Always give championship teams home advantage

[The storm]

We have seen with whitehaven and barrow that home advantage is a tremendously positive thing

Lets introduce this permanantly to the challenge cup even at semi final stage

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Just now, Saint 1 said:

I'd say not semi finals as it would take away from trying to sell big neutral venues. But other than that, I like the idea that League 1/Championship teams are guaranteed home advantage in a game against a team in a higher league. 

I agree.  I think I am right in saying that this is a practice which has traditionally been a feature of La Coupe de France Lord Derby

[Jughead]

The opening round of the DFB Pokal, the German FA Cup, where even giants like Bayern Munich are in the hat, has the first round seeded so that the lower ranked sides are drawn at home. There’s some big scorelines sometimes but that’s not something they’re afraid of. 

It works quite well there and I can see calls for Super League clubs being drawn away in their first fixture in the competition but that doesn’t really solve the ongoing issue of attendances, once the lower league clubs are out, the same problems with attendances will continue. 

[Chris22]

I'm usually not in favour of things like this, but would be here. In effect, it's a form of seeding.

Gives lower league clubs a boost, avoids pitifully lower crowds at Super League grounds.

Makes sense!

[tec]

That’s a good idea and I’m sure the fans of SL clubs wouldn’t to be bothered having a trip out to a different ground now and then.

[Saint Toppy]

59 minutes ago, The storm said:

We have seen with whitehaven and barrow that home advantage is a tremendously positive thing

Lets introduce this permanantly to the challenge cup even at semi final stage

Absolutely not - why do people keep coming up with these stupid gimmicks that give preference to one team over another.

Its like the people on here calling for protection for french team from relegation just because they're french, or calling for protection from relegation for any newly promoted team just because they're new to that league.

What the hell is wrong with just playing under 1 set of rules thats the same for every team instead of artificially manipulating things.

If you drawn out of the bag first you get the home tie - simple, same for everybody !!

If you finish bottom of the league, you get relegated - simple, same for everybody !!

[FearTheVee]

I actually think this is a good idea, would be in favour

[gingerjon]

21 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

Absolutely not - why do people keep coming up with these stupid gimmicks that give preference to one team over another.

Like delaying a club's entry into the main draw until the Round of 16?

[Just Browny]

I'm not a big fan of this as I think you would soon lose the novelty this is set up to produce. The Whitehaven and Barrow games were good precisely because they don't happen very often.

I'd be much more warmly disposed towards the SL clubs entering a round earlier: risks the same issue but feels less forced.

[Jughead]

3 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

I'm not a big fan of this as I think you would soon lose the novelty this is set up to produce. The Whitehaven and Barrow games were good precisely because they don't happen very often.

I'd be much more warmly disposed towards the SL clubs entering a round earlier: risks the same issue but feels less forced.

This is the thing, I think the novelty would wear off knowing that each year you were guaranteed an away game at a lower league club. 

[Wirral Warrior]

Fully agree. The gulf between SL and lower Leagues is arguably getting wider and so guarenteed home advantage would help re-balance. One of finest away Challenge Cup games was Wigan away to Barrow . It was a fantastic atmosphere and a relatively close game until late on.

[Saint Toppy]

1 hour ago, Just Browny said:

I'm not a big fan of this as I think you would soon lose the novelty this is set up to produce. The Whitehaven and Barrow games were good precisely because they don't happen very often.

I'd be much more warmly disposed towards the SL clubs entering a round earlier: risks the same issue but feels less forced.

I agree, i'd rather the SL teams enter at the last 32 stage not the last 16 stage and then lose one of the rounds of 'loop' fixtures or change the play-off's format to have 1 less round of games (maybe league leaders go straight into the GF with 2 & 3 play-off only for the other spot).

[Number 16]

Didn't/don't the French do this for the Lord Derby Cup?

[Leyther_Matt]

1 hour ago, Just Browny said:

I'm not a big fan of this as I think you would soon lose the novelty this is set up to produce. The Whitehaven and Barrow games were good precisely because they don't happen very often.

I'd be much more warmly disposed towards the SL clubs entering a round earlier: risks the same issue but feels less forced.

 

1 hour ago, Jughead said:

This is the thing, I think the novelty would wear off knowing that each year you were guaranteed an away game at a lower league club. 

Completely agree with both points.

 

*puts tin hat on*

I'd apply the same logic to the forced drama of a Grand Final artificially taking a title race to the final day rather than letting it happen organically, but that's another topic for another time!

[Tommygilf]

Could this still allow for all SL games to be drawn?

[idrewthehaggis]

Just go the whole hog.

Have the team drawn - who came lowest in the previous season - always home first. from SL downwards.

Rationale would make it more competitive and would ensure inclusivity for all clubs in this competition. 

Have all gate receipts divided equally.

So Cas v say Saints would at Wheeldon Road and so on.

I would still have SL clubs entered at the last 16.

Edited March 28 by idrewthehaggis

[Scubby]

14 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Could this still allow for all SL games to be drawn?

Yes, I think the poster's logic would be SL clubs coming in a round earlier so there would be more SL v Champ/L1 games but also the possibility of a SLvSL clash. If home and away club are from same division then draw stands.

Suppose this could also work for London Skolars drawing Bradford too?

[Tommygilf]

8 minutes ago, Scubby said:

Yes, I think the poster's logic would be SL clubs coming in a round earlier so there would be more SL v Champ/L1 games but also the possibility of a SLvSL clash. If home and away club are from same division then draw stands.

Suppose this could also work for London Skolars drawing Bradford too?

I see. So any Super League team drawn first would be made the away team. Not sure how or why to do that with lower division clubs anyway.

[Saint Toppy]

35 minutes ago, idrewthehaggis said:

Just go the whole hog.

Have the team drawn - who came lowest in the previous season - always home first. from SL downwards.

Rationale would make it more competitive and would ensure inclusivity for all clubs in this competition. 

Have all gate receipts divided equally.

So Cas v say Saints would at Wheeldon Road and so on.

I would still have SL clubs entered at the last 16.

 seen it all now - Congratulations, surely nobody can come up with a more stupid idea than this one (although with Rimmer in charge there's always a slight chance).

Why the hell would you want any sort of system that penalises a team for playing well and having a good season and rewards a team for playing poorly and having a bad season ???

BTW Gate receipts are already divided in the CC. The RFL take the money and divide it up between the teams playing. The only financial advantage for the home team is in-ground takings such as bar, food etc. (unless your rent boys like certain clubs wherin the landlord takes all those takings)

  

[barnyia]

4 hours ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

I agree.  I think I am right in saying that this is a practice which has traditionally been a feature of La Coupe de France Lord Derby

Yes they do this in France up to the semi finals, 

[idrewthehaggis]

"Rent boys." Lovely turn of phrase Saint.

 

My own vaguely sarcastic post was lost on you, as perhaps so is the rest of the modern era I fear.

The cup does not need such gimmicks, it needs excitement created by a greater diversity of winners, And it needs higher attendances that would come from that.

But hey go ahead.

 

Edited March 28 by idrewthehaggis

[JohnM]

Given the antipathy to the way SL clubs are advantaged, why not turn the whole thing upside down. Make the preliminary rounds for SuperLeague only, until only one is left. Then have the Cup proper, with all other clubs in, plus the one surviving SuperLeague club, with the final on the Red Rec with live coverage on Coronation Street and Emmerdale?

 

Alternatively, why not just leave it alone for a few years to see the effect that the enhanced promotion and coverage the Cup is getting across the BBC.

[bigbaldnmad]

4 hours ago, Saint Toppy said:

Absolutely not - why do people keep coming up with these stupid gimmicks that give preference to one team over another.

Like licensing and banning teams from running academy's

[Saint Toppy]

29 minutes ago, bigbaldnmad said:

Like licensing and banning teams from running academy's

I agree that the recent academy licences was an utter farce, should have just made it mandatory for all SL clubs to have an academy and then let any other club who wants to run one do so.

As for League licencing - Its not a bad system, its just that last time in SL it was administered by clowns with no fixed criteria and an ever changing set of goalposts. They turned it into a farce !!

 

[meast]

The biggest thing the sport needs to do to increase attendances at cup games is to make the cup more important, more appealing, especially to super league fans and fans of the elite clubs who only seem to care about the cup when they get to go to Wembley.

The cup has certainly lost its appeal, mainly due to lots of fans now brought up on Sky and their cup final rather than the proper one.

I was lucky and privileged to grow up and start watching RL when the challenge cup, heck even the regal trophy and to a lesser extent the county cups meant something, there was excitement around the draws, excitement building up to the games etc, most of my best memories and times in RL were around the cups, look back at some of the crowds these games attracted, Oldham v Huddersfield in 1995 for example, 9,000 at Watersheddings, with around 3,000 from Huddersfield, that game usually got 2/3,000 for a league game.

That will take time, so why not just have the SL sides coming in with 20 others who have won through and make it a open draw like it used to be and cap tickets at say £10 up until the semi finals?