Fortunes rise and fortunes fall. It wasn't that long ago that Joyce and Backhouse looked set fair for promotion to SG2. Now, if this list is to be believed, they don't even get an interview for it.
The powers that be clearly want Bobby Madley back at the top of English refereeing so I have little doubt he will progress and no doubt up to SG1 at the end of this next season. Whether he should or not is another matter but once the decision has been made to rehabilitate offenders then promotion should be decided on ability alone. No doubt the fans of Newport would have a view ! I suspect Hicks will join him and then it depends on how many places there are to fill.
Gillett and Harrington seem to be regarded as the best of the current crop of SG2 so may well make a move up. However, I believe the powers that be clearly see a glittering future for Brooks and Salisbury and so they cannot be discounted.
I guess position on the Merit Table determines whether one is called for interview. Or it jolly well should be. Then of course the process becomes far more subjective. It is not unknown, in many professions, if a marking grid is employed by an interview panel, that whom they want to promote come out of the interview process with the best marks. Whatever systems are put in place it is nigh impossible to discount the power of patronage.