middle 8

[gingerjon]

Similar to the SL GF you mean ? , or the NRL GF ? , or lots of other sporting contests around the planet ?

 

There aren't many contests that have a league table then a single game play off for who's going to finish 4th.

[JonM]

Fax won't get anywhere near the million pound game. They are doing well but that's about it they won't beat Leigh.

 

I'm sure they won't be in the million pound game, but I do think they have the potential to cause an upset in a game. They were on an 8 or 9 match winning streak in the championship (including beating Bradford), then ran Widnes very close, with the result still in doubt with 5 minutes to go, then kept Hull KR close for 60 minutes.

 

You're right - Halifax will probably win 1 or maybe 2 games - but I still think the 8 teams are sufficiently closely matched that we'll get one or two unexpected results.

[thundergaz]

I'm sure they won't be in the million pound game, but I do think they have the potential to cause an upset in a game. They were on an 8 or 9 match winning streak in the championship (including beating Bradford), then ran Widnes very close, with the result still in doubt with 5 minutes to go, then kept Hull KR close for 60 minutes.

You're right - Halifax will probably win 1 or maybe 2 games - but I still think the 8 teams are sufficiently closely matched that we'll get one or two unexpected results.

You could be right but I'm not expecting any shocks maybe only the Bulls beating Leigh if that is a shock so to speak. I can't see a champ club beating a SL club even in the million pound game but I hope I'm wrong. As for fax they have a good defence but can't score points against better opposition as we've seen in their last 2 games.

[GaryO]

You could be right but I'm not expecting any shocks maybe only the Bulls beating Leigh if that is a shock so to speak. I can't see a champ club beating a SL club even in the million pound game but I hope I'm wrong. As for fax they have a good defence but can't score points against better opposition as we've seen in their last 2 games.

Perhaps Rowley and Marshall should put their heads together with Rowley passing over some attacking tips and Marshall telling him how to defend 

[Krytensmate]

There aren't many contests that have a league table then a single game play off for who's going to finish 4th.

True , although we do have several major football competitions where clubs have a league table and then a single game to see who finishes 3 rd

Obviously nothing like finishing 4 th

[Krytensmate]

Not that clever to set up a winner takes all, we used to have them every year to decide promotion

 

 

Don't be daft.

 

The similarity is with the NL1 grand finals.

 

Remember Leigh 32.v.Whitehaven 16 at Widnes - an 11,000 crowd which promoted Leigh to Superleague??

 

That year Castleford did not get away with losing 22 matches in SL shipping over 900 points in.

 

The only difference this year is will 11,000 turn up and will Wakefield be able to get away with it?

 

Nothing at all clever about the "Million pound" game, nonetheless I'll enjoy it immensely.

There is no need for a SL GF , other than creating interest for longer , similar to the MPG

[scotchy]

True , although we do have several major football competitions where clubs have a league table and then a single game to see who finishes 3 rd

Obviously nothing like finishing 4 th

which one?

[Lobbygobbler]

Even if no-one goes up, I still much prefer this system to one-up one-down, which effectively meant you only had one team going up in a one-off game for promotion. This systems allows a very good championship team to bypass the one-off game, and go straight up - also theoretically allows several teams to go up. Also it does give for championship teams at least 3 SL games each per year, which will gradually bring them up to speed

[Krytensmate]

Nul points says different.

Your results against Salford at the AJ Bell and HKR at the LSV were highly successful this year weren't they ?

[delboy]

Similar to the SL GF you mean ? , or the NRL GF ? , or lots of other sporting contests around the planet ?

 

 

Other contest have a knock out comp at the end of the regular season to see who plays who in the promotion play-off final. This system was designed primarily to get more bums on seats and to date, it has failed in that task. That said, the owners of Fax, Leigh and Bradford will have been delighted with the extra fans they got in round 1 and will hope to get a few more in the coming weeks.

If you're going to have a play-off then Wakefield v Leigh home and away would suffice. If you want P&R then Leigh up Wakey down would do it......but what we have here is a system that is stacked in favour of SL with the kicker that the Champ clubs will get some extra coin on the door.

[Krytensmate]

Other contest have a knock out comp at the end of the regular season to see who plays who in the promotion play-off final. This system was designed primarily to get more bums on seats and to date, it has failed in that task. That said, the owners of Fax, Leigh and Bradford will have been delighted with the extra fans they got in round 1 and will hope to get a few more in the coming weeks.

If you're going to have a play-off then Wakefield v Leigh home and away would suffice. If you want P&R then Leigh up Wakey down would do it......but what we have here is a system that is stacked in favour of SL with the kicker that the Champ clubs will get some extra coin on the door.

So why are the majority of the Championship fans posting they prefer this over automatic 1 up , 1 down ?

It seems to me the ones with the problem with ' it ' , aren't involved in ' it '

[delboy]

So why are the majority of the Championship fans posting they prefer this over automatic 1 up , 1 down ?

It seems to me the ones with the problem with ' it ' , aren't involved in ' it

 

Since Easter the Middle 8 fixtures that matter have been known. They are Wakefield v Bradford, Leigh v Wakefield and Leigh v Bradford. The outcomes of those 3 games will dictate the 2 teams that meet in the last game so basically Leigh v Bradford to see who plays Wakefield

 

Championship owners and fans will love this system, until it becomes clear that they've agreed to no promotion in return for a couple of visits from teams that bring more fans.

 

as for your comment:

 

It seems to me the ones with the problem with ' it ' , aren't involved in ' it

....the same can be said about licencing, which delivered bigger crowds & TV audiences!

[Doghead]

If Leigh lose to Wakefield on Saturday, then they know that they must beat Bradford to get another crack at them! If the Million Pound game wasn't there then defeat at the weekend would be the end of Leigh's season....I'd say the million pound game is quite a clever move by the RFL and I rarely have anything nice to say about them!

I would much rather see Leigh promoted because they finished in the top 3, than some concocted Million pound game, seems wrong to me that a team finishing 5th has the chance of promotion, rewarding failure is not the way.

[delboy]

rewarding failure is not the way.

...unless you're the RFL!

The RFL management will be lining up around the corner to accept the plaudits should this work, but if it fails there will be no consequence. They will continue to protect their own jobs first, attracting lots of little pay as you go sponsors and keeping an eye on SKY so they can sign another extension to the TV deal.

 

If you don't believe there are no consequences for failure, ask yourself who lot their job when Engage left and we couldn't find a paying sponsor until the current one came along with a deal which is directly linked to how many fans buy their power from them?

[The Parksider]

So why are the majority of the Championship fans posting they prefer this over automatic 1 up , 1 down ?

 

I don't know why 20 people are posting this, or if it's even 20.

 

I do know you can't use such a tiny sample to back that statement though.....

[The Parksider]

Licencing, which delivered bigger crowds & TV audiences!

 

The Superleague clubs actually delivered the crowds and the TV audiences.

 

If you want to believe that more people went to games because there was a licensing system then explain exactly how that happens.

 

I could say P & R delivered 9,833 record crowd 2007 so licensing wasn't the big crowd puller

[Krytensmate]

I don't know why 20 people are posting this, or if it's even 20.

 

I do know you can't use such a tiny sample to back that statement though.....

The majority on here of course , just as when others claim the opposite , it is just on here

Just 20/30 saddos tilting at windmills

[delboy]

The majority on here of course , just as when others claim the opposite , it is just on here

Just 20/30 saddos tilting at windmills

 

I resent the name calling, but as a new poster here, I'm not sure if that's normal so "whatever makes you feel better sunshine"....it still doesn't make you right!

 

As for the majority of fans......I've just posted elsewhere the actual attendances of the 18 comparable games from the first 2 rounds of S8 with the regular season crowds for the same fixtures and the S8 games are 21% down, so you're right, 79% is a majority, but 21% is a worry. 

 

The "groundswell' of support you claim there is for this new system is currently not backed up by either the fans in attendance, not the watching public either. Leigh fans have expected to be promoted this year and I doubt many will blame anything other than this system should it not work. They will argue that a one-off play-off between them and Wakey would have been fairer. So there's a few less of your claimed "majority".....but you clutch at straws.

[Krytensmate]

I resent the name calling, but as a new poster here, I'm not sure if that's normal so "whatever makes you feel better sunshine"....it still doesn't make you right!

 

As for the majority of fans......I've just posted elsewhere the actual attendances of the 18 comparable games from the first 2 rounds of S8 with the regular season crowds for the same fixtures and the S8 games are 21% down, so you're right, 79% is a majority, but 21% is a worry. 

 

The "groundswell' of support you claim there is for this new system is currently not backed up by either the fans in attendance, not the watching public either. Leigh fans have expected to be promoted this year and I doubt many will blame anything other than this system should it not work. They will argue that a one-off play-off between them and Wakey would have been fairer. So there's a few less of your claimed "majority".....but you clutch at straws.

Another ' mind reader '

[The Parksider]

I resent the name calling, but as a new poster here, I'm not sure if that's normal 

 

As for the majority of fans......I've just posted elsewhere the actual attendances of the 18 comparable games from the first 2 rounds of S8 with the regular season crowds for the same fixtures and the S8 games are 21% down

 

The "groundswell' of support you claim there is for this new system is currently not backed up 

 

Don't worry about the name calling it comes when they run out of decent arguments, I've had Troll, Moron and Barmy, just in the last week for just pointing out the facts.

 

But do take care with your figures. The Superleague average crowds for the same home and away directly comparable games rounds 1-23 showed little change in support for the game 2014-2015 

 

As carefully as I did that there was a myriad of nonsense thrown at them, but most people in the end accepted crowds had changed little under the new system. Summer and the play offs can be a dampener on crowds, last year the September play off crowds were appalling. There's a great argument about short notice as well, so putting out a...

 

"crowds down 21%" statement now, is a statistic that is a bit too dodgy for my liking.

 

As was the statement "Licencing.......delivered bigger crowds & TV audiences!"  As I say how can you link a league structure to.......

 

An extra 6,138 fans turning up for Superleague at Saints in 2012, or 1,620 extra Wakefield fans?

 

Did they all look at the new season that year and say "this licensing is a great thing, lets go watch Saints and Wakey"? 

 

Your argument is coming out like "Crowds are down 21% so lets go back to licensing which pulls in the fans"

[bamfordsbeans]

Although the RFL and the clubs tend to change structures of the leagues on a regular basis-I,m sure this system will be given a minimum of 3 years.

If things are not working out by the end of next season their will be a clamour for change. Despite a few loan voices on here most people I speak to seem to be in favour of the new system.

[LordCharles]

2 games in and the system is flawed and teams such as Leigh are not good enough? The first 40 against Hull KR they looked good enough, for periods of the game on Sunday they looked good enough. The next 5 games will tell us if they are not good enough and hopefully the players and coaching staff will have reflected and learned from things they could have perhaps done better in the opening 2 games. I expect the game on Saturday at the LSV to be very tight and cannot call it to be honest, but if they lose with 6pts I expect people will say they are not good enough, same as if they win with 6, people will say they are not good enough!

[The Parksider]

Although the RFL and the clubs tend to change structures of the leagues on a regular basis-I,m sure this system will be given a minimum of 3 years.

If things are not working out by the end of next season their will be a clamour for change. Despite a few loan voices on here most people I speak to seem to be in favour of the new system.

 

I am because it shakes everything up.

 

What it doesn't do though is make "every one a winner".

 

It's exciting on the pitch as the top SL clubs have stopped coasting

The bottom 4 SL clubs genuinely fought to stay in the eight

The top Championship clubs have really gone for the middle 8's and fought to avoid the shield or whatever that is that Featherstone disappeared into..

 

Good stuff, but NOT a crowd puller, maybe a crowd pleaser??

[LordCharles]

I think you have to consider the time of year these games have started, it is the peak of the holiday season so a better reflection as regards crowd pleasing or pulling or both is likely to be evident from

September onwards.

[Trojan]

. They will argue that a one-off play-off between them and Wakey would have been fairer. So there's a few less of your claimed "majority".....but you clutch at straws.

That's because it would gave been.  And Wakey wouldn't have been able to draft in a few better players just for the duration as they have done.  Fev were the best team in the Championship in 2010, 2011, and 2013 but didn't even have the chance at promotion. Now the world has moved on and it's Leigh's turn.  Are they to be foiled by an unfair system too?