"
Quote: [quote= "If one of your big beefs about the new system is that the RFL didn't live up to its promises/statements then I've got news for you, you're never going to like any system they introduce as they'll always make aims/claims they won't meet, even if you like personally like the new system.'"
I've enjoyed watching the evolution of the arguments put forward by the RFL Cheerleaders and Defenders of The Game in General. When the system was first proposed it was obvious to anyone with half a brain that 'jeopardy' would do the square root of sod all to drive crowds, that lower league clubs would be encouraged toward boom and bust, and the return of relegation would result in short-term panic decisions depressing standards.
But no, the RFL cheerleaders and Defenders of The Game in General, led ably by Field Marshal Printer told us
[i"this new system is brilliant, its a great idea, the structure will ensure more games have more meaning on them and this will keep fans interested and we will see attendances go up, it will mean investment and growth in the lower leagues and the threat of relegation will drive standards"[/i
Well Bradford and London have seen huge falls from being relegated and that hasn't been replaced with meaningful growth.
[i"well of course you can't include the falls we will see at Bradford and London that wouldn't be fair to include them in the comparison"
[/i
But fewer people watched an SL game in 2015 compared to 2014.
[i"well of course you can't compare 2014 to 2015, that's unfair. We should look at the new system on its own merits and against its own benchmarks"[/i
But we aren't meeting the benchmarks set by the RFL
[i
" Well of course we shouldn't judge the new systems failure to meet its own benchmarks, its only the first year, We should wait until 2016 and see the game grow then"[/i
But we still aren't growing
[i"well of course we haven't seen growth from 2015 to 2016. There have been 'variables' and whatnot"[/i
Err we STILL aren't growing, going backwards by most measures
[i"well of course its not a problem that new system hasn't produced an increase in crowds, no system can drive crowds"[/i
And the lower leagues are struggling, clubs are overspending 3 out of the 4 championship clubs from the first year are already in severe financial difficulties, Bradford may be liquidated
[i"well of course its not a problem that clubs in the lower leagues are going bust at a precipitous rate. No system could avoid that"
[/i
And standards are falling in SL as well, we were supposed to be improving. Relegation was supposed to make the league more intense. It just isn't happening.
[i"well of course its not a problem that standards are falling, lets just not bother playing the WCC or international games, all it does is give the NRL fanboys something to crow about"[/i
But the system isn't doing any of the things it was put in place to do and isn't meeting even the particularly unambitious targets the RFL set for themselves
[i"well of course its no problem that the system is failing to meet its own benchmarks, what are you crazy? I've got news for you, all systems ever will always fail to meet any benchmarks ever set by the RFL for some reason"[/i
So brilliantly we now have a new system where we should never have expected any of its selling points to actually happen and there is literally no bar for success. None at all.