New team in the GF

[Chris22]

I generally don't like the play offs deciding the title as it makes even the biggest matches in the regular season less important. When Saints lose, even to Catalans at Magic, I wasn't that bothered and that's not how it should be.

But, without the play offs, most teams have little to play for. Whilst I don't like a race to the bottom, there must be a balance. A fptp system works well in the Premier League as there is a meaningful reward for a top 4 finish.

We could reintroduce an end of season Premiership style competition so there is more to play for, but I'm not sure we would get buy in from the fans (though you could say the same about play offs).

[Gerrumonside ref]

25 minutes ago, Eddie said:

I’ve only been to three GFs but I’ve never seen any trouble, a few ###### people (me included) but all good natured. Maybe I’ve just been lucky though. 

I’m not really talking about trouble in terms of fighting or anything approaching that, just general behaviour that I wouldn’t describe as good natured due to not being to handle an all day drinking session.

I’ve seen it happen at the Challenge Cup Final and Magic too, but obviously rugby league generally has a good reputation.

Not sure what the solution is, but I know a couple of families personally that wouldn’t go back to the Grand Final as a family no matter how good the tickets after bad experiences with some drunken fans.  

Like I’ve said I enjoy unwinding with a drink at the game too, want to keep it’s atmosphere and accessibility.  Groups are the lifeblood of atmosphere and in the past I’ve enjoyed going with my mates too when younger.  I’m just sparing a thought for those who want to enjoy it too but don’t. 

 

[Dunbar]

4 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

I’m not really talking about trouble in terms of fighting or anything approaching that, just general behaviour that I wouldn’t describe as good natured due to not being to handle an all day drinking session.

I’ve seen it happen at the Challenge Cup Final and Magic too, but obviously rugby league generally has a good reputation.

Not sure what the solution is, but I know a couple of families personally that wouldn’t go back to the Grand Final as a family no matter how good the tickets after bad experiences with some drunken fans.  

Like I’ve said I enjoy unwinding with a drink at the game too, want to keep it’s atmosphere and accessibility.  Groups are the lifeblood of atmosphere and in the past I’ve enjoyed going with my mates too when younger.  I’m just sparing a thought for those who want to enjoy it too but don’t. 

 

Have to say I agree with this.  Had a great evening at a Grand Final when my wife and I were surrounded by some wonderful Bradford fans and also had a few poor experiences with loads of drunken idiots around.

It's luck of the draw of course how much you see but I wouldn't take my family to a Grand final but I would to Wembley as the daytime kickoff is a better atmosphere for a family.

[Whippet13]

Scrap the Grand Final and Sky will knock another couple of million off their next TV offer. It's a historical RL institution, provides a great ending to the SL season and is rarely a poor game. Thankfully the people running the game realise this. The constant tinkering with the playoff system does slightly irritate me though, the original SL top 5 was the best for me.

[redjonn]

Its good to see a different club will be in the GF.

As we seem to get obsessive about the so called same clubs and what that means for the competition in SL lets not forget that in the last 9 years we have had 7 different clubs top the league = all be it of secondary importance it should say something postive about healthy competition.

[Gooleboy]

A big ask for Hull KR to turn over the Catalans in France, but all the best to them, I hope they do it.

[audois]

On 25/09/2021 at 14:07, JonM said:

Nice to see that the Perpignan public (unlike in the UK) wants to see play-off games though. Fewer than 500 remaining tickets for the game.

Jon - Historic 1st time a semi-final this side of Channel.The fourth time for the Dragons at this stage after 2009,2014,2020

Presume Bein Sport will cover it live too and wait with bated breath that L'Equipe show up. Fingers crossed