Gerrumonside ref Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 I think Damien made an interesting point about spreading the financial risk (and by definition the joy) by having multiple trophies and events rather than just major emphasis on the Super League Grand Final (I say this as someone who attended the first Grand Final as neutral and have been there on numerous occasions and enjoyed it mainly). I don’t think it’s just a case of reminiscing for the past, but an understanding that for many fans the current setup offers few hopes of making a final and/or winning it. The comparison to football in the U.K. and its multitude of Cup competitions per season shouldn’t be dismissed too quickly as I think it is part of the sport’s appeal. Worth remembering too that Rugby League has some rather magnificent looking trophies gathering dust that could possibly be battled for again. Maybe a solution is to cut the league loop fixtures and reintroduce other competitions with a final at somewhere special. (Apologies if this is too much thread drift) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita Bath Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 I always saw play offs being used to decide champions in cases where fixtures were ‘uneven’ , that is where teams did not play all other teams ( or did not play all other teams home and away). As a result the final league table is not necessarily a fair reflection of teams true standing. I tend to think leagues that use end of season play offs to determine champions reduce the regular season to simply a qualifying competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobrock Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 22 hours ago, Anita Bath said: I tend to think leagues that use end of season play offs to determine champions reduce the regular season to simply a qualifying competition. That's why, for example, there's nothing like the Leader's Shield in the NBA. The team with the best record is rewarded only with the (virtual) home ground advantage in the final. If you keep considering the Leader's Shield as a trophy in itself, you'll never find the way to build a playoffs system that can please everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita Bath Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 1 hour ago, bobrock said: That's why, for example, there's nothing like the Leader's Shield in the NBA. The team with the best record is rewarded only with the (virtual) home ground advantage in the final. If you keep considering the Leader's Shield as a trophy in itself, you'll never find the way to build a playoffs system that can please everyone. And of course there isnt a league to lead in the NBA and other north american sports, They are organised into conferences and divisions with no combined standings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sports Prophet Posted January 19, 2022 Author Share Posted January 19, 2022 On 19/01/2022 at 03:38, Anita Bath said: I tend to think leagues that use end of season play offs to determine champions reduce the regular season to simply a qualifying competition. Me too. I think the RFL owes a duty to itself and the integrity of its finals system to do a much better job of promoting finals football as the month to be missed fixtures they should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT RL Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 One final match = The Grand Final. Between the winner of the Challenge Cup v the winner the league. No play offs .. one match to determine the team of the year. Cup team v League team. Full house at Old Trafford guaranteed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sports Prophet Posted January 19, 2022 Author Share Posted January 19, 2022 1 hour ago, JT RL said: One final match = The Grand Final. Between the winner of the Challenge Cup v the winner the league. No play offs .. one match to determine the team of the year. Cup team v League team. Full house at Old Trafford guaranteed Thought of that myself. Of course if they are the same team then the game can’t be played and you lose the biggest club RL event of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 1 hour ago, JT RL said: One final match = The Grand Final. Between the winner of the Challenge Cup v the winner the league. No play offs .. one match to determine the team of the year. Cup team v League team. Full house at Old Trafford guaranteed No but it would be a good preseason match. Make it a charity event like the football. Super League winners v Challenge Cup winners or runner up. So St. Helens v Castleford. Stick it on Channel 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT RL Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Soccer is a different game, difference market. No comparison. The reality is that SL play offs are actually just a knock out cup to decide who plays the winner of the league (effectively). But, crowds are dipping for this cup competition (another Wigan v Hull game on Thursday night anyone ?). The play offs do not capture the imagination. They are the tag on to a long season - fans biding their time to see if they can be bothered to buy a ticket. However the CC has history, passion and supporters are drawn in … it,s a massive day out. A big statement about the team and club. Add in the right for the winner to have another big day out … boom. Plus, it would mean that the winning club’s fans, sponsors and followers could be engaged (buy tickets etc) months before the game. If a club had won the cup & league … the runner up of the league has the opportunity to compete. How much drama and interest would that scenario generate.. Full house at Old Trafford …. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sports Prophet Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 The top of the table at the end of the regular season is not guaranteed a spot in the GF though @JT RL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT RL Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 Yes. Top of the league plays cup winner. there are no league play offs the knock out team of the year is the CC winners the consistent team of the year wins the league Everything to play for … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liverpool Rover Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 I do think that the top 5 system is the best. I like the idea of one team being eliminated each week and that each team has to beat all the teams that finished above them. The drawback is the high chance of repeat games and that the top team only plays one game in the three weeks before the GF but I don't think that was a real issue from what I remember and the repeat games are outweighed by the positives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Stottle Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 On 17/01/2022 at 08:16, Tommygilf said: Even in a 12 team league I don't think that is particularly true. The 5 Teams in positions 6 to 10 (11th if the relegation fight is a non contest like last year) means that nearly half the League are out of it mathematically with rounds to spare. Reducing to 12 was supposed to be about tighter contests. 1st, 2nd, & 3rd shouldn't really be that much better than 5th - 8th. We shouldn't be worried about that too much. Please correct me if I am wrong Tommy, but seeing that you are an advocate of Ring fencing a couple of club's from relegation, won't that throw the league into more of a complication especially if one of those club's finishes bottom and another team is unfairly relegated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Frisky Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 1 hour ago, Harry Stottle said: Please correct me if I am wrong Tommy, but seeing that you are an advocate of Ring fencing a couple of club's from relegation, won't that throw the league into more of a complication especially if one of those club's finishes bottom and another team is unfairly relegated? Please correct him Tommy.... Please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommygilf Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 1 hour ago, Harry Stottle said: Please correct me if I am wrong Tommy, but seeing that you are an advocate of Ring fencing a couple of club's from relegation, won't that throw the league into more of a complication especially if one of those club's finishes bottom and another team is unfairly relegated? I think most people could understand the worst English team being relegated from a League Harry. Not sure what relevance it has as a discussion point to the post you quoted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommygilf Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 12 hours ago, Liverpool Rover said: I do think that the top 5 system is the best. I like the idea of one team being eliminated each week and that each team has to beat all the teams that finished above them. The drawback is the high chance of repeat games and that the top team only plays one game in the three weeks before the GF but I don't think that was a real issue from what I remember and the repeat games are outweighed by the positives. The thing is, I see all that, it has excellent merits, but I just find top 5 a bit overcomplicated as a system tbh. I do think that overcomplication is reflected in it being potentially a bit disjointed for fans of the clubs involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smudger06 Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 If there was something like the Yorkshire League & the Lancashire League like back in the day then clearly their would be a purpose for a Grand Final, even if there was cross over fixtures and what not.....like there is a purpose for the Super bowl between the NFC & the AFC as it is there isn't a great purpose for any of it, we just robbed Peter (CC) to pay Paul (GF) now people can't be bothered going to London when they can just nip to OT for a big final. But the CC is on FTA....GF should be on FTA TV to get a win out of this messed up situation...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liverpool Rover Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 On 22/01/2022 at 12:23, Tommygilf said: The thing is, I see all that, it has excellent merits, but I just find top 5 a bit overcomplicated as a system tbh. I do think that overcomplication is reflected in it being potentially a bit disjointed for fans of the clubs involved. I don't think it is complicated as it looks but casual sports fans would take one look and think it is completely unfathomable so the format we have now is probably the best one. One thing that I think we should try is having two weeks between the semi finals and the Grand Final. Two weeks would mean that the GF is really hyped, especially when we get to GF week plus it will give the teams a rest after what is a long season and will be fresh for the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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