mmm, this argument could expand many fold for example, if the goons wouldnt have cheated in the way they did with the salary cap then maybe we wouldnt have gone down, if the catalans werent exempt then we wouldnt have gone down, blah blah blah, its water under the bridge now and whats done is done

Not really, because it did. You were bottom so you would have automatically been relegated. What's to argue about that? But that wasn't what I was getting at, and I think you know that. My point was simply that bearing in mind your own standing last season - regardless of the ifs and buts of why you were there - SOME of your fans whinging about the Crusaders looks, to the outside world at any rate, very silly given that the franchise system saved your own club from relegation.



You've had the year to build. Celtic should be allowed the same grace. At least they aren't having the extended franchise benefits that Catalans had.

Am I missing the point here?

I know its late and I keep getting poked and told to do some work but....



The Franchises were not announced at the end of the season so to assume our final position would have stayed the same is your opinion only.



Had we not been given a Franchise we would have been forced to fill our team with players for the remainder of the season instead of continuing to blood our much coveted youngsters.



I don't think some of our fans are whinging but having been the team that gave way for Catalan and were edged out by Wigan/Creative accountancy the assistance being given to Celtic would suggest they were not as ready for SL as the RFL were for them to be in and jetisoning the more traditional teams i.e. Widnes.

I am in the traditional camp more than the expansion for expansion sake.

Which 3 matches did they win? Will the losing clubs now be trying to get the points back because Crusaders fielded inelligble players?

Lets not forget we were having the same thing said about us last season when we finished bottom.

Other fans were saying cas should'nt be in SL blah blah.

Do tell me why cas fans in your opinion should'nt have an input on the CC situation on an open forum.

All fans have different opinions, imo its good to hear them all and the reason why.

I dont know you saints fans in your untouchable ivory tower. Oh not so ivory this season though is it

Bradford, Wigan and 1 other team - Salford?

Correct

They've not fielded ineligble players in those games. They were fielded in previous years.



As I remember the use of holiday and student visas to sign players in the lower leagues was widespread. This was outlawed at the start of this year and thus a number of lower league sides were unable to bring back players that they had played quite happily in previous seasons.



I suspect the players in question probably played under such visas but it's now become apparent that they weren't studying or were employed for more hours than permitted.



It would be naive to suspect that no other club has flouted the rules in the same manner. I'm sure some of our players in 2005 and 2007 would have been recruited on similar visas. However, it's the Crusaders who are the ones that are caught and pay the price. I wonder if similar "intelligence-led investigations" are prompted at other clubs.

[size=50I feel dirty doing this, but [/size



According to the Excess







[url=http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/121238/Crusaders-deportedfull story[/url

RFL statement on Celtic Crusaders







The RFL has asked the UK Border Agency for a copy of its report into alleged discrepancies in the visa applications of six Celtic Crusaders players.







The RFL is also speaking to Celtic Crusaders about the matter and feels it would be inappropriate to pass specific comment until further details are available.







The RFL would like to point out that the awarding of visas is an issue between players and the UK Border Agency, not the RFL. For clarification, the governing body would not refuse a player’s registration if the UK Border Agency approved a player’s status and the appropriate documentation was provided.

are we talking forgery here???

Where have I said they shouldn't? That's just silly. I simply expressed my own POV, on this open forum, that some - some - Cas fans, the Cas fans who were condemning the Crusaders out of hand, may want to remember that the franchise system saved them from certain relegation. I don't know what the big steam up is all about. It's a fact. And because of that fact, they came across as hypocritical (which I also said).



However, other Cas fans have been very sympathetic.