Perhaps you should bear in mind its the lack of "Money Making excercises" that is pushing our game to the brink.

The women in my family like to watch 'Strickly'. You turn it into a pure dancing competition and its popularity will fall. If they were a commercial station that means a fall in revenue and the business model at risk. Look at the playoffs introduced into Soccer now for some of the promotion places. The excitement, and tension generated puts bums on seats in great numbers never mind the TV money and helps keep clubs solvent. As long as clubs are in touch with a playoff place the will stick with their team. Once the team has no hope of it the casual supporter loses interest and the clubs income is affected. Its the fact that RL and other sports fail to grasp that they are a business as well as a sport that they get themselves into a financial mess.

Also, if the salary cap is working correctly then any team should be able to win it at the playoff stage and not the same 'top teams' so a team winning from 5th or even 8th shows the cap system is working surely?

I like the idea that the final game of the season should be the most important. It's also another prestige occasion for Super League to put itself in front of a wider audience.

The farce is the fact that we have a top 8 play-off. While that does have the advantage of giving some teams in the lower reaches of the legue something to aim for, it severely cheapens the play-off concept in itself. Keep it to 5, or 6 at most. In fact, get Super League down to 12 teams and have it at 5, as it was a while ago.

Leeds would still win it though, and what would everyone complain about then?

Nah, reduce it to four as it was years ago, then Leeds would have no chance.

I'll repeat the question I asked seeing as you've made no attempt to answer itWhy is it a farce?'"

jaybs, what happens is quite clear to me, thanks.

But that doesn't make it a farce. If you were to say that in your opinion the system is a farce then that's fine, whether I agree or not. However you stated, as a fact, that the system is a farce. That's not a fact, just your opinion.

I think that's splitting hairs somewhat. Most of the comments on here are opinions. I don't really see that everyone should need to spell it out that everything they say is "in my opinion" as opposed to a fact, as other people can work that out for themselves and contradict it if they wish.

(What really annoys me is people who spell out "Fact!" after a sentence which is clearly an opinion!)

You're probably right. Got myself into a bit of a box there. I still don't believe that he's produced an argument to justify his opinion though.

Not guilty. FACT!

For Jay. This season in NSW Cup Grand Final (reserve grade) was contested by 7th place NEWTOWN (Roosters) v 8th place BALMAIN.
Newtown won, coached by Greg Matterson, our former player, Terry's brother. ie. it happens, rightly or wrongly in your opinion.



As for McDermott. He must still be a naff coach apparently, but what will change people's minds? In the meantime, give the geezer some credit ffs.

On here we get so emotional at times sadly, sorry but as Prince of Denmark states you are slightly "splitting hairs" it is of course my opinion!

Rooster Booster, it does not change my opinion of Australian second grade rugby league do the same, do they also give teams at the top who lose as second chance to go through?

The system is wrong, would love to know who thought it all up, can't see it being Richard Lewis, was it the person who has been put in charge of shaping the future of the game? most likely!

No, it's in line with the NRL from this season.

Some People are saying here in the UK we are far too negative about Super League, but it is because we love the game and want to see it grow and develop even more.

Yes teams who finish top have the chance of another bite of the cherry (most of the time) if they lose their first game. That is the reward for the consistency that you spoke about earlier. As it happens the 2 most consitent teams of the year contested this years Grand Final. So the system can work it's more a case of some coaches are better at game plans for those one off games than others. So even though Warrington have a muche better squad than most, McDermott had the better game plan. I'm all for it.

I can barely understand you most of the time.

The play-off system essentially comes into force after a 27 game league season and turns SL into a knockout comp, similar but not the same as the challenge cup. Are all forms of knock-out wrong? I don't understand

Leeds have been rewarded for being able to successfully negotiate a knock-out competition and raise themselves for the big occasion. McDermott's key contribution here is clearly instilling a sense of belief into his players that, despite finishing 5th, they could go on and win. Leeds do not (IMO) have the strongest squad in the competition - Wigan and Warrington have more depth and some outstanding individuals - and yet they came away with nothing.

The players did it all, the play-off system is unfair, the weather was too dry - how many more excuses are you people going to come up with before you just back down and admit that McDermott had proved us all wrong, he clearly has got a great amount of coaching ability and he's going from strength to strength?