I asked this on the VT and on Southstanders but might as well post it here to get the full house.

Say in theory Saints finish 1st, Leeds 2nd. Both win their qualifying play off and go through to the qualifying semis along with 2 other teams.

Could Saints choose to play Leeds thus denying Leeds home advantage in the hope of knocking them out before the final and leave the other two lower ranked teams to play each other?

If this is correct then if I were Saints that's what I'd do, much better chance of knocking us (Leeds) out at their home ground than in the final.

Up until now I didn't think finishing top was that much of an advantage.

Thats the thrux of it, if you dont pick your biggest rival/challenger it could bite you big time, who is going to pick the perceived worst team left in the comp? a very brave decision.

God knows. We aren't likely to finish top though with the run in we've got and the injuries.

I'm worryingly growing to agree with you Saddened! it sure as hell ain't gonna be easy now!

The two grey areas for me are

1) Can the top ranked side pick the second placed side should they both win.
2) Should the higher placed side lose to a lower placed side, and they meet again later in the play-offs, will home advantage be determined by the league position or who has come from the highest ranking tie?

First can only pick 3rd or 4th, not 2nd.

1st and 2nd get 2 chances, so they play week 1 but get week 2 off if they win, if they lose they'll keep home advantage. When 1st played 2nd in the last format, if 1st lost they stayed with home advantage the following week v's 3rd.

I'm pretty sure this is the case Dave.

Simple as that, nice one Elly cockle

Quote: MachineGunFunk "I'm pretty sure this is the case Dave.'" That's the way I understood it too. So Bilko's analysis is a load of old cobblers then. wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/in ... age_id=878

Quote: MachineGunFunk "I'm pretty sure this is the case Dave.'" That's the way I understood it too. So Bilko's analysis is a load of old cobblers then. wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/in ... age_id=878

Sums up the farce it is when people who have watched the game for decades dont understand the system !!

Yep.

Get back to the top 5 system.
It worked, it was understandable and it gave the team that finished top a decided advantage for all the "work" they had done in the season.

I still say bin it off all together and have it as a seperate less valued trophy comp just between the top two. Bring back the Stones Bitter Premiership!