The Value of Relegation

Saturday's result and Castleford's demotion to the National League has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many, not least those in WF10.





Wildcats coach John Kear had led his side to safety against the odds, bringing a halt to Castleford's short tenure back in Super League after their promotion last season but the fall-out from Saturday night has only just begun.

Tigers coach Terry Matterson has been against relegation for the best part of the season and he despises the notion even more now that fate has befallen him. Many have even gone as far to suggest that relegation should be suspended, claiming that no side deserved to go down and that infact, Castleford's 19 point haul means that this years relegated club was indeed the "best" worst team in the Super League era. Only Whitehaven or Batley could create that situtation now and so Matterson can bemoan the system all he wishes.
His arguments stand up too. Relegation encourages short-term thinking. The two sides that took the field as Wakefield played Bradford last week contained just ten players from 34 who qualified for Great Britain and of Wakefield's side from Saturday, only three players were of any interest to the onlooking GB boss Brian Noble, who became involved in a heated discussion on the subject in the Sky Sports studio.
The fear of relegation creates a fear for the clubs towards the bottom of the table from playing juniors from the Senior Academy. It's no coincidence that the bulk of young British talent currently ply their trade with the top three clubs; Leeds, Hull and St Helens - sides that are free from the threat of relegation.

For the clubs clinging on by their fingernails, throwing in a 19-year-old stand-off is simply not an option. Instead it's much easier to bring in the experienced heads of Julian O'Neill, Deon Bird or in Castleford's case, Brad Davis on short-term contracts to try and get yourself out of that mess.
That may be fine from a club point of view, but talent is going undiscovered because clubs don't have the time to bring teenagers up to Super League standard.

The introduction of the Kolpak ruling, which means that players of Fijian, Tongan, Samoan, Papua New Guinean and South African desent (amogst others) are excluded from any foreign quotas, has created a loophole that many club Chairmen are all to willing to expolit, but few can blame them when the very survival of the club can depend on Super League status.

Thankfully, the RFL has seen the iceburg and the introduction of a franchise system in 2009 will eliminate the need for clubs to fill their sides to the point of bursting with overseas players. Nobody wants to see the likes of Jamie Lyon, Shontayne Hape, Lesley Vainikolo, Ali Lauitiiti and Stacey Jones end up being forced out of the competition. They are the players that fans come esspecially to see, but what fans hate is to get the impression that players who have no real affinity to the club are keeping a potential superstar who has supported the club from childhood.

Another issue for contention since last night is the merit of the Les Catalans Dragons 'experiment'. Some have objected to the move from the start, particuarly those from Widnes who had to make way for the Dragons last year but their objections don't hold much water.

The Dragons have had minimal time, just over one year, to create a team capable of competing in the league, a fanbase capable of sustaining a Super League side and the infrastructure required to pass Super League standards. Cas will claim that they had even less time, since they couldn't recruit players until after last years Grand Final but the bulk of the side remained to feature in Super League. The Tigers eventually only ended the season three points ahead to the French side, despite the Dragons having nothing to play for much of the closing stages of the season.

People also bemoan the Dragons from a financial perspective, with the small minded view that Catalans don't "bring any fans", which is a stupid point on two counts.
Firstly, the Catalans home average attendence of 6,542, which currently stand proudly of those of Wakefield (5,447), Huddersfield (5,398), Harlequins (4,917) and high-flying Salford (4,820).
Secondly, to be perfectly blunt, clubs shouldn't be reliant on visting supporters making the journey and topping up the numbers.

It was often claimed that you could get an idea of a club's true support base by their attendance against London / Harlequins, by virtue of the fact that not many people made the long trips up the M1 or M6.


So last season when the Broncos went to the Halliwell Jones, the marketing team at Warrington actually went and did some work (often unheard of in some Rugby League marketing offices) and instead of shrugging their shoulders and saying "Oh well, lets see what London bring", like Salford Football Director Steve Simms, they went out and came up with the radical idea of getting the locals through the door. The result was a crowd that bettered those against many more local sides, including rivals Widnes.
The Catalans arn't to blame and those arguing otherwise are clutching at straws. They have more home-grown payers than most British sides, they have earned the game greater expsure across the UK and Europe and they have offered the British fan something new. They arn't to blame for Castleford's demise and as I have said before, the Tigers could have avoided Saturday's finale months ago.

Only a minor miracle in the NL1 play-offs will save the Tigers and it is a shame that so many people have put in so much hard work, as opitimised by the emotion shown by captain Danny Nutley at the final whistle. It's just the men from the Jungle have been the victims of an increasingly flawed system. Sky loved this weekend. It's the kind of car-crash TV that makes TV executives rub their hands with glee, but this whole season has been focused on mediocraty.
End relegation, bring in stability and give clubs the opportunity to step up to a level playing field throughout Super League. That way we can celebrate sucess, rather than gawp at failure.