Of course Dewsbury are not as big a club as Trinity. But then look at the alternative outcome - that of last year's Grand Final winners Hunslet. Impossible, they were told. You can't possibly compete in Super League - you'd have a miserable time and wouldn't be at all competitive. Then there's the other end of the equation - the teams who would lose status if promotion and relegation returned.
Relegation also has a purpose.
It gives a club a chance to readjust at a more suitable playing level - and to return if it is good enough. We are told that small clubs may spend themselves into bankruptcy trying to compete. This is an odd suggestion to level at Dewsbury, whose outstanding capacity has been intelligent use of limited resources. Perhaps they should be satisfied to be the best in the NFP, a thoroughly worthwhile competition. But for the last five years league's rulers and their partners at Sky have been telling us that SL is the only game in town.