Bit of a long one this - sorry

Firstly has anyone any idea when this will be decided ?

but there are more questions than answers - we know that SL is going to 14 teams, some selected by dubious methods , but is that for 1 year then reviewed or longer

Is it the IMG ratings again for top 12 and the next 2 random again ?

anyway moving on, what happens to the teams below ?
 Which will in all probability include widnes

1st question is how many games do we want to play ?
let’s say 24 - 12 home , 12 away 

Heard there are 2 options left - east/ west divide or 1 league

you have to look at the options in 2 ways, firstly from the Widnes perspective and secondly the competitions profile ( looking at tv deals for instance)

option 1 east/west 

widnes - no good at all, we would probably have

worky, Whitehaven, barrow, Rochdale, swinton, Oldham (?), crusaders, hurricanes , salfraud and London (?)

travel distances large and the crowds the away teams will be small - Oldham and salfraud probably the best 

finance - 10 teams ( London could move across dependant on Toulouse situation)

so 9 home games with little away support 

so not good at all but we would be at the top of that league

competion perspective 

that league make up brings 6 teams in from the lower league, potentially a very unbalanced league 

and what happens about playoffs ?

the east division would love it, all those local derbies and travel distances way less

other option - 1 league of 20/21 teams

each team to play each other once - fixtures decided by league position where team 1 plays 2 at home, 3 away, 4 at home etc

and then the same down the league 

then the extra 4/5 games made up of playing the 2 teams above you and the 2 teams below, with it being the reverse fixture of what you have played

not perfect but would make for a more competitive league with potential for a tv deal

thoughts ?