Doncaster, whilst not a heartland side, is comfortably in commuting distance for a huge part of the heartland player pool. Northampton isnt.

It's no wonder RL fans in general are known as working class numpties.. RB it really isn't hard to understand; Starbug's lost it with old age don't follow him down the path of the deluded side.

At Doncaster players only get paid if they play. They are not selected if they do not fully commit to training.

Much of our training is at Lindholme which is not in central Doncaster.

I work in Leeds and a couple of my colleagues are from Cas/Wakey and have told me on more than one occasion of personal friends who were offered a deal with the Dons but turned them down because after their travelling expenses for training would be virtually playing for nothing.

We are not an expansion team though so it's ok.

Is it the salary cap which is preventing Doncaster paying any more in Wages? If so then its clear the SC is set at the wrong level. If not then your point isnt relevant.

Regardless of what the cap is we can only pay what we can afford in order to stay in the black. What i am saying is that although not in an expansion area we still struggle with attracting players from any distance.

But thats because you dont have any money. Im not advocating giving Northampton extra money, simply allowing them to spend a bit more, if they have it, to balance out the additional cost to players should they sign for Northampton above other, heartland clubs.

Do you really think that is fair?



I admit i do not know the details of what we are, or are not spending at Donny in relation to the cap, we only spend an affordable amount. But i know we are only allowed to spend the same as Rochdale or Oldham for example who have a bigger pool of players to pick from in their locality

Either what you are spending is limited by the SC, or it is limited by your own finances. Its one or the other.

So you agree that their failure was due to the owner and not any of the points raised in the OP.



I wasn't suggesting that it was exactly the same situation at Wakefield, my point was that the same would happen to any club if the backer pulled out. If Davy pulled out of Huddersfield, O'Connor pulled out of Widnes etc they would go the same way as the Crusaders did, virtually no clubs are self-sustainable and so to expect that Celtic Crusaders should have been before they were allowed entry isn't really fair. Maybe the RFL should have been more dilligent regarding Samuel, but there was no way they could have known that he would do what he did, at the time it appeared that he was completely committed to the club. And if he had remained committed, I'm pretty sure Celtic Crusaders would be a relatively strong SL club today. The same goes for the club when they were based in Wrexham.

So if they then finish in the top 2/3 , has your subjective ' allowance been fair ? , or if they finish in the bottom 2/3 , have you been unfair ?



So you are advocating the RFL funding players wages for selective clubs , as they did for the Celtic Crusaders

The advantage of having SL academies on their doorstep is balanced by having SL clubs take the pick of all the best young talent available , Expansion clubs dont have that problem , similarily to the Cumbrian clubs they get a bigger share of the talented juniors compared to clubs with SL neighbours



Are you blaming Championship clubs for the SL clubs signing overseas players instead of local talent ? , that they obviously have to then release , or would you rather they retain 30 juniors but not play them , if the SL clubs want all the talent , and they do , then that isn't the fault of non SL clubs

If you are disproportionately affected by a rule , it is up to you to change the way you operate so that you aren't , then it is fair , but attempting ' subjective ' balance is impossible , anybody who thinks it isn't is a moron

Why would they need re jigging , they are already there to benifit the sport , if you have a better idea , please tell us ?

School tommorrow sonny , bath then bed for you , the adults are talking

So if they have enough for SL , put them in SL , that solves the problems of attracting part time players , but why should the current Championship clubs accept something that will damage their competition ?

Nobody is suggesting that , however all you do when you post fantasy attendance figures is fool yourself into thinking you are better than you actually are , and that isn't the way to build any club



You dont say ? , seriously , they approached him , as I said , he was hated with a venom around Bridgend , so hardly a recipe for success



Well given his history , I'd say it was only a matter of time



Quite possibly , if you think crowds of 2/3/4,000 are a sign of a relatively strong SL club , even Leigh managed that

Oh I wasn't intimating for one moment that they move beyond where they are now. Just that as an example of what can be achieved as a basis for clubs with future aspirations & to get the sport on the map nationally.

How do you know the validity of Celtic Crusaders published attendances was any lower than any of the other clubs that year? What figures would you rather the RFL had used? Do attendance figures only count if you deem them to be acceptable?

You say that with hindsight. Leigh recently went bust, does that mean they are going to go bust again in a couple of years? Obviously circumstances change, and there's absolutely no way of knowing what could have happened, or will happen in the future. The RFL took a chance and if backfired, equally it could have succeeded and helped catapult the game to a new level.

Firstly, crowds are not the only measure of success as a club. But what evidence do you have that the crowds would be at that level?

In what way do you suggest Northampton change the way they operate so they can compete for the same player pool as heartland clubs when the SC is set at a level which stops them doing so?

Any SL quality juniors at Northampton will be taken by SL clubs. If you think the heartland championship clubs dont get an advantage by having SL academies producing players on their doorstep and it is 'balanced out' then you have hit a new low in your idiocy.



No, of course im not. I have no idea whatsoever what could have possibly led you to believe I was blaming championship clubs for SL clubs signing overseas players instead of local talent.

Because there may be a better way, hence me saying [iIf the SC rules were rejigged to better benefit the heartland clubs i would be in favour of it. I have no affiliation to the current system, if it can be changed for something better then we should do it.[/i. Personally I thought that was a fairly self-explanatory sentence.

It isnt their competition. It doesnt belong to them. At some point you really have to get over your delusions of ownership. Northampton have as much right to compete in the championships as Leigh, the competition isnt yours and Northampton arent some interlopers.



Why should anybody accept a competition which advantages some clubs and disproportionately disadvantages other clubs? Where is the integrity in a competition which has rules which stop some clubs being able to build the squads some other clubs can? A competition which favours some clubs over other is already damaged, thats what we have at the moment, a competition where the heartland clubs have the odds stacked in their favour.

As I said earlier , you had to be there to see the reality of the situation



Did we ? , when was that then ?



They took a chance , but unfortunatley believed their own propaganda



Crowds are not the only measure no , but they are normally the biggest actual revenue stream outside the SKY money and without that money any club is living on borrwed time

Well considering they currently dont exist , it isn't about changing , more about how they start , they aren't going to be competing in the same player pool are they , otherwise what would be the point of them , as surely the main point is they will expand the player pool , or so you keep telling us

Whatever made you think we were discussing SL quality players , Northampton dont need SL quality players to compete in the Championships