WHAT is the ideal format of professional rugby league - at all tiers - in this country?

It seems we - and I include fans, clubs, administrators and pundits – are never happy in this country with whatever the current system is and can never resist a little tweak.

It has always been thus - even in the early 80s when we would hear talk of 'going back to one big division'.

But it seems the desire to make structural change is in overdrive at the moment.

A week barely goes by when there is not another permutation, or another kite being flown to face trial by social media.

One week it is a 14-team top flight, subsequently rubbished by one CEO, and now we have the idea of two leagues of 10 being floated.

You can see why the discussion is taking place - there is a feeling in some quarters that the game has been treading water for a few years and that it needs a gear shift.

There is also the challenge - or opportunity - presented by accommodating new blood, with Toronto providing the impetus for that.

The resurgence of London – and the poor start by Leigh - has certainly made the top end of the Championship interesting, particularly when Toronto are tipped to really make an impression too.

But if there are going to be winners, there has to be losers too.

Sometimes you get the idea that formulas are thrown up to soften the blow to some that they are not in the big league any more, as much as they are there to advance the ambitious ones looking for a way up.

Or are elite clubs, the ones who invest in stadia, academy set ups and players, just genuinely sick of carrying others - or feeling held back by having to run at the pace of the slowest?

Some of the ideas within that two divisions of 10 idea are interesting, but let's not kid ourselves - we'd essentially be shrinking the top flight to 10.

And we all know what happens then, the same opposition three or four times a year and familiarity breeding contempt.

Rather than going for gimmicks and shortcuts, we need to go back to a more straightforward approach to the divisions throughout the pro and semi pro game.

We should go back to a league system that encourages all to progress with one up, one down promotion.

That rewards ambition and success and punishes those who simply coast or underperform – and is that not what competitive sport is all about?

Rugby league is a bigger game than just Super League – even if the top flight is where all the stars, the money and the big crowds are.

But there should be a better relationship between those wings of the game – and by that it should not simply be about giving handouts generated from the top.

The best way of letting Championship clubs strive to improve, stand on their own feet, build their own brand and secure their own funding and sponsorship would be if they are allowed to negotiate their own TV deal and get some much needed coverage.

And more importantly, the Championship should be a competition that fairly allows teams to fight for the chance of promotion at the end of a successful season and reward them for finishing top rather than them hitting a glass ceiling.

We can’t concoct a solution that pretends to be giving Championship teams a helping hand, but ends up strangling them and the grassroots game in those towns.