Quote: Paul Thexton "I've tried explaining this myself many times in the past but people simply aren't receptive to it I'm afraid. Tradition trumps all and they're not interested in the original logical reasoning behind using a playoff system to determine the champions, it simply always was a playoff system and that's all they care about.'"
Not necessarily. Those of us who point out the tradition behind playoffs are usually (just like on this thread) responding to suggestions that they are a new fangled gimmick invented by Sky.
Quote: Paul Thexton " I'm having a hard time defending the sport to casual observers who are interested in RL but simply won't stop saying "You decide your champions with a playoff system? Well what's the point of an even home&away fixture list then?" - I've simply stopped defending it now and started shrugging my shoulders.'"
It's quite simple. A neat home&away fixture list (plus one neutral match) provides equal opportunity for clubs to attract revenue. If, for example, saints got a home match v Hull (who generally bring a good number), but we got one v Hudds instead (who don't), then that is unequal financially. That was less important in the old days when the clubs were less reliant in income.