Personally I think a total shake up of the system is required. I would dump the league format and go divisional, with cross divisional games to make up the numbers of games.

But with so much self interest in controlling the rules of SL, it will never happen and we will just get rules that benefit the majority.

No relegation benefits the majority, as does the salary cap, as does an expanded playoff structure.

The long term goal of increasing revenues across the league and expanding the league to take in a larger geographical area are negated.

Anyone suggesting expansion now, is just told we don't have the player depth. In a nation of nearly 65million we can't find 1000 pros to play RL.

Yet british cycling and rowing can take a man off the street (virtually) and make them gold medal winners. We are far to narrow in our recruitment for my liking and there must be 1000's of speedy people out there, who could be developed into wingers. 1000's of strong large build athletic types who could be turned into props. And 2nd rowers are a penny a dozen and could be picked up on street corners.

We choose to believe the myth that RL players are born and cannot be developed at a late stage. Personally I think it's twaddle and shows a lack of ambition. How many 100m runners where in the Olympics and how many pull down fantastic wages? How many RL clubs went out there to see if they could tempt a switch of codes?

The problem is that the team finishing top wouldn't have a game for three weeks

Aye. I liked the original 5-team system. A little complex, but rewarded finishing as high as possible in the league and produced big matches from week 1:

Week 1
1st gets week off
Qualifying semi: 2nd v 3rd
Elimination semi: 4th v 5th

Week 2
Qualifying final: 1st v winner of Qualifying semi (winner straight to GF)
2nd Elimination semi: Loser of Qualifying semi v Winner of Elimination semi

Week 3
Elimination final: Loser of Qualifying final v Winner of 2nd Elimination semi

Grand Final
Winner of Qualifying Final v Winner of Elimination Final

I hate the Club Call, think it's absolutely ridiculous. I much preferred it when only 6 teams made the play offs.

Club call will go soon. It was a fantastic idea by the RFL to be fair, adding the potential for some media hype and controversy. But the clubs have rejected the idea due to the potentially motivating factor not choosing the lowest rank brings.

But it would have been a great idea. Imagine if someone actually had the balls to pick their rival and clear them out pre-Old Trafford.

But he is hardly going to say its crap is he after making a life and career changing move to the NRL is he?

I think if you also listen to Aussie players who play or have played over here, they say (as Saints Fan says) that the bigger clubs in SL would be comfortably good enough to compete well in the NRL.
The same goes for what our returning players like Morley and Ellis say.

The problem is that the quality that applies to most of the NRL only applies to our top 4 or 6 - and currently excludes our team.

There have been 103 seasons of rugby league in Britain. In 71 of those seasons the winner of the top division was decided by a playoff.

He doesnt need to make things up, people with eyes and the right subscription can see the difference in quality. I'm quoting Mossop re the James Graham comment btw and I doubt he would give a friend looking for advice a bum steer.

I've spoken to Aussie players and coaches and I've been to fan forums at saints where this has been discussed and most of them say the same , we have [isome[/i quality players here and [isome[/i quality teams but we just dont have the overall quality to sustain the same intensity levels week on week that the NRL provides. Throw in SOO which then goes up a level in quality again.

The way the talent drain is taking shape here is going to lower the quality of the top teams too, as is already the case with Saints. Wigan are going that way , Leeds for all Hetherington's bluster will feel the pain soon enough when players want to chase the $ and more importantly want to prove themselves against the best, will he force players to stay (then they walk away for free) or take the Pollard route?

i apologise; I didn't realise that Graham and Mossop were friends.

Other than that, we seem to agree.

look at Saints over the last few weeks. Our modest opposition teams have had a sniff of blood because of our bad form and produced rugby good enough to beat us. If all teams have that extra bit of faith/confidence that they can win, then it means if a team turns up and has an off day, or don't prepare properly, they won't get away with it.

I see where your going but it sounds like a race to the bottom to me. Intensity should be created by teams adding quality not having it taken away

What I short f mean is that once a team gains a bit of extra confidence, anything can happen. Its happened to us because teams have seen we're weaker/crapper than usual. In the NRL, its perhaps happened over a more gradual time and because of different reasons (a fuller player pool), but I think it only takes a small shift in this to up the intensity level.