?"
"Not good. We'll probably come straight back down with massive debts.
"Do you think the club will survive?
"No, we'll end up going to the wall and we'll then start another club from scratch".

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 11:57 am  

The franchise system will be the death of rugby league, giving no hope of super league status to the vast majority of clubs,

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 12:05 pm  

Sheffieldliam wrote:

I think (& hope) next time round in 2015, 2 clubs will be put into SL and no-one will be dropped down to make a 16 team SL. There would be no P&R then for 1 year to help these 2 clubs steady the ship..

What I hope would happen then is Promotion and relegation will then be brought back into the game.

My idea would be that a club who wins promotion can only be promoted if they meet certain criteria (ground, crowds etc) a bit like if say Oldham gain promotion to Super League but can't enter as their ground isn't up to the required standards. If the club can't go up they recieve a handsome cheque and the relegation doomed SL club can then live to fight another day.

So basically how it used to be before the RFL changed it to allow Cas back in.
A bit like the whole Yawnion Leeds/Cornish Pirates scenario..

Re: Franchises need to be scrapped : Mon May 16, 2011 12:21 pm  

Course franchising is daft. It is an alien concept for professional sport in this country and has as much chance of succeeding as Salford Tories have of getting me to vote for them or me playing for England.

It has and is harming our game and like any experiment that has failed should be consigned to a waste paper bin.

We Championship fans already know who has got the nod for next season and who will come down. No wonder if you live in a footie Town or City they are incredulous when you tell them about franchising and suggest they might come along to a game.