Following last night's game it occurs to me that a re-think of competition is required.

I appreciate scrapping the competition is a non-runner. National TV exposure etc. I would scrap it if it were my choice.

However games like last nights' at Leeds and Saints do the reputation of the competition no good. RL isn't like football weak sides simply cannot stop the opposition from scoring - there is a big difference between the size of the goal in soccer and the try line in RL. The gap between the SL sides and the rest is now so big these games are no longer competitive.

Judging by the crowds last night the paying public have also lost the appetite for these one-sided non-contests. The junior clubs no longer get the pay day they once did.

Castleford did show that the top sides in NL1 can be competitive and I do realise the romance of the cup for the the sides outside of SL.

I suggest the following:

The SL clubs enter the compeition at the last 16 stage - this will leave 4 place availble for the top sides in NL1 such as Castleford. The competition should then be able to provide TV with 2 good games per round.

This Mickey Mouse competition shouldn't be allowed to interfere with Super League and delay the weekly rounds. Either play it in it's entirety as a pre-season competition, or scrap it altogether.

I agree with that.

For me it lost it's magic when it became little more than a pre-season competition.

People within the game whinge and moan about the length of the Super League season. We now kick off Super League more than a month before the NRL season kicks off, and the Super League season still finishes 2 weeks after the NRL season is completed. Whinges then follow about lack of time for international preparation when GB get their @rses handed to them. The main reason for this is the intrusion of the Mickey Mouse Cup which extends the Super League season beyond reasonable bounds.

Not only that, the Mickey Mouse Cup affects results in Super League at a crucial stage in August. Clubs still in the competition by the Semi Final stage usually lose concentration and form in Super League games they wouldn't normally lose because they are focusing upon the Mickey Mouse Cup at the wrong time of the year. It turns Super League into a joke at that time of the year.

Like I said earlier, either restructure the MM Cup as a pre-season comp or scrap it completely. Attendances for MM Cup games are also likely to be higher if it was a pre-season competition because supporters are desperately wanting to get over their withdrawal symptoms from the off-season.

Youve got to admit it he`s right

I'd also hazard a guess at Leeds V Workington pulling in an attendance closer to 10K rather than the meagre 3K who turned up last night, if it had begun as a pre-season comp.

From a persepctive of a super league team these easy challenge cup fixtures are a nuisance. However, try telling Wrokington players that these games are a waste of time. Even after a thrashing like they received they still all enjoyed the experience. Workington players were having thier photographs taken in front of the S/S after the a game. I believe we should remain with the CC as it is to allow these lesser teams to enjoy their "wembley"

Not at the expense of the elite level of the game and the reputation of the competition.

I agree with AP if you are going to have the CC - I am still against it - run it every week through Feb and March. SL to start Easter week-end.

Not quite on the subject but another thing that lets Super League down is the 2 rounds at Easter. I don't agree with that either. But SKY are to blame for that as they wanted that in the fixtures as part of the TV Deal.

Trouble is.. if you dance with the devil... he gets to pick the tune (and he leads )

If you lot think c cup is a waiste of time try playing in the ariva cup you have to play 6 matchs in before it gets to the knock out stages and there is plenty teams who score 50 or 60 point in them in games to

and lets face it, it was smiths choice to put out a first team when he could have played the u21's along with half a dozen senior fringe players and still won easily

Unfortunately the Under 21's game didn't get called off until after the 20-man squad had been named.

Like Saints did last year, obviously?

Yep.

Catalans Dragons 26 St Helens 22

Nuff said.