Wembley Final

[jamescolin]

There has been quite a few comments about the crowd at the Final. In order to improve the numbers why don't we have a separate  RL Cup Final between the winners of a competition that is for the Championship and League One?  It could be played as a curtain raiser and have a new trophy for them to win. We could call it the CALOT 'Championship and League One Trophy'. It would certainly improve the gate numbers and give us something to play for.  At the moment we, the non SL members, have no chance, but with a competition like this it would be a great innovation.  

[spanishknight]

A few years back there was a plate competition, Hull K.R. played Hunslet at Wembley as a curtain raiser, something along the same lines would be good.

[hrtbps]

A cup competition running parallel to the Challenge Cup - a little like the FA Trophy or FA Vase in football - for teams outside of the SL would be an interesting prospect. 

[haskey]

AS long as the schools final is not pushed out.

[gazza77]

A competiton for the lower two divisions could be good. I wonder if Northern Rail would consider sponsoring it? 

[The Phantom Horseman]

Struggling with the logistics of this...either you have to exclude Championshiop/League One teams (and thus presumably amateur clubs too) from the Challenge Cup and run it as a 12-team competition, which surely sucks the life out of it...or you somehow have to find at least four extra weekends to play this new competition in what is already a crowded schedule.

[jamescolin]

 The semis of the competition also could be curtain raIsers.  Good money for the non SL clubs. Increased crowds all way round 

[jamescolin]

A lot will be instead of existing games if the current position is changed. The new competition would play each other as they do now and not join in with the SL clubs when they start. You could  have a more exciting SL with big clubs facing each other earlier than now. All subject to variation but better than the present system of lower Wembley gates and a no hoper for smaller clubs.

[The Phantom Horseman]

2 minutes ago, jamescolin said:

A lot will be instead of existing games if the current position is changed. The new competition would play each other as they do now and not join in with the SL clubs when they start. You could  have a more exciting SL with big clubs facing each other earlier than now.

So you're reducing the Challenge Cup to a 12-team competition, and removing the possibility of games like Fev v Cas from 2012, which was arguably our biggest moment in the last 20 years?

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

1 hour ago, spanishknight said:

A few years back there was a plate competition, Hull K.R. played Hunslet at Wembley as a curtain raiser, something along the same lines would be good.

1997. HKR beat Hunslet in the final 60odd 14 or so. Think it was contested by the lower league teams knocked out in the round the SL teams came in to the CC? Only ran one year.

[jamescolin]

39 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

So you're reducing the Challenge Cup to a 12-team competition, and removing the possibility of games like Fev v Cas from 2012, which was arguably our biggest moment in the last 20 years?

Plenty of variations on the theme. You could introduce the top 4 clubs in the Championship at that time into the SL competition or you could exclude the top four SL club from their first round, That would mean there are 8 clubs in the second round. As for playing Cas what are the chances of drawing them? On this scheme you could progress and play at Wembley. Probably better odds than drawing Cas and losing anyway.  

[saddleworth]

Why all this fuss and bewilderment?. The round ball followers have far more many clubs to handle than us and everything appears to be organised and in place for their competitions.

[jamescolin]

On ‎8‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 2:36 PM, jamescolin said:

There has been quite a few comments about the crowd at the Final. In order to improve the numbers why don't we have a separate  RL Cup Final between the winners of a competition that is for the Championship and League One?  It could be played as a curtain raiser and have a new trophy for them to win. We could call it the CALOT 'Championship and League One Trophy'. It would certainly improve the gate numbers and give us something to play for.  At the moment we, the non SL members, have no chance, but with a competition like this it would be a great innovation.  

Here it is found it. Suddenly it has become a new idea from somebody else. 

[fevtom]

Sorry if i've missed this but have they said what would happen if a team made the final of both? Unlikely but not impossible for Toronto or Toulouse (or even Fev with a good draw and the wind in the right direction.)

The only thing I can think of is once said team makes the Challenge Cup Final they exit the other cup and the team that would've/did play them in the semi final of the new cup would be given a bye into the final.

[wayne_r]

I don't know how many supporters outside of super league go to the Challenge Cup final - I stopped going a good few years back, I guess even when it was one division cup finalists usually came from half a dozen teams (Widnes, Warrington, Leeds, Wigan, Hull, Hull KR) with the Castleford and Featherstone making the final also.

But some how there was always the chance that a team lower down the division could make it to Wembley - but now in the age of super league it just seems to me a much more difficult task especially with seeding being used so top 8 (?) of super league join at the later rounds...……...

Also having the competition for those teams outside super league is an admission by the RFL that the gap is so large now that its unlikely and team outside super league can make the Challenge Cup final...…….and of course as I have said before how long will this cup run for ……...before th RFL change tack

[The Grinder]

Just speculation on my part, but I would suggest that this new comp has come about because of the fact that we are 3 games short from the last few years and the Championship chair people have been asking how this shortfall can be made up. In that the last few years we have played 23 league games plus 7 during the middle 8s (30 games in total), whereas this coming season we will have 27 games including Summer Bash".

Assuming there are going to be 26 teams in the Championship and League 1 this will mean 4 rounds plus the final at Wembley (20 teams in round 1 (this could be 32 teams if 6 armature teams are invited), 16 in round 2, 8 in round 3 [QF] and 4 in round 4 [SF]).

Therefore this means that we have to find one extra weekend compared to last year which could be done by starting the regular season 1 week earlier), though they could put the SF on a league fixture weekend. The later I guess is more likely given that we have announced the friendly against Leeds on the 27th January.

Therefore though there may be a bit of the RFL looking to fill Wembley by getting some of the Championship/League 1 supporters more interested by the second final, I suspect that there has been a bigger push by the championship sides to get more fixtures to cover the short fall in fixtures from last last year.

[oldrover]

here's an idea. leave well alone.