SPORT is all about competition, but the Rugby Football League has forgotten that basic principle. It wants to turn the Super League into a closed shop: no promotion, no relegation.
This is the sort of anti-competitive rule which would be kicked into touch in any other arena. And it would ruin the game.
Football has its faults, most of them about money, but it is still possible for a lowly team such as Wigan Athletic to force their way into the Premiership, the world's best and most exciting league. And last weekend's relegation battle was more exciting than the fight for the title.
Rugby League will quickly stagnate if it ends the Super League dreams of clubs such as York City Knights.
Updated: 11:00 Friday, May 20, 2005
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