There will be no play-off and it will be automatic relegation for the team finishing bottom. This means it will now be virtually a straight fight between the Bulldogs and Dewsbury Rams with Batley having seven points more than their neighbours with five games remaining. One win could be enough to ensure the Mount Pleasant side’s safety and they are hoping to go much better than that.

Meanwhile Sunday’s visitors, Celtic Crusaders, have been celebrating the fact they will be admitted to Super League next season along with Salford.

Two clubs going up from Division One and one going down means three will be promoted from Division Two, two of them automatically and the third following a play-off between the next five teams in the table, which obviously means someone can finish seventh out of 12 in the Second Division, with more defeats than victories, and still be promoted.

There are also plans to include a French team in the First Division in around two years time and one from another area the year after.

Clubs in the National League will have a prize fund of £200,000 next season with £100,000 going to the winners of the First Division play-off but with no promotion.