St Helens if you hear the sky team early in the season..

Pointing out your blatantly misleading and unsupported statements is "pedantry"?
I get worked up because we're left with a plethora of joke games with one inevitable game at the end of it. All so Sky can show a few more adverts.

There is no excitement, no intensity, no potential to get people interested in the sport.

Leeds have finished top and won a playoff game. How that puts them in a position where they could lose a freak game and miss the final is beyond me.

if the games are so predictable in the play offs then they must be predictable in the league so why do you watch such a predictable sport, as opposed to watching manu/chelsea win the premiership every season?

Where rugby union moves ahead of other sports is it shameless 'borrowing' of ideas.
Video ref, playoffs, sin bin....

Noone is saying we any of those things.

What people are saying is that 8 teams from 14 is too many, that the system is unfair, that there is no real advantage for finishing top, that it reduces the league season to a pre-season tournament, that the games are predictable and dull, and that the fans are obviously not interested.

leicester tigers are currently 3 in the premiership,and yet they have not scored a try this season.perhaps they need to pinch a few more ideas off us.

It's not just him though is it ? He may not be making his point very well but the facts are that 27% fewer (or >11,000 people) watched the 4 games than watched the corresponding league fixtures. That has to be a worry.

yes you brave little soldier you. fighting against the mighty rfl. well done. people disagreeing are just that people disagreeing.

what people are criticising is the usual hysteria

the new play offs has a certain logic behind it. i suspect a 16 team comp is one. im not sold on it yet but i have this bizaare idea of waiting longer then a couple of games to judge the bloody thing.

I have definately seen the opinion I noted with regards to the playoffs voiced on this very website.



I'm inclined to agree, but if you already know the results of the initial stages, what's the problem? How, therefore, can it be that ...



when everyone knows the rules in advance, and those teams finishing, say, 6th and down have no chance?



As our Welsh friend has noted, why would you watch the regular season matches then?

That's a big statement.
People didn't go to the playoff games last weekend because they don't like them.
Three in our household didn't go because they didn't have the money.
The idea for us is that we'll save and put the money towards a grand final or maybe even semi ticket.
I don't imagine we're alone.

In some ays that supports what he's saying, though - that there are too many playoff games this year.