Div 1 was a bit of a shambles this year anyway to be honest. Just 6 teams with one (Western) unable to be promoted. What needs to happen is all those teams that were able to field a team in the PDL (15 team league) must also have a team in the MPL or Div 1, thus bringing in the likes of Selwyn, Pap Redwood, Cashmere.
And perhaps with this Richmond 'I might not wanna play anymore' thing, perhaps we have a competition that isn't automatic promotion for Div 1, we make it: if your club has the systems/facilities in place, and you are winning your league you state you are keen at the beginning of the season and if all goes well the bigwigs at Mainland accept your offer??? I don't know how any of this works but it had reasoning in my head at this early hour. Feel free to improve/hassle.
And perhaps with this Richmond 'I might not wanna play anymore' thing, perhaps we have a competition that isn't automatic promotion for Div 1, we make it: if your club has the systems/facilities in place, and you are winning your league you state you are keen at the beginning of the season and if all goes well the bigwigs at Mainland accept your offer??? I don't know how any of this works but it had reasoning in my head at this early hour. Feel free to improve/hassle.
I agree 100% with the no team in MPL/Div 1 = no PDL...should be the same for the knock out cups. If that means the Academy is homeless so be it.
Maybe we need to go back to the playoff for promotion/relegation. No point relegating a strong-ish team for one that is total pants but won an even worse competition