The disparity of the league at present is characterised by: a) current Ferns and internationals, b) up and coming national age group team prospects but still developing; c) the rest - a range of quality from very good players at this level to really poor players lacking technical skills and most importantly, d) the very small player base.
Short term fixes:
1. International players pre major tournaments. Pre Olympics, Longo and Moore should definitely be playing in a tougher league (Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, or in Flea's case Europe, USA, Japan). Likewise, girls in the mix for U17s World Cup in October, Lake and Bray, should probably be in Auckland.
2. Radical idealistic view. Cashmere and Coastal first teams play in Auckland. Their reserve grade teams would be competitive against the other 5 teams. Add Halswell and Selwyn from PDL and you probably have a league that is about right for most of those players.
3. Given that's not going to happen, play only 2 full rounds and then split to a local mini league and a mini Southern league (top 2 teams from each federation).
Medium to long term:
The player base needs to substantially increase, otherwise the drift to Auckland/elsewhere will only increase and the quality of the league will actually get worse. This is the single greatest issue in the game in this part of the world.