Unhygienic make it simple when you can completely screw it up time after time. Most sports now want focal point games like playoff finals, i’m amazed how most sports managed before these changes to the American way.

Depends. Clubs getting ten times the funding of other clubs hasn't done much for Division Two, has it ?

A modest reward for success, yes. Drowning them in cash, no.

Remind me when these play-off thingies started in Rugby League*.

1906, was it ?

*When I say Rugby League, I mean Northern Union, obviously.

Fax finished top in 1906-07, and then went on to beat Keighley in the playoff semi-final and Oldham in the final. The playoffs continued in this fashion until 1961-62.

Somewhat bizarrely, clubs played a differing number of games back then, with the league position being decided by the percentage of games won!

I may be getting on a little and have watched Fax since the early sixties but missed out on that great season of 1906/7. My (failing) memory seems to think the playoffs were devised to find the champions in a league where not all teams played each other. The clubs in Yorkshire played each other and the teams over in the dark side the same. Apart of course from Fax who often were sent by the RFL to travel across the Pennines to make up the numbers and thrash the non believers.

Apart from the number of clubs being too big, back in 1906, there was still a big problem getting there. Players often working Setdy mornings still and travel was generally by train rather than aircon team chara. Different world back then.

Eventually, the league settled on 34 games apiece but they still insisted on playing the same 17 teams twice and the other 12 not at all. And, of course, still a huge bias towards regionalisation until 1962.