Ste100Centurions wrote:
Very nice of you Wrencat to start name calling
even though looking back I have never had a crossed word with you in the main because much of what you post makes good sense.
Now re-read my post & consider this ....
Your Chairman has just voted to reduce the chance of your Club being drawn into an 8 way fight for survival/promotion every year.
As perennial mid table hoggers & usually safe from jeopardy while never troubling the trophy tables you might welcome a Toronto & a Toulouse but when your abysmal home support is not bolstered by away fans & the already stale atmosphere becomes Morgue-esque you will clamour for the return of heartland clubs.
When your legions of fans invade Canada expecting to meet a huge army of TW's finest only to be met by 3K of disinterested beer tent lovers & the atmosphere is flatter than a witches *i* your bubble will be burst.
When your Club plays home & away & TW save all their home games for the 2nd half of the season run in you will call for heads to roll & slam the whole expansion idea as being unfair, especially if you reside at the time in an unsafe table position.
Think on.
Yeah, apologies for the trolls comment, I should perhaps have referred to you as the Leigh mafia
It's the way that the 4 of you jump on anything connected to Toronto and try to either shut it down or, just bloody well moan all the time.
Whether Leigh gain promotion or not, will be down to their own performance and a mickey poor start to the campaign and whilst I fully understand the resentment towards the TW coach and how some of your players may have been signed etc, clearly there were some issues at your club that created such an environment.
It's not unusual for one or two players to follow a coach to a new club but, there is something more to this than just a couple of players following Rowley across the Atlantic, perhaps faliure to gain promotion and needing to cut player budgets quickly ??
Regarding our coach voting for a change that gets rid of the 3 x 8 structure, I think he's probably right.
The main fault with the current system is that that it's impossible for any promoted club to escape the middle 8's and if/when Leigh do gain promotion to SL, I'm sure that you will agree.
The current structure is allowing the top 4/5 clubs to get ever stronger, leaving the rest to have an annual battle for survival, which ultimately stifles growth, both as individual clubs and in terms of player development and the fall back position of journeyman pro's taking the place of up and coming youngsters will keep happening while ever this system is in place.
Mind you, its a double edged sword, because the battle for the middle 8's, either by trying to avoid it or finish in the top 4 of The Championship is, without doubt, more interesting than who might win the GF but, the contrived MPG, I believe, isnt good for the clubs or the players involved. There is simply too much at stake.
When Waklefield played Cas all those years ago, it was a freak of the form of both sides and the fixture program and it shouldn't be an annual event.
As for TW, imo, both they and Toulouse should be playing in an expanded SL and lets see if they really do increase marketing and sponsorship opportunities, if not, get rid of them both as they will both be doomed to fail if they remain in the lower leagues.
