FORUMS FORUMS



  
FORUMS > The Virtual Terrace > Restructure, What would you do?
62 posts in 5 pages 
<<   PREV  NEXT   >>
Subscribe | Moderators: Admin, Durham Giant , TimperleySaint
RankPostsTeam
Player Coach10399No
Team
Selected
JoinedServiceReputation
Jun 200519 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Jul 2016Jul 2016LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



A league of 13/14 is fine for me, with a limited quota of 5 overseas players.

Promotion/relegation of 1 up-1 down depending on the following
The winners of level 2 must pass a minimum standard in terms of facilities and infrastructure and they have the chance to turn down promotion.
if they do turn down promotion, then other clubs at level 2 will get the chance to apply for promotion.
If this happens, only in the case of no other teams applying (or non meeting the minimum criteria) shall the team finishing bottom of Superleague keep their top flight status.

A return to the top 5 playoff system is the key for me. This will feature only teams that are in with a reasonable chance of winning, it also favours the league finish more (to win, you have to beat every team that finished above you). The fewer number of team will also stop top clubs resting on their laurels, knowing they'll easily get into the 8.

I've been quite a fan of the DR system, to be honest. I think kids benefit from playing against physically mature opposition. I'd like to see this sort of thing continued. P&R may cock it up a bit, but the basis is sound imo.

RankPostsTeam
Player Coach3829
JoinedServiceReputation
Oct 200519 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Nov 2024Sep 2024LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



I would like to see a fourteen team top division, one up one down.

Have a top five play-off with the team finishing top straight to the G.F & that applies to the Championship also.

If the club who attains promotion gets into financial difficulties by either winning the Championship or attempting to stay in the top flight – unlucky.

RankPostsTeam
Player Coach13190No
Team
Selected
JoinedServiceReputation
Mar 200718 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Feb 2020Oct 2019LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



SL 1 - 12 teams

SL 2 - 12 teams

P&R for top and bottom clubs

More prestige for the team who finishes top (ie call them Champions, because they have been the best all season)

Top 5 play offs based on the old Aussie format

Winners to called Premiers

ie Huddersfield are the rightful champions and Wigan are the Premiers.

RankPostsTeam
Player Coach22777
JoinedServiceReputation
May 200619 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Jun 2020Feb 2018LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



Quote: rover49 "SL 1 - 12 teams

SL 2 - 12 teams

P&R for top and bottom clubs

More prestige for the team who finishes top (ie call them Champions, because they have been the best all season)

Top 5 play offs based on the old Aussie format

Winners to called Premiers

ie Huddersfield are the rightful champions and Wigan are the Premiers.'"

Who would bother going to watch the Final to name Wigan premiers? Who would have bothered going to watch 10 of the 14 teasm who were going to be neither champions nor relegated for about a third of the season? Who is going to watch SL2 that isnt going to watch the Championships now?

RankPostsTeam
Player Coach13190No
Team
Selected
JoinedServiceReputation
Mar 200718 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Feb 2020Oct 2019LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



Quote: SmokeyTA "Who would bother going to watch the Final to name Wigan premiers? Who would have bothered going to watch 10 of the 14 teasm who were going to be neither champions nor relegated for about a third of the season? Who is going to watch SL2 that isnt going to watch the Championships now?'"


It is my opinion that the top of the league team should be the champions, call me old fashioned, but a team that has performed as well as Huddersfield have this season deserve the accolade.

Would RL be any different to any other league that has P&R, the Premier League has games that are between teams 11 & 12 in March, having P&R is better than having a game between London & Wakefield as the bottom two the week before the play offs with no meaning, in fact a few seasons ago we had a Cas v Wakey game to decide relagation and it was (for a neutral) a great bit of entertainment.

Call the second tier what you want, but if the top 4 are in touch with each other with 6 weeks to go, knowing that a place in SL is beckoning, it would be a good for the game and would make good TV (I for one would watch them).

At the moment the bottom three or four have nothing to play for past christmas, at least P&R would change that.

I have remained consistant in my belief that P&R is the only fair way, even when my own club were stairing down the barrel. If your bottom, you deserve to go down and give someone else a chance.

RankPostsTeam
International Star1002No
Team
Selected
JoinedServiceReputation
Apr 201213 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Jun 2015Feb 2015LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



First thing I'd do is impose the following on the decision-making process: A club should have exactly the same number of votes at any RFL/whatever-new-structure meeting as it's previous year's average attendance. That way, we don't have clubs that don't know how to attract fans wielding the same influence as those that do. You want the voice of your club to have more influence? Better start turning up then. Wigan and Leeds currently 'represent' far more RL fans than say, Huddersfield, so decisions made at the RFL/SL/whatever affect more people supporting those clubs. Chairpeople might not listen to any fans, but if they do, it'll be the fans of their own team over those of any others, so at least there's some attempt at fairness in representation. If the Chairman of your own club is voting the wrong way in your opinion, you can attempt to tell him what you think.

RankPostsTeam
Player Coach22777
JoinedServiceReputation
May 200619 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Jun 2020Feb 2018LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



Quote: rover49 "It is my opinion that the top of the league team should be the champions, call me old fashioned, but a team that has performed as well as Huddersfield have this season deserve the accolade.'"
Its not old fashioned, for the majority of our games history our champions have been decided in a play-off.

Quote: rover49 "Would RL be any different to any other league that has P&R, the Premier League has games that are between teams 11 & 12 in March, having P&R is better than having a game between London & Wakefield as the bottom two the week before the play offs with no meaning, in fact a few seasons ago we had a Cas v Wakey game to decide relagation and it was (for a neutral) a great bit of entertainment.'"
Compare Wakefields attendance that season even including the stars aligning to create that game to this years. The PL has european qualification to keep relevance.

Quote: rover49 "Call the second tier what you want, but if the top 4 are in touch with each other with 6 weeks to go, knowing that a place in SL is beckoning, it would be a good for the game and would make good TV (I for one would watch them).'"
So why didn’t it?
Quote: rover49 "At the moment the bottom three or four have nothing to play for past christmas, at least P&R would change that.

I have remained consistant in my belief that P&R is the only fair way, even when my own club were stairing down the barrel. If your bottom, you deserve to go down and give someone else a chance.'"
That being the case why didn’t P+R solve the games problems? Why were the bottom SL teams still poorly attended (in many cases even more poorly attended than now), Why weren’t the championship clubs well attended? Why wasn’t the game more visible with P+R? Why weren’t TV companies falling over themselves to broadcast the championships?

Its not a question of will P+R work, or will the champions being decided by a league work. We know how it will turn out. We had it for years, we saw the problems it caused. Its why we changed it.

RankPostsTeam
International Chairman12792
JoinedServiceReputation
Mar 200223 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Oct 2020Oct 2020LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



Quote: rover49 " in fact a few seasons ago we had a Cas v Wakey game to decide relagation and it was (for a neutral) a great bit of entertainment.'"


Was it really? It was a match in which two sets of people were fighting for their ability to pay their mortgage for the next year, rather than the pinnacle of what this sport can offer.

It was "entertainment" in the same sense that watching Gary Barlow and Louis Walsh make teenagers cry on camera is "entertainment".

RankPostsTeam
International Board Member11032No
Team
Selected
JoinedServiceReputation
Feb 200322 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Jul 2020Mar 2019LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



Quote: bramleyrhino "Was it really? It was a match in which two sets of people were fighting for their ability to pay their mortgage for the next year, rather than the pinnacle of what this sport can offer.

It was "entertainment" in the same sense that watching Gary Barlow and Louis Walsh make teenagers cry on camera is "entertainment".'"


Correct, I'd rather watch Leeds vs Wigan for the 100th time in the season to decide 3rd and 4th on the last weekend of the regular season

Box office

RankPostsTeam
Club Owner1466No
Team
Selected
JoinedServiceReputation
Apr 200421 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Mar 2022Oct 2021LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



OK here I go...

Expand the Super League to 16 teams (Toulouse + best Championship club) with two leagues of 8 one up one down. Playoffs to include a maximum of the top half of the table (so 4 at the most).

Teams to play their own league home and away and the other league once, so 7x2+8=22. Have a pre-season tournament with small groups including the top championship teams. Super League starts in April/May.

No automatic promotion relegation between FT and PT leagues. A team can be put "on notice" if they continually under perform i.e. finishes in bottom 2 of SL2 for 3 years. Teams looking to gain promotion to super league in the event of a vacancy MUST meet strict criteria which they can asked to be reviewed for. This will replace the 4 years licencing cycle. The eventual aim would be to increase SL1 and SL2 to 10 team competitions once it was decided there were enough British players to support it.

Team academies are to be funded separate from the clubs to avoid teams cutting back on youth development. Associating them with universities would work similar to US sports. Would pave the way for a player development pool rather than individual teams youth development.

RankPostsTeam
International Star500No
Team
Selected
JoinedServiceReputation
Oct 201113 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Nov 2014Nov 2014LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



A 12 team SL competition. The top 5 qualify for the play-offs. 1 up 1 down promotion and relegation.

I may get called small-minded but I feel that we have to stick to our core area. Clubs like Barrow, Featherstone, Halifax, Leigh etc. must take precedence over London/Welsh sides. Let's get the basics right before we try the complexities. As has been mentioned, a named nationwide sponsor that invests financially must be found. If you look at the viewing figures from Sky, our game is not difficult to sell.

RankPostsTeam
International Chairman5010No
Team
Selected
JoinedServiceReputation
Mar 200223 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Dec 2022Dec 2022LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



Wrote this a while ago but still think it would be better than what we have now.

Its mainly based on comments about the lack of competitive nature of the leagues by those in high places coupled with comments about just how transparent the league is I wondered if using a similar format to Gary Hetheringtons old 8 team Division 2 is a way to drive up intensity and interest in divisions in all the leagues in the country.

Going off the current league placing's this would consist of.....

SUPER LEAGUE
============
Catalans
Huddersfield
Hull
Hull KR
Leeds
St Helens
Warrington
Wigan

DIVISION 1
============
Bradford
Castleford
Featherstone
London Bronco's
Salford
Sheffield
Wakefield
Widnes

DIVISION 2
=========
Batley
Dewsbury
Doncaster
Halifax
Leigh
Toulouse
Whitehaven
Workington

DIVISION 3
===========
Barrow
Hunslet
Keighley
North Wales
Oldham
Rochdale
Swinton
York

DIVISION 4
==========
Bramley
Coventry
Gateshead
Gloucester
Hemel
London Skolars
Oxford
South Wales

Obviously Division 4 is a unknown quantity and may alter to get suitable clubs in but all the other leagues see's clubs of equal ability throughout and at equal levels in those clubs current playing status which is something we are currently missing in all leagues with week to week
intensity in all divisions non existent.

League Set up........
Play each team home and away twice (gives you 28 league fixtures), 1 up (winner of Champions final , see below) , 1 down from each league each season (8th placed club), only requirement being minimum ground standards (which all clubs will have to work to on a rolling yearly basis from clear transparent guidelines that all can see on the RFL website), these standards increase with each league step up with each league having minimum ground criteria - the further up the league you go it will also be a requirement to run reserve / youth teams at various levels.

End of season Champions finals.......
Top 3 from each league enter a Champions Final which acts as follows........
1st Placed - Straight through to final
2nd & 3rd Placed - Play off to get to Champions final.

SL Champions Final at Old Trafford - Sunday 5.00pm

Div 1 Champions final at Warrington - Saturday Evening 6.30pm

Div 2 Champions final at Salford - Saturday afternoon 2.30pm

Div 3/4 Champions final at Leigh - Friday Evening (6pm & 8.15pm KO)

The reason all in North West is so you can get to all games over the weekend (a long weekend of RL) and all are modern state of the art RL grounds.

Additionals.......
Winner of SL League plays touring National Team(s)
Winner of League 1 & League 2 plays touring WCC team
Winner of League 3 & League 4 afforded respective league bye in next seasons CC.

Challenge Cup to be seeded , will become a midweek comp 'under the lights' for first rounds (unless clubs can fit in a weekend fixture), Division 4 and Division 3 clubs enter with remaining amateur clubs followed by Division 2 in next round with Division 1 and SL next round.

Northern Rail Cup.
Available to clubs in Division 2 to 4 only , Straight Knock out competition.
Finals day at Blackpool.

Of course with all of the above its hard to predict the finance split per each league (put bluntly I haven't a clue what it is) but I feel its time to have a real look from top to bottom and drive this sport further forward.

Of course the alternate is we just look after 6 or 7 clubs and eventually the pyramid will crumble (or worse) we will see our top clubs joining RU's bottom clubs in a Hybrid RU/RL type comp for SKY.

RankPostsTeam
International Chairman122No
Team
Selected
JoinedServiceReputation
Feb 200223 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Feb 2017Jan 2017LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



My lads tell me I'm living in the past but here's my thoughts from the dark ages: the reason we had play offs was because there was one league of 32 teams, nobody played every other team home and away, so play offs by the top 4 then top 16 were the fairest way of determining the champions. This, incidently is how the NRL operate, and the NFL and other leagues across the world, so we either have a league set up of play each team home and away to determine champions or choose a system that could be set up in any number of different ways. Personally, I'd split into 2 leagues of 10 - could be east and west - decide how many game you want to play and tailor the fixtures to accomodate this (including the magic weekend) then top 4 in each league play off to decide that league's own champions - the 2 champion teams play off for grand final. It may not be for everybody but we should be looking to getting 20 competitive teams and such a set up can accomodate new clubs. Anyway I'll wait for the reaction now!

RankPostsTeam
International Star643No
Team
Selected
JoinedServiceReputation
Jun 201311 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
May 2014May 2014LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



Slightly off topic but a change I'd like to see to prevent clubs getting into financial difficulties is the RFL enforcing new laws that prevent directors/owners making non repayable, interest free loans to their own clubs. These loans are rife and create a false financial picture of a clubs finances and make it harder to attract new owners/benefactors to come in and buy them out. By all means allow them to make financial donations but these loans (Usually converted into new shares) are holding our game back because these people get in too deep and can't just step aside allowing new investers to come in with a fresh approach.

RankPostsTeam
Club Owner20966No
Team
Selected
JoinedServiceReputation
Aug 200321 years
OnlineLast PostLast Page
Jun 2015Feb 2015LINK
Milestone Posts
0
100
Milestone Years
0510 1520 2530
Location
Signature
TO BE FIXED



Quote: Wirecutter "Slightly off topic but a change I'd like to see to prevent clubs getting into financial difficulties is the RFL enforcing new laws that prevent directors/owners making non repayable, interest free loans to their own clubs. These loans are rife and create a false financial picture of a clubs finances and make it harder to attract new owners/benefactors to come in and buy them out. By all means allow them to make financial donations but these loans (Usually converted into shares) are holding our game back because these people get in too deep and can't just step aside allowing new people to come in with a fresh approach.'"

There are differing scenarios that make your point valid, but also on shaky ground.

Reports are that OK at Bradford will get his Million back, but over a period of time, which essentially makes the job for the new owners even more difficult.

Flip over to London where conservative estimates put David Hughes investment as 9 million quid. If Mr Hughes believes he will ever see a penny of that cash back then he needs locking up and I personally believe he would be more than happy to flog the club for a fiver if he believed the new owners could offer the same level of support whilst getting the basics right.

Now flip back to the good Doctor at Salford. It remains to be seen how much and for how long he will plough cash into the club before he either starts to cut back or even worse, buggers off?

Now, flip over to Huddersfield. For many years Ken Davy has ploughed money into the club whilst trying everything to get the public to come and watch the team. This year, they won the hubcap and yet still the fans (and therefore the associated revenue needed to be self sufficient) can't be d.

Money men are a necessary evil in most sports.....they sometimes get it right, like the guys at Wigan, Wire, Leeds and Hull, but too many times the people at the helm can't afford to plough 500k a year (HKR) of their own cash into the clubs.........it nearly Killed OK at Bradford.

Not sure about how I would structure the league moving forward, but I would most definitely make the broadcast partner pay for the expansion teams if they insist on having one.....

62 posts in 5 pages 
<<   PREV  NEXT   >>
Subscribe | Moderators: Admin, Durham Giant , TimperleySaint
62 posts in 5 pages 
<<   PREV  NEXT   >>
Subscribe | Moderators: Admin, Durham Giant , TimperleySaint



All views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the RLFANS.COM or its subsites.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure that news stories, articles and images are correct, we cannot be held responsible for errors. However, if you feel any material on this website is copyrighted or incorrect in any way please contact us using the link at the top of the page so we can remove it or negotiate copyright permission.

RLFANS.COM, the owners of this website, is not responsible for the content of its sub-sites or posts, please email the author of this sub-site or post if you feel you find an article offensive or of a choice nature that you disagree with.

Copyright 1999 - 2024 RLFANS.COM

You must be 18+ to gamble, for more information and for help with gambling issues see https://www.begambleaware.org/.



Please Support RLFANS.COM


16.91748046875:10
RLFANS Recent Posts
FORUM
LAST
POST
TOPIC
POSTER
POSTS
5m
Ground Improvements
FIL
195
6m
Transfer Talk V5
Seth
512
23m
Fixtures
Moe Lester
9
28m
Shirt reveal coming soon
Khlav Kalash
2
36m
Salford
Smiffy27
59
57m
Salary Cap Changes Blocked - 11 votes to 1
NickyKiss
9
Recent
Film game
karetaker
5762
Recent
2025 Recruitment
Pyrah123
212
Recent
Opening Championship and League One Fixtures for 2025 Released
RLFANS News
1
FORUM
LAST
VIEW
TOPIC
POSTER
POSTS
37s
Transfer Talk V5
Seth
512
1m
Salford placed in special measures
poplar cats
111
1m
2025 Betfred Super League Fixtures
MjM
21
1m
Spirit of the Rhinos
chapylad
6
1m
Fixtures
Moe Lester
9
1m
Salford
Smiffy27
59
1m
Opening Championship and League One Fixtures for 2025 Released
RLFANS News
1
2m
Pre Season - 2025
Hullrealist
191
2m
Rumours and signings v9
Mark_P1973
28902
2m
Opening Championship and League One Fixtures for 2025 Released
RLFANS News
1
FORUM
NEW
TOPICS
TOPIC
POSTER
POSTS
TODAY
Shirt reveal coming soon
Khlav Kalash
2
TODAY
Opening Championship and League One Fixtures for 2025 Released
RLFANS News
1
TODAY
Getting a new side to gel
Bullseye
1
TODAY
Fixtures
Moe Lester
9
TODAY
Writers required
H.G.S.A
1
TODAY
2025 Fixtures
Jemmo
1
NEWS ITEMS
VIEWS