OK.....Fully understand that you feel bitter towards missing out on something that you believe you should have been awarded, but by what stretch of the imagination do you think that Halifax are in a better position than Harlequins RL when it comes to SL?



1.Finance; QUINS ARE DEBT FREE AND DON'T EVEN HAVE AN OVERDRAFT. THIS IS A DOCUMENTED FACT.WE ARE RELIANT ON ONE PERSON TO PROP US UP, WHICH IS FAR FROM IDEAL, BUT WE ARE DEBT FREE ALL THE SAME.

2.Development of players: LONDONERS PICKED FOR ENGLAND AT ALL LEVELS AND NOW BEING POACHED BY TOP 4 TEAMS

3.Contribution to the game: 2 PLAYOFFS, 1 SECOND PLACE, 1 CHALLENGE CUP AND NEVER FINISHED LAST IN 15 YEARS...

4.Attendances: 5HITE, BUT WE STILL DON'T HOLD THE RECORD FOR LOWEST AVERAGE ATTENDANCE OVER A SL SEASON

5.Stadium: BRILLIANT...AS COMMENTED ON BY EVEN YOUR OWN FANS AFTER A FRIENDLY A WHILE BACK

6.Expansion: RIGHT OR WRONG...IT'S A CRITERIA



feel free to add any other criteria.

The rules here are simple....if you are going to claim financial bail-outs over the years, please back them up with links to or documented proof of such payments. Attendances should be taken from the SL era. I know back in the day 6,000,000 would pack the shay, but let's keep this modern.



I really feel for Fax, but as has been mentioned, there is a possible second chance in July and I would think that (Like Widnes last time) you will have strengthened your case for 2014......But finger pointing does you no favours...ask Leigh fans.

Shelfsox-on field performance was only 1 part of the application, if it was the only point, do you not think Widnes would have pumped cash after cash into their 1st team? The application had many parts, of which your team did not match up on. Take a step back and think about it. Like i say, if on field performance was the only point, Widnes would have filled their team with stars and won hands down because they have the cash to do it.

Salary cap? Which Widnes filled with the teams that were poor and injured most of the time. Let's not rewrite history. Widnes got in because they fairly won something but no amount of money would have change that if they hadn't.

But is it right ?



Are Fax genuinely still in with a shout in July ? Or are the RFL just using them to give some credibility to the process ?



Given that they ( RFL ) have stated that any Championship club needs extra time to prepare , if Fax did get a spot they would spend the first season light years behind the rest , potentially damaging the club



Personally it would have been better if nobody except Widnes had applied , because in all honesty the Championships are in no position to prepare any club for SL anymore , interest is waning both at fan and business level , we are a vibrant worth winning in it's own right competition , it's just nobody wants to watch it

Wasn't saying it was right.....was explaining why quins are miles ahead of fax in the criteria.....wakefield may well go in july but if fax are to replace a second team.....quins won't be that team.

Quins get a rough ride because of their attendances. Other than that though they clearly bring more to the game than a lot of teams do I just wish they'd sort their name out and be London something even if at The Stoop.



I also don't think the 13 weeks between now and the next announcement makes it that much harder for Fax to set up which would put them 'so far behind'. It's still before player negotiations are 'supposed' to start and business plans are already in place.

The whole process is a sham!

Forget SL. Watch YOUR team, don't support RL events, don't go to the Challenge Cup Final, SL Grand Final, Internationals and DO NOT subscribe to Sky Sports!

The only teams Fax are better placed than are Quins and Wrexham Crusaiders. The rest have bigger crowds will have on par/better stadiums than fax when complete. Fax don't have a good academy or youth set up like nearly all the SL teams and most of all all those clubs will have more money and be financially better off , so to say you are better placed is just ignorant.

Just a simple question here - how can they maintain a ful time SL squad with those attendances? Sure - other bodies will be pumping money in through investment and sponsorship but is this viable long term? By the way - i could ask this question to 4 or 5 other SL clubs too.

I am not bitter about the decision, it didnt surprise me, nor should it have surpised anyone else.



But you didnt explain why quins are miles ahead of fax....



Quins home attendances are dire, for superleague and we would almost certainly exceed this. Their away attendances are even more dire, we would absolutely exceed this. Okay so their stadium is good (ours is of a standard now) and they are miles and miles from any other club, which is in their favour for expansionism. Financially they are supported by a wealthy backer, who has put around £7M of his own money into the venture, so I would suggest that Halifax are better placed than them to support themselves.



I cant comment on their youth structure, as I dont know what theirs is, but the powers that be do bang on about the odd londoner playing in superleague. We also have Halifax born players playing in both superleague and the NRL and we were not allowed to run a youth team last year (RFL ruling), but we have started an under 23's this year and we do a great deal of work with amateur clubs and school clubs, so I would suggest we could go toe to toe with them on this issue.



So where does this make their bid better than ours??? I tell you why.... Because SKY will dictate that the RLF need to maintain a presence in the capital in order to secure the deal.

And equally, your knowledge of what position Fax are in is equally ignorant. We probably have the same potential as Salford. We certainly did in the past and Salford haven't advanced much since those days - not if you cmompare how Hull and Warrington have that's for sure. The Barton project may change this but the jury's out.

I appreciate there are lots of other parts taken into consideration and said in my post that Widnes deserve it for the off-field criteria. My point was the fact that the RFL mentioned Widnes' onfield success in their pre-prepared statement (wrote in 2009) when what little success they have had was couple of years ago and Fax had been more consistent over the past 3 years and are current champions, they should not have used 'onfield' as a factor when they were explaining the decision. That is just insulting.



They have bigger crowds due in part to larger away followings, our crowds will go up too if in SL with more home fans turning up to see the better teams too. "When complete" - that is the key isn't it, these new stadiums were submitted as CAD drawings 3 years ago and not a spade in the ground yet! We had no academy/youth set up because the RFL blocked Championship clubs from doing so! And with larger crowds, more TV income and more sponsors we will have more money and be financially better off than some of the current incumbents in the league! Vicious circle though, we can't do all this without getting into SL first....